Hippo Regius (also known as Hippo or Hippone) is the ancient name of the modern city of Annaba, Algeria. It served as an important city for the Phoenicians, Berbers, Romans, and Vandals. Hippo was the capital city of the Vandal Kingdom from AD 435 to 439. After the Vandal capture of Carthage in 439, Carthage became the capital.
It was the focus of several early Christian councils and home to Augustine of Hippo, a Church Father highly important in Western Christianity.
History
right|thumb|upright=1.3|Hippo Regius on the map of Roman [[Numidia (Roman province)|Numidia, Atlas Antiquus, H. Kiepert, 1869]]
Hippo is the latinization of (), probably related to the word ūbōn 'harbor'. The town was first settled by Phoenicians from Tyre around the 12th centuryBC. To distinguish it from Hippo Diarrhytus (the modern Bizerte, in Tunisia), the Romans later referred to it as Hippo Regius ("the Royal Hippo") because it was one of the residences of the Numidian kings. The nearby river was Latinized as Ubus (now the Seybouse), and the bay to its east was known as Hippo Bay ().
A maritime city near the mouth of the Ubus, it became a Roman colonia that prospered and grew into a major city in Africa Province, and was incorporated into the Diocese of Africa under the reforms of Diocletian. It served as the bishopric of Augustine of Hippo in his later years.
In 430, the Vandals advanced eastwards along the North African coast and laid siege to the walled city. Inside, Saint Augustine and his priests prayed for relief from the invaders, knowing full well that the fall of the city would spell death or conversion to the Arian confession for much of the Christian population. On 28 August 430, three months into the siege, St. Augustine (who was 75 years old) died, perhaps from starvation or stress, as the wheat fields outside the city lay dormant and unharvested. Hunger and the inevitable diseases were ravaging both the city inhabitants and the Vandals outside the city walls, who lifted the siege after 14 months. The peace treaty of 435 acknowledged the Vandals' possession of the city