HADRUMETUM

modern Susah, Sousa, or Sousse ancient Phoenician colony on the east coast of what is now Tunisia and one of the most important communities within the Carthaginian territory in northern Africa. In the Third Punic War (149146 BC) Hadrumetum sided with Rome, and its citizens were rewarded with partial Roman citizenship. It later received colonial rank from either Augustus or Trajan. The city was a centre for the administration of imperial estates in what is now the eastern part of Tunisia and became the capital of the province of Byzacenia, formed by Diocletian about AD 300. It was again important after the reconquest of Africa by Justinian I in 533, receiving the name Justinianopolis. Before the Arab conquest, the modern town of Susah (q.v.) arose on the site.