Mithraeum of Skikda

TNMM 92 ↔ CIMRM 121

In 1845 a Mithraeum was discovered at Rusicade on the slope of the hill Bou Vala, NW of Philippeville, in the garden of Nobelly. About its architecture we have only a few data by Fenech, Histoire de Philippeville, s.d. 33ff, who "a une portion de canal recelait ces statues." Of its interior we know more through the sculptures found in it, all of which is now in the Museum at Philippeville. According to an information of Dr. L. Leschi, to whose kind intercession we also owe our reproductions, a bust of Caracalla (211-217) has been found in the neighbourhood, which might be an important clue in dating the sanctuary.

CIMRM II 121

The Mithraeum is also mentioned by M. Leglay, Rel. Or. Afr., 30f.

MMM 284

Mithréum découvert vers 1845 dans le jardin de M. Nobelly, près de Philippeville, sur le coteau qui fait face au nord.

Aucun renseignement ne nous est parvenu sur la disposition architectonique du temple, mais les sculptures qui en furent exhumées, ont été données au musée de Philippeville, où elles sont conservées aujourd’hui.

Except for a badly damaged theater, practically nothing remains of the ancient town, which was a very important port in the Roman period and no doubt even before. Ruins were seen at the beginning of the French occupation but they have disappeared under the modern town. As with Rusguniae and Rusucurru, the root Rus suggests a Punic settlement or Punicized native town. There is, however, no trace of archaeological evidence. The attribution of coins with a Punic legend to the town remains hypothetical.

In the Roman period Rusicada was a colony which participated with Cirta, Milev, and Chullu in the so-called confederation of the IV colonies. It was one of the confederation ports, together with Chullu and Stora. The town was the coastal terminus of the road from Cirta rebuilt by Hadrian, a road that facilitated the export of wheat from the surrounding region and from Numidia. The town’s role as a port explains connections which inscriptions reveal among Rusicada and Rome and Pozzuoli, as well as the rapid social climb of some of the town’s families during the course of the 1st c.

Thanks to the drawings of Ravoisié and Delamare in the middle of the 19th c., we can still form an idea of the town’s monuments: cisterns and mausolea in the immediate surroundings, the theater with its back against the slope of a hill, an amphitheater installed in a gully. A mithraeum and sculptures have also been found. Many inscriptions and sculptures were kept in a local museum, which was destroyed between 1954 and 1962. The artifacts which it contained are in safekeeping.

In 1845 a Mithraeum was discovered at Rusicade on the slope of the hill Bou Vala, NW of Philippeville, in the garden of Nobelly. About its architecture we have only a few data by Fenech, Histoire de Philippeville, s.d. 33ff, who ’a une portion de canal recelait ces statues.’ Of its interior we know more through the sculptures found in it, all of which is now in the Museum at Philippeville. According to an information of Dr. L. Leschi, to whose kind intercession we also owe our reproductions, a bust of Caracalla (211-217) has been found in the neighbourhood, which might be an important clue in dating the sanctuary.