Roman province

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Roman Empire under Augustus (31 BC - AD 14). Yellow: 31BC. dark green 31-19 BC, light green 19-9 BC, pale green 9-6 BC. mauve: client states Impero romano sotto Ottaviano Augusto 30aC - 6dC.jpg
Roman Empire under Augustus (31 BC – AD 14). Yellow: 31BC. dark green 31–19 BC, light green 19–9 BC, pale green 9–6 BC. mauve: client states
The Roman empire under Hadrian (125) showing the provinces as then organised Roman Empire 125 political map.png
The Roman empire under Hadrian (125) showing the provinces as then organised
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The Roman provinces (Latin: provincia, pl. provinciae) were the lands and people outside of Rome itself that were controlled by the Republic and later the Empire. Each province was ruled by a Roman who was appointed as governor. Although different in many ways, they were similar to the states in Australia or the United States, the regions in the United Kingdom or New Zealand, or the prefectures in Japan. Canada refers to some of its territory as provinces.

Latin Indo-European language of the Italic family

Latin is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. The Latin alphabet is derived from the Etruscan and Greek alphabets and ultimately from the Phoenician alphabet.

Rome Capital of Italy

Rome is the capital city and a special comune of Italy. Rome also serves as the capital of the Lazio region. With 2,872,800 residents in 1,285 km2 (496.1 sq mi), it is also the country's most populated comune. It is the fourth most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. It is the centre of the Metropolitan City of Rome, which has a population of 4,355,725 residents, thus making it the most populous metropolitan city in Italy. Rome is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, within Lazio (Latium), along the shores of the Tiber. The Vatican City is an independent country inside the city boundaries of Rome, the only existing example of a country within a city: for this reason Rome has been often defined as capital of two states.

Roman Republic Period of ancient Roman civilization (509–27 BC)

The Roman Republic was the era of classical Roman civilization beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom, traditionally dated to 509 BC, and ending in 27 BC with the establishment of the Roman Empire. It was during this period that Rome's control expanded from the city's immediate surroundings to hegemony over the entire Mediterranean world.

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Overview

A province was the basic and, until the tetrarchy (from 293 AD), the largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The word province in Modern English has its origins in the Latin term used by the Romans.

Tetrarchy form of government where power is divided among four individuals

The term "tetrarchy" describes any form of government where power is divided among four individuals, but in modern usage usually refers to the system instituted by Roman Emperor Diocletian in 293, marking the end of the Crisis of the Third Century and the recovery of the Roman Empire. This tetrarchy lasted until c. 313, when mutually destructive civil wars eliminated most of the claimants to power, leaving Constantine in control of the western half of the empire, and Licinius in control of the eastern half.

Modern English is the form of the English language spoken since the Great Vowel Shift in England, which began in the late 14th century and was completed in roughly 1550.

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 only equestrian rank, perhaps as a discouragement to senatorial ambition. This exception was unique, but not contrary to Roman law, as Egypt was considered Augustus' personal property, following the tradition of the kings of the earlier Hellenistic period.

A consul held the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic, and ancient Romans considered the consulship the highest level of the cursus honorum.

Praetor Official of the Roman Republic

Praetor was a title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to men acting in one of two official capacities: the commander of an army ; or an elected magistratus (magistrate), assigned various duties. The functions of the magistracy, the praetura (praetorship), are described by the adjective: the praetoria potestas, the praetorium imperium, and the praetorium ius, the legal precedents established by the praetores (praetors). Praetorium, as a substantive, denoted the location from which the praetor exercised his authority, either the headquarters of his castra, the courthouse (tribunal) of his judiciary, or the city hall of his provincial governorship.

Augustus First emperor of the Roman Empire

Augustus was a Roman statesman and military leader who was the first emperor of the Roman Empire, reigning from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. His status as the founder of the Roman Principate has consolidated an enduring legacy as one of the most effective and controversial leaders in human history. The reign of Augustus initiated an era of relative peace known as the Pax Romana. The Roman world was largely free from large-scale conflict for more than two centuries, despite continuous wars of imperial expansion on the Empire's frontiers and the year-long civil war known as the "Year of the Four Emperors" over the imperial succession.

The Latin term provincia also had a more general meaning of "jurisdiction".

Republican provinces

The Latin word provincia originally meant any task or set of responsibilities assigned by the Roman Senate to an individual who held imperium (right of command), which was often a military command within a specified theater of operations. [1] [2] Under the Roman Republic, the magistrates were elected to office for a period of one year, and those serving outside the city of Rome, such as consuls acting as generals on a military campaign, were assigned a particular provincia, the scope of authority within which they exercised their command.

Roman Senate A political institution in ancient Rome

The Roman Senate was a political institution in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, being established in the first days of the city of Rome,. It survived the overthrow of the kings in 509 BC, the fall of the Roman Republic in the 1st century BC, the division of the Roman Empire in 395 AD, the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD, and the barbarian rule of Rome in the 5th, 6th, and 7th centuries.


In ancient Rome, Imperium was a form of authority held by a citizen to control a military or governmental entity. It is distinct from auctoritas and potestas, different and generally inferior types of power in the Roman Republic and Empire. One's imperium could be over a specific military unit, or it could be over a province or territory. Individuals given such power were referred to as curule magistrates or promagistrates. These included the curule aedile, the praetor, the consul, the magister equitum, and the dictator. In a general sense, imperium was the scope of someone's power, and could include anything, such as public office, commerce, political influence, or wealth.

The term military campaign applies to large scale, long duration, significant military strategy plans incorporating a series of inter-related military operations or battles forming a distinct part of a larger conflict often called a war. The term derives from the plain of Campania, a place of annual wartime operations by the armies of the Roman Republic.

The territory of a people who were defeated in war might be brought under various forms of treaty, in some cases entailing complete subjection (deditio). The formal annexation of a territory created a province, in the modern sense of an administrative unit that is geographically defined. Republican-period provinces were administered in one-year terms by the consuls and praetors who had held office the previous year and who were invested with imperium. [3]

Treaty Express agreement under international law entered into by actors in international law

A treaty is a formal written agreement entered into by actors in international law, namely sovereign states and international organizations. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, convention, pact, or exchange of letters, among other terms. Regardless of terminology, all these instruments may be considered treaties subject to the same rules under international law.

Annexation Acquisition of a states territory by another state

Annexation is the administrative action and concept in international law relating to the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state and is generally held to be an illegal act. It is distinct from conquest, which refers to the acquisition of control over a territory involving a change of sovereignty, and differs from cession, in which territory is given or sold through treaty, since annexation is a unilateral act where territory is seized and held by one state. It usually follows military occupation of a territory.

Rome started expanding beyond Italy during the First Punic War. The first permanent provinces to be annexed were Sicilia in 241 BC and Corsica et Sardinia in 237 BC. Militarized expansionism kept increasing the number of these administrative provinces, until there were no longer enough qualified individuals to fill the posts. [4] [5]

First Punic War First war between the Roman Republic and Carthage, fought between 264 and 241 BCE

The First Punic War was the first of three wars fought between Ancient Carthage and the Roman Republic, the two great powers of the Western Mediterranean. For 23 years, in the longest continuous conflict and greatest naval war of antiquity, the two powers struggled for supremacy, primarily on the Mediterranean island of Sicily and its surrounding waters, and also in North Africa.

The terms of provincial governors often had to be extended for multiple years (prorogatio), and on occasion the senate awarded imperium even to private citizens (privati), most notably Pompey the Great. [6] [7] Prorogation undermined the republican constitutional principle of annual elected magistracies, and the amassing of disproportionate wealth and military power by a few men through their provincial commands was a major factor in the transition from a republic to imperial autocracy. [8] [9] [10] [11]

List of republican provinces

Gallia Cisalpina (in northern Italy) was a province in the sense of an area of military command, but was never a province in the sense of an administrative unit. During Rome's expansion in the Italian peninsula, the Romans assigned some areas as provinces in the sense of areas of military command assigned to consuls and praetors (not proconsuls or propraetors as in the case of administrative provinces) due to risks of rebellions or invasions. This was applied to Liguria because there was a series of rebellions, Bruttium and to (Calabria) because of perceived risks of rebellion.

In the early days of the Roman presence in Gallia Cisalpina, the issue was rebellion. Later, the issue was risk of invasions by warlike peoples east of Italy. The city of Aquileia was founded to protect northern Italy from invasions. Gaius Julius Caesar granted the inhabitants of this region Roman citizenship and incorporated the region into Italy.

Imperial provinces during the principate

The Roman Empire at its greatest extent, under Trajan (117); imperial provinces are shaded green, senatorial provinces are shaded pink, and client states are shaded gray RomanEmpire 117.svg
The Roman Empire at its greatest extent, under Trajan (117); imperial provinces are shaded green, senatorial provinces are shaded pink, and client states are shaded gray

In the so-called Augustan Settlement of 27 BC which established the Roman Empire, the governance of the provinces was regulated. Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, having emerged from the Roman civil wars as the undisputed victor and master of the Roman state, officially laid down his powers, and in theory restored the authority of the Roman Senate. Octavian himself assumed the title "Augustus" and was given to govern, in addition to Egypt, the strategically important provinces of Gaul, Hispania and Syria (including Cilicia and Cyprus).

Under Augustus, Roman provinces were classified as either public or imperial, meaning that their governors were appointed by either the senate or by the emperor. Generally, the older provinces that existed under the republic were public. Public provinces were, as before under the republic, governed by a proconsul, who was chosen by lot among the ranks of senators who were ex-consuls or ex- praetors , depending on the province assigned.

The major imperial provinces were under a legatus Augusti pro praetore , also a senator of consular or praetorian rank. Egypt and some smaller provinces where no legions were based were ruled by a procurator (praefectus in Egypt), whom the emperor selected from non-senators of equestrian rank.

The status of a province could change from time to time. In AD 68, of a total 36 provinces, 11 were public and 25 imperial. Of the latter, 15 were under legati and 10 under procuratores or praefecti.

During the principate , the number and size of provinces also changed, either through conquest or through the division of existing provinces. The larger or more heavily garrisoned provinces (for example Syria and Moesia) were subdivided into smaller provinces to prevent any single governor from holding too much power.

List of provinces created during the principate

Under Augustus

  • 30 BC – Aegyptus, taken over by Augustus after his defeat of Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII of Egypt in 30 BC. It was the first imperial province in that it was Augustus' own domain as the Egyptians recognised him as their new pharaoh. Its proper initial name was Alexandrea et Aegyptus. It was governed by Augustus' praefectus, Alexandreae et Aegypti.
  • 27 BC – Achaia (southern and central Greece), Augustus separated it from Macedonia (senatorial propraetorial province)
  • 27 BC – Hispania Tarraconensis; former Hispania Citerior (northern, central and eastern Spain), created with the reorganisation of the provinces in Hispania by Augustus (imperial proconsular province).
  • 27 BC – Hispania Baetica; former Hispania Ulterior (southern Spain); created with the reorganisation of the provinces in Hispania by Augustus (senatorial propraetorial province). The name derives from Betis, the Latin name for the Guadalquivir River.
  • 27 BC – Lusitania (Portugal and Extremadura in Spain), created with the reorganisation of the provinces in Hispania by Augustus (imperial proconsular province)
  • 27 BC – Illyricum, Augustus conquered Illyria and southern Pannonia in 35–33 BC. Created as a senatorial province in 27 BC. Northern Pannonia was conquered during the Pannonian War (14–10 BC). Subdivided into Dalmatia (a new name for Illyria) and Pannonia, which were officially called Upper and Lower Illyricum respectively in 9 BC, towards the end of the Batonian War. Initially a senatorial province, it became an imperial propraetorial province in 11 BC, during the Pannonian War. It was dissolved and the new provinces of Dalmatia and Pannonia were created during the reign of Vespasian (69–79). In 107 Pannonia was divided into Pannonia Superior and Pannonia Inferior – imperial provinces (proconsular and propraetorial respectively).
  • 27 BC or 16–13 BC – Aquitania (south-western France) province created in the territories in Gaul conquered by Julius Caesar; there is uncertainty as to whether it was created with Augustus’ first visit and the first census on Gaul or during Augustus' visit in 16–13 (imperial proconsular province)
  • 27 BC or 16–13 BC – Gallia Lugdunensis (central and part of northern France) province created in the territories in Gaul conquered by Julius Caesar; there is uncertainty as to whether it was created with Augustus’ first visit and the first census on Gaul or during Augustus’ visit in 16–13 (imperial proconsular province)
  • 27 BC or 16–13 BC – Gallia Belgica (Netherlands south of the Rhine river, Belgium, Luxembourg, part of northern France and Germany west of the Rhine; there is uncertainty as to whether it was created with Augustus’ first visit and the first census on Gaul or during Augustus' visit in 16–13 (imperial proconsular province)
  • 25 BC – Galatia (central Anatolia, Turkey), formerly a client kingdom, it was annexed by Augustus when Amyntas, its last king died (imperial propraetorial province)
  • 15 BC – Raetia (imperial procuratorial province)
  • 12 BC – Germania Magna, lost after three Roman legions were routed in 9 AD
  • 6 AD? – Moesia (on the east and south bank of the River Danube part of modern Serbia, the north part of North Macedonia, northern Bulgaria), Conquered in 28 BC, originally it was a military district under the province of Macedonia. The first mention of a provincial governor was for 6 AD, at the beginning of the Batonian War. In 85 Moesia was divided into Moesia Superior and Moesia Inferior (imperial proconsular provinces).
  • 6 AD – Judaea, imperial procuratorial province (reverted to status of client kingdom in 41 AD and became province again in 44 AD; renamed Syria Palaestina by Hadrian in 135 AD and upgraded to proconsular province).

Under Tiberius

  • 17 AD – Cappadocia (central Anatolia – Turkey); imperial propraetorial (later proconsular) province.

Under Claudius

  • 42 AD – Mauretania Tingitana (northern Morocco); after the death of Ptolemy, the last king of Mauretania, in 40 AD, his kingdom was annexed. It was begun by Caligula and was completed by Claudius with the defeat of the rebels. In 42 AD, Claudius divided it into two provinces (imperial procuratorial province).
  • 42 AD – Mauretania Caesariensis, (western and central Algeria), after the death of Ptolemy, the last king of Mauretania, in 40 AD, his kingdom was annexed. It was begun by Caligula and was completed by Claudius with the defeat of the rebels. In 42 AD Claudius divided it into two provinces( imperial procuratorial province).
  • 41/53 AD – Noricum (central Austria, north-eastern Slovenia and part of Bavaria), it was incorporated into the empire in 16 BC. It was called a province, but it remained a client kingdom under the control of an imperial procurator. It was turned into a proper province during the reign of Claudius (41–54) (imperial propraetorial province).
  • 43 AD – Britannia; Claudius initiated the invasion of Britannia. Up to 60 AD, the Romans controlled the area south a line from the River Humber to the Severn Estuary. Wales was finally subdued in 78. In 78–84 Agricola conquered the north of England and Scotland. Scotland was then abandoned (imperial proconsular province). In 197 Septimius Severus divided Britannia into Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior. Imperial provinces (proconsular and propraetorial respectively).
  • 43 AD – Lycia annexed by Claudius (in 74 AD merged with Pamphylia to form Lycia et Pamphylia).
  • 46 AD – Thracia (Thrace, north-eastern Greece, south-eastern Bulgaria and European Turkey), it was annexed by Claudius (imperial procuratorial province).
  • 47 AD? – Alpes Atrectianae et Poeninae (between Italy and Switzerland), Augustus subdued its inhabitants, the Salassi, in 15 BC. It was incorporated into Raetia. The date of the creation of the province is uncertain. It is usually set at the date of Claudius' foundation of Forum Claudii Vallensium (Martigny), which became its capital (imperial procuratorial province).

Under Nero

  • 63 AD? – Alpes Maritimae (on the French Alps), created as a protectorate by Augustus, it probably became a province under Nero when Alpes Cottiae became a province (imperial procuratorial province)
  • 63 AD – Alpes Cottiae (between France and Italy), in 14 BC it became a nominal prefecture which was run by the ruling dynasty of the Cotii. It was named after the king, Marcus Julius Cottius. It became a province in 63 (imperial procuratorial province).

Under Vespasian

Under Domitian

  • 83/84 AD – Germania Superior (southern Germany) The push into southern Germany up to the Agri Decumates by Domitian created the necessity to create this province, which had been a military district in Gallia Belgica when it was restricted to the west bank of the River Rhine (imperial proconsular province).
  • 83/84 AD – Germania Inferior (Netherlands south of the River Rhine, part of Belgium, and part of Germany west of the Rhine) originally a military district under Gallia Belgica, created when Germania Superior was created (imperial proconsular province).

Under Trajan

  • 106 AD – Arabia, formerly the Kingdom of Nabataea, it was annexed without resistance by Trajan (imperial propraetorial province)
  • 107 AD – Dacia "Trajana" (the Romanian regions of south-eastern Transylvania, the Banat, and Oltenia), conquered by Trajan in the Dacian Wars (imperial proconsular province). Divided into Dacia Superior and Dacia Inferior in 158 by Antoninus Pius. Divided into three provinces (Tres Daciae) in 166 by Marcus Aurelius: Porolissensis, Apulensis and Malvensis (imperial procuratorial provinces). Abandoned by Aurelian in 271.
  • 103/114 AD Epirus Nova (in western Greece and southern Albania), Epirus was originally under the province of Macedonia. It was placed under Achaia in 27 BC except for its northernmost part, which remained part of Macedonia. It became a separate province under Trajan, sometime between 103 and 114 AD and was renamed Epirus Nova (New Epirus) (imperial procuratorial province).
  • 114 AD – Armenia, annexed by Trajan, who deposed its client king. In 118 Hadrian restored this client kingdom
  • 116 AD – Mesopotamia (Iraq) seized from the Parthians and annexed by Trajan, who invaded the Parthian Empire in late 115. Given back to the Parthians by Hadrian in 118. In 198 Septimius Severus conquered a small area in the north and named it Mesopotamia. It was attacked twice by the Persians (imperial praefectorial province).
  • 116 AD – Assyria, Trajan suppressed a revolt by Assyrians in Mesopotamia and created the province. Hadrian relinquished it in 118.

Under Septimius Severus

Under Caracalla

  • 214 AD – Osrhoene, this kingdom (in northern Mesopotamia, in parts of today's Iraq, Syria and Turkey) was annexed.

Under Aurelian

  • 271 AD – Dacia Aureliana (most of Bulgaria and Serbia) created by Aurelian in the territory of the former Moesia Superior after his evacuation of Dacia Trajana beyond the River Danube.
Many of the above provinces were under Roman military control or under the rule of Roman clients for a long time before being officially constituted as civil provinces. Only the date of the official formation of the province is marked above, not the date of conquest.

Late Antiquity

The Roman Empire and its administrative divisions, c. 395 The Roman Empire ca 400 AD.png
The Roman Empire and its administrative divisions, c. 395

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. In the 290s, Diocletian divided the empire anew into almost a hundred provinces, including Italy. Their governors were hierarchically ranked, from the proconsuls of Africa Proconsularis and Asia through those governed by consulares and correctores to the praesides . These last were the only ones recruited from the equestrian class. The provinces in turn were grouped into (originally twelve) dioceses, headed usually by a vicarius , who oversaw their affairs. Only the proconsuls and the urban prefect of Rome (and later Constantinople) were exempt from this, and were directly subordinated to the tetrarchs.

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 new capital, known after him as Constantinople, which was sometimes called 'New Rome' because it became the permanent seat of the government. In Italy itself, Rome had not been the imperial residence for some time and 286 Diocletian formally moved the seat of government to Mediolanum (modern Milan), while taking up residence himself in Nicomedia. During the 4th century, the administrative structure was modified several times, including repeated experiments with Eastern-Western co-emperors. Provinces and dioceses were split to form new ones, the praetorian prefecture of Illyricum was abolished and reformed. In the end, with the rise of Odoacer in 476 and the death of Julius Nepos in 480, administration of the effectively reduced Empire was permanently unified in Constantinople.

Detailed information on the arrangements during this period is contained in the Notitia Dignitatum (Record of Offices), a document dating from the early 5th century. Most data is drawn from this authentic imperial source, 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 duces , 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.

Justinian I made the next great changes in 534–536 by abolishing, in some provinces, the strict separation of civil and military authority that Diocletian had established. This process was continued on a larger scale with the creation of extraordinary Exarchates in the 580s and culminated with the adoption of the military theme system in the 640s, which replaced the older administrative arrangements entirely. Some scholars use the reorganization of the empire into themata in this period as one of the demarcations between the Dominate and the Byzantine (or the Later Roman) period. As a matter of scholarly convenience, the medieval phase of the Roman Empire is today conventionally referred to as Byzantine, named after the original name of the city that Constantine rebuilt into the new capital of Constantinople.

Primary sources for lists of provinces

Early Roman Empire provinces

Late Roman Empire provinces

See also

Related Research Articles

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Moesia was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River. It included most of the territory of modern-day Central Serbia, Kosovo and the northern parts of the modern North Macedonia, Northern Bulgaria and Romanian Dobrudja.

Gallia Aquitania Roman province

Gallia Aquitania, also known as Aquitaine or Aquitaine Gaul, was a province of the Roman Empire. It lies in present-day southwest France, where it gives its name to the modern region of Aquitaine. It was bordered by the provinces of Gallia Lugdunensis, Gallia Narbonensis, and Hispania Tarraconensis.

Promagistrate Ancient Roman office

In ancient Rome a promagistrate was an ex-consul or ex-praetor whose imperium was extended at the end of his annual term of office or later. They were called proconsuls and propraetors. This was an innovation created during the Roman Republic. Initially it was intended to provide additional military commanders to support the armies of the consuls or to lead an additional army. With the acquisitions of territories outside Italy which were annexed as provinces, proconsuls and propraetors became provincial governors or administrators. A third type of promagistrate were the proquaestors.

Imperial province

An imperial province was a Roman province during the Principate where the Roman Emperor had the sole right to appoint the governor. These provinces were often the strategically located border provinces.

Gallia Narbonensis Roman province

Gallia Narbonensis was a Roman province located in what is now Languedoc and Provence, in southern France. It was also known as Provincia Nostra, from its having been the first Roman province north of the Alps, and as Gallia Transalpina, distinguishing it from Cisalpine Gaul in northern Italy. It became a Roman province in the late 2nd century BC. Its boundaries were roughly defined by the Mediterranean Sea to the south and the Cévennes and Alps to the west and north. The western region of Gallia Narbonensis was known as Septimania.

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Roman Italy Italian peninsula during the Roman Empire

Italia was the homeland of the Romans and metropole of Rome's empire in classical antiquity. According to Roman mythology, Italy was the new home promised by Jupiter to Aeneas of Troy and his descendants, ancestors of the founders of Rome. Aside from the legendary accounts, Rome was an Italian city-state that changed its form of government from kingdom to republic and then grew within the context of a peninsula dominated by the Celts in the North, the Etruscans in the Centre, and the Greeks in the South.

Roman Gaul

Roman Gaul refers to Gaul under provincial rule in the Roman Empire from the 1st century BC to the 5th century AD.

Illyricum (Roman province) Roman province

Illyricum was a Roman province that existed from 27 BC to sometime during the reign of Vespasian. The province comprised Illyria/Dalmatia and Pannonia. Illyria included the area along the east coast of the Adriatic Sea and its inland mountains. With the creation of this province it came to be called Dalmatia. It was in the south, while Pannonia was in the north. Illyria/Dalmatia stretched from the River Drin to Istria (Croatia) and the River Sava in the north. The area roughly corresponded to modern northern Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and coastal Croatia. Pannonia was the plain which lies to its north, from the mountains of Illyria/Dalmatia to the westward bend of the River Danube, and included modern Vojvodina, northern Croatia and western Hungary. As the province developed, Salona became its capital.

Domitian's Dacian War was a conflict between the Roman Empire and the Dacian Kingdom, which had invaded the province of Moesia. The war occurred during the reign of the Roman emperor Domitian, in the years 86–88 AD. The Roman Empire lost.

Dalmatia (Roman province) Roman province

Dalmatia was a Roman province. Its name is derived from the name of an Illyrian tribe called the Dalmatae, which lived in the central area of the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It encompassed the northern part of present-day Albania, much of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo and Serbia, thus covering an area significantly larger than the current Croatian region of Dalmatia. Originally this region was called Illyria or Illyricum.

History of the Roman Empire

The history of the Roman Empire covers the history of ancient Rome from the fall of the Roman Republic in 27 BC until the abdication of the last Western emperor in AD 476. Rome had begun expanding shortly after the founding of the Republic in the 6th century BC, though it did not expand outside of the Italian Peninsula until the 3rd century BC. Civil war engulfed the Roman state in the mid 1st century BC, first between Julius Caesar and Pompey, and finally between Octavian and Mark Antony. Antony was defeated at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC. In 27 BC the Senate and People of Rome made Octavian imperator ("commander") thus beginning the Principate, the first epoch of Roman imperial history usually dated from 27 BC to AD 284; they later awarded him the name Augustus, "the venerated". The success of Augustus in establishing principles of dynastic succession was limited by his outliving a number of talented potential heirs: the Julio-Claudian dynasty lasted for four more emperors—Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero—before it yielded in AD 69 to the strife-torn Year of Four Emperors, from which Vespasian emerged as victor. Vespasian became the founder of the brief Flavian dynasty, to be followed by the Nerva–Antonine dynasty which produced the "Five Good Emperors": Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and the philosophically inclined Marcus Aurelius. In the view of the Greek historian Dio Cassius, a contemporary observer, the accession of the emperor Commodus in AD 180 marked the descent "from a kingdom of gold to one of rust and iron"—a famous comment which has led some historians, notably Edward Gibbon, to take Commodus' reign as the beginning of the decline of the Roman Empire.

Cilicia (Roman province) Roman province

Cilicia was an early Roman province, located on what is today the southern (Mediterranean) coast of Turkey. Cilicia was annexed to the Roman Republic in 64 BC by Pompey, as a consequence of his military presence in the east, after pursuing victory in the Third Mithridatic War. It was subdivided by Diocletian in around 297, and it remained under Roman rule for several centuries, until falling to the Islamic conquests.

Legatus Augusti pro praetore

A legatus Augusti pro praetore was the official title of the governor or general of some imperial provinces of the Roman Empire during the Principate era, normally the larger ones or those where legions were based. Provinces were denoted imperial if their governor was selected by the emperor, in contrast to senatorial provinces, whose governors were elected by the Roman Senate.

Sanctuary of the Three Gauls focal structure built by Rome in Lyon, France

The Sanctuary of the Three Gauls (Tres Galliae) was the focal structure within an administrative and religious complex established by Rome in the very late 1st century BC at Lugdunum. Its institution served to federalise and Romanise Gallia Comata as an Imperial province under Augustus, following the Gallic Wars of his predecessor Julius Caesar. The distinctively Gallo-Roman development of the Imperial sanctuary and its surrounding complex are well attested by literary, epigraphic, numismatic and archaeological evidence.

References

Inline citations

  1. ↑ Richardson, John (2011). "Fines provinciae". Frontiers in the Roman World. Proceedings of the Ninth Workshop of the International Network Impact of Empire (Durhan, 16–19 April 2009). Brill. p. 2ff.
  2. ↑ "The Administration of the Empire". The Cambridge Ancient History . Cambridge University Press. 9: 564–565, 580. 1994.
  3. ↑ Ando, Clifford (2010). "The Administration of the Provinces". A Companion to the Roman Empire. Blackwell Publishers. p. 179.
  4. ↑ Lintott, Andrew (1999). The Constitution of the Roman Republic. Oxford University Press. p. 113ff.
  5. ↑ Brennan, T. Corey (2000). The Praetorship in the Roman Republic. Oxford University Press. pp. 626–627.
  6. ↑ Lintott, Andrew. The Constitution of the Roman Republic. p. 114.
  7. ↑ Brennan, T. Corey. The Praetorship in the Roman Republic. p. 636.
  8. ↑ Nicolet, Claude (1991) [1988]. Space, Geography, and Politics in the Early Roman Empire. University of Michigan Press. pp. 1, 15.
  9. ↑ Hekster, Olivier; Kaizer, Ted. Frontiers in the Roman World. p. 8.
  10. ↑ Lintott, Andrew. The Constitution of the Roman Republic. p. 114.
  11. ↑ Eder, W. (1993). "The Augustan Principate as Binding Link". Between Republic and Empire. University of California Press. p. 98.

Sources referenced

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