Hippo Regius - Clickable Map of the Roman Empire - First Century AD

Hippo Regius
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Ancient Hippo Regius (Modern name is Annaba in Algeria). In Roman times Hippo Regius was an important and prosperous city in north Africa. It was situated near the mouth of the river Ubus. Hippo Regius was the home of the Augustine of Hippo, the famous Christian theologian.

Hippo Regius HIPPO REGIUS (Ἱππὼν Βασιλικός: Ru. S. of Bonah), a maritime city of Numidia, which received its surname from its being a residence of the Numidian kings, but is of higher fame as the see of St. Augustine. It was a colony of Tyre, and stood 5 M. P. NW. of the river UBUS, on the W. side of a large bay to which it gave its name (HIPPONENSIS SINUS: Gulf of Bonah), as well as to the promontory above it, forming the W. headland of the bay (HIPPI PROM Ἵππου ῎ακρα: Ras el Hamrah). It grew into greater importance under the Romans, by whom it was made a colony; and it continued to be one of the most flourishing cities of N. Africa, till it was destroyed by the Vandals in B.C. 430. It was during the progress of this siege that the great Augustine died. (Sal. Jug. 19; Hirt. Bell. Afr. 961; Strab. xvii. p.832; Mela, 1.7; Plin. Nat. 5.3. s. 2; Itin. Ant. p. 20; Tab. Peut.; Diod. 20.57; Sil. Ital. 1.3, 3.259; Shaw, Travels in Barbary, p. 44; Barth, Wanderungen, &c. p. 70).  - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, William Smith, LLD, Ed. 

Hippo Regius is the ancient name of the modern city of Annaba, in Algeria. Under this name, it was a major city in Roman Africa, hosting several early Christian councils, and was the home of the philosopher and theologian Augustine of Hippo.[1] In even earlier days, the city was a royal residence for Numidian kings. The climate is agreeable in winter, but humid in summer. The harbour serves as an export station for all of the rich inland country. Hippo was a Tyrian colony on the west coast of the bay to which it gave its name: Hipponensis Sinus, first settled by the Phoenicians probably in the 12th century BC; the surname Regius 'of the King' was bestowed on it as one of the places where the Numidian kings resided. A maritime city near the mouth of the river Ubus, it became a Roman colonia which prospered and became a major city in Roman Africa. It is perhaps most famous as the bishopric of Saint Augustine of Hippo in his later years. In the summer of 430 the Vandals were besieging the city of Hippo as the aged bishop lay dying within. Shortly after his death on August 28, 430, they captured the city under King Geiseric after an 18-month siege in 431 and made it the capital of the Vandal kingdom in Northern Africa between 431 and 439. It was conquered by the Eastern Roman Empire in 534 and was kept under Byzantine rule until 698, when it fell to the Muslims; the Arabs rebuilt the town in the seventh century. The city's later history was under its modern name. About three kilometres distant the Arabs in the eleventh century established the town of Beleb-el-Anab, which the Spaniards occupied for some years in the sixteenth century, as the French did later, in the reign of Louis XIV. France took this town again in 1832. It was renamed Bone or Bona, and became one of the government centres for the department of Constantine in Algeria. It had 37,000 inhabitants, of whom 15,700 were French, 10,500 foreigners, mostly Italians, 9,400 Muslims and 1400 naturalized Jews. - Wikipedia