The earliest use of this title (ἀρχιεπίσκοποϛ) probably referred to the senior bishop of an ecclesiastical province that included other metropolitan churches. The first known text in which the title appears is the Breviarium Meletii, where it is used to refer to Alexander of Alexandria (Athan. Apol. sec. 71, in: Opitz, 1935, vol. II/151, 30–31). Epiphanius of Salamis assigned it to Peter of Alexandria and to Meletius of Lycopolis, who had tried to extend his authority over the Thebaid to the detriment of the Alexandrian see (Epiph. Haer. 68–69; GCS 141.11; 143.8; 154.24). During th…