City
Hyppone Regio
Annaba, formerly Bône
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Hippo Regius, royal Hippo, owed its epithet to the Numidian kings, who used it as one of their residences, and the title set it apart from another town of the same name. A Phoenician or Punic foundation near the mouth of the Seybouse, it lies at Annaba in Algeria, once called Bône. In 205 BC the Roman commander Gaius Laelius landed in its harbour, opening the Roman invasion of Africa. Later a Roman colony, it is best remembered for its bishop Augustine, who died here in 430 as the Vandals besieged the city; the Vandals themselves rescued his library from the flames.