Roman province
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Map of the Roman Empire, with the provinces, after 120. |
In
Ancient Rome, a
province (Latin,
provincia, pl.
provinciae) was the basic, and until the
Tetrarchy (circa 296), largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire's territorial possessions outside of the
Italian peninsula (long without full citizenship). The word
province in modern
English has its origins in the term used by the Romans.
Provinces were generally governed by politicians of
senatorial rank, usually former
consuls or former
praetors. A later exception was the province of Egypt, incorporated by Augustus after the death of Cleopatra: it was ruled by a governor of
equestrian rank only, perhaps as a discouragement to senatorial ambition.
Under the Roman Republic, the
governor of a province was appointed for a period of one year. At the beginning of the year, the provinces were distributed to future governors by lots or direct appointment. Normally, the provinces where more trouble was expected — either from barbaric invasions or internal rebellions — were given to former
consuls, men of the greatest prestige and experience. The distribution of the
legions across the provinces was also dependent of the amount of danger that they represented. In
14, for instance, the province of
Lusitania had no permanent legion but
Germania Inferior, where the Rhine frontier was still not pacified, had a garrison of four legions. These problematic provinces were the most desired by future governors. Problems meant war, and war always brought plunder, slaves to sell and opportunities for enrichment.
Sicilia (the island of
Sicily) constituted the first Roman province from
241 BC, having been progressively conquered by the
Republic during the
First Punic War (264–241 BC).
The number and size of provinces changed according with internal Roman politics. During the
Empire, the biggest or more garrisoned provinces (example
Pannonia and
Moesia) were subdivided into smaller provinces in order to prevent the situation whereby a sole governor held too much power in his hands, thus discouraging ambition for the Imperial throne itself.
With the formation of the
Principate after the civil wars which ended the Roman Republican period,
Augustus retained the power to choose governors for the provinces in which he and his successors held supreme military and administrative control. Thus the more strategically critical provinces, generally located along the contested borders of the Empire, became
Imperial provinces. The remaining provinces were maintained as
Senatorial provinces, in which the Senate had the right to appoint a governor.
*
241 BC Sicilia, propraetorial province
*
231 BC Corsica et Sardinia, propraetorial province
*
197 BC Hispania Citerior and
Hispania Ulterior, propraetorial provinces
*
167 BC Illyricum, propraetorial province
*
146 BC Macedonia-
Achaea, propraetorial province
* 146 BC
Africa proconsularis, proconsular province
*
129 BC Asia (province), proconsular province
*
120 BC Gallia Transalpina (later
Gallia Narbonensis), propraetorial province
*
81 BC Gallia Cisalpina, propraetorial province
*
74 BC Bithynia, propraetorial province
* 74 BC
Cyrenaica et
Creta, propraetorial province
*
64 BC Cilicia et
Cyprus, propraetorial province
* 64 BC
Syria, propraetorial province
*
30 BC Aegyptus, propraetorial province, getting a special governor styled
Praefectus augustalis*
29 BC Moesia, propraetorial province
Emperor
Diocletian introduced a radical reform known as the
Tetrarchy (284-305), with a western and an eastern
Augustus or senior emperor, each seconded by a junior emperor (and designated successor) styled
Caesar, and each of these four defending and administering a quarter of the empire.
The scheme was not to last in detail, but although the Caesars were soon eliminated from the picture, the four administrative resorts were restored in
318 by Emperor
Constantine I, in the form of
praetorian prefectures, whose holders generally rotated frequently, as in the usual magistracies but without a colleague. Constantine also created a second capital,
Nova Roma, known after him as
Constantinople, and each of these two cities had its own extraordinary governor or
Praefectus Urbi. In general, between the acclamation of Diocletian and the formal end of the western Empire in 476, the Empire was recognised as being divided into two, with separate Emperors for the Eastern and Western halves.
Diocletian set up twelve
dioceses, each governed by a
Vicarius. Three more were created by splits in the fourth century: in the west,
Italia was split in two, and in the east Egypt was detached from Oriens.
Detailed information on these arrangements is contained in the
Notitia Dignitatum (Record of Offices), a document dating from the early 5th century. It is from this authentic imperial source that we draw most data, as the names of the areas governed and titles of the governors are given there. There are however debates about the source of some data recorded in the
Notitia, and it seems clear that some of its own sources are earlier than others.
It is interesting to compare this with the list of military territories under the
, in charge of border garrisons on so-called
limites, and the higher ranking
Comites rei militaris, with more mobile forces, and the later, even higher
Magistri Militum.
*This administrative subdivision was later changed in Byzantine times, with the creation of extraordinary
Exarchs and originally military
Themas.
Praetorian prefecture of Galliae
In Latin,
Gallia was also sometimes used as a general term for all Celtic peoples and their territories, such as all Britons, while the Germanic and Iberian provinces had a mixed, largely Celtic population. The plural,
Galliae in Latin, indicates that all of these are meant, not just Caesar's Gaul (several modern countries).
Diocese of Galliae
Covered about half of the Gallic provinces of the early empire:
*in what is now northern France roughly the part north of the Loire (called after the capital Lugdunum, modern Lyon)
**
Gallia Lugdunensis I
**Gallia Lugdenensis II
**Gallia Lugdunensis III
**Gallia Lugdunensis IV
*in Belgium, Luxembourg, the parts of the Netherlands on the left bank (west) of the Rhine
**
Belgica I
**Gallia Belgica II
* Germany on the left bank (west) of the Rhine
**
Germania I
**Germania II
* the Helvetic tribes (parts of Switzerland):
**
Alpes Penninae et Graiae**
Maxima SequanorumDiocese of Viennensis
Named after the city of
Vienna (now
Vienne), and entirely in present-day France, roughly south of the Loire; originally part of Caesar's newly conquered province of
Transalpine Gaul, but a separate diocesis from the start.
*
Viennensis*
Alpes Maritimae*
Aquitanica I
* Aquitanica II
*
Novempopulana*
Narbonnensis I
* Narbonensis II
In the fifth century, Viennensis was replaced by a diocese of
Septem Provinciae ('7 Provinces') with similar boundaries.
Diocese of Hispaniae
Hispania was the name of the whole
Iberian Peninsula. It covered Hispania and the westernmost province of Roman Africa:
*
Baetica *
Baleares (the mediterranean islands)
*
Carthaginiensis*
Tarraconensis *
Gallaecia (
Portugal north of the
Douro river and
Galicia)
*
Lusitania, Portugal (south of the Douro river) and neighbouring parts of
Spanish Extremadura *
Mauretania Tingitana or
Hispania Nova, in
North AfricaDiocese of Britanniae
Again a plural
*
Maxima Caesariensis*
Valentia*
Britannia Prima *
Britannia Secunda*
Flavia CaesariensisPraetorian prefecture of Italy and Africa (western)
*Originally there was a single diocese of
Italia, but it got split north-south.
Diocese of Italia suburbicaria
The name indicates proximity to Rome, 'the' Urbs (capital city).
*
Campania*
Tuscania et Umbria*
Picenum Suburbicarium*
Apulia et Calabria*
Bruttia et Lucania*
Samnium*
Valeria*
Corsica*
Sicilia*
SardiniaDiocese of Italia annonaria
This name refers to reliance on the area for the provisioning of Rome; it included the islands, not considered actually Italian in Antiquity (hence provinces while the peninsular regions still had a superior status), given their different ethnic stock (e.g. Sicily was named after the Siculi) and history of piracy.
*
Venetia and Istria*
Aemilia*
Liguria*
Flaminia and Picenum Annonarium*
Alpes Cottiae*
Raetia I
*
Raetia II
Diocese of Africa
Included the central part of Roman North Africa:
*
Africa proconsularis*
Byzacena*
Mauretania Caesariensis*
Numidia*
TripolitaniaPrefecture of Illyricum
The
Prefecture of Illyricum was named after the former province of
Illyricum.
The Prefecture of Illyricum originally included two dioceses: the
Diocese of Pannoniae and the
Diocese of Moesiae. The Diocese of Moesiae was later split into two dioceses: the
Diocese of Macedonia and the last conquest, the
Diocese of Dacia.
Diocese of Pannonia
This was one of the two dioceses in the eastern quarters of the Tetrarchy not belonging to the cultural Greek half of the empire (the other was Dacia), and was transferred to the western empire when
Theodosius I fixed the final split of the two empires in 395.
*
Dalmatia*
Noricum mediterraneum*
Noricum ripensis*
Pannonia Prima*
Pannonia Secunda*
Savia*
Valeria ripensisDiocese of Dacia
The
Dacians had lived in the
Transylvania area, annexed to the Empire by
Trajan. However, during the invasions of the third century Dacia was largely abandoned. Inhabitants evacuated from the abandoned province were settled on the south side of the Danube and their new homeland renamed Dacia accordingly. The diocese was transferred to the western empire in 384 by Theodosius I, probably in partial compensation to the empress Justina for his recognition of the usurpation of Magnus Maximus in Britannia, Gaul and Hispania.
*
Dacia mediterranea*
Moesia I
*
Praevalitana*
Dardania*
Dacia ripensisDiocese of Macedonia
The
Diocese of Macedonia was transferred to the western empire in 384 by Theodosius I, probably in partial compensation to the empress Justina for his recognition of the usurpation of Magnus Maximus in Britannia, Gaul and Hispania.
*
Macedonia Prima*
Macedonia Salutaris (or
Macedonia Secunda)
*
Thessalia*
Epirus vetus*
Epirus nova*
Achaea*
CretaPrefecture of Oriens
As the rich home territory of the eastern emperor, the
Oriens ("East") prefecture would persist as the core of the
Byzantine Empire long after the fall of Rome. Its pretorian prefect would be the last to survive, but his office was transformed into an essentially internal minister.
Diocese of Thrace
The eastern-most corner of the Balkans (the only part outside the Illyricum prefecture) and the European hinterland of Constantinople.
*
Europa*
Thracia*
Haemimontium*
Rhodope*
Moesia II
*
ScythiaDiocese of Asiana
Asia (or Asia Minor) in Antiquity stood for Anatolia; this diocese (the name means 'the Asian ones') centred on the earlier Roman province of Asia, and only covered the rich western part of the peninsula, mainly near the Aegean Sea.
*
Asia*
Hellespontus (i.e. near the Sea of Marmara, so closest to Greece)
*
Pamphylia*
Caria*
Lydia*
Lycia*
Lycaonia*
Pisidia*
Phrygia Pacatiana*
Phrygia Salutaria*and the adjoining (now mostly Greek) Aegean islands in the aptly named province
InsulaeDiocese of Pontus
The name for this is latinized from Greek
Pontos: the name of a Hellenistic kingdom derived from
Pontos (Euxinos), i.e. the (Black) Sea, earlier used for a major hellenistic kingdom.
Indeed it mainly contains parts of Asia minor near those coasts (as well as the mountainous centre), but also includes the north of very variable border with Rome's enemy Parthia/Persia.
*
Bithynia*
Galatia*
Paphlagonia*
Honorias*
Galatia Salutaris*
Cappadocia I
*Cappadocia II
*
Helenopontus*
Pontus Polemoniacus*
Armenia I
*Armenia II
Diocese of Oriens
The Eastern diocese shares its geographic name with the prefecture, even after it lost its rich part, Egypt, becoming a separate diocese; but militarily crucial on the Persian (Sassanid) border and unruly desert tribes.
It comprised mainly the modern Arabic Machrak (Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Palestine/-Israel and Jordan) except for the desert hinterland:
*
Iudaea Province (after the Romans crushed
Bar Kokhba's revolt they renamed it into
Palestina):
**Palestina I
**Palestina II
*
Palestina Salutaris*
Syria*
Syria Salutaris*
Phoenicia*
Phoenicia Libani*
Eufratensis*
Osroene*
Mesopotamia*
ArabiaFurther it contained the southeastern coast of Asia Minor and the close island of Cyprus
*
Cilicia I
*Cilicia II
*
Isauria*
CyprusDiocese of Aegyptus
This diocesis, comprising north eastern Africa â€" mainly Egypt, the rich granary and traditional personal domain of the emperors â€" was the only diocese that was
not under a vicarius, but whose head retained the unique title of
Praefectus Augustalis. It was created by a split of the diocese of Oriens.
All but one, the civilian governors were of the modest rank of
Praeses provinciae.
*
Aegyptus specifically came to designate Lower Egypt, previously two provinces, named after the pagan titles of the two emperors under Diocletian :
Aegyptus Iovia (from Jupiter, for the
Augustus; with the metropole Alexandria) and
Aegyptus Herculia (for his junior, the
Caesar; with ancient Memphis)
*
Augustamnica, part of the Nile delta (13 'cities') - the only Egyptian province under a
Corrector, a lower ranking governor;
*
Thebais, Upper Egypt; Nubia south of Philae had been abandoned to tribal people
*Arcadia (not
Arcadia in Greece)
Apart from modern Egypt, it also comprised the former province of
Cyrenaica, being the east of modern Libya (an ancient name for the whole African continent as well), split in two provinces, each under a
praeses again:
*
Libya Superior*
Libya Inferior*
Notitia dignitatum*
"Provinces (Roman)" at livius.org
*
Pauly-Wissowa* Westermann,
Großer Atlas zur Weltgeschichte (in German)
*
Map of the Roman Empire
