Melzi

For other uses, see Melzi (disambiguation).

Melzi was a civitas (town) of the Roman Empire during late antiquity. It was also known as Meditanus.^[1][2]

Africa Proconsularis (125 AD)

The town was in the Medjerda River valley of northern Tunisia. It was a civitas of the Roman province of Africa Proconsularis,^[3] And the town has been tentatively identified with ruins at the Oued-Melzi Wadi and the Bagrada river confluence.^[4][5]

In antiquity the town was also the seat of a Christian bishopric,^[6][7] suffragan of the Archdiocese of Carthage.^{[8] [9][10]}

There are two documented bishops of this African dioceses.

• Valerio was convicted, along with other supporters of the Donatist bishops Maximian, in the Donatist Council of Bagai of 394.^[11][12][13]
• The Catholic bishop Tutus, who participated in the Council of Carthage of 411, (the town had no Donatist bishops at that time). Tutus himself was present with two other councils of Carthage, celebrated in 416 and 424.

The town was mentioned by Augustine^[14] and Optatus^[15]

References

1. Sanctorum Zenonis et Optati, prioris Veronæ, aterius Milevi episcoporum (Excudebat Vrayet, 1845 ).
2. Augustine, Sancti Aurelii Augustini Hipponensis Operum, tomus primus.
3. Cajus Plinius Secundus, Naturalis Historia in 37 Bänden (Walter de Gruyter, 1993) p142.
4. Joseph Cserháti, Melzi at http://lexikon.katolikus.hu/M/Melzi.html.
5. Titular Episcopal See of Melzi.
6. Melzitanus at catholic-hierarchy.org.
7. Titular Episcopal See of Muzuca in Proconsulari at GCatholic.org.
8. J. Mesnage L'Afrique chrétienne, Paris 1912, p. 96.
9. Pius Bonifacius Gams, Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae, (Leipzig, 1931), p. 467
10. Stefano Antonio Morcelli, Africa christiana, Volume I, (Brescia, 1816), pp. 222–223.
11. Optati Afri Milevitani Episcopi de Schismate Donatistarum contra Parmenianum.
12. [Stefano Antonio Morcelli, Bettoni, Steph. Antonii Morcelli,... Africa Christiana (ex officina Bettoniana, 1816) p392.
13. [Steph. Antonii Morcelli Africa christiana in tres partes tributa. Volumen 1. p392.
14. Augustine, Sancti Aurelii Augustini Hipponensis Operum, tomus primus.
15. Optatus of Milevitanus, Sanctorum Zenonis et Optati, Prioris Veronae, alterius Milevi p345.