The renaming of "Apollonia" "city of Apollo" to "Sozusa" (Σώζουσα "Sōzousa") "city of the Saviour" took place in the Byzantine period, under the influence of Christianity as the state religion, motivated by "Soter" (Σωτήρ) "savior" being a byname of Apollo as well as of Christ. The renaming is paralleled in at least three other cities called "Apollonia": Sozusa in Cyrenaica, Sozopolis in Pisidia and Sozopolis in Thrace. The identification of ancient Apollonia with Byzantine-era Sozusa is due to Stark (1852), that of medieval Arsuf with Apollonia/Sozusa to Clermont-Ganneau (1876).