REZAYEH of the CHALDEANS (= Urmia). — The episcopal see dates back to the 3rd century. The city was the seat of a Chaldean Catholic bishop from 1560 to 1647.
The Catholic see of R. was re-established in 1890. The bishop is metropolitan of the Chaldeans of Persia. Catholics: 3,373; churches: 26; priests: 12.
REYKJAVIK — View of the district around the port
Reykjavik — View of the district around the port.
REZIA (Rhaetia et Vindelicia). — Roman province from 15 BC until the mid-6th century.
The borders of R. changed several times throughout history; roughly, it consisted of the Bavarian highlands between the Alps and the Danube, extending as far as the Inn to the east and beyond Lake Constance to the west. It also included the central Alpine region, roughly between a line from Kufstein in the Inn Valley to the Puster Valley near Brunico: the Isarco Valley as far as Bressanone, the Venosta Valley, the Engadine Valley, and the eastern part of Switzerland. Various Celtic tribes inhabited the region, the most important being the Vindelici near the Danube, the Breuni around the Brenner Pass (which takes its name from them), the Svanetes in Grisons, and others. Among the Celtic populations were larger or smaller groups of older peoples—Illyrians, perhaps Etruscans, and others—with differing languages, religions, and cultures; however, scholars disagree on the details.
This vast region was of extraordinary importance to Rome, as it contained some of the oldest and most frequented communication routes; consider the great passes of the Splügen, the Resia, and the Brenner. Once the Roman borders had been extended to the Upper Rhine, possession of R. and its passes became a necessity. Through hard but successful campaigns (15 BC), the entire region was subdued by the Empire; the operations, which even included a naval battle on Lake Constance, were directed by Augustus’ stepsons, Drusus and Tiberius. Under the latter’s reign, R. was organized as a province, with the procurator’s seat in Augusta, a city founded by Augustus: Augusta Vindelicorum. The ancient Alpine roads were rebuilt: thus the Via Claudia Augusta, which from Drusus’ Bridge (today Bolzano) crosses the Resia Pass and the Fern Pass to reach Augusta and the Danube; the shorter but more difficult and rugged Brenner route, from Drusus’ Bridge, Brenner, Veldidena (today Wilten near Innsbruck), and the Porta Claudia (now Scharnitzer Klause, where the ruins of Roman fortifications can still be seen), to Augusta; or the route from the Splügen to the Upper Rhine Valley, Chur, and beyond.
This vast area was sparsely populated: there were only three communities with city rights: Augusta, Campodunum (today Kempten im Allgäu), and Brigantium (today Bregenz in Vorarlberg). In view of the growing Germanic pressure toward the Danube, Marcus Aurelius stationed a legion at the most critical point on the Danube, at Castra Regina (today Regensburg). Moreover, the borders of R. were extended into Germanic territory with the construction and fortification of the limes, which crossed the Swabian and Franconian Jura as far as the Main, to secure the Upper Rhine Valley. Later, for military reasons, Diocletian divided R. into two parts: Raetia Prima, the more exposed region (the Bavarian highlands), and Raetia Secunda, the inner Alpine region. For the latter, the seat of government was established at Curia (Chur). However, from the mid