A titular see of Africa. Calama appears to be the Roman name of Suthul, a city in Numidia, besieged by Postumius 110 B.C. (Sallust, Bel. Jugurth., xxxvii). It became a Roman municipium as early as Hadrian, and a colony a little later. In the time of Diocletian it was included in Proconsular Africa, but its bishops were subject to Numidia. The city was captured by the Vandals on their arrival in Africa (429). Count Bonifacius was defeated near the city in 431. A great many inscriptions found at Guelma have proved that it is the modern substitute for Calama. Guelma, occupied by the French in 1836, is today the chief town of a district, or arrondissement, in the department of Constantine, Algeria; it is situated near the River Seybouse and the Djebel Mahonna, about 81 miles east of Constantine. It has 7300 inhabitants (1500 French), and is an important cattle market. Among its ruins are a Byzantine citadel and walls built by the Patricius Solomon during the Byzantine reoccupation. Four bishops are known: Donatus, 305; Megalius, who consecrated St. Augustine in 395 and died in 397; St. Possidius, elected in 397; Quodvultdeus in 484. Possidius was a disciple of St. Augustine in the monastic life ; at Calama he suffered a grievous persecution from heathens and Donatists, and was obliged to leave his city for some time. The contemporary Donatist bishop was Crispinus; among the heathens we know a certain Nectarius, a correspondent of St. Augustine. Possidius disarmed his enemies by his charity. After the sack of Calama by the Vandals, he retired to Hippo and attended St. Augustine on his death-bed. He also wrote the life and a catalogue of the works of his master.

The Catholic Encyclopedia is the most comprehensive resource on Catholic teaching, history, and information ever gathered in all of human history. This easy-to-search online version was originally printed in fifteen hardcopy volumes.

Designed to present its readers with the full body of Catholic teaching, the Encyclopedia contains not only precise statements of what the Church has defined, but also an impartial record of different views of acknowledged authority on all disputed questions, national, political or factional. In the determination of the truth the most recent and acknowledged scientific methods are employed, and the results of the latest research in theology, philosophy, history, apologetics, archaeology, and other sciences are given careful consideration.

No one who is interested in human history, past and present, can ignore the Catholic Church, either as an institution which has been the central figure in the civilized world for nearly two thousand years, decisively affecting its destinies, religious, literary, scientific, social and political, or as an existing power whose influence and activity extend to every part of the globe. In the past century the Church has grown both extensively and intensively among English-speaking peoples. Their living interests demand that they should have the means of informing themselves about this vast institution, which, whether they are Catholics or not, affects their fortunes and their destiny.

Copyright © Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company New York, NY. Volume 1: 1907; Volume 2: 1907; Volume 3: 1908; Volume 4: 1908; Volume 5: 1909; Volume 6: 1909; Volume 7: 1910; Volume 8: 1910; Volume 9: 1910; Volume 10: 1911; Volume 11: - 1911; Volume 12: - 1911; Volume 13: - 1912; Volume 14: 1912; Volume 15: 1912

Catholic Online Catholic Encyclopedia Digital version Compiled and Copyright © Catholic Online