DIE. - City and ancient diocese of France, today the capital of an arrondissement in the department of Drôme.
A sanctuary of the goddess Andarta situated in a valley in the country of the Vocontii was called Dea Augusta, whence the name D. Christianity established itself there very early, as is attested by Christian sepulchral monuments; at the Council of Nicaea (325) the bishop of D., Nicasius, was present, but it cannot be said whether he was the first of the series. Then Audentius is known, around the middle of the 5th century, and Petronius and Marcellus, both in the same century. In the 6th century, Secularis, Lucretius and Paul; in the 7th, Maximus; in the 9th, Remigius, Aurelius and Henry. In 1276 Pope Gregory X, in order to make the diocese of Valence stronger against the count of Valentinois, united the diocese of D. with that of Valence; this state of affairs remained until 1687, when D. again became autonomous; it was suppressed in 1790 and united to Valence, whose bishop has assumed its title.
In the town hall and in private collections are preserved fragments of three notable Christian sarcophagi. The first, divided by columns, contains in the center the crux invicta, the beheading of St. Paul, the final capture of St. Peter and the sacrifice of Cain and Abel. The second has Christological scenes; the third preserves the representation of the Logos restoring the symbols of labor to the first parents and the scene of the wedding at Cana.
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Enrico Josi