Arzughi

ARZUGI. – A people who inhabited the region of Leptis Magna (Lebda), in Tripolitania. For a long time they resisted every influence of Christianity; even at the end of the 4th century they were largely pagan (Augustine, Ep., 46, 1). Their isolation amid hostile populations made it difficult for the not very numerous Christians to observe ecclesiastical discipline. There were only five bishops, and it was therefore decided that, for episcopal consecrations, the presence of just three bishops would suffice (Codex canonum Eccl. Africanae, 49, 52: PL 67, 196 and 197). The Donatist schism also spread among the A., but it did not remain united. St Augustine alludes to disagreements between the A. Donatists and the others (Ep., 93, 8, 94). The schism, however, did not completely supplant the Catholic hierarchy there.