The Enchanted Town of Kasserine: A Tale Twice Told

Once upon a time, at the foot of Tunisia's Jebel ech Chambi, a magical town named Cillium blossomed. A Roman colony, Cillium was elevated to a municipium by Emperor Vespasian or Titus, and further to a colonia by the Severan dynasty. In the heart of the Roman province Byzacena, it boasted a resplendent array of architectural wonders - mausoleums, triumphal arches, thermae, a theatre, and even a Christian basilica. The Tomb of the Flavii, built for the local landowner Titus Flavius Secundus in the late second century AD, remains one of the most striking relics of this era, inscribed with a 110-line poem in long-extant Latin, making it the 'longest funerary epitaph of antiquity.'

As the sun set, a brilliant theatre emerged, constructed at the end of the first century AD, perhaps to celebrate the town's ascent to a municipium. It was restored to life and opened for performances once more in the year 2018. By 544, the Byzantines were vanquished by the Berbers in the Battle of Cillium, and the town was christened anew as Kasserine, meaning 'The Two Palaces', a title that still stands, referring to the two ancient Roman mausoleums that continue their vigil today.

For many a year, Kasserine thrived, making its mark at the Conference of Carthage (411) between Catholic and Donatist bishops. It even held a position as a suffragan of the Metropolitan of Hadrumetum. Yet, it did not remain free from strife. In 1906, an attack by local bedouin on isolated settler farms near Kasserine, and the French civil administration offices during the Thala-Kasserine Disturbances signaled the first rebellious whispers against French authority under the protectorate.

World War II echoed through the town, with the Germans establishing a forced labour camp for Jews in the city from January to March 1943. February 1943 brought the Battle of Kasserine Pass.

Today, the history of Kasserine is imbued with a thousand tales, whispered in its current-day streets. Kasserine is now recognized as the proud capital of the Kasserine Governorate, its population enchanting 114,463 souls (2020).

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons