Vicarius

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Vicarius

Vicarius is a Latin word, meaning substitute or deputy. It is the root and origin of the English word "vicar

Vicar

In the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, anyone acting "in the person of" or wiktionary:agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant, literally the "place-holder"....
" and cognate

Cognate

Cognates in linguistics are words that have a common etymology origin.An example of cognates within the same language would be English shirt vs....
to the Persian word most familiar in the variant vizier
Vizier

A Vizier , is a term for a high-ranking political advisor or minister, often to a Muslim monarch such as a Caliph, or Sultan. It sometimes refers to ministers and advisors of the Persian Empire's Shahs....
.

Originally, in ancient Rome, this was an equivalent to the English "vice-

Viceroy

A viceroy is a royal official who governs a country or province in the name of and as representative of the monarch. The term derives from the Latin prefix vice-, meaning "in the place of" and the French word roi, meaning king....
" (as in "deputy"), used as part of the title of various officials. Each vicarius was assigned to a specific superior official, after whom his full title was generally completed by a genitive (e.g.

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Encyclopedia

Vicarius is a Latin word, meaning substitute or deputy. It is the root and origin of the English word "vicar

Vicar

Cognate

Viceroy

Slavery in ancient Rome

The institution of slavery in ancient Rome reduced those held to a condition of less than persons under Roman law. Stripped of many rights, including the ability to marry, slaves were the property of their owners....
, possibly hired out to raise money to buy manumission

Manumission

Manumission is the act of freeing individual Slavery, done at the will of the owner....
, was a servus vicarius.

Later, during the period of the 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....
known as the Dominate

Dominate

The Dominate was the 'despotism' latter phase of government in the ancient Roman Empire from the conclusion of the Crisis of the Third Century of 235?284 until the formal date of the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in AD 476....
, a vicarius was the imperial deputy responsible for the lawfulness of a group of Roman province

Roman province

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....
. The title was used without a genitive, simply as "vicarius". This position was introduced under Emperor Diocletian

Diocletian

Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus , born Diocles and commonly known as Diocletian , was Roman Emperor from November 20, 284 to May 1, 305....
who reformed the Roman Empire, collegially, into 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....
. Among other changes, the eastern and western empires were each divided into two 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. Each of the four prefectures was run by a 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....
and contained several subdivisions known as dioceses, which in turn were divided into provinces. The vicarius was the governor of a diocese, and was responsible for a number of provinces, each province with its own governor

Roman governor

A Roman governor was an official either elected or appointed to be the chief administrator of Roman law throughout one or more of the many Roman province constituting the Roman Empire....
. The various prefectures, dioceses and provinces are listed systematically in their hierarchical groupings in the article Roman province

Roman province

In Ancient Rome, a province was the basic, and until the Tetrarchy , largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire's territorial possessions outside of the Italia ....
.

According to 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....
(an early fifth century imperial chancery

Chancery

Chancery may refer to:* Court of equity, also called a chancery court* One of the Court of Chancery * Chancery hand, a name for multiple styles of historic writing...
document), the Vicarius had the rank of Vir spectabilis; the staff of a vicarius, called his officium

Officium

Officium is a Latin word with various meanings in Ancient Rome, including "service", " duty", "courtesy", "ceremony" and the like. It also translates the Greek kathekon and was used in later Latin to render more modern offices....
, was rather similar to a gubernatorial officium. For example, in the diocese of Hispaniae, the people of his staff included:

The Princeps (i.e. chief) of the scola agentum in rebus
Agentes in rebus

The agentes in rebus were the Roman Empire courier service and secret service that replaced the unpopular frumentarii, sometime during the late 3rd century under Emperor Diocletian, or perhaps around the year 319....
, from the salary class of the ducenari.
A Cornicularius.
Two Numerarii.
A Commentariensis.
An Adiutorem.
An Ab actis.
A Cura epistolarum.
An unnamed number of Subadiuvae ('deputy assistants').
Various Exceptores (lower clerks).
Singulares et reliquum officium (various menial staff).

Sources and references

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....
Pauly-Wissowa
Pauly-Wissowa

The Realencyclop?die der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft, commonly called the Pauly-Wissowa or simply RE, is a German language encyclopedia of classical antiquity scholarship....
(in German)