Diocletianopolis ( grc, Διοκλητιανούπολις) was a city near Ascalon. It was given the status of a city under the name Diocletianopolis as part of a Roman policy of urbanization,Kevin Butcher, ''Roman Syria and the Near East''
(Getty Publications 2003 ), p. 121 what had been the territory of Ascalon was divided into three municipal districts, those of Ascalon, Maiumas, and Diocletianopolis. Ken Butcher says that what was given the name Diocletianopolis was the port of Ascalon.

History

This arrangement occurred probably in the reign of

Diocletian Diocletian (; la, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus, grc, Διοκλητιανός, Diokletianós; c. 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed ''Iovius'', was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Gaius Valerius Diocles ...

(284–311). so that the city of Diocletianopolis then belonged to the

Roman province The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') 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 rule ...

Syria Palaestina Syria Palaestina (literally, "Palestinian Syria";Trevor Bryce, 2009, ''The Routledge Handbook of the Peoples and Places of Ancient Western Asia''Roland de Vaux, 1978, ''The Early History of Israel'', Page 2: "After the revolt of Bar Cochba in 135 ...

. In about 390, it became part of the newly created province of

Palestina Prima Palaestina Prima or Palaestina I was a Byzantine province that existed from the late 4th century until the Muslim conquest of the Levant in the 630s, in the region of Palestine. It was temporarily lost to the Sassanid Empire (Persian Empire) ...

, which had

Caesarea Maritima Caesarea Maritima (; Greek: ''Parálios Kaisáreia''), formerly Strato's Tower, also known as Caesarea Palestinae, was an ancient city in the Sharon plain on the coast of the Mediterranean, now in ruins and included in an Israeli national park ...

as capital. Diocletianopolis was also called SarafiaBrouria Bitton Ashkelony, Arieh Kofsky (editors), ''Christian Gaza in Late Antiquity''
(BRILL 2004 ), p. 43 a name that survives in the present name of Khirbat al-Sharaf or Khirbat al-Ashraf and that Christians seem to have preferred to the official name that recalled the persecuting emperor.

Ecclesiastical History

Diocletianopolis was a Christian

episcopal see An episcopal see is, in a practical use of the phrase, the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, mak ...

by the mid-4th century, but the only bishop of the see who is known by name is Eliseus, who took part in the

Semi-Arian Semi-Arianism was a position regarding the relationship between God the Father and the Son of God, adopted by some 4th-century Christians. Though the doctrine modified the teachings of Arianism, it still rejected the doctrine that Father, Son, ...

synod of Seleucia in 359.

Titular see

No longer a residential diocese, the bishopric is today listed by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

as 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 archbish ...

.''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ), p. 881 The diocese was initially (18th century?) restored nominally under the name Diocletianopolis, only in 1933 the titular bishopric was renamed Diocletianopolis in Palæstina. It is vacant, having had the following incumbent, all of the lowest (episcopal) rank : * Bazilije Božičković,

Basilian Order of Saint Josaphat The Order of Saint Basil the Great ( uk, Чин Святого Василія Великого, translit=Chyn Sviatoho Vasyliia Velykoho; la, Ordo Sancti Basilii Magni, abbreviated OSBM), also known as the Basilian Order of Saint Josaphat, is ...

(O.S.B.M.,

Byzantine Rite The Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite or the Rite of Constantinople, identifies the wide range of cultural, liturgical, and canonical practices that developed in the Eastern Christianity, Eastern Christian Church of Constantinople. Th ...

Eastern Catholic) (1759.09.04 – 1777.06.17) * Johann Michael Josef von Pidoll de Quitenbach (1794.02.21 – 1802.05.25) * Johann Michael Leonhard (1836.02.01 – 1863.01.19) * James Whelan,

Dominican order The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of Cal ...

(O.P.) (1864.02.12 – 1878.02.18) * Anton Johann Zerr (1883.03.15 – 1889.12.30) * Fedele Abati,

Friars Minor The Order of Friars Minor (also called the Franciscans, the Franciscan Order, or the Seraphic Order; postnominal abbreviation OFM) is a mendicant Catholic religious order, founded in 1209 by Francis of Assisi. The order adheres to the teachin ...

(O.F.M.) (1890.06.06 – 1915.04.08) * Antônio Augusto de Assis (1918.08.02 – 1922.02.24), as Auxiliary Bishop of

Mariana Mariana may refer to: Literature * ''Mariana'' (Dickens novel), a 1940 novel by Monica Dickens * ''Mariana'' (poem), a poem by Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson * ''Mariana'' (Vaz novel), a 1997 novel by Katherine Vaz Music *"Mariana", a so ...

(Brazil) (1918.08.02 – 1931.07.31); previously Titular Bishop of

Sura A ''surah'' (; ar, سورة, sūrah, , ), is the equivalent of "chapter" in the Qur'an. There are 114 ''surahs'' in the Quran, each divided into '' ayats'' (verses). The chapters or ''surahs'' are of unequal length; the shortest surah ('' Al-K ...

(1907.07.10 – 1909.11.29),

Coadjutor Bishop A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) is a bishop in the Catholic, Anglican, and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in the administration of the diocese. The coadjutor (literally, "co ...

Pouso Alegre Pouso Alegre is a municipality in southern region of Minas Gerais state, Brazil, with a population of 152,549 in 2020. The area of the municipality is 543 km². It lies in the valley of the Sapucaí River. Cities that form boundaries with Po ...

(Brazil) (1907.07.10 – 1909.11.29), succeeding as Bishop of Pouso Alegre (1909.11.29 – 1916.02.07), Bishop of

Guaxupé Guaxupé is a Brazilian municipality located in the southwest of the state of Minas Gerais. Its estimated population in 2020 was 52,078 inhabitants living in a total area of 286 km². The city belongs to the meso-region of Sul e Sudoeste de ...

(Brazil) (1916.02.07 – 1918.08.02); later

Titular Archbishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

Berytus ) or Laodicea in Canaan (2nd century to 64 BCE) , image = St. George's Cathedral, Beirut.jpg , image_size = , alt = , caption = Roman ruins of Berytus, in front of Saint George Greek Orthodox Cathedral in moder ...

(1922.02.24 – 1931.07.31), Bishop of

Jaboticabal Jaboticabal is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The population is 77,652 (2020 est.) in an area of 707 km². The town takes its name from the ''jabuticaba'' tree. Jaboticabal is home to the UNESP university campus, and is ...

(Brazil) (1931.07.31 – 1961.02.07) * Gerard Vesters,

Sacred Heart Missionaries The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (MSC; la, Missionarii Sacratissimi Cordis; french: Missionnaires du Sacré-Coeur) are a missionary congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1854 by Servant of God Jules Chevalier (182 ...

(M.S.C.) (1923.02.16 – 1954.08.30) * Aníbal Maricevich Fleitas (1957.02.05 – 1965.12.04)

References

{{reflist

Source and External links

GigaCatholic, with titular incumbent biography links
Archaeological sites in Israel Catholic titular sees in Asia Ashkelon