ELEUTHERIUS

eleutherius, pope from about 175 to 189. allusions to him are found in the letters of the martyrs of lyons, cited by eusebius, and in other documents of the time. the _liber pontificalis_, at the beginning of the 6th century, says that he had relations with a british king, lucius, who was desirous of being converted to christianity. this tradition--roman, not british--is an enigma to critics, and, apparently, has no historical foundation. (l. d.*) eleutheropolis (gr. [greek: eleuthera polis], "free city"), an ancient city of palestine, 25 m. from jerusalem on the road to gaza, identified by e. robinson with the modern beit jibrin. this identification is confirmed by roman milestones in the neighbourhood. it represents the biblical mareshah, the ruins of which exist at tell sandahannah close by. as betogabra it is mentioned by ptolemy; the name eleutheropolis dates from the syrian visit of septimius severus (a.d. 202). eusebius in his _onomasticon_ uses it as a central point from which the distances of other towns are measured. it was destroyed in 796, rebuilt by the crusaders in 1134 (their fortress and chapel remain, much ruined). it was finally captured by bibars, 1244. beit jibrin is in the centre of a district of great archaeological interest. besides the crusader and other remains in the village itself, the surrounding country possesses many _tells_ (mounds) covering the sites of ancient cities. the famous caves of beit jibrin honeycomb the hills all round. these are immense artificial excavations of unknown date. roman milestones and aqueducts also are found, and close by the now famous tomb of apollophanes, with wall-paintings of animals and other ornamentation, was discovered in 1902; a description of it will be found in thiersch and peters, _the marissa tombs_, published by the palestine exploration fund. (r. a. s. m.)