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Province of Palæstina Prima.1

1. Ælia, or Jerusalem. 2. Cæsarea. 3. Dora. 4. Antipatris. 5. Diospolis, or Georgiopolis. 6. Jamnia. 7. Nicopolis. 8. Onus. 9. Sozusa. 10. Joppa. 11. Ascalon. 12. Gaza. 13. Raphia. 14. Anthedon. 15. Diocletianopolis. 16. Eleutheropolis. 17. Neapolis. 18. Sebaste. 19. Regio Apathus. 20. Regio Jericho. 21. Regio Libiæ. 22. Regio Gadara. 23. Azotus Maritima. 24. Azotus Hippinis. 25. Acomazon. 26. Bittymos. 27. Tricomias. 28. Toxus. 29. Saltum Constantiniani. 30. Saltum Geraiticum, or Barsamon.

Province of Palæstina Secunda.

1. Scythopolis. 2. Gadara. 3. Pellæ. 4. Abila. 5. Capetomas. 6. Diocæsarea. 7. Maximianopolis. 8. Gabæ. 9. Tiberias. 10. Hippos. 11. Helenopolis, Clima Gælanes. 13. Tetracomia. 44. Comenais.

Province of Palæstina Tertia,

12.

4. Charag

8. Zoara. 9. Mamopsora. Goar divides

1. Petra. 2. Augustopolis. 3. Arindela, muda. 5. Areopolis. 6. Mapsis. 7. Elusa. Birosabon. 10. Elas. 11. Pentacomia. 12. 13. Metrocomia. 14. Saltum Hieraticum. two of these into four, reading them thus, Salton, Mamo, Psora, Hieraticon.

Province of Arabia.

1. Bostra. 2. Adrasus. 3. Dia.

rassa.

4. Medaba. 5. Ge

6. Neva. 7. Philadelphia. 8. Esbus. 9. Neapolis. 10. Philippopolis. 11. Phenutus. 12. Constantina. 13. Dionysias. 14. Pentacomia. 15. Tricomia. 16. Canothas. 17. Saltum. 18. Bataneos. 19. Exacomia. 20. Enacomia. 21. Vicus Gonias. 22. Vicus Cherus. 23. Vicus Stanes. 24. Vicus Caberæ. 25. Vicus Coreathæ. 26. Vicus Bilbanus. 27. Vicus Caprorum. 28. Vicus Pyrgo

1 This province and the next are wanting both in Carolus à Sancto "Paulo and Goar.

aretarum. 29. Vicus Setnes. 30. Vicus Ariacharum. 31. Neotes. 32. Clima Orientalium, et Occidentalium. 33. Vicus Ariathæ Saxosæ. 34. Vicus Bebdamus.

Province of Armenia Magna.

Concerning this the author only remarks, that it is an autocephalus, or independent country, not subject to any apostolical throne, but honoured in respect to St. Gregory of Armenia, having two hundred cities and castles.

Province of Cyprus.

The author makes the same observation upon this country, that it is an independent also, in honour of St. Barnabas, the Apostle, who was found here, having the Gospel of St. Mark laid upon his breast. The cities in this province are,

1. Constantia, the metropolis. 2. Citium. 3. Amathus. 4. Curium. 5. Paphus. 6. Arsenæ. 7. Soli. 8. Lapithus, the birth-place of Georgius Cyprius, who wrote the book out of which these were taken. 9. Cyrenia. 10. Tamasus. 11. Cythri. 12. Trimithus. 13. Carpasin.

There is added at the end of Goar's Notitia ;-"This account was taken Anno 6391, in the reign of the Emperor Leo Sapiens, and under the patriarch Photius," that is, Anno 891.

In this description of the Church the reader may observe, that the author being a Greek is much more accurate in his account of the Greek and Eastern Churches, than of the Western and Latin; for here is no account of France, Spain, Britain, Illyricum, and such confused and imperfect accounts of the provinces of Italy and Afric, as show plainly, that the author was not rightly acquainted with the state of the Church in those countries, at least not in Italy; for in all Italy and Sicily here are not mentioned above an hundred dioceses, and yet it is clear from the accounts that have been given before out of the Subscriptions of the ancient councils, that there were nearer three hundred dioceses in those regions. Above one hundred and fifty Italian bishops of distinct sees are found subscribed in one age in the Roman councils held under Hilary, Felix, and Symmachus,

and there were almost as many more not mentioned in those councils, but to be found in other councils and ancient records. And though when these Notitia were made, several of the ancient dioceses might be united together, yet it appears from the Subscriptions of the Roman councils under Eugenius II. and Leo IV. in the ninth century, that there were above double the number to what the Notitia mention. So that it must be owned, that they give but an imperfect account of the Latin or Western Church. But the account of the Greek and Eastern Churches is more complete, and agrees very well with the Subscriptions collected out of the ancient councils: and so they one confirm another, and both together fully make out the account that has been given both of the number and extent of dioceses in the ancient Church.

CHAP. VIII.

Of the Division of Dioceses into Parishes, and the first Original of them.

SECT. 1.-Of the ancient Names of Parish-Churches.

THERE remains but one thing more to be inquired into on this head, which is the division of dioceses into such lesser precincts as we now call parishes and parishchurches. Concerning which I shall here need to say the less, because so much has already been said incidently in speaking of the extent of ancient dioceses, which we have generally found too large to be confined to a single congregation. All that I shall add upon this subject therefore, in this place, is only to make a few remarks upon the ancient names of parishes, because some of them are a little ambiguous, and show when, and upon what account, and by what degrees, dioceses were divided into parishes, to bring them to the present state and form of the Church.

As to the ancient names, I have had occasion to show before, that the words, Παροικία and Διοίκησις, for the three first ages were of the same importance, denoting not what we now call a parish-church, but a city with its adjacent

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towns or country-region. But in the fourth and fifth ages we find both names promiscuously given as well to countryparishes, as episcopal or city-churches. For now these lesser divisions of dioceses began to be called Parochia, as may be seen in the council of Chalcedon,' which ordered "that in every church such country-parishes as belonged of old time to any bishop, should continue in his possession without any molestation." And in the council of Vaison, Anno 442, a decree was made "that country-parishes should have presbyters to preach in them, as well as the city-churches." And so the word, Parochia, is often used by St. Jerom, Sulpicius Severus,* Theodoret, Innocentius, and other writers of those ages. Though still the name, Parochia, continued to signify properly an episcopal diocese, from which it was transferred to denote those lesser Parochiæ, because they were a sort of imitation of the former. Which is the account that Socrates' seems to give of them, when speaking of the villages of the region of Mareotes that were subject to the bishop of Alexandria, he says, they were as so many Пapoikiai, or lesser dioceses under his city." And upon the same reason the name, Diocesis, was sometimes given to a parish-church also, though it most properly belongs to an episcopal diocese. Thus Sidonius Apollinarius speaks of his own visiting his dioceses, meaning only the parish-churches under his episcopal jurisdiction. And so in the Collation of Carthage it is said of one place, " that there was perfect unity not only in the city, but in all the dioceses," that is, the country-parishes or villages belonging to it. Baluzius has observed the same10

66

8

8 Hieron.

1 Con. Chalced. can. 16. Τὰς καθ' ἑκάςην ἐκκλησίαν ἀγροικικὰς παροικίας, ἢ ἐγχωρίας μένειν ἀπαρασαλεύτως τοῖς κατέχεσιν αὐτὰς ἐπισκόποις. Con, Vais. i. c. 2.. Placuit ut non solùm in civitatibus, sed etiam in omnibus parochiis, verbum faciendi daremus presbyteris potestatem. cont. Vigilant. cap. 2. * Sulpic. Sever. Dial. i. c. 4. Innocent. Ep. ad Decentium. c. 5. c. 27. Εισὶν ὑπὸ τὴν αυτᾶ πόλιν ὡς παροικίαι.

Ep. 113.

5 Theodor. Socrat. lib. i.

8 Sidon. lib. ix. ep.

ib. p. 611. Peragratis forte diocesibus cùm domum veni, &c.

9 Collat,

Carth. Die. i. c. 176. Unitas illic perfecta est, non solùm in ipsâ civitate, verùm etiam in omnibus diocesibus. P. 510.

10 Baluz. Not. ad Gratian.

in Ruricius Lemovicensis, and Gregory of Tours, and some other writers; the reason of this appellation being, as I said before, for that these churches, whereupon presbyters were fixed, were a sort of lesser dioceses, as the author of the Pontificals under the name of Damasus terms them; and some Canons give them the name of Ecclesiæ Diœcesanæ, diocesan churches, and others, country or villagechurches, whence the presbyters residing on them were termed 'Exploi ПpeoẞúтEρol, country-presbyters, by the council of Neocæsarea, in opposition to the city-presbyters in the cathedral or mother-church. Parish-churches were also peculiarly called Tituli, as has been noted before, in contradistinction to the bishop's-church, being such churches as had particular presbyters and deacons assigned to them, who upon that account are said to have a title; and some learned persons are of opinion, that cardinal presbyters and deacons, at first were no more but presbyters and deacons so deputed and affixed to the service of particular parishchurches, and that as well at Rome as at other places.

SECT. 2.-The Original of Parish-Churches owing to Necessity, and founded upon the Apostolical Rules of Christian Communion.

As to the original of parish-churches, there is no doubt but it was necessity, and the conveniences of celebrating Christian offices, and holding Christian communion with greater ease, that first gave occasion to them. For when the multitude of believers increased so in large and populous cities, that one church could not contain them, there was a necessity of dividing the assembly, and erecting other churches, where all the solemnities of the Christian worship and the usual offices of divine service might be performed, as well as in the mother-church, to answer the apostolical ordinance of holding Christian communion one with another; which was according to what we read Acts ii. 42. "That

1 Ruricius Lemovic. lib, ii. Ep. 6. c. 13. Lib. vi. c. 38.

2 Greg. Turon. Hist. lib. iv. 8 Pontifical. Vit. Marcelli. Viginti quinque titulos in Urbe Româ constituit, quasi dioceses, propter baptismum et pœnitentiam multorum. 4 Con. Tarracon. can. 8. • Book viii. chap. i. sect. 10. Epist. de Canonicis Cardinalibus. Par. 1661,

can. 13.

5 Con. Neocæsar. 7 Vid. Joh. Fronto.

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