Miliana () is a commune in Aïn Defla Province in northwestern Algeria. It is the administrative center of the daïra, or district, of the same name. It is approximately southwest of the Algerian capital, Algiers. The population was estimated at 44,201 in 2008. The town is located south of the Dahra Range, on the wooded southern flank of Mount Zaccar Rherbi, five kilometers north of the Chelif River, and overlooking the Zaccar plateau to the west.
Geography
Location
The commune of Miliana is located in the north of the Aïn Defla wilaya. The town is located 114 km to the southwest of Algiers, 50 km to the west of Médéa, and 92 km to the east of Chlef.
Topography
Due to its position in mountainous terrain, the elevation of Miliana differs greatly, ranging from to . It is built on a rocky shelf with steep edges on the southern slopes of Mount Zaccar Rherbi[fr], which covers its entire northern border and reaches . There is also a smaller ridge to the south that reaches , separating Miliana from Khemis Miliana. The area around the town is well forested. To the east and south is the Chélif River Valley, and to the west is a large plateau that stretches to the Ouarsenis range.
Climate
Miliana has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification Csa), with hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters.
Toponymy
Miliana corresponds to the town of Punic origin known in Roman times as Zucchabar. Under Augustus, it was given the rank of colonia and was thus referred to as Colonia Iulia Augusta Zucchabar. The Greek form of the name used by the geographer Ptolemy was Ζουχάββαρι (Zuchabbari). Pliny the Elder calls it "the colony of Augusta, also called Succabar", and Ammianus Marcellinus gives it the name Sugabarri or (in adjectival form) Sugabarritanum.
Zucchabar belonged to the Roman province of Mauretania Caesariensis. The film Gladiator mentioned a Roman province of Zucchabar, which did exist in fact .
The names Zucchabar or Sugabar were mentioned on epigraphic monuments nearby, indicating the place's belonging to a larger city. This name may be of Phoenician or Libyco-Berber origin, meaning "wheat market."
The name Manliana or Malliana is cited in antiquity as an urban area located at the current site of the town or in the surrounding area, and Saint Augustin refers to a bishop of this city. According to some, this name is derived from Latin and is attributed to the daughter of a patrician Roman family (Manlia) which owned large domains in the agricultural region of the Chélif River valley. However, others believe the name is Berber in origin.
With the Muslim Conquest, the name "Manliana" was arabized to become Mel-Ana, meaning "full of richesses," then Milyana.
History
Antiquity
For a long time Miliana was the sanctuary capital of the Numidian kings. In 105 BCE Jugurtha was captured not far from this region.
A Roman garrison was established in Zucchabar by Emperor Augustus between 27 and 25 BCE. The city is mentioned by Ammianus Marcelinus during the insurrection of the Berber leader Firmus in 375; the Roman general Theodosius the Elder left Caesarea (now Cherchell) to occupy Sugabarritanum.
Zucchabar was an important city in the province of Mauretania Caesariensis and became a Christian episcopal see. The names of two of its Catholic bishops and one Donatist are recorded: Maximianus, who attended the Conference of Carthage (411); Germanus, the Donatist bishop who attended the same conference; Stephanus, one of the Catholic bishops whom Huneric summoned to a meeting in Carthage in February 484 and then exiled.
The bishopric is included in the Catholic Church's list of titular sees.
In the 5th century, with the arrival of the Vandals, the Roman city was abandoned along with most of its ancient monuments.