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Description:
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Very near the Mediterranean port city of present-day Annaba (formerly Bône) in northeastern Algeria, lie the remnants of Hippone or Hippo-also known as Hippo Regius, bishopric of Augustine (395-430), the great philosopher, theologian, monastic founder and vigorous opponent of the Donatist position (maintaining that the effectiveness of the Sacraments was dependent upon the moral character of the minister). Remnants of the basilica that housed worship for St. Augustine and his community of Christians probably date from the late 4th or early 5th C. It is not known whether or not this structure first served Donatists or whether it was erected by Augustine and his followers. (The Donatist position was banned by the Conference of Carthage in 410). Excavations of the site are chiefly the work of Erwan Marec, a French naval officer, whose studies were published in the mid-20th C. This work uncovered the fact that the Christian quarter of Hippo, which included a complex of ecclesial buildings and buildings for Augustine’s monastic community, was situated at the opposite end of town from the forum.ca. June 1983
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