Despite the fact that the Great Roman Empire has long ceased to exist, interest in this period of the ancient history of our world does not fade. After all, it is the Romans who are the founders of modern law and jurisprudence, the constitutions of many European states, and their political treatises are still studied in prestigious educational institutions around the world.
However, even the usual arrangement of this great state of the past is no less interesting. Do you know
what the province of the Roman Empire is and how this territorial unit was formed? If not, then you should definitely read this article! We’ll immediately warn you that in the article we will talk about Rome as a single power. The division into the Eastern and Western empires occurred after the capture of the mother country by the Visigoths and Ostrogoths.
General definition
In a broad sense, “province” was understood as land given to some top official of the empire in his sole control. This man within his land had the title imperio. But few people know that this word had four other meanings at once. Here they are:
- As in the previous case, a “province” could be called a special position. So, the title is pr. maritima meant that the person who had it was entrusted with the duty of commanding the Roman fleet.
- The same status was in the person responsible for some important task. For example, pr. frumentum curare was in charge of the supply of bread.
- In addition, even enemy territory entrusted to some commander could be called a “province”. The same Macedonia consulibus provincia decernitur, formed during the conquest of Greece.
- Finally, this is the name of any newly conquered or sworn Roman region, on which Pax Romania is already established, the "Roman order."
It should be noted that the Western Roman Empire retained the administrative structure of its ancestors. Everything said here and hereafter is quite true for the Byzantine Basileus.
Further development of the "provincial" way
Already in the third century AD, the Romans began a rapid expansion, as a result of which the territory of the Roman Empire increased dramatically, far beyond the Italian "boot." Soon, all the lands lying near the Mediterranean Sea have already turned into Roman provinces. Finally, 117 A.D. culminated in a series of military successes. The empire's possessions have become as extensive as possible. In total, by that time there were 45 provinces in the state, not counting 12 regions in Italy itself.
How was the new province formed?
Over the entire period of the conquests, a clear procedure was introduced for the “merging” of new regions with other provinces of the empire: first, the commander who captured the new land made a preliminary demarcation of it. Important! If the Western Roman Empire is being discussed, then it must be said that there was practically no such “amateur activity” within its borders: all land operations were carried out exclusively with the knowledge and approval of the metropolis (Constantinople).
Legislative Procedures
A commission of 10 appointed by the Senate approved the "land plan", simultaneously legitimizing the edicts of the interim ruler. Senate orders and local law codes (if any) were immediately attached to these documents. By the way, it is the preservation of local laws that is the hallmark of the Roman state.
That is why any province of the Roman Empire (in the early period of the empire) in a sense was an independent state.
Interim period
Over time, the state strengthened, and laws increasingly sought uniformity. The value of local law was rapidly falling. Increasingly, “provincial charters” are beginning to be directly regulated by the Senate. In the end, local codes began to regulate only general management features, while all other issues were resolved according to Roman laws. Relations between the
Roman citizens who inhabited the province of the Roman Empire were governed by edictum provinciale, the edict of the governor, which he issued immediately upon taking office.
"Edict" had legal force only during the time of the governor, but more often it happened that his predecessor in the document practically did not change anything. The province was governed by praetors, proconsuls and propreters. Senta was engaged in their appointment, and people at these posts changed annually. If the circumstances required, the term of office could be extended, but the Senate had the right to make a decision on this.
The last years of the empire
In recent years, before the fall of Rome, the provinces were ruled by former consuls and praetors. They owned unlimited power in a controlled province. This explained both the completely inadequate level of corruption and the complete incompetence of many managers who made a career using good relations with the governor. During this period, the same Syria, the once richest province of the Roman Empire, was practically plundered by its rulers, and a tiny fraction of the collected taxes went to the metropolis. All this only accelerated the impending collapse of the once great state.
List of Roman provinces and their years of origin
So, we list the main provinces of which the Eastern Roman Empire consisted. The dating of their foundations is not end-to-end, since their conquests date back to different political periods in the history of the Roman state. The first "under the wing" of Rome stood Sicily, and after it - Sardinia and Corsica. It happened in 241 and 231 BC, respectively. After them, Far and Near Spain were conquered.
It happened in 197 BC. e. It should be noted that the province of Lusitania was isolated from Far Spain 27 years before the beginning of our era. Two years after that, the country grew in the province of Galatia. As you can see, by the beginning of a new era, the map of the Roman Empire impressed with its diversity. In 120 BC e. Gallia of Narbonne was conquered. Aquitaine, the Belgian and Lugdun provinces, and Numidia were annexed to Rome as far back as 50 BC, but they became separate, full-fledged subjects of the empire only in 17 AD. The Provinces of Retsii and Norik - 15 BC.
So, let's continue. The Maritime Alps were annexed in the year 14 (the Cottian Alps became part of Rome only under the infamous Nero). Nothing is known for certain about the time of the infusion of the Panin Alps into Rome, but it can be assumed that this happened no earlier than 200 years.
Upper and Lower Germany were conquered in 17. Around the same time, the province of Cappadocia was founded.
The East Roman Empire finally conquered Britain only in the year 43, but the first outposts there were founded much earlier. Upper and Lower Pannonia were conquered around the year 10. Initially, they were one province, but under the emperor Trajan (around 105) it was divided into two parts for ease of management. The same thing happened with Upper and Lower Misia. Conquered in the year 29, the separation occurred under the emperor Domitian, the date of this event remains unknown.
Militant Thrace became a Roman province in the year 46. Dacia followed her only 100 years later, followed by Arabia, Armenia and Assyria. Then Rome created a province with the name ... Asia. The Romans “mastered” Dalmatia between 159 and 169 years, and the province of Africa was founded ten years before them. Macedonia and Achaia were conquered at about the same time (plus or minus ten years). The date of origin of the province of Epirus is not exactly known. The recent history of the Roman Empire says only that it happened under the emperor Vespasian.
Further “acquisitions”
Egypt fell in 30 BC e. The history of the provinces of Bithias and Pontus is interesting. Conquered 74 years before the birth of Christ (simultaneously with the provinces of Crete and Cyrenaica), they were significantly expanded in just nine years. Finally, seven years after the beginning of AD, their territory again grew significantly. Around the same story happened with Lycia and Pamphylia. The latter was conquered before the year 25 BC, and the attack on Lycia was only completed in 43 AD. e.
The conquest of Cilicia stretched from 64 BC to 67 years after the birth of Christ. Cyprus and Syria managed to annex at about the same time. Mesopotamia was able to be included in the state as early as 115, but a couple of years later the new province was lost. They managed to return it only half a century later.
Our list of Thingitan and Caesarea Mauritania, which became part of the state 40 years after the birth of Christ, should be completed. Thus, the history of the Roman Empire is inextricably linked with the conquest of new lands, due to which the metropolis had the means both to continue expansion and to bribe especially powerful enemies.