Icosium
Encyclopedia
Icosium was first a Phoenicia
n, then a Roman
city whose site is currently occupied by the casbah
area of the modern city of Algiers
. According to Greek legend, Icosium was founded by 20 companions of Hercules
, the Greek name, Ικοσιον, being claimed to derive from εικοσι, the Greek word for twenty.
In fact, however, the settlement was occupied by Punic settlers from at least as early as the 3rd century BC.
They called it Yksm, which is believed to have meant "owl's island", and which was eventually transcribed as Icosium in Latin. The original Punic name is reflected in the modern Arabic name for Algiers , which means "the islands".
Icosium remained a small trading post in the Phoenicia
n and Carthaginian periods. In 146 BC, Icosium became part of the Roman Empire
. It remained so until the 5th century AD, when it was conquered by Vandals
. The town was later reconquered by the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium
) before the Arab conquest in the 7th century.
Phoenicia
Phoenicia , was an ancient civilization in Canaan which covered most of the western, coastal part of the Fertile Crescent. Several major Phoenician cities were built on the coastline of the Mediterranean. It was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean from 1550...
n, then a Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
city whose site is currently occupied by the casbah
Casbah
The Casbah ) is specifically the citadel of Algiers in Algeria and the traditional quarter clustered around it. More generally, a kasbah is the walled citadel of many North African cities and towns...
area of the modern city of Algiers
Algiers
' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...
. According to Greek legend, Icosium was founded by 20 companions of Hercules
Hercules
Hercules is the Roman name for Greek demigod Heracles, son of Zeus , and the mortal Alcmene...
, the Greek name, Ικοσιον, being claimed to derive from εικοσι, the Greek word for twenty.
In fact, however, the settlement was occupied by Punic settlers from at least as early as the 3rd century BC.
They called it Yksm, which is believed to have meant "owl's island", and which was eventually transcribed as Icosium in Latin. The original Punic name is reflected in the modern Arabic name for Algiers , which means "the islands".
Icosium remained a small trading post in the Phoenicia
Phoenicia
Phoenicia , was an ancient civilization in Canaan which covered most of the western, coastal part of the Fertile Crescent. Several major Phoenician cities were built on the coastline of the Mediterranean. It was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean from 1550...
n and Carthaginian periods. In 146 BC, Icosium became part of the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
. It remained so until the 5th century AD, when it was conquered by Vandals
Vandals
The Vandals were an East Germanic tribe that entered the late Roman Empire during the 5th century. The Vandals under king Genseric entered Africa in 429 and by 439 established a kingdom which included the Roman Africa province, besides the islands of Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia and the Balearics....
. The town was later reconquered by the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium
Byzantium
Byzantium was an ancient Greek city, founded by Greek colonists from Megara in 667 BC and named after their king Byzas . The name Byzantium is a Latinization of the original name Byzantion...
) before the Arab conquest in the 7th century.