Quiza Xenitana

Quiza (Ancient Greek: Κούϊζα) also known as Vuiza (Βούϊζα),[1] which Pliny the Elder called Quiza Xenitana,[nb 1] was a Roman–Berber colonia, located in the former province of Mauretania Caesariensis. The town is identified with ruins at Sidi Bellater, Algiers.

Quiza Xenitana
Map showing "Quiza", just west of Cartennas, on the coast of Mauretania Caesariensis
Quiza Xenitana is located in Algeria
Quiza Xenitana
Shown within Algeria
Alternative nameQuiza Cenitana
LocationAlgeria
RegionMostaganem Province
Coordinates36.025896°N 0.26658°E / 36.025896; 0.26658

History

Quiza was originally a small Berber village, with Phoenician roots. It grew under the Roman empire. Around 120 AD, the emperor Hadrian erected an arch in the city.

William Smith identified Quiza with Giza near Oran, Algeria in his work, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography.[2] More recent investigations have identified it with present-day El-Benian on the coast road between Mostaga and Dara.[3][4][5]

In his Natural History, 4.2.3., Pliny the Elder: writes: "Next to this is Quiza Xenitana, a town founded by strangers"; a remark explained because the word Xenitana is derived from Greek ξένος, "a stranger",[6] as explained also by Victor Vitensis.[7] The town is mentioned also by Pliny elsewhere (5.2), by Ptolemy, and by Pomponius Mela.[2]

Bishopric

Quiza is also a titular see of Christianity. Quaestoriana was in the ecclesiastical province of Byzacena.[8]

At the Council of Carthage (411), which brought together Catholic and Donatist bishops, Quiza was represented by the Catholic Priscus, who had no Donatist counterpart. He is mentioned also in a letter of Saint Augustine to Pope Celestine I.[9] Tiberianus of Quiza was one of the Catholic bishops whom the Arian Vandal king Huneric summoned to Carthage in 484 and then exiled. In addition, the name of a Bishop Vitalianus appears in the mosaic pavement of the excavated basilica of Quiza.[10][11][12]

Bishops

No longer a residential bishopric, Quiza is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see.[13]

Bishop Flores of San Diego.

See also

Notes
  1. This is sometimes mistakenly written Quiza Cenitana

References
  1. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), Quiza
  2. Smith, William (1854). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: Walton and Maberly.
  3. Horster, Marietta (2001). Bauinschriften römischer Kaiser (in German). Franz Steiner Verlag. p. 434. ISBN 978-3-51507951-8.
  4. Letzner, Wolfram (2000). Lucius Cornelius Sulla. LIT Verlag. p. 45. ISBN 978-3-82585041-8.
  5. Cancick, Herbert; et al., eds. (2006). Brill's New Pauly. Brill. p. cxcv. ISBN 978-9-00412272-7.
  6. Pliny the Elder (1855). The Natural History of Pliny. Henry G. Bohn. ISBN 9780598910738.
  7. Ruinart, Thierry (1699). Historia persecutionis Vandalicæ in duas partes distincta. Prior complectitur libros 5 Victoris Vitensis episcopi, & alia antiqua monumenta. Posterior Commentarium historicum de persecutionis Vandalicæ. Opera & studio T. Ruinart.
  8. "Quiziensis". catholic-hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015.
  9. Saint Augustine, Bishop of Hippo; Rotelle, John E. (2004). Letters 156-210: Epistulae II. New City Press. ISBN 9781565482005.
  10. Mesnage, J. (1912). L'Afrique chrétienne. Paris. p. 484.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  11. Morcelli, Stefano Antonio (1816). Africa christiana. Vol. I. Brescia. p. 260.
  12. Gams, Pius Bonifacius (1931). Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae. Leipzig. p. 467.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  13. Annuario Pontificio 2013. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana. 2013. p. 957. ISBN 978-88-209-9070-1.
  14. "Svätý Otec František menoval nového spišského pomocného biskupa" [Holy Father Francis Appoints New Auxiliary Bishop of Spiš] (in Slovak). Bratislava: Tlačová kancelária Konferencie biskupov Slovenska. March 25, 2020.

Bibliography
  • Laffi, Umberto. Colonie e municipi nello Stato romano Ed. di Storia e Letteratura. Roma, 2007 ISBN 8884983509
  • Mommsen, Theodore. The Provinces of the Roman Empire Section: Roman Africa. (Leipzig 1865; London 1866; London: Macmillan 1909; reprint New York 1996) Barnes & Noble. New York, 1996
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