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Mdawrush is a municipality in Souk Ahras Province, Algeria, occupying the site of the Roman town of Madauros (or Madaura) in the Roman province of Numidia, whose bishopric is included in the Catholic Church's list of titular sees.
Contents
Map of M'Daourouch, Algeria
Demographics
As of the 1998 census, Mdawrush has 24,919 inhabitants, which gives it 11 seats in the PMA.
History
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 Marcellus and Maximus. St. Augustine studied there; through a letter which he addressed later to the inhabitants we learn that many were still pagans.
Madauros (sometimes called even "Madaurus") 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 the Vandal king Huneric with the other bishops who had been present at the Conference of 484.
The ruins of Madauros are seen near Mdawrush. A fine Roman mausoleum, vast baths, a Byzantine fortress, a Christian basilica are noteworthy and have furnished several Christian inscriptions.