View source for Beroea

{{Short description|Ancient city and archaeological site in Macedonia}}
{{other uses}}
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| image                   = Macedonian Museums-36-Arx Beroias-149.jpg
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| caption                 = Archaeological Museum of Veria
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'''Beroea''' (or '''Berea''', {{langx|grc|Βέροια|Béroia}}) was an ancient city of the [[Hellenistic period]] and [[Roman Empire]] now known as [[Veria]] (or Veroia) in [[Macedonia (Greece)|Macedonia]], [[Northern Greece]]. It is a small city on the eastern side of the [[Vermio Mountains]] north of [[Mount Olympus]]. The town is mentioned in the ''[[Acts of the Apostles]]'' as a place in which the [[Apostles in the New Testament|apostles]] [[Paul the Apostle|Paul]], [[Silas]] and [[Saint Timothy|Timothy]] preached the [[Christian Gospel]].

==Location==
Berea was in southwestern [[Macedonia (Greece)|Macedonia]]. The city's foundation stood where [[Veria]], or Kar-Verria, in Greece is today. In its unique position, it had a variety of terrain surrounding the city since then.

Berea sat at the base of [[Mount Bermius]], which is part of the Vermio Mountains and provides an ample supply of water for the city and the region. The main sources of water were the [[Haliacmon]] and [[Axios (River)|Axios]] Rivers, which supported [[apple]], [[peach]] and [[pear]] [[orchard]]s. The area is prosperous with a [[hydroelectric dam]] on the Haliacmon powering the area's industrial sector.<ref>{{cite web|title=Berea|url=http://www.meandertravel.com/biblical_asia_minor/biblical_asia_minor.php?details=berea&m=4&md=sc4|publisher=Meander Travel}}</ref>

== History ==
The city is reputed to have been named by its [[myth]]ical founder Beres (also spelled Pheres) or from the daughter of the king of Berroia, who was thought to be the son of [[Makedon (mythology)|Macedon]].

A city of the same name that is mentioned in a section of [[Thucydides]]'s history, which dates it to be around 432 BC. In [[Polybius]]'s history there were two insertions about an inscription that dates the city back to the later part of the 4th century BC. No one has verified the historical date of the establishment of the city although it has been known to have been surrendered to the [[Roman Empire|Romans]] from the [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedonians]] after the [[Battle of Pydna]] in 168 BC.{{citation needed|date=September 2020}}

Veria enjoyed great prosperity under the kings of the [[Argead Dynasty]], whose most famous member was [[Alexander the Great]], who made it their second-most important city after [[Pella]]. Veria reached the height of its glory and influence in the [[Hellenistic period]], during the reign of the [[Antigonid Dynasty]]. During that time, Veria became the seat of the [[Koinon of Macedonians]] (Κοινόν Μακεδόνων), minted its own [[Coin|coinage]] and held sports games named ''Alexandreia'' in honour of Alexander the Great, with [[athlete]]s from all over [[Greece]] competing in them.<ref>Λούκιος ή Όνος 34.15–17</ref>

The city was the first [[polis|city]] of the [[Macedonia (region)|Macedonian]] region to fall to the [[Roman Empire]], after the [[Battle of Pydna]] in 168 BC. In the 1st, century there were two major roads joining the towns of [[Thessalonica]] and Beroea, one of them passing close to the ancient city of Pella.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}} There are some assumptions that the Apostle Paul used that route when he visited Beroea.{{citation needed|date=September 2020}}

Within the city there was a [[Jewish]] settlement in which Paul,<ref>(greek) hellasportal.gr,[http://www.hellasportal.gr/cat_content.asp?lng=el&contentid=201&catid=287&cattypeid=101&menu2=161&menu3=285&menu4=286&htab=1&visible=1 Apostle Paul preach in Veria]{{dead link|date=January 2018|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}, accessed June 1, 2008.</ref> after he had left [[Thessalonica]], and his companion, [[Silas]], preached to the Jewish and Greek communities of the city in AD 50/51 or 54/55.

In the 7th century, the [[Slavic people|Slavic]] tribe of the [[Drougoubitai]] raided the lowlands below the city, and in the late-8th century, Empress [[Irene of Athens]] is said to have rebuilt and expanded the city and named it '''Irenopolis''' after herself, but some sources place that Berrhoea-Irenopolis further east.<ref name="ODB2">{{ODB|last1=Gregory|first1=Timothy E.|last2=Ševčenko|first2=Nancy Patterson|title=Berroia in Macedonia|pages=283–284}}</ref> For subsequent history, see [[History of Veria]].

==New Testament references==
Paul, Silas, and Timothy traveled to Beroea by night after fleeing from [[Thessalonica]], as recorded in {{bibleref|Acts|17:10|NKJV}}. They 'immediately' went to the [[synagogue]] to preach, and the [[Beroeans]] were accepting; the writer of the [[Acts of the Apostles]] noted the difference between the Thessalonians' response to the [[gospel]] and the Beroeans' response: the Beroeans were 'open-minded'<ref>[[New Living Translation]] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts17:10-12&version=NLT accessed 26 September 2015</ref> or 'fair-minded'<ref>[[New American Bible]] translation https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts17:10-12&version=NABRE accessed 26 September 2015</ref> and willing to 'examine the [[scriptures]] to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth'.<ref>{{bibleverse||Acts|17:11|NLT}}</ref> Many of the Beroeans believed, both men and women, but when the Jewish Thessalonian non-believers heard about that, they came to Beroea; stirred up crowds; started riots and ensured that Paul, Silas, and Timothy could not preach. Then, the believers sent Paul to the coast while Timothy and Silas stayed behind. Paul was taken to [[Athens]], and word was given to Timothy and Silas to join him as soon as possible. ({{bibleref|Acts|17:10–15|9}})

Paul and Silas ministered to the [[Jewish]] community of Beroea around 54 and 55 A.D. The two men had been driven out of the city of Thessalonica by an angry mob for spreading the gospel there. Paul and Silas made their journey from Thessalonica to Beroea by night ({{bibleverse|Acts|17:10|KJV}}). It is also said that [[Saint Timothy|Timothy]], a student of Paul, joined him during the journey to Beroea. The people of Beroea were more accepting than the people of Thessalonica of the message from the Apostle and his companions. The community was said to consider carefully what they learned from Paul before truly believing it ({{bibleverse|Acts|17:11–12|KJV}}).

After Paul, Silas and the other members of their group had spent several days in Beroea, some Jews from Thessalonica got word that Paul and Silas were preaching in Beroea and stirred up trouble, and Paul was again forced to leave. Some members of the congregation helped Paul to get to Athens, but Silas and Timothy stayed in Beroea, then later caught up with Paul in the city of [[Corinth]] ({{bibleverse|Acts|18:5|KJV}}). Later, [[Sopater]] of Berea joined Paul on his journey ({{bibleverse|Acts|20:4|KJV}}). It is said{{cn|date=May 2019}} that Sopater was ordered by a delegation from Beroea to go to Judea with funds that would help the needy of that region.

==Bishopric==
A [[bishopric]] at Beroea goes back to the [[New Testament]]. The former [[diocese]] of the ancient city of Beroea was within the Roman province of Macedonia, in today's northern Greece. Presently the diocese is part of the [[ecclesiastical province]] of [[Thessaloniki]]. The [[Roman Catholic]] [[episcopal see]] of ''Berrhoea'', centred on northern Greece, is today a vacant [[titular see]].

===History===
[[Onesimus]], formerly [[Philemon (biblical figure)|Philemon]]'s slave, was its first bishop according to the ''[[Apostolic Constitutions]]'' (VII, 46). Known bishops attended ecclesiastical councils: Gerontius took part in the [[Council of Sardica]] (c. 344), Lucas in the [[Second Council of Ephesus]] (449), Sebastian in the [[Council of Chalcedon]] (451), Timothy in the synod convoked by the patriarch [[Menas of Constantinople]] in 536, and Joseph in the [[Council of Constantinople (869)|Fourth Council of Constantinople]] (869) that condemned [[Photius]].<ref>Michel Lequien, [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_86weAemI-e4C ''Oriens christianus in quatuor Patriarchatus digestus''], Paris 1740, Vol. II, coll. 69–74</ref><ref>Raymond Janin, v. ''1. Berrhée'' in [http://booksnow.scholarsportal.info/ebooks/oca2/4/dictionnairedhis08bauduoft/dictionnairedhis08bauduoft.pdf ''Dictionnaire d'Histoire et de Géographie ecclésiastiques''], vol. VIII, 1935, coll. 885–887</ref>

The Byzantine emperor [[Michael VIII Palaiologos]] promoted the local see to an [[archbishopric]] after 1261, and it advanced further to the rank of a [[metropolitan see]] by 1300.<ref name="ODB">{{cite encyclopedia | last1 = Gregory | first1 = Timothy E. | last2 = Ševčenko | first2 = Nancy Patterson | title = Berroia in Macedonia | pages = 283–284 | editor-last=Kazhdan | editor-first=Alexander | editor-link=Alexander Kazhdan | year=1991 | encyclopedia = [[The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium]] | location = [[Oxford]] and [[New York City]] | publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-504652-6 }}</ref> Berrhoea is listed by the Roman Catholic Church as a titular see.<ref>''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 {{ISBN|978-88-209-9070-1}}), p. 838</ref><ref>[https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&hl=en&prev=search&rurl=translate.google.com.au&sl=de&u=http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/d2b51.html&usg=ALkJrhiVIEP6Nb9ewCuq4BA9THvjbbM9QQ Berrhoea ].</ref>

At the time of the last partition of the empire, it was allotted to Macedonia Prima,<ref>Hierocles, [[Synecdemos]], 638</ref> and its see made suffragan to [[Thessalonica]].

Under [[Andronicus II]] (1283–1328) Beroea was made a metropolis.

The Greek metropolitans added the title of [[Naousa, Imathia|Naoussa]], a neighbouring city. It has about 10,000 inhabitants.<ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02513b.htm Beroea] at newadvetn.org.</ref>

===Known bishops===
Amongst its bishops were:
* The [[Biblical]] [[Onesimus]]
*Gerontius was present at [[Council of Serdica]] in 344
*Luke at the [[Second Council of Ephesus]] in 449
*Timothy at the [[Council of Constantinople (536)|Council of Constantinople]] under the Patriarch Menas in 536,
*Joseph at the [[Fourth Council of Constantinople (Catholic Church)|Fourth Council of Constantinople]] in 869
*un-named Catholic bishop in 1235<ref>Kenneth Meyer Setton, The Papacy and the Levant, 1204–1571 (American Philosophical Society, 1976) [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_5Gm79HuBY0cC/page/n86 <!-- pg=74 quote=Berrhoea. --> p30].</ref>

=== Catholic titular bishops of Berrhoea ===
* Alfredo Ottaviani (April 5, 1962{{spnd}}April 19, 1962 )
* Pierre-Auguste-Marie-Joseph Douillard (May 22, 1963{{spnd}}August 20, 1963)
* Friedrich Kaiser Depel (October 29, 1963{{spnd}}September 26, 1993)<ref>[http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/d2b51.html entry in '' catholic-hierarchy.org '' (English)]</ref>

==See also==
*[[Acts 17]], [[Acts 18]], [[Acts 20]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/johnson_bw/pnt.pnt00m_sec9.htm Berea]{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} at Easton's Bible Dictionary
*{{cite book |title=Smith's Dictionary of the Bible |year=1981 |publisher=H. B. Hackett, D.D. |page=280}}
*{{cite book |title=The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible |year=1962 |publisher=Abingdon Press |pages=385–6}}
*{{cite book |title=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.225580 |year=1929 |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica |page=430}}
*{{cite book |title=Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature |year=1981 |publisher=Baker Book House Company |page=785}}
*{{cite book |title=The Victor Journey Through the Bible |year=1981 |publisher=V. Gilbert Beers |page=371}}
*http://www.my-favourite-planet.de/english/europe/greece/macedonia/veria/veria-01.html{{full citation needed|date=December 2013}}{{Dead link|date=October 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
*{{cite journal |title=A Badge of True Nobility |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FYUxAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA606 |pages=606 |journal=Northwestern Christian Advocate |volume=64 |issue=26 |date=June 21, 1916 |editor1-first=Elbert Robb |editor1-last=Zaring}}

==External links==
{{commonscat-inline}}

{{Second Journey of Paul of Tarsus}}

[[Category:Cities in ancient Greece]]
[[Category:Veria]]
[[Category:New Testament cities]]
[[Category:Populated places in ancient Macedonia]]
[[Category:Pauline churches]]
[[Category:Acts of the Apostles]]