Rhosus

:"For the moth genus, see "Rhosus (moth).

Rhosus is the name of several ancient sites and/or present Roman Catholic titular sees in what is now Turkey.

Cilician Rhos(s)us

A titular bishopric in the former Roman province of Cilicia Secunda, suffragan to Anazarba. Rhosus or Rhossus was a seaport situated on the Gulf of Issus, later Alexandretta, southwest of Alexandria (modern Iskenderoun or Alexandretta). It is mentioned by Strabo [XIV, 5; XVI, 2.] , Ptolemy [V, 14.] , Pliny the Elder [V, xviii, 2.] who (mis?)places it in Syria and Stephanus Byzantius; later by Hierocles" ["Synecdemus" 705, 7.] , and George of Cyprus ["Descriptio orbis romani", 827.] , who locate it in Cilicia Secunda. Towards 200 AD, Serapion of Antioch composed a treatise on the "Gospel of Peter" for the faithful of Rhosus who had become heterodox on account of that book [Eusebius, "Histor. eccles.", VI, xii, 2.] . Theodoret [Philoth. Histor., X, XI.] , who places it in Cilicia, relates the history of the hermit Theodosius of Antioch, founder of a monastery in the mountain near Rhosus, who was forced by the inroads of barbarians to retire to Antioch, where he died and was succeeded by his disciple Romanus, a native of Rhosus; these two religious are honoured by the Greek Church on 5 and 9 February. Six bishops of Rhosus are known [Le Quien, "Oriens christianus", II, 905.] :

*Antipatros, at the Council of Antioch, 363
*Porphyrius, a correspondent of St. John Chrysostom
*Julian, at the Council of Chalcedon, 451
*a little later a bishop (name unknown), who separated from his metropolitan to approve of the reconciliation effected between John of Antioch and St. Cyril
*Antoninus, at the Council of Mopsuestia, 550; Theodore, about 600. The see is mentioned among the suffragans of Anazarba in "Notitiæ episcopatuum" of the Patriarchate of Antioch, of the sixth century [Vailhé in "Echos d'Orient", X, 145.] and one dating from about 840 [Gustav Parthey, "Hieroclis synecd. et notit. gr. episcopat.", not. Ia, 827.] . In another of the tenth century Rhosus is included among the exempt sees [Vailhé, ibid. 93 seq.] . In the twelfth century the town and neighbouring fortress fell into the hands of the Armenians. In 1268 this castle was captured from the Templars by Sultan Bibars [Alishan, "Sissouan", Venice, 1899, 515.] . Rhosus is near the village of Arsous in the former Ottoman vilayet of Adana.

Other

*a place on the Pierian coast in Macedonia, site of the wedding of Seleucus I Nicator, king of Syria, and Stratonice, daughter of king Demetrius I Poliorcetes.

ources and references

*CathEncy|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13026c.htm|title=Rhosus
*CathEncy|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13191a.htm|title=Rosea

Notes