Parthenia was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

–

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...

town in the former

Roman province The Roman provinces (, pl. ) 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 ruled by a Roman appointed as Roman g ...

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 Amps ...

, the easternmost part of ancient

Mauretania Mauretania (; ) is the Latin name for a region in the ancient Maghreb. It extended from central present-day Algeria to the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, encompassing northern present-day Morocco, and from the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean in the ...

. It was located in what is now northern

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

.''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'' (; : ''cognomina''; from ''co-'' "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 hereditar ...

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 Hunir ...

'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 were first reported in the written records as inhabitants of what is now Poland, during the period of the Roman Empire. Much later, in the fifth century, a group of Vandals led by kings established Vandal ...

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 ma ...

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 Sétif Province (, ) is a province ('' wilaya'') in north-eastern Algeria. Its capital and largest city is Sétif; the next largest city is El Eulma. There is also the World Heritage Site of Djémila there. History In 1984 Bordj Bou Arréri ...

, directly south of the city of

Sétif Sétif () is the capital city of the Sétif Province and the 5th most populous city of Algeria, with an estimated population of 1.866.845 in 2017). It is one of the most important cities of eastern Algeria and the country as a whole, since it is c ...

, 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. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

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

Setifis Sétifis (Arabic: سطيف; Berber language, Berber: Sṭif), was a Roman Empire, Roman town located in northeastern Algeria. It was the capital of the Roman province called ''Mauretania Sitifensis'', and it is today Setif in the Sétif Province ( ...

, southeast of Cuiculum and southwest of

Cirta Cirta, also known by #Names, various other names in classical antiquity, antiquity, was the ancient Berbers, Berber, Punic people, Punic and Roman Empire, Roman settlement which later became Constantine, Algeria, Constantine, Algeria. Cirta was ...

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 archbi ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. It was titular see of former bishop of Évreux,

Jacques Gaillot Jacques Gaillot (; 11 September 1935 – 12 April 2023) was a French Catholic clergyman and social activist. He was Bishop of Évreux in France from 1982 to 1995. In 1995, Pope John Paul II removed him as head of his diocese because he publicl ...

after being removed from the office due to his controversial views. In February 484, Rogatus, Bishop of Parthenia, was one of the Catholic bishops whom the

Arian Arianism (, ) is a Christological doctrine which rejects the traditional notion of the Trinity and considers Jesus to be a creation of God, and therefore distinct from God. It is named after its major proponent, Arius (). It is considered he ...

summoned to a meeting at

Carthage Carthage was an ancient city in Northern Africa, 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 classic ...

and then

exile Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...

d. 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 List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

as a

Past bishops

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

(1995–2023)

Virtual see of Partenia

The titular see of Parthenia was assigned to Bishop

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. History Antiquity In late Antiquity, the town, attested in the fourth century AD, was named '' Mediolanum Aulercorum'', "the central town ...

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 Catholic Church is the church's authority or office to give authentic interpretation of the word of God, "whether in its written form or in the form of Tradition". According to the 1992 ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' ...

. 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 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