Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 14.djvu/611

 THADDEUS

553

THALBERG

west of Botria (Henshir Batria), at the ruins called Henshir Zaktoun, an inscription has been found prov- ing the existence at that place of another municipium called Thaca, also fortified during the Byzantine period. Mgr Toulotte ("Geog. de I'Afrique Chre- tienne Profonsulaire", Paris, 1S92, 25S-60) assigns to the fir.st loi-alify two bishops, the Donatist Cresoo- nius, present at the Council of Cabarsussi in 393, and Victor, who in (346 signed the letter against the Mono- thelites from the Council of Proconsular Africa to the Patriarch Paul of Constantinople; to the second local- ity he assigns Rufinus, present at the Council of Car- thage in 525, anil Probus who in 646 signed the letter to the Patriarch Paul. The two last-named were en- titled bishops of "Tacia Montana". It may be ques- tioned whether there were really bishops of Thaca, or if there was not near Thacia a place of the same name to which was added a distinctive epithet. The official list of titular sees of the Roman Curia mentions only Thacia Montana and identifies it with Bordj Mes- saoudi.

MuLLER, Notes A PtoUmie, ed. DiDOT, I, 651; Diehl, UAfrique byzantine (Paris, 1896), passim.

S. P^TRIofcs.

Thaddeus, Saint. See Jude, Epistle of Saint.

Thaenae, a titular see in Africa Byzacena. It is mentioned in numerous ancient geographical docu- ments and was a maritime city of Byzacium in Africa Propria, situated at the mouth of a river (now Wady Tina) which emptied into the SjTtis Minor. Its ruins (Henshir Tina) are somewhat north of Ounca, for- merly Junca, Tunis. The city was crowned by a hill surmounted bj' an acropolis, its walls attained a length of about two Roman miles and it had a large cemetery. The name Thajnje has numerous varia- tions in Greek and Latin writers, but is borne out by epigraphy. The Punic coins of the city show that its native name was Tainat. Under Hadrian or Anto- ninus it became a colonj' which was called "Colonia ^Elia Augusta Mercurialis Tha;nitana". Six of its bishops are known, Eucratius at the Council of Car- thage (256); Latonius, at t lie conference of Carthage (411), where he had as rival the Donati-st Securus, and at a Council of Thelepte; Pcregrinus, a former deacon of St. Augustine; Paschasius, exiled bj' Huneric in 4S4; Pontianus, present at the Council of Junca (525); Felix, who in 641 signed the letter from the provincial council to the emperor against the Monothelites. A council was held at Tha;na; at the beginning of the fourth century, three of its canons being extant (Mansi, "Amplissima Coll. conciliorum", IV, 440).

Smith, Diet. Greek and Rom. Gcoq., a. v. Tkena:: Gu^bin, Voy- age archlologique dans!a rigence de Tunis (Paris. 1862), I, 178; MOller, notes to Ptolemy, ed. Didot, I, 624; Toulotte, Gio- graphie de VAfrique chrilienne: Byzacine et tripotitaine (Montreuil, 1894). 196-99.

S. P^tridIis.

Thagaste (Tagaste), a titular see in Numidia, was a rather important municipality. It is mentioned by Pliny (V, iv, 4) and the "Itinerar. Antonini" (44), but nothing is known of its history. It is famous as having been the birthplace of St. Augustine, who was born there in 3.54 of the pagan Patricius and St. Monica. St. .A.ugustine speaks of a monastery of Tha- gaste where he lived with Severus his compatriot and friend, later Bishop of Milevis. Only three bishops of Thagaste are known: St. Firmus (end of third cen- turj'), mentioned in the Roman Martyrology on 31 July; St. Alypius (q. v.), b. at Thagaste, the friend of Augustine, whose feast is 15 August; and Januarius, sent by Huneric into exile (484), where he died for the Faith. The See of Thagaste still existed about 600. At the time of the French occupation the country was under the dominion of the .\rabized Berber tribe of the Hanensha, whos(^ territory bordered on the mod- em Tunisia. Thagaste is now Souk Ahras, capit.al of a commune of 7500 inhabitants of whom 4000 are Euro-

peans, and of a mixed community of 42,600 inhabi- tants. Department of Constantine, Algeria. Souk- Ahras, its modern representative, is built on a small peaked plateau, and is well served by railways. It is a very important agricultural centre, its indus- tries consisting of vineyards, cattle-breeding, vast forests, and mining. Ruins of a basihca and various Christian monuments have been found.

Toulotte, Geographie de VAfrique chritienne. Numidie (Paris. 1894), 281-85; Renier in Comptes rendus de Vacadimie des in- scriptiones et beltes-leUres (1857-58), 82.

S. P^TRIoiiS.

Thagora (Tagora), titular see in Numidia, men- tioned by the "T.abula Peutingeriana", which calls it Thacora, and by the "Itinerarium Antoninum"; Jus- tinian fortified it. It is now the village of Taoura, near Ain Guettar, about thirteen miles south-east of Souk Ahras (ancient Thagaste), Department of Con- stantine, Algeria. It has ruins of baths, a church, and the fortress of Justinian, and a number of inscrip- tions have been discovered. Thagura was the birth- place of St. Crispin, martyred at Theveste (now Te- bessa) under Diocletian, and whose feast is observed on 5 December. It was also the scene of the mar- tyrdoms of Sts. Julius and Potamia and ten other mar- tyrs who are likewise commemorated in the Roman Martyrology on the same day. The first two figure in the Hieronymian Martyrology and the Calendar of Carthage. Three bishops of Thagura are known: Xanthippus in 401, mentioned in a letter of ,St. Augus- tine's; Reetitutus, present in 411 at the conference of Carthage; Timotheus, exiled by Huneric in 484.

Toulotte, Giographie de VAfrique chretienne: Numidie (Paris, 1894), 285-87; Diehl, L'Afrique byzantine (Paris, 1896), 605. S. PETRIDfcs.

Thais (Thaisis, or Thaisia), Saint, a penitent in Egypt in the fourth century. In the Greek menology her name occurs on 8 Oct., it is found also in the mar- tyrologies of Maurolychus and Greven, but not in the Roman. Two lives are extant, one, originaOy in Greek, perhaps of the fifth century, the other, in verse, by Marbod, Bishop of Rennes, who died in 1123 ("Acta SS.", IV, Oct., 223; "Bibl. hag. lat.", II, 1161). The saint is represented burning her treas- ures and ornaments, or praying in a cell and displaying a scroll with the words: "Thou who didst create me have mercy on me". According to the legend Thais was a public sinner in Egypt who was converted by St. Paplmutius, brought to a convent and enclosed in a cell. After three years of penance she was released and placed among the nuns, but lived only fourteen days more. The name of the hermit is given also as Bessarion and Serapion the Sindonite. Delahaye says (Anal, boll., XXIV, 400), " If the legend is histori- cal the hermit must have been Paphnutius".

Butler, Lires of the Saints: 8 October; Dunbar, Diet. of Saintly Women (London, 1904); Anal. boll.. XI, 291, 298; Nad. Hist, de Thais in Annates du musie Guimet. XXX (1903), 51; Battifol, La legende de Thais in Bull, de litt. eccl. (Toulouse, 1903), 207.

Francis Mershman.

Thalberg, Sioismond, musical composer and pianist, b. at Geneva, 1812; d. at Posihpo, Italy, 27 April, 1871. The precise date of his birth is a matter of dispute. He was a natural son of Prince Moritz Dietriehstein, and at an early age was brought by him to Vienna. While yet a boy, at the Poly- technic Institute of the Austrian capital, Thalberg formed a friendship with the young Due de Reich- stadt (popularly known as L'Aiglon), who so fired his imagination with the vision of military glory that he was upon the point of entering that career. From this step he was saveil by the early discovery of his musical genius through Mil tag, the Viennese bas- soonist. Devoting himself in good earnest to music, of which he hail acquired some knowledge from Miltag, he studied theory under Sechter and piano-