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Setifis (Arabic: سطيف; Berber language: Sṭif), was a Roman Empire town located in northeastern Algeria. It was the capital of the Roman province called Mauretania Sitifensis, Map of Mauretania Sitifensis (in blue color) and it is today Sétif in the Sétif Province (Algeria).
Sitifis was officially Colonia Augusta Nerviana Martialis Veteranorum Sitifensium, and from the time of Diocletian, (293 A.D.), was the capital of Mauretania Sitifensis (now eastern Algeria).Nacéra Benseddik, Autels votifs de la région de Sétif: païens ou chrétiens?, Monuments funéraires, institutions autochtones en Afrique du Nord antique et médiévale, VIe Colloque International sur L'Histoire et l'Archéologie de l'Afrique du Nord, Pau, 1993, C.T.H.S. 1995, p. 179-186. Today, vestiges of the third century and fourth century include , Roman temple, circus, mausoleum and "Scipio" Byzantine Empire . Numerous archaeological artifacts are exhibited at the archaeological museum of the city.
Although what happened under Vandals rule is not known, the Byzantine Empire reconquest brought with it a major fort, of which parts are still standing. In the sixth century Christianity was the main religion, with a strong presence of Donatism. Under the Vandals it was the chief town of a district called "Zaba". It was still the capital of a province (called "Mauretania Prima") under Byzantine rule and was then a place of strategic importance. The area became a part of Byzantine North Africa in 541, that saw the introduction of Orthodox doctrines to the main Donatist and Catholic towns of their Exarchate of AfricaFrancois Decret, Early Christianity in North Africa (James Clarke & Co, 2011) p.196
In 647 AD the first Muslim expedition to Africa took place and by the end of this century, the area started to be conquered. Indeed, Uqba ibn Nafi partially destroyed Sitifis in a raid in 680 AD, when his forces conquered nearby Saldae (actual Bougie), while fighting to reach the Atlantic Ocean. The Byzantine era of Sitifis was over. By 702 AD, the area had been fully conquered by the Umayyad Caliphate.
In the eight century the region had been converted to the Islamic faith. We know little of the early Islamic town, but by the tenth century the area outside of the fortress was once more filled with houses: on the site of the Roman baths over twelve of these were excavated, with large courtyards surrounded by long, thin, rooms.E. Fentress, ed., Fouilles de Sétif 1977 - 1984 BAA supp. 5, Algiers, 114-151 In the mid-eleventh century this development stopped abruptly, and a defensive wall was built around the city.
Historian Leo Africanus reports that a major wave of destruction followed the invasion of the Banu Hillal shortly thereafter.
Nothing more is known of what used to be Roman Setifis until the ruins of the town were used by the French army (who built their own fortress on the site in 1848, using the line of the medieval city wall and the Byzantine fortress). The modern city was founded by the France on the ruins of the ancient one.Leslie Dossey, Peasant and Empire in Christian North Africa (University of California Press, 2010) page 131.
The city had a bath houseLeslie Dossey, Peasant and Empire in Christian North Africa (University of California Press, 2010), p24. fortificationsLeslie Dossey, Peasant and Empire in Christian North Africa (University of California Press, 2010) p113. The inhabitants made inscriptions to the a practice that falls out in the 4th century with the rise of Christianity.Nacéra Benseddik, Nouvelles inscriptions de Sétif, B.A.A., VII, 1977-79, p.33-52.Leslie Dossey, Peasant and Empire in Christian North Africa (University of California Press, 2010), p24.
The city had also a "Circus"; the approximate location confirmed by old air photographs showing 90% of the circus has now been built over;.Setif The Circus|Circus at Setif at [4] Only the southern, curved, end remains visible. The U-shaped formerly visible track was 450 m. long and 70 m. wide.
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