Praetorian prefecture

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Praetorian prefecture

The praetorian prefectures (in Greek

Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
variously named ?pa???t?ta t?? p?a?t????? or ?pa???a t?? p?a?t?????) were the largest administrative division

Administrative division

|align="right"| |}Administrative divisions are divisions of a political division. In other words, they are designated portions of a country....
s of the late Roman Empire

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
, above the mid-level dioceses

Roman diocese

A Roman or civil diocese was one of the administrative divisions of the later Roman Empire, starting with the Tetrarchy. It formed the intermediate level of government, grouping several Roman provinces and being in turn subordinated to a praetorian prefecture....
and the low-level provinces. They originated in the age of the Tetrarchy

Tetrarchy

Tetrarchy can be applied to any system of government where power is divided between four individuals. The term is usually used to refer to the tetrarchy instituted by Roman Emperor Diocletian in 293 which lasted until c. 313....
, yet outlived that period, reaching their more or less final form in the last third of the 4th century.

the multiplication of holders of the imperial office (Augusti and Caesares
Caesar (title)

Caesar , Latin: Caesar , is a title of emperor character. It derives from the Roman naming convention#Cognomen of Julius Caesar, the Roman dictator....
) during the Tetrarchy, each ruler was assigned a separate area of responsibility.

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Encyclopedia

The praetorian prefectures (in Greek

Greek language

Administrative division

|align="right"| |}Administrative divisions are divisions of a political division. In other words, they are designated portions of a country....
s of the late Roman Empire

Roman Empire

Roman diocese

Tetrarchy

History

With the multiplication of holders of the imperial office (Augusti and Caesares
Caesar (title)

Caesar , Latin: Caesar , is a title of emperor character. It derives from the Roman naming convention#Cognomen of Julius Caesar, the Roman dictator....
) during the Tetrarchy, each ruler was assigned a separate area of responsibility. Each of them were accompanied by their own praetorian prefect

Praetorian prefect

Praetorian prefect was the constant title of a high office in the Roman Empire state that changed fundamentally in nature.The praetorian prefect was commander of the Praetorian Guard until Constantine I abolished the guard in 314....
s, who functioned as their chiefs of staff, combining both military and administrative powers. Under Constantine I

Constantine I

Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus , commonly known in English_language as Constantine I, Constantine the Great, or Saint Constantine , was Roman Emperor from 306, and the undisputed holder of that office from 324 until his death in 337....
, the office was transformed into a purely administrative one, albeit still the highest position in the imperial hierarchy, immediately below the emperor himself. A common misconception, based on Zosimus

Zosimus

Zosimus was a Byzantine Empire historian, who lived in Constantinople during the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius I . According to Photios I of Constantinople, he was a comes, and held the office of "advocate" of the imperial treasury....
, is that Constantine established the praetorian prefectures as definite territorial administrations already in 318, or in 324, after his victory over Licinius

Licinius

Valerius Licinianus Licinius was Roman emperor from 308 to 324.Of Dacian peasant origin, born in Moesia Superior, Licinius accompanied his close childhood friend, the Emperor Galerius, on the Persian expedition in 297....
.

After Constantine's death in 337, his three sons partitioned the Empire between them. As each new Augustus had his own praetorian prefect, this division created the first of what would gradually become the permanent praetorian prefectures: the western prefecture of Gaul

Praetorian prefecture of Gaul

The praetorian prefecture of the Gauls was one of four large praetorian prefectures into which the Late Roman Empire was divided....
(dioceses of Gaul

Diocese of Gaul

The Diocese of Gaul was a Roman diocese of the later Roman Empire, under the praetorian prefecture of Gaul. It encompassed northern and eastern Roman Gaul, that is, modern France north and east of the Loire, including the Low Countries and modern Germany west of the Rhine....
, Hispania and Britain), the central prefecture of Italy, Illyricum and Africa

Praetorian prefecture of Italy

The praetorian prefecture of Italy was one of four large Praetorian prefectures into which the Late Roman Empire was divided. It comprised the Italian peninsula, the Western Balkans, the Danubian provinces and parts of North Africa....
(dioceses of Italy, Africa

Diocese of Africa

The Diocese of Africa was a Roman diocese of the later Roman Empire, incorporating the provinces of North Africa, except Mauretania Tingitana. Its seat was at Carthage, and it was subordinate to the Praetorian prefecture of Italy....
, Pannonia

Diocese of Pannonia

The Diocese of Pannonia , from 379 known as the Diocese of Illyricum, was a Roman diocese of the Late Roman Empire. The seat of the vicarius was Sirmium....
, Dacia

Diocese of Dacia

The Diocese of Dacia was a Roman diocese of the later Roman Empire, in the area of modern Serbia and western Bulgaria. It was subordinate to the Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum....
and Macedonia

Diocese of Macedonia

The Diocese of Macedonia was a Roman diocese of the later Roman Empire, forming part of the Prefecture of Illyricum. Its capital was Thessalonica....
) and the prefecture of the East

Praetorian prefecture of the East

The praetorian prefecture of the East or of Oriens was one of four large praetorian prefectures into which the Late Roman Empire was divided....
(dioceses of Thrace

Diocese of Thrace

The Diocese of Thrace was a Roman diocese of the later Roman Empire, incorporating the provinces of the eastern Balkans . The diocese was established after the reforms of Diocletian, and was subordinate to the Praetorian prefecture of the East....
, Asia

Diocese of Asia

The Diocese of Asia was a Roman diocese of the later Roman Empire, incorporating the provinces of western Asia Minor and the islands of the eastern Aegean Sea....
, Pontus

Diocese of Pontus

The Diocese of Pontus was a Roman diocese of the later Roman Empire, incorporating the provinces of northern and northeastern Asia Minor up to the border with the Sassanid Empire....
, Oriens

Diocese of the East

The Diocese of the East was a Roman diocese of the later Roman Empire, incorporating the provinces of the western Middle East, between the Mediterranean Sea and Mesopotamia....
, and Egypt

Diocese of Egypt

The Diocese of Egypt was a Roman diocese of the later Roman Empire, incorporating the provinces of Egypt and Cyrenaica. Its capital was at Alexandria, and its governor had the unique title of Praefectus Augustalis instead of the ordinary "vicarius"....
). With the creation of the separate prefecture of Illyricum

Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum

The praetorian prefecture of Illyricum was one of four large praetorian prefectures into which the Late Roman Empire was divided. The administrative centre of the prefecture was initially Sirmium, and after 379 Thessalonica....
(dioceses of Pannonia

Diocese of Pannonia

The Diocese of Pannonia , from 379 known as the Diocese of Illyricum, was a Roman diocese of the Late Roman Empire. The seat of the vicarius was Sirmium....
, Dacia

Diocese of Dacia

Diocese of Macedonia

The Diocese of Macedonia was a Roman diocese of the later Roman Empire, forming part of the Prefecture of Illyricum. Its capital was Thessalonica....
) in 356-357, and despite the occasional abolition of the latter, the picture, as it appears in the early 5th century Notitia dignitatum
Notitia Dignitatum

The Notitia Dignitatum is a unique document of the Ancient Rome imperial chanceries. One of the very few surviving documents of Roman government, it details the administrative organisation of the eastern and western Roman empires, listing several thousand offices from the imperial court down to the provincial level....
("list of offices"), was complete. The only major change was the removal of the diocese of Pannonia (renamed to "Diocese of Illyricum") from the prefecture of Illyricum and its incorporation into the prefecture of Italy in 379.

In the course of the 5th century, the Western Empire was overrun by the invasions of Germanic tribes. However, the prefecture of Italy was retained by the new Ostrogothic Kingdom

Ostrogothic Kingdom

The Ostrogothic Kingdom established by the Ostrogoths in Italian peninsula and neighbouring areas lasted from 493 to 553. In Italy the Ostrogoths replaced Odoacer, the de facto ruler of Italy who had deposed the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire in 476....
, which was still de jure part of the Empire. Ostrogothic king Theodoric the Great

Theodoric the Great

File:Theodoric bronze weight inlaid with silver issued by prefect Catulinus Rome 493 526.jpg'Theodoric the Great' , known in Latin as 'Flavius Theodericus' and in Greek sources, was king of the Ostrogoths , ruler of Italy , and regent of the Visigoths ....
even reestablished the prefecture of Gaul in the small portion of Gaul he conquered in the 510s. After the reconquest of Northern Africa by the Eastern Empire during the Vandalic War

Vandalic War

The Vandalic War was a war fought in North Africa, in the areas of modern Tunisia and eastern Algeria, in 533-534, between the forces of the Eastern Roman Empire and the Vandals....
of 533-534, the new provinces were grouped by Justinian into a new praetorian prefecture of Africa

Praetorian prefecture of Africa

The Praetorian prefecture of Africa was a major administrative division of the Eastern Roman Empire, established after the reconquest of northwestern Africa from the Vandals in 533-534 by emperor Justinian I....
, which would later be transformed into the Exarchate of Africa

Exarchate of Africa

The Exarchate of Africa or of Carthage, after its capital, was the name of an administrative division of the Eastern Roman Empire encompassing its possessions on the Western Mediterranean, ruled by an exarch, or viceroy....
. The praetorian prefecture of Italy

Praetorian prefecture of Italy

Exarchate of Ravenna

The Exarchate of Ravenna or of Italy was a centre of Byzantine Empire power in Italy, from the end of the 6th century to 751, when the last Exarch was put to death by the Lombards....
. In the East, the prefectures would continue to function until the mid-7th century, when the loss of most eastern provinces to the Muslim conquest and of the Balkans to Slavic tribes, led to the creation of the Theme system.

Authority and powers of the prefect

Originally, the praetorian prefects were drawn from the equestrian class

Equestrian (Roman)

The Roman equestrian order constituted the lower of the two aristocratic classes of ancient Rome, ranking below the Roman senate Order . A member of the order was known as an eques , which in Latin has the general meaning of any person mounted on a horse , but in this context carries the specific meaning of "knight"....
. Constantine's reforms entailed the reservation of this office for members of the senatorial class, and its prestige and authority were raised to the highest level, so that contemporary writers refer to it as the "supreme office". The two senior prefects were those of the East and of Italy, residing in the courts of the two emperors and acting effectively as their first ministers, while the prefects of Illyricum and Gaul held a more junior position.

The prefects held wide-raging control over most aspects of the administrative machinery of their provinces, fulfilling the roles of supreme administrative and juridical official, already present from the time of Septimius Severus

Septimius Severus

Lucius Septimius Severus was a Roman Empire general, and Roman Emperor from April 14 193 to 211. He was born in what is now the Libyan part of Rome's historic Africa Province, making him the first emperor to be born in the Roman province of Africa Province....
, and that of chief financial official, responsible for the state budget

Budget

Budget generally refers to a list of all planned expenses and revenues. It is a plan for saving and spending. A budget is an important concept in microeconomics, which uses a budget line to illustrate the trade-offs between two or more good ....
. Only the magister officiorum
Magister officiorum

In Late antiquity, the Ancient Rome position of magister officiorum can first be traced to the rule of Roman Emperor Constantine I, but may have been first established by Diocletian....
rivalled them in power.

Sources

Morrison, Cécile (ed.):Le Mond Byzantin I - L'Empire romain d'orient (330-641) (Greek translation), Polis Editions, Athens 2007, ISBN 978-960-435-134-3