ICOSIUM
(Algiers) Algeria.
A Punic settlement, placed on four islets and a narrow coastal strip
and protected by a natural acropolis. The name is known
from Solinus (25.17), from a Punic stela, and especially
from a hoard of 158 lead coins bearing the name
IKOSIM. The town was chosen by Roman colonists even
before the annexation of Mauretania; at that time it
was connected to the colony of Ilici in Spain. It became
a Roman colony under the Flavians, grew in the 2d and
3d c., but never became an important town. A Christian
community existed in the 4th c. and three bishops are
known in the 5th. The town was sacked in 373 during
the revolt of Firmus. The Ziridian prince Bologguîn
founded a new town on the site in 960.
Facing the islets in the bay, the Roman town stretched
out along the coast with the hill behind it. It was protected by a rampart with towers. Parts survive today in
several places. The walls were often reused in the Berber
defenses of the 10th c. and the Turkish ramparts of the
16th. Thus, the fortifications enclosed part of the modern kasbah to the SW and the Bab-el-Oued district to
the NE. They extended as far as the former Bresson
square to the SE. Outside, villas surrounded by gardens
were located on the coastal plain and, more often, on the
sides of the hills. The villas have produced sculptures:
two female heads, a statue of Pomona, another statue
of a female deity, a head of the emperor Hadrian; all
are in the Algiers Museum. Inside the lower town,
which was densely populated, a network of streets at
right angles to each other formed insulae. Their plan
can often be traced in the modern urban grid. The decumanus maximus followed the modern Bab-Azoun street.
The water supply was provided at least in part by wells;
for example, at the so-called Nave well there are stacks
of pottery dating from Punic to mediaeval times.
Of the monuments discovered or noted inside the
town, the public baths are of particular importance.
Four cisterns placed side by side and two ornamental
mosaics indicate that a first bath building was under the
old cathedral. A second was located under the former
church of Notre Dame des Victoires. A third has been
discovered in the suburbs to the SE, near the Jardin
d'Essai. According to the inscription (
CIL VIII, 9256),
a mithraeum no doubt existed. No church is known,
but two capitals and a fenestella confessionis (at the
Algiers Museum) indicate the presence of an edifice for
Christian worship.
The main necropolis was located NW of the town
along the extension of the decumanus. Funerary stelae,
cinerary urns, rock-cut tombs, and burials under roof
tiles have been discovered. In addition, there were tombs
in the form of vaulted cellars; entering by an underground passage, one reached the burial chamber, where
niches cut into the walls sheltered cinerary urns. Abundant grave goods have been found, in particular terra
sigillata and intact glass vases. One enameled glass
goblet was decorated with a scene of gladiators. There
was another necropolis SE of the town at the other end
of the decumanus. There are isolated tombs at the
periphery.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
S. Gsell,
Atlas archéologique de
l'Algénie (1911) 5, no. 12; M. Leglay, “A la recherche
d'Icosium,”
Antiquités Africaines 2 (1968) 7-52
MPI.
M. LEGLAY
