Mandaurus or Madaura

Madaurus, or Madaura

A titular see of Numidia. It was an old Numidian town which, having once belonged to the Kingdom of Syphax, was annexed to that of Massinissa at the close of the second Punic War. It became a Roman colony about the end of the first century and was famous for its schools. It was the native town of Apuleius, author of "The Golden Ass", and of the grammarians Nonius and Maximus. St. Augustine studied there; through a letter which he addressed later to the inhabitants we learn that many were still pagans. Madaurus, however, had many martyrs known by their epitaphs; several are named in the Roman martyrology on 4 July. Three bishops are known: Antigonus, who attended the council of Carthage, 349; Placentius, the council of 407 and the Conference of 411; Pudentius, sent into exile by Huneric with the other bishops who had been present at the Conference of 484. The ruins of Madaurus are seen near Mdaouroch, department of Constantine (Algeria); a fine Roman mausoleum, vast baths, a Byzantine fortress, a Christian basilica are noteworthy and have furnished several Christian inscriptions.

SMITH, Dict. of Greek and Roman Geogr. s. v.; TOULOTTE, Géographie de l'Afrique chrétienne: Numidie (Rennes, 1894), 201-206.

S. PÉTRIDÈS.