Location Spain | Region Melilla | |
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Weather 12°C, Wind SW at 2 km/h, 74% Humidity | ||
Greensleeves mangas verdes gaitas de rusadir
Rusadir (even Rusaddir for the Romans and the Catholic church, and Ryssadeiron (Ancient Greek: Ῥυσσάδειρον) for the Greeks) was an ancient Roman-Berber city in Mauretania Tingitana. It was originally a Phoenician and later a Punic establishment under the name of "Rhusadhir". According to the "Itinerarium Antonini", the town subsequently became a Roman colonia. It was located in the present-day Melilla.
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History
Rusadir is one of the berber nations historical cities in north africa. It is mentioned by Ptolemy (IV, 1) and Pliny (V, 18) who call it "oppidum et portus", also by Mela (I, 33), under the corrupted form Rusicada and by the Itinerarium Antonini.
The Romans occupied Rusadir in the first century under Augustus and later opened a coin mint. Emperor Claudius created a Roman colony in 46 AD with the name Flavia.
In the third century Rusadir was fully Christian and enjoyed huge prosperity. Emperor Diocletian made it part of the Hispania province in 385 AD.
In the late fourth century, Rusadir served as the Roman port of commerce to the Regnum Maurorum et Romanorum. The Vandals laid siege and conquered the city around 430 AD, but a few years later it was controlled by the Altava Berber kingdom. The Eastern Roman Empire of Justinianus I conquered the city, which had less than 3,000 inhabitants after having suffered widespread destruction. The king of the Visigoths Sisebuto conquered Rusadir in 614 AD and reconstructed the destroyed city walls: the city become an "Episcopal See". The Byzantine empire after some years recovered the city, but it fell to the Arabs around 701 AD.
Since then Rusadir remained nearly depopulated and reduced to a small village. Only centuries later, in 1497, was it rebuilt and renamed Melilla by the Castilians.