Boreum, Cyrenaica


Boreum was a city and diocese in Roman Libya. Its Greek name is Boreion or Borion. It is now a Roman Catholic titular see.
There were two sites with this name, which contributed to some confusion regarding their identification. One was mentioned by Pliny, who placed the western border of Cyrenaica at the northern Borion, located at Ra's Tāwīnis in northeastern Libya, today the place of a modern port of Al Mressa, approximately 23 km SW of Benghazi, next to the village and resort of Al Nakhil. It seems that in antiquity this place never had any permanent settlement in the form of a village or fort.
The second Boreum is situated some 160 km to the south of Ra's Tāwīnis. The identity of this southern Boreum, a city of some importance in late antiquity, was conclusively established by Richard Goodchild in 1951. Its exact site is Bu Grada, 12 km NE of Old Brega, just SW of New Brega. Some early explorers mentioned the location as Tabilba or Tabilbê. The site has not been excavated, but several remains are clearly visible between its two harbors, like a wall with a moat, a pier, a tunnel from the citadel to the eastern harbor, rock chambers, and a large structure that has been called "bastion".

History

Boreum was important enough in the Roman province of Libya Superior to become one of the suffragan sees in this province, which depended directly on the Patriarchate of Alexandria without a proper Metropolitan, but faded like most bishoprics in Roman Africa. Only one ancient bishop is known, the Arian bishop Sentianus, mentioned in 325.
In the 5th century, Sozomen quotes Boreion as the westernmost place in the African regions that were subject to Constantinople.
According to Procopius, the city had been exempt from taxation since time immemorial. He says Boreion had had temples dedicated to Amun, and to Alexander of Macedon, but the Emperor Justinian I converted all the citizens to Christianity, built them a church of the Virgin, and enclosed the city with a very strong rampart. Justinian compelled the ancient Jewish community of Boreion to become Christian and turned their temple, that was claimed to be built by the King Solomon, into church. assumes that, regardless of the term used by Procopius, this was an ordinary synagogue, unlike the temple in Elephantine.

Titular see

In 1933 the diocese was nominally restored as a Latin titular bishopric of Boreum / Borien / Boreo.
It is vacant, having had only these incumbents, all of the fitting Episcopal rank: