DIE
City and ancient diocese of France, now the chief town of an arrondissement in the department of the Drôme.
A sanctuary of the goddess Andarta situated in a valley in the land of the Vocontii was called Dea Augusta, whence the name Die. Christianity was established there at an early date, as is attested by Christian sepulchral monuments; at the Council of Nicaea (325) the bishop of Die, NICASIUS, was present, but it cannot be said whether he was the first of the series. Then are known Audentius, about the middle of the 5th century, Petronius and Marcellus in the same century. In the 6th century, Lucretius and Paul; in the 7th, Maximus; in the 9th, Remigius, Aurelius and Henry. In 1276 Pope Gregory X, in order to strengthen the diocese of Valence against the count of Valentinois, united the diocese of Die to that of Valence; this state of affairs lasted until 1687, when Die became autonomous again; it was suppressed in 1790 and united to Valence, whose bishop has since borne its title.
In the town hall and in private collections fragments of three notable Christian sarcophagi are preserved. The first, divided by columns, contains in the centre the *crux invicta*, the beheading of St. Paul, the last 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 labour to the protagonists and the scene of the Marriage at Cana.