Parthenia was aRoman–Berber town in the formerRoman province ofMauretania Sitifensis, the easternmost part of ancientMauretania. It was located in what is now northernAlgeria.[1][2]
Parthenia is one of the Maghreb cities of the Roman period whose toponym recalls thecognomen of a prominent family; usually of thepatrician class, in this case the family of the Parthenii.[3]
TheNotitia Provinciarum et Civitatum Africae, part ofVictor Vitensis'sHistoria persecutionis Africanae Provinciae, temporibus Geiserici et Hunirici regum Wandalorum, mentions Parthenia among thebishoprics of Mauretania Sitifensis. It says that the bishop Rogatus was one of those exiled by theVandal kingHuneric 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.[2]
A writer on the websitePartenia places the site of the ancient town and bishopric that it calls Partenia in modernSétif Province, directly south of the city ofSétif, but says the town's exact location is unknown, since it has disappeared beneath the sand.[4] 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 theAssociazione Storico-Culturale S. Agostino shows no town of similar name.[5] 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 ancientAfrica, Numidia, and part of Mauretania by the father and son Lapie. Ad Partum lay to the east of ancientSetifis, southeast of Cuiculum and southwest ofCirta.
Parthenia is also atitular see of theRoman Catholic Church.[6] It was titular see of formerbishop of Évreux,Jacques Gaillot 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 theArianVandalHuneric summoned to a meeting atCarthage and thenexiled.[2][7]
No longer a residential bishopric, Parthenia is now listed by theCatholic Church as atitular see.[1]
The titular see of Parthenia was assigned to BishopJacques Gaillot when he was transferred on 13 January 1995 from the residential diocese ofÉvreux in France. Gaillot had been noted for his public expression of support for controversial church criticEugen Drewermann,[9] 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'smagisterium. 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".[10]
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,[11] but ceased to write on it in 2010.[12]
Huneric February 484.
Romano-Berber cities in Roman North Africa | ||
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Sorted by contemporary national borders | ||
| Morocco | %2c_Algeria_04966r.jpg) | |
| Algeria |
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| Tunisia | ||
| Egypt | ||
| Spain | ||
| Kingdoms and provinces | ||
| Related articles | ||
1 UNESCO World Heritage Sites2 Proposed | ||
