E05126: Procopius of Caesarea, in his On Buildings, reports that the emperor Justinian (r. 527-565) built a church of *Mary Theotokos, Mother of God (S00033) in the city of Augila in Libya (north Africa) to serve the recently pagan population. Written in Greek at Constantinople, in the 550s.

Procopius, On Buildings, 6.2.14-20

14 Πόλεις δέ πού εἰσι δύο ἐπ’ ὀνόματος ἑνὸς ᾠκημέναι· 15 Αὐγίλα γὰρ ἑκάτερα ἐκλήθη. αὗται τοῦ Βορείου διέχουσιν ὁδῷ τεττάρων ἡμερῶν μάλιστα εὐζώνῳ ἀνδρί, τετραμμέναι μὲν αὐτοῦ πρὸς ἄνεμον νότον, ἀρχαῖαι δὲ οὖσαι καὶ τῶν οἰκητόρων ἀρχαιότροπα τὰ ἐπιτηδεύματα ἔχουσαι· θρησκείαν γὰρ πάντες καὶ εἰς ἐμὲ τὴν τῆς πολυθεΐας ἐνόσουν. 16 ἐνταῦθα ἐκ παλαιοῦ τῷ τε Ἄμμωνι καὶ Ἀλεξάνδρῳ τῷ Μακεδόνι ἀνέκειτο ἕδη. 17 οἷς δὴ καὶ ἐσφαγιάζοντο μέχρι ἐς τὴν Ἰουστινιανοῦ βασιλείαν οἱ ἐπιχώριοι. 18 ἦν δὲ καὶ ὅμιλος αὐτοῖς τῶν ἱεροδούλων καλουμένων πολύς. νῦν δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς οὗτος οὐχ ὅσον ἐς τὰ σώματα τοῖς κατηκόοις ἐκποριζόμενος τὴν ἀσφάλειαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰς ψυχὰς διασώσασθαι ἐν ἐπιμελείᾳ ποιούμενος, καὶ τῶν ταύτῃ ᾠκημένων ἀνθρώπων κατὰ πάντα προὐνόησε τρόπον. 19 τά τε γὰρ ἄλλα διαφερόντως αὐτῶν ἐπιμελεῖσθαι οὐδαμῇ ἀπηξίωσε καὶ τὴν τῆς εὐσεβείας ἐδίδαξε δόξαν Χριστιανοὺς πανοικεσίᾳ πεποιημένος καὶ μεταπορευόμενος λελυμασμένα σφίσι τὰ πάτρια ἤθη. 20 οἷς δὴ καὶ νεὼν τῆς θεοτόκου ἐδείματο, φυλακτήριον ταῖς πόλεσι τῆς τε σωτηρίας καὶ τῆς ἀμφὶ τῇ δόξῃ ἀληθείας ἐσόμενον.

'14 And there are two cities which are known by the same name, each of them being called Augila. 15 These are distant from Boreium about four days' journey for an unencumbered traveller, and to the south of it; and they are both ancient cities whose inhabitants have preserved the practices of antiquity, for they all were suffering from the disease of polytheism even up to my day. 16 There from ancient times there have been shrines dedicated to Ammon and to Alexander the Macedonian. 17 The natives actually used to make sacrifices to them even up to the reign of Justinian. 18 In this place there was a great throng of those called temple-slaves. But now the Emperor has made provision, not alone for the safety of the persons of his subjects, but he has also made it his concern to save their souls, and thus he has cared in every way for the people living there. 19 Indeed he by no means neglected to take thought for their material interests in an exceptional way, and also he has taught them the doctrine of the true faith, making the whole population Christians and bringing about a transformation of their polluted ancestral customs. 20 Moreover he built for them a Church of the Mother of God to be a guardian of the safety of the cities and of the true faith.'

Text: Haury 1913. Translation: Dewing 1940.