Aeliae or Æliæ was a Roman-era city in the province of Byzacena.[1]
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The town must have been of some importance as it was made a bishopric early after the Council of Nicaea and it was a Catholic diocese throughout antiquity.
Its exact location is tentatively given as ruins near Henchir-Mraba[2][3] southeast of Ouled Chamekh, between lake Sebkhet Cherita and Sebkhet de Sidi El Hani in the central part of what is today Mahdia Governorate, Tunisia.[4]
Aeliae was also the seat of an ancient Christian bishopric. There are three bishops documented as residing in Aeliae during antiquity.[5][6]
- The Catholic Fascinullo intervened at the Conference of Carthage of 411, between Catholic and Donatist bishops of Roman North Africa
- The Bishop Donaziano participated in the synod assembled in Carthage in 484 by the arian King Huneric the Vandal, after which Donaziano was exiled.
- Bishop Constantine took part in the anti-monotheistic Council of Carthage (641).
Since 1933 Aeliae has been a titular bishopric. Since 2019 the title has been held by Ricardo Augusto Rodríguez Álvarez, Auxiliary Bishop of Lima, Peru.[7]
References
edit- ^ Aeliae at www.gcatholic.org.
- ^ It Ant 55.4
- ^ E. Babelon, R. Cagnat and S. Reinach, Atlas archéologique de la Tunisie (1:50,000), Paris, 1892–1913 73.19-20.
- ^ Auguste Audollent, v. Abaradirensis, in Dictionnaire d'Histoire et de Géographie ecclésiastiques, vol. I, (Paris, 1909), col. 13
- ^ Pius Bonifacius Gams, Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae, (Leipzig, 1931), p. 465.
- ^ Stefano Antonio Morcelli, Africa christiana, Volume I, (Brescia, 1816), pp. 154–155.
- ^ "Resignations and Appointments, 13.04.2019" (Press release). Holy See Press Office. 13 April 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2020.