All Topics  
Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum
 
 
  Topics Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum Topic Home

The praetorian prefecture of Illyricum
Illyricum

Illyricum can refer to:* Illyricum * Diocese of Illyricum* Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum...
 (Latin: praefectura praetorio per Illyricum, , also termed simply the Prefecture of Illyricum) was one of four large praetorian prefecture
Praetorian prefecture

The praetorian prefectures were the largest administrative divisions of the late Roman Empire, above the mid-level Roman diocese and the low-level provinces....
s into which 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....
 was divided. The administrative centre of the prefecture was initially Sirmium
Sirmium

Sirmium was an ancient city in Roman Pannonia. Sirmium originally was an Illyrians town conquered by the Ancient Rome in the 1st century BC. It was a very important town in the later Roman Empire, being the economic capital of Roman Pannonia and one of the four capital cities of the Roman Empire....
, and after 379 Thessalonica. It took its name from the older province of Illyricum
Illyricum (Roman province)

The Roman province of Illyricum replaced the formerly independent kingdom of Illyria. It stretched from the Drin River river in modern Albania to Istria in the west and to the Sava river in the north....
, which in turn was named after ancient Illyria
Illyria

'Illyria' was in Classical antiquity a region in the western part of today's Balkan Peninsula, inhabited by tribes of Illyrians, an ancient people who spoke the Illyrian languages....
, and in its greatest expanse encompassed Pannonia
Pannonia

Pannonia is an ancient province of the Roman Empire bounded north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia....
, Noricum
Noricum

Noricum, in ancient history geography, was a Celtic kingdom stretching over the area of today's Austria and Slovenia. It became a Roman province of the Roman Empire....
, Crete
Crete

Crete is the largest of the Greek islands and the List of islands in the Mediterranean largest island in the Mediterranean Sea at 8,336 km? ....
, and most of the Balkan peninsula
Balkans

The Balkans is the historical name of a geographic subregion of southeastern Europe. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains, which run through the centre of Bulgaria into eastern Serbia....
 except 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....
.

ke the other three "classical" prefectures that are mentioned in the 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....
 (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....
, Italy-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....
 and 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....
), the early administrative history of Illyricum during the 4th century was turbulent, as it was abolished, re-established and divided several times.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum'
Start a new discussion about 'Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


The praetorian prefecture of Illyricum
Illyricum

Illyricum can refer to:* Illyricum * Diocese of Illyricum* Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum...
 (Latin: praefectura praetorio per Illyricum, , also termed simply the Prefecture of Illyricum) was one of four large praetorian prefecture
Praetorian prefecture

The praetorian prefectures were the largest administrative divisions of the late Roman Empire, above the mid-level Roman diocese and the low-level provinces....
s into which 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....
 was divided. The administrative centre of the prefecture was initially Sirmium
Sirmium

Sirmium was an ancient city in Roman Pannonia. Sirmium originally was an Illyrians town conquered by the Ancient Rome in the 1st century BC. It was a very important town in the later Roman Empire, being the economic capital of Roman Pannonia and one of the four capital cities of the Roman Empire....
, and after 379 Thessalonica. It took its name from the older province of Illyricum
Illyricum (Roman province)

The Roman province of Illyricum replaced the formerly independent kingdom of Illyria. It stretched from the Drin River river in modern Albania to Istria in the west and to the Sava river in the north....
, which in turn was named after ancient Illyria
Illyria

'Illyria' was in Classical antiquity a region in the western part of today's Balkan Peninsula, inhabited by tribes of Illyrians, an ancient people who spoke the Illyrian languages....
, and in its greatest expanse encompassed Pannonia
Pannonia

Pannonia is an ancient province of the Roman Empire bounded north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia....
, Noricum
Noricum

Noricum, in ancient history geography, was a Celtic kingdom stretching over the area of today's Austria and Slovenia. It became a Roman province of the Roman Empire....
, Crete
Crete

Crete is the largest of the Greek islands and the List of islands in the Mediterranean largest island in the Mediterranean Sea at 8,336 km? ....
, and most of the Balkan peninsula
Balkans

The Balkans is the historical name of a geographic subregion of southeastern Europe. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains, which run through the centre of Bulgaria into eastern Serbia....
 except 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....
.

Administrative history

Unlike the other three "classical" prefectures that are mentioned in the 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....
 (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....
, Italy-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....
 and 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....
), the early administrative history of Illyricum during the 4th century was turbulent, as it was abolished, re-established and divided several times. Initially the territories comprising the later prefecture belonged to 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....
, when it was established in 337 following the division of the Empire among the sons of Constantine the Great. It seems that the three dioceses of 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....
, 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 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....
 were first grouped together in a separate praetorian prefecture
Praetorian prefecture

The praetorian prefectures were the largest administrative divisions of the late Roman Empire, above the mid-level Roman diocese and the low-level provinces....
 in 357 by Constantius II
Constantius II

Flavius Iulius Constantius, known in English as Constantius II was a Roman Emperor of the Constantinian dynasty....
. It remained in existence until 361, when it was abolished by emperor Julian
Julian the Apostate

Flavius Claudius Julianus, known also as Julian or Julian the Apostate , was Roman Emperor of the Constantinian dynasty. He was the last non-Christian Roman Emperor, and expended much energy during his reign attempting to supplant the growing power of Christianity within the empire with officially revived Religion in ancient Rom...
, and then existed again from 375-379 under Gratian
Gratian

Flavius Gratianus , known usually by the anglicised name Gratian, was a Western Roman Emperor from 375 to 383.He favoured the Christian religion against Roman polytheism, refusing the traditional polytheistic attributes of the emperors and removing the Altar of Victory from the Roman Senate....
. In that year the Diocese of Pannonia ("Western Illyricum") was again added to Italy as the "Diocese of Illyricum", while Macedonia and Dacia ("Eastern Illyricum") were ruled briefly directly by Theodosius I
Theodosius I

Flavius Theodosius , also called Theodosius I and Theodosius the Great , was Roman Emperor from 379 to 395. Reuniting the eastern and western portions of the empire, Theodosius was the last emperor of both the Eastern Roman Empire and Western Roman Empire....
 from Thessalonica. During the next years they too were incorporated in the Italian prefecture, except a short period in 388-391, when the two dioceses formed a separate prefecture. Only after the death of Theodosius in 395 and the permanent division of the Empire did the Illyricum assume the permanent form which appears in the Notitia, incorporating the dioceses of Macedonia and Dacia, with Thessalonica as capital. However, the Western Empire
Western Roman Empire

The Western Roman Empire refers to the western half of the Roman Empire, from its division by Diocletian in 285; the other half of the Roman Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire, today widely known as the Byzantine Empire....
, especially during the regency of Stilicho
Stilicho

Flavius Stilicho was a high-ranking general , Patrician and Consul of the Western Roman Empire, notably of barbarian birth....
, continued to lay claim to them until 437, when, as part of the dowry of Licinia Eudoxia
Licinia Eudoxia

Licinia Eudoxia was a Roman Emperors, daughter of Eastern Emperor Theodosius II and wife of the Western Emperors Valentinian III and Petronius Maximus....
, Valentinian III
Valentinian III

Flavius Placidus Valentinianus , known in English as Valentinian III, was among the last Western Roman Emperors ....
 recognized the East's sovereignty over the prefecture. On this occasion, it appears that the prefecture's capital was again moved for a while (437-441) to Sirmium, but the move is debated, as the northern Balkans were at the time ravaged by invasions. Likewise, the intention of Justinian I
Justinian I

Flavius Petrus Sabbatius Iustinianus , AD 482 or 483 ? 13 or 14 November 565, was the second member of the Justinian Dynasty and List of Roman Emperors from 527 until his death....
 to move the capital to his new city of Justiniana Prima
Justiniana Prima

Justiniana Prima was a Byzantine Empire city. Its location is not known: it could have been in today southern Serbia near today's Leskovac, or near Skopje in the Republic of Macedonia....
 in the 540s remained unfulfilled.

Ecclesiastical history


Barbarian invasions


List of known praefecti praetorio per Illyricum

  • Flavius Eutychianus (396-397)
  • Anatolius (397-399)
  • Herculius (408-410)
  • Leontius (412-413)
  • Philippus (420-421)
  • Flavius Anthemius Isidorus (424)
  • Flavius Simplicius Reginus (435)
  • Eubulus (436)
  • Thalassius (439)
  • Apraeumius (441)
  • Eulogius (ca. 451)
  • Valentinianus (452)
  • Callicrates (468-469)


Economy


See also

  • Illyricum (Roman province)
    Illyricum (Roman province)

    The Roman province of Illyricum replaced the formerly independent kingdom of Illyria. It stretched from the Drin River river in modern Albania to Istria in the west and to the Sava river in the north....
  • Diocese of Illyricum
  • Illyria
    Illyria

    'Illyria' was in Classical antiquity a region in the western part of today's Balkan Peninsula, inhabited by tribes of Illyrians, an ancient people who spoke the Illyrian languages....
  • Roman provinces


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
  • The Times History of Europe, Times Books, London, 2001.


External links