Parthenia was a Roman– Berber town in the former

Roman province The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...

Mauretania Sitifensis Mauretania Sitifensis was a Roman province in Northwest Africa. The capital was Setifis. History In the later division of the Roman Empire under the Emperor Diocletian, the eastern part of Mauretania Caesariensis, from Saldae to the river Amp ...

, the easternmost part of ancient

Mauretania Mauretania (; ) is the Latin name for a region in the ancient Maghreb. It stretched from central present-day Algeria westwards to the Atlantic, covering northern present-day Morocco, and southward to the Atlas Mountains. Its native inhabitants, ...

. It was located in what is now northern

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , religi ...

.''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2013, ), p. 950

History

1829 Lapie Historical Map of the Barbary Coast in Ancient Roman Times - Geographicus - AfriquePropre-lapie-1843

Parthenia is one of the Maghreb cities of the Roman period whose toponym recalls the

cognomen A ''cognomen'' (; plural ''cognomina''; from ''con-'' "together with" and ''(g)nomen'' "name") was the third name of a citizen of ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. Initially, it was a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became her ...

of a prominent family; usually of the patrician class, in this case the family of the Parthenii. The ''Notitia Provinciarum et Civitatum Africae'', part of

Victor Vitensis Victor Vitensis (or Victor of Vita; born circa 430) was an African bishop of the Province of Byzacena (called Vitensis from his See of Vita). His importance rests on his ''Historia persecutionis Africanae Provinciae, temporibus Genserici et Huniri ...

's ''Historia persecutionis Africanae Provinciae, temporibus Geiserici et Hunirici regum Wandalorum'', mentions Parthenia among the

bishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

s of Mauretania Sitifensis. It says that the bishop Rogatus was one of those exiled by the

Vandal The Vandals were a Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century. The Vandals migrated to the area bet ...

king

Huneric Huneric, Hunneric or Honeric (died December 23, 484) was King of the (North African) Vandal Kingdom (477–484) and the oldest son of Gaiseric. He abandoned the imperial politics of his father and concentrated mainly on internal affairs. He was ...

when he took action against the Catholic bishops in his dominions. Morcelli remarks that he could find no other mention of Parthenia in the works of the ancient geographers or other writers. A writer on the website ''Partenia'' places the site of the ancient town and bishopric that it calls Partenia in modern Sétif Province, directly south of the city of

Sétif Sétif ( ar, سطيف, ber, Sṭif) is the capital of the Sétif Province in Algeria. It is one of the most important cities of eastern Algeria and the country as a whole, since it is considered the trade capital of the country. It is an inner ci ...

, but says the town's exact location is unknown, since it has disappeared beneath the sand. No other map of Roman North Africa attempts to indicate where it stood. The detailed map of ancient Africa and Mauretania made available on the Internet by the ''Associazione Storico-Culturale S. Agostino'' shows no town of similar name. The name that comes closest (in that it includes four of the nine letters of the word "Parthenia" but obviously has no relation to the Parthenii family) is "Ad Partum" in an 1842 map of ancient

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, Numidia, and part of Mauretania by the father and son Lapie. Ad Partum lay to the east of ancient Setifis, southeast of Cuiculum and southwest of

Cirta Cirta, also known by various other names in antiquity, was the ancient Berber and Roman settlement which later became Constantine, Algeria. Cirta was the capital city of the Berber kingdom of Numidia; its strategically important port city ...

Bishopric

Parthenia is also a

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbis ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. It could be described as the most active titular see in the world due to the

online In computer technology and telecommunications, online indicates a state of connectivity and offline indicates a disconnected state. In modern terminology, this usually refers to an Internet connection, but (especially when expressed "on line" o ...

activities of its current

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...

, Jacques Gaillot. In February 484, Rogatus, Bishop of Parthenia, was one of the Catholic bishops whom the

Arian Arianism ( grc-x-koine, Ἀρειανισμός, ) is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius (), a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by G ...

summoned to a meeting at

Carthage Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the clas ...

and then exiled. No longer a residential bishopric, Parthenia is now listed by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

as a

Past bishops

* Victor fl * Ragatus fl. 484 * Giovanni Fallani (1964–1985) * José Luis Lacunza Maestrojuán (1985–1994) * Jacques Gaillot (1995–current)

Virtual see of Partenia

The titular see of Parthenia was assigned to Bishop Jacques Gaillot when he was transferred on 13 January 1995 from the residential diocese of

Évreux Évreux () is a commune in and the capital of the department of Eure, in the French region of Normandy. Geography The city is on the Iton river. Climate History In late Antiquity, the town, attested in the fourth century CE, was named ...

in France. Gaillot had been noted for his public expression of support for controversial church critic

Eugen Drewermann Eugen Drewermann (born 20 June 1940) is a German church critic, theologian, peace activist and former Catholic priest. His work has been translated into more than a dozen languages. Drewermann was born in Bergkamen near Dortmund. He is best kn ...

, married priests and the use of condoms and for taking a lenient view with regard to homosexual activity and procurement of abortion. The other French bishops complained to him for breaching the confidentiality of the meetings of the episcopal conference and for voicing positions contrary to the Church's

magisterium The magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and larg ...

. The president of the conference appealed to him, "if not to retract, then at least to cease making declarations opposed to the teachings and doctrine of the Catholic Church". On his removal from the see of Évreux, Gaillot established an Internet site, called "Partenia", the Italian version of the name of his titular see, in which to express his ideas, but ceased to write on it in 2010.

References

Bibliography

* Jacques Gaillot: ''EGLISE VIRTUELLE, EGLISE DE L'AN 2000. Un évêque au royaume d'Internet''. Editions Albin Michel, 7. Januar 1999, * Laffi, Umberto. ''Colonie e municipi nello Stato romano'' Ed. di Storia e Letteratura. Roma, 2007 * Mommsen, Theodore. ''The Provinces of the Roman Empire'' Section: Roman Africa. (Leipzig 1865; London 1866; London: Macmillan 1909; reprint New York 1996) Barnes & Noble. New York, 1996 * Pierre Pierrard: ''A nous la parole : Partenia, dix ans''. Harmattan 17. Oktober 2012, Kindle Edition, ASIN B00814BKFQ {{Romano-Berber cities in Roman Africa Catholic titular sees in Africa Former populated places in Algeria Roman towns and cities in Mauretania Caesariensis Ancient Berber cities

History

Bishopric

Past bishops

Virtual see of Partenia

See also

References

Bibliography