Cirta was the capital city of the ancient Berber kingdom of Numidia in northern Africa (modern Algeria). Its strategically important port city was Russicada. Although Numidia was a key ally of the ancient Roman Republic during the Punic Wars (264 BC-146 BC), Cirta was subject to Roman invasions during the 1st and 2nd centuries BC, eventually falling under Roman dominion during the rule of Julius Caesar. The city was destroyed in the beginning of the 4th century and was rebuilt by the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great, who gave his name to the newly constructed city, Constantine.

Cirta's populace was as diverse as the Roman Republic itself — alongside native Numidians were Carthaginians displaced by the Second and Third Punic Wars, as well as Greeks, Romans, and Italians. It served as an economic hub for Rome’s African empire, as it was inhabited by Roman and Italian merchants, bankers, and businessmen. Even prior to Cirta’s fall to Julius Caesar, these economic elites constituted an important segment of the city's population, as they kept it within Rome’s sphere of influence without having to be directly controlled.