The classical texts mention the existence of a town named Cirta at this place. The name means in the Semitic language city, the residence of the Numidian kings. The extraordinary situation of Constantine has pointed it out from the earliest times as an important fortress and as one of the natural capitals of a country which has been the scene of continuous wars and revolutions.
Cirta appears in the period of the Punic Wars (264–146 BC) as the capital of the kings of Numidia; Syphax, the Gaetulian prince, had a palace there.
Masinissa and his successors erected important buildings in it and invited Greek and Roman merchants thither. Masinissa, was the first King of Numidia and an ally of Rome in the last years of the Second Punic War (218–201). Masinissa governed at Cirta until the breaking out of the third Punic War.
The Romans got possession of it in 46 BC following Julius Caesar's conquest of North Africa, after a long siege by blockade and the Numidian prince was unable to reconquer his capital.
It was reconstructed in 313 by Constantine, the conqueror of Maxentius and received the name of Constantine which is has retained till today.
Up to the time of the French expedition, it was nearly inaccessible to Europeans and utterly unknown. The city was taken by French in 13th October 1837.
The City Of Constantine In Algeria
