Justinianopolis in Armenia, also known asIustinianopolis was aRoman andByzantine era city andbishopric inLesser Armenia. It has been identified with modernErzincan,Turkey. It was one of several ancient sites renamed inlate Antiquity afterByzantine emperorJustinian I. The city also known asAcilisene andKeltzene.[1]
The town was also known asAcilisene andKeltzene, Eliza andErzindjan. Acilisene was a province situated between theEuphrates andAntitaurus, whereMithridates VI of Pontus, pursued byPompey, sought refuge.[2][3][4]
It is hard to tell when Acilisene became abishopric. The first bishop is attested in the mid-5th century,Le Quien mentions six bishops:[5]
appearing as "bishop of Justinianopolis".
Until the 10th century, the diocese itself appears in none of theNotitiae Episcopatuum. By 980, they present it as anautocephalous archdiocese, and those of the11th century present it as ametropolitan see with 21 suffragans. This was the time of greatest splendour of Acilisene, which ended with the decisive defeat of theByzantines by theSeljuq Turks at theBattle of Manzikert in 1071 when the Seljuqs invaded.[6] The diocese survived the Islamic invasion and was still extant whenMarco Polo visited the town. After the 13th century there is no mention of diocesan bishops of Acilisene and the see no longer appears inNotitiae Episcopatuum.[7]
No longer a residential bishopric, Acilisene is today listed by theRoman Catholic Church as atitular see.[8]