Tablensis

Tabla

Map of Roman North Africa.
Shown within Algeria
Location	Algeria
Coordinates	36°24′43″N 3°41′26″E / 36.412°N 3.690556°E

Tabala or Tablensis is a titular See of the Roman Catholic Church in the Roman province Mauritania Cesariense, North Africa.

History

Tabla was founded during the Roman Empire and lasted until the coming of Islam in the early 7th century.

Known as Tablensis, the settlment was founded as a fort on the Limes. McCarthy^[1] calls it "Tablat, the ... capital of a military march, under the Romans in the fifth century, near the Isseur, on the road to Auzia (Aumale) to Icosium (Algiers)." ^[2] The name "Tablatensis" derives from the Latin word for " barracks "or" Roman camp ".^[3] may indicate a connection to its location on the Limes road.

From 429 to 533 the town was in Vandal domnion, and in 533 was taken by the Byzantine empire. In 647 the settlment fell to the invading Arab armies. A town named "Tablata" in Spain was founded by the Sarrassins, during the conquest of Spain in 711 which may suggest that men of Tabla or Tablata were part of this army.^[4]

Location

Tabla, has been tentitivly identified with Tablat or Tablast in today's Algeria. According to Berber tradtion "Tablat is a locality of the Southeast of Blida^[5]

Today the site of the town is a grass covered hillside strewn with dressed stones indicating the presence of the former settlement. The site remains unexcavated.

Bishopric

Tabala was also the seat of a Roman and Vandal era Bishopric. The only known bishops of this diocese are Quodvultdeus(Catholic bishop fl484),^[6] A catholic bishop who took part in the synod meeting in Carthage held by the Vandal king Huneric in 484 , after which Quodvultdeus was sent to exil. And Urbanus a Donatist Bishop (fl 440) summoned to Carthage for not adhereing to theCatholic religion.^[7]

In 1933 the diocese was reestablished in name and Tabla survives today as titular bishop.^[8] The current Bishop is Lino Bortolo Belotti^[9]

References

1. McCarthy, "Physical Geography, economic and political of Algeria" (1858) p.353
2. Visit to Tablat.
3. Stefano Antonio Morcelli , Africa Christiana, Volume 1 (Betton, 1816 ) p 292.
4. A visit to tabala.
5. Visit to Tablat.
6. Henri Irénée Marrou, André Mandouze, Anne-Marie La Bonnardière, Prosopographie de l'Afrique chrétienne (303-533) (Éditions du Centre national de la recherche scientifique, 1 Jan. 1982) p1285.
7. Stefano Antonio Morcelli , Africa Christiana, Volume 1 (Betton, 1816 ) p 292.
8. Titular Episcopal See of Tabla at GCatholic.org.
9. Le Petit Episcopologe, Issue 155, Number 13,574.