NEOCAESAREA

Three bishoprics bear the name Neocaesarea in the early Church.

Neocaesarea in Bithynia. The exact location is uncertain, but it was probably in the western part of Bithynia mentioned in 1 Peter 1.1. Two of its bishops attended synods in Constantinople: Olympius (c. 381) and Cyriacus (518).

Neocaesarea in Pontus Polemoniacus. Here Origen's distinguished student, St. gregory thaumaturgus, was bishop c. 240 to 270. According to St. gregory of nyssa, the Church in Pontus suffered persecution under emperors decius and Galerius. When peace was restored, Gregory Thaumaturgus christianized pagan festivals, gathered the relics of martyrs, fixed days for commemorating their triumphs, and inspired his flock to erect churches. An important synod between 314 and 325 enacted legislation that affected the catechumenate for many years and barred the clinici from the priesthood on the ground that they had received baptism more from fear of death and judgment than from dedication to Christ. Some ruins, fragments of inscriptions, and sculptures remain as witnesses to the once flourishing church.

Neocaesarea on the Euphrates in Northern Syria. This was a military garrison in Augusta Euphratensis, whose fortifications were strengthened under justinian i. theodoret of cyr (Die griechischen christlichen Schriftsteller der ersten drei Jahrhunderte, 44:31) mentions Paul, bishop of Neocaesarea, who had suffered for the faith, as being present at the Council of nicaea i.

Bibliography: w. ruge, Paulys Realenzyklopädie der klassischen Altertumswissenschaft, ed. g. wissowa et al. (Stuttgart 1935) 16.2:2409–13. w. m. ramsay, The Historical Geography of Asia Minor (London 1890). a. von harnack, Die Mission und Ausbreitung, v.2 (Leipzig 1906). h. leclercq, Dictionnaire d'archéologie chrétienne et de liturgie (Paris 1907–53) 4.2:2298;12.1:1103. a. kreuz, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. j. hofer and k. rahner (Freiburg 1957–65) 7:876.

[h. dressler]