Bizerta

“Bizerte’s origin dates back to the Phoenicians. Inhabitants from Tyre founded the city and, through the canal, connected the lagoon with the sea. Diodoro Siculus called the city “Hippone Akra” and its inhabitants “Hippocrinotes”. Its magnificent lagoon, Sisera Lacus, was famous in Antiquity. The city played an important role during the Punic Wars. Agathocles, after defeating the Carthaginians, surrounded the city with fortifications around the year 317 BC and expanded the port. In 240 BC, during the Mercenary War, the impoverished inhabitants were forced to fight for the other side after their long though unsuccessful defence. The city, attacked by the Carthaginian general, Hanno, completely surrendered.

With the Romans, the city’s name was changed to Hippo Zaritus or Diarrythus to distinguish it from Hippo Regnis… Thanks to its marvellous location and after being a wealthy emporium, the city grew quickly and became the capital of one of Rome’s most important provinces in Africa. Augustus raised its rank to that of Roman colony as can still be read today in an inscription on a stone found in the northern wall of the Spanish fort: Genio Col. Juliae Hipp. Diarr. Sacr.”

Archduke Ludwig Salvator of Austria, Bizerte, J. Rothschild, Paris, 1900 (Prague, 1897)