Mæander, where Colossæ stood. But it may be concluded it was at no great distance from it, since all authors agree that Laodicea stood near the Mæander; and these three cities, Colossæ, Hierapolis, and Laodicea, which St. Paul joins together, are said, by Chrysostom, Theodoret, and others, to be very near each other. They who have opportunity to consult Antonine's Itinerary, which at present I have not, may perhaps find them more exactly described, and limited with more certain bounds than I can pretend to assign them. If the first opinion of Ferrarius be true, and agreeable to Antonine, that they lay but six miles asunder ; then it will readily be concluded, that the dioceses in this part of Phrygia were comparatively very small, since, by Carolus à Sancto Paulo's description, Itoana, Trapezopolis, Attudi, Mosynus, and Antioch upon the Mæander, in Caria, seem not to have been at much greater distances from one another.

SECT. 16-Of Isauria and Cilicia.

Beside these several provinces of the Asiatic and Pontic dioceses in Asia Minor, there were also three provinces in it which were reckoned to the eastern diocese and the patriarchate of Antioch, viz. Isauria, Cilicia Prima, and Cilicia. Secunda, which must be spoken of in this place. Isauria was anciently reckoned only a part of Cilicia; but, from the time of Constantine, both in the civil and ecclesiastical account, it was esteemed a distinct province. Carolus à Sancto Paulo mentions twenty-two dioceses. 1. Seleucia, the metropolis. 2. Celenderis. 3. Anemurium. 4. Lamus. 5. Antiochia ad Tragum. 6. Selinus, or Trajanopolis. 7. Iotape. 8. Diocæsarea. 9. Philadelphia. 10. Domiticpolis. 11. Titopolis. 12. Hierapolis. 13. Nephelis. 14. Dalisandus. 15. Claudiopolis, or Isaura. 16. Germani

copolis. 17. Sbide, or Isis. 18. Cestrus. 19. Olbus. 20. Lybias. 21. Hermopolis. 22. Irenopolis. To which Holstenius adds two more, Charadra, and Lauzada, which is sometimes written corruptly, Vasada, and Nauzada.

In Cilicia Prima there were eight dioceses. 1. Tarsus, the metropolis. 2. Pompeiopolis. 3. Sebaste. 4. Coricus. 5. Adana. 6. Mallus. 7. Zephyrium. 8. Augusta,

added by Holstenius, who shows it to be a distinct place from Sebaste.

In the other Cilicia there are reckoned nine. 1. Anazarbus, the metropolis. 2. Mopsuestia. 3. Egæ. 4. Epiphania. 5. Irenopolis. 6. Flaviopolis. 7. Castabala. 8. Alexandria, now called Scanderon. 9. Rossus, in the confines of Syria. The greatest part of these were large dioceses, like those of Syria, as any one that computes the distance between Epiphania, Alexandria, Rossus, &c. will easily imagine.

SECT. 17.-Of Lazica, or Colchis.

Some reckon Lazica, which was anciently called Colchis, an appendix to Asia Minor, and therefore I mention it in this place. It is all the country on the Euxine sea, from Trabezond, in Pontus, to Phasis, which Strabo reckons near 200 miles. The modern Notitiæ speak but of five dioceses, but that of Leo Sapiens, in Leunclavius, has fifteen. It was first made a Roman province in the time of Justinian,' who mentions the cities that were in it, Petra and Justiniana; with four castles, Pitius, Sebastopolis, Archæopolis, and Rhodopolis, which had anciently been in the hands of the Romans; and four other castles, Scandias, Sarapenes, Murisios, and Lusieros, which he had lately taken out of the hands of the Persians. Of these, one is as ancient as the council of Nice: for Stratophilus, bishop of Ptyusium or Pitius, subscribes there among the bishops of Pontus Polemoniacus, to which province it was then annexed, as lying in Solo Barbarico, and not constituting any other province. In the sixth general-council there is mention of Petra and Phasis, the metropolis; and that is all the account we have of them in the ancient councils.

SECT. 18. Of the Isle of Lesbos, and the Cyclades.

Another appendix to Asia Minor are the lesser islands of the Ægean sea, which constituted a province by themselves. Carolus à Sancto Paulo reckons four dioceses in Lesbos itself. 1. Mytelene. 2. Methymna. 3. Tenedos.

4.

'Justin. Novel. 28.

Poroselene. But Poroselene and Tenedos were distinct islands by themselves, which sometimes had bishops of their own, and sometimes were united to Lesbos. In the council of Sardica, Dioscorus subscribes himself bishop of the Isle of Tenedos alone; but, in the second council of Ephesus, and in the council of Chalcedon, Florentius subscribes himself bishop of Lesbos and Tenedos together. Now, as we must say that Tenedos was but a small diocese by itself; for it was but ten miles in compass, as Ferrarius computes; so, when Lesbos was joined with it, it was a large one: for Pliny says, Lesbos alone had nine famous towns, and Strabo makes it 1100 stadia, or 140 miles in compass.

1

The other islands, called Cyclades, were divided into eleven distinct dioceses. 1. Rhodus, the metropolis. 2. Samos. 3. Chios. 4. Coos. 5. Naxos. 6. Paros. 7. Thera. 8. Delos. 9. Tenos. 10. Melos. 11. Carpathus. Now the largest of these, Rhodus, Samos, and Chios, were about 100 or 120 miles in compass, as Pliny informs us. But the lesser sort of them, Tenos and Thera, were not above fourteen or fifteen miles long, or forty in compass. So that among these we find dioceses of different extent, as in the rest of Asia, but all agreeing in the same species of episcopal government; and some of them, as Lesbos, having their chorepiscopi, but none so small as to be confined to a single congregation.

And so we have gone over all the provinces of the East under the civil government of the Præfectus-Prætorio Orientis, except the six provinces of the Thracian diocese; which, because they are European provinces, we will consider as such among the provinces of Europe, and give them the first place in the following Chapter.

1 Plin. lib. v. c. 31,

CHAP. IV.

A Continuation of the former Account in the European Provinces.

SECT. 1.-Of the Six Provinces of Thrace. And first of Scythia.

In pursuance of the former inquiry, we are led out of Asia Minor into the provinces of Europe, where the six provinces of the Thracian diocese, Europa, Thracia, Hæmimontis, Rhodope, Mosia Secunda, and Scythia, first offer themselves to consideration. This was all the country from Macedonia and the river Strymon to the Danube, which is now Romania and Bulgaria. A country extending from Constantinople to Sardica, above 300 miles one way, and from the Ægean-sea to the Danube, almost as much the other. In all these provinces the dioceses were very large. For in Scythia, the most northern province, there was but one bishopric, though there were many cities. For the bishop of Tomi was the sole bishop of this whole region, as is noted by Sozomen, and Theodoret, and other ancient writers by whom he is sometimes called the bishop of Tomi, and sometimes the bishop of Scythia, as being the only superintendent of all the churches in that Scythia, which was made a province of the Roman empire.

SECT. 2.-Of Europa.

The province of Europa had also large dioceses; for several cities were under one bishop. We find in the Acts of the council of Ephesus a petition offered to that council by the bishops of this province, wherein they pray, “that an immemorial custom of their country might be continued, whereby the bishop of Heraclea had also Panium in his diocese, the bishop of Bizya had Arcadiopolis, the bishop of Cole had Callipolis, the bishop of Subsadia had Aphrodisias:" to which petition the council agreed, and ordered, "that no innovation should be made in the matter." Nor

Sozom. lib. vi. c. 21. Lib. vii. c. 19.

3 Con. Ephes. par. 2. act. 7.

Theodor. lib. iv. c. 35.

was there any alteration in the time of the council of Chalcedon; for there we find one Lucian1 styled, bishop of Bizya and Arcadiopolis still. But in the council of Constantinople under Mennas we meet with some alteration; for there Panium has a distinct bishop from Heraclea, and Callipolis from Cole. And in the Notitia of Leo Sapiens in Leunclavius, Bizya and Arcadiopolis are not only distinct bishoprics, but both of them advanced to the honour of Autocephali, or titular metropolitans in the Church. In this province stood also Byzantium, once subject to Heraclea, the metropolis, till it was rebuilt, and advanced to be the royal city by Constantine, after which it grew so great and populous, as to equal Old Rome. Sozomen says,* Constantine adorned it with many noble oratories; and it appears from one of Justinian's Novels, that in his time four of these churches had no less than five hundred clergy of all sorts belonging to them. The Novatians themselves, as Socrates observes," had three churches within the city: and in the suburbs, or region belonging to the city, the Catholics had many parishes and churches at a considerable distance, as Hebdomum, Sycæ, Marianæ, Hieron, Elæa, Therapea, and Hestiæ, otherwise called Michaelium, which, Sozomen says, was thirty-five furlongs from the city by water, and seventy by land. I think it needless to be more particular in the description of this diocese, since these are sufficient indications of the largeness of it. I shall only add concerning this province of Europa, that though Carolus à Sancto Paulo reckons thirteen dioceses in it,-1. Heraclea. 2. Panium. 3. Cælos. 4. Callipolis, 5. Cyla. 6. Aphrodisias. 7. Theodosiopolis. 8. Chersonesus. 9. Drusipara. 10. Lysimachia. 11. Bizya. 12. Selymbria. 13. Arcadiopolis; yet really there were but nine: for Cælos and Cyla, as Holstenius has observed,' were two names for the same city, and Callipolis was joined in the same diocese with it; in like manner as Panium was annexed to Heraclea,

Con. Chalced. Act. 16. tom. iv. p. 800.
Sozom. lib. ii. c. 3.
Justin. Novel. 3.
6 Sozom. lib. ii. c. 3.

c. 39.
p. 131.

2 Con. sub. Men. Act. 3 et 4. 5 Socrat. lib. ii. Holsten. Annot. Geograph.