Buruni, was an ancient
Roman city of the
Bagradas Valley identifiable with Henchir-El-Dakhla in modern
Tunisia. There is no record of the city in
Punic or pre Roman
Berber, times, and is presumed to be a Roman foundation, probably of
coloni status. The Bagradis valley became Roman after the
Third Punic War about 146BC and it quickly became an important region for agriculture, with the rolling plains home to numerous Imperial estates. The area around Buruni fell to the
Vandal Kingdom around 423 and for a century was ruled by the
Arian kings until in 533 the
Orthodox Byzantines replaced them. The area was held by Byzantium until the
Muslim conquest of the Maghreb in the end of the 7th century.
Saltus Burunitanus The
saltus burunitanus (CIL VIII 10570 = ILS 6870) is an ancient Roman era document. The document is a letter of reply from emperor
Commodus regarding a complain by a group of peasants on an imperial estate in Buruni complaining of maltreatment by the estate manager. One Lurius Lucullus, wrote on behalf of the peasants that the procurator of the estate had arrested and flogged some of the workers even those who were
Roman citizens. The document names one official Allius Maximus, an official of the rank of
conductor, as subject of the major part of the complaint. The text was published in 1880, by Dr. Dummartin, was one of dozen similar petitions to the emperor at the time. The Saltus Burunitanus shines a light on the social structure and lifestyles of
Roman North Africa in the early
empire. A time when the Maghreb was much more fertile and supported a much larger population, than today.
Bishopric Some time after Commodus a Christian community formed in the city which was known as the
episcopus Buronitanus. The community developed as an ancient
Latin Rite Bishopric of the
Roman province of
Africa Proconsolare, suffragan of the
Archdiocese of Carthage. The only bishop of Buruni known to us, was Fausto, a Catholic mentioned at the end of the 5th century by
Victor of Vita in his history of the
Vandal persecution. Today the diocese of Buruni survives as
titular see of the Catholic Church. The current bishop is Daniele Libanori.
Known bishops • Fausto † (mentioned in the 5th century) •
Pius Anthony Benincasa (8 May 1964 – 13 August 1986) •
Ernesto Antolin Salgado (17 October 1986 –7 December 2000) •
Ismael Rueda Sierra (20 December 2000 – 27 June 2003) •
Anthony Fisher, O.P. (16 June 2003 – 8 January 2010) •
Raphael Thattil (15 January 2010 – 10 October 2017) •
Daniele Libanori, S.J. (since 23 November 2017). ==See also==