AGRIGENTO, DIOCESE OF. - In southern Sicily, it is a suffragan see of Monreale, called Girgenti until 1927; today it has about 28,000 inhabitants (35,000 in the comune) and is the capital of a vast province (3,043 sq. km. and 475,600 inhabitants). Founded in 582 B.C., the ancient Akragas was in its early years dominated by the fierce tyrant Phalaris (565-549). Later, the figure of Theron (488-472) distinguished itself; allied with Syracuse, he defeated the Carthaginians at Himera (480) and extended the dominion of A., bringing it to a high degree of prosperity. After him, the city was governed by a republican form of government, enjoyed periods of great flourishing, and fell under foreign domination first by the Carthaginians, then by the Romans, under whom it definitively fell in the Second Punic War (210 B.C.). After the fall of the Western Empire, it was held by the Vandals, the Goths, and then the Byzantines, with whom the city had already declined. In 827 it fell under the Muslims, who rebuilt the city destroyed higher up, surrounding it with walls; only in 1086 was it wrested from their dominion by the Normans. After participating in the War of the Sicilian Vespers (1283) and suffering the vicissitudes of the Chiaromonte (14th century), the comune developed further under Spanish viceroys.
The existence of a Christian community in A. before the Peace of the Church cannot be documented; contrary assertions, being based on an interpolated aside in the authentic Acts of St. Felix of Thibuca, have no probative value, nor do various hagiographical texts relating to saints in some way connected with A., since these are generally anticipations of later events or local reduplications of authentic saints from other places. Among the data provided by such sources, we can retain only the name of Libertinus, albeit with reservations, as that of the proto-bishop of Agrigento; but we can say nothing about the period of his pontificate. The testimony of a Jewish colony (derived from an inscription) might, however, lead us to believe that a Christian community did not arise late from its midst, the first evidence of which is of an archaeological nature (some lamps from the 4th-5th century).
Historical information, however, is available only toward the end of the 6th century, during the pontificate of Pope GREGORY I (590–604). From his correspondence, the names of some bishops of Argentinum emerge, specifically a certain EUSANIUS, who was deposed by Pelagius II (578–590), and a GREGORY, who, accused of an unspecified offense, was likewise deposed but later rehabilitated and returned to his see in 598, where he was still present in 603. It is reasonable to suppose that this GREGORY is the celebrated saintly bishop of Argentinum, author of a commentary on Ecclesiasticus in ten books and of other minor (now lost) works, and highly venerated in the Eastern Church; four Greek biographies of him survive, the principal one written by a monk and abbot LEONTIUS of the monastery of St Sabas in Rome, and his contemporary (PG 98, 742–1181).
Subsequently, the subscriptions to the acts of the Lateran Council of 643 and the Constantinopolitan Council of 658 list two further bishops of Argentinum, FELIX and GEORGE: the last known before the Saracen invasion.
As for the monuments of this period at Argentinum, some are mentioned in hagiographical sources. Setting aside lesser items, it is noteworthy that the aforementioned biography of St Gregory by Leontius speaks of an ancient basilica and episcopal residence that, having been profaned by the presence of an usurper during Gregory’s trial, were destroyed upon his return and rebuilt elsewhere with the consent of the Pope and Emperor, who on that occasion made substantial donations.
La nuova Basilica, sorta restaurando un tempio idolatrico vicino alle mura meridionali, è sicuramente quella rimasta sino ai lavori del sec. 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Caligula died (24 Jan. 41), and Claudius, to whom he owed the imperial throne obtained for him by A. in the Senate, added Judaea and Samaria to his realm. Thus A. came into possession of all the territories of Herod the Great. On arriving at Jerusalem he suspended in the Temple precinct the golden chain which Caligula had given him, appointed Simon son of Boethus as high priest, and lightened the taxes. To make Jerusalem impregnable and to enclose the Bezetia quarter he began the construction of the third wall with its strong towers. Claudius ordered its suspension. To curry favour with the Jews he struck at the Apostolic Church in its leaders: he killed James the son of Zebedee and imprisoned Peter. When Peter had been sought for in vain after his miraculous liberation, A. went down to Caesarea, where games were being celebrated for the health of Claudius victorious over the Britons. There, while seated on his throne at the height of his power, he was the object of flattering and irreverent adulation towards the majesty of God, when he was seized with violent pains in the bowels. As the malady grew worse and he was consumed by worms, he died, according to Flavius Josephus, within five days, at the age of 54 (cf. Acts 12:1-23). Both Flavius Josephus and Luke see in this a divine punishment for not having given honour to God. He had reigned seven years: three under Caligula, four under Claudius.