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praetorian prefecture
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{{short description|Administrative division of the late Roman Empire}}The praetorian prefecture (; in Greek variously named ) was the largest administrative division of the late Roman Empire, above the mid-level dioceses and the low-level provinces. Praetorian prefectures originated in the reign of Constantine I (r. 306â337), reaching their more or less final form in the last third of the 4th century and surviving until the 7th century, when the reforms of Heraclius diminished the prefecture's power, and the Muslim conquests forced the Eastern Roman Empire to adopt the new theme system. Elements of the prefecture's administrative apparatus, however, are documented to have survived in the Byzantine Empire until the first half of the 9th century.- the content below is remote from Wikipedia
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History
File:Tetrarchy map3.jpg|thumb|300px|Map of the Roman Empire under the Tetrarchy, showing the dioceses and the four tetrarchs' zones of control.]]The office of the praetorian prefect had a long history dating back to the origins of the Roman Empire: initially, its two holders were the commanders of the Praetorian Guard, but gradually, they became the emperor's chief aides, and amassed considerable administrative and judicial responsibilities. The exact process of transformation to the chief civilian administrator of a specific territorial circumscription is still unclear.Kelly (2006), p. 185 A common misconception, based on Zosimus, is that Constantine I established the praetorian prefectures as definite territorial administrations as early as 318, or in 324, after his victory over Licinius.Morrisson (2007), p. 190During the Tetrarchy, when the number of holders of the imperial office multiplied (two senior emperors, the Augusti, and two junior colleagues, the Caesares), there is evidence for the existence of only two prefects at each time, presumably assigned to each of the Augusti. At that stage, the prefect's power was still immense. In the words of A.H.M. Jones, he was "a kind of grand vizier, the emperor's second in command, wielding a wide authority in almost every sphere of government, military and judicial, financial and general administration. He was the emperorâs chief of staff, adjutant-general, and quartermaster-general...".Jones (1964), p. 371 Following Diocletian's abdication in 305, civil war erupted among the various co-emperors, during which time each of the contenders appointed his own prefect, a pattern carried on during the period where the Empire was shared between Licinius and Constantine I.Kelly (2006), p. 186 In 317 a third prefect was added in Gaul for Constantine's son Crispus. After his execution in 326 this prefect was retained. From 317 there were never less than three, and for years 347â361, 374â379 and 388â391, four, with the addition of a prefecture for Illyricum, although in the last two years it comprised only the dioceses of Dacia and Macedonia which would be the permanent territory from then on after restoration in 395. (File:The_Roman_Empire,_AD_395.png|right|thumb|upright=1.15|The administrative divisions of the Roman Empire in 395 AD)Authority and powers of the prefect
File:Notitia dignitatum - insignia praefecti praetorio per illyricum.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The insignia of the praetorian prefect of Illyricum, as depicted in the (Notitia Dignitatum]]: the ivory inkwell and pen case (theca), the codicil of appointment to the office on a blue cloth-covered table, and the state carriage.Kelly (2004), p. 41)Originally, the praetorian prefects were drawn from the equestrian class. 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".Morrisson (2007), p. 177 In the divided Empire, 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.Bury, p. 27The prefects held wide-ranging control over most aspects of the administrative machinery of their provinces, and only the magister officiorum rivalled them in power. The prefects fulfilled the roles of supreme administrative and juridical official, already present from the time of Septimius Severus, and that of chief financial official, responsible for the state budget. In their capacity as judges, they had the right to pass judgment instead of the emperor (vice sacra), and, unlike lower governors, their decision could not be appealed.Their departments were divided in two major categories: the schola excerptorum, which supervised administrative and judicial affairs, and the scriniarii, overseeing the financial sector.Kazhdan (1991), 1710References
{{Reflist|2}}Sources
- Notitia dignitatum
- BOOK, John Bagnell, Bury, John Bagnell Bury, History of the Later Roman Empire, Volume I, Chapter II,weblink Macmillan & Co., Ltd., 1923,
- BOOK, Haldon, John F., Byzantium in the Seventh Century: The Transformation of a Culture, 1997, Cambridge University Press, 978-0-521-31917-1,
- BOOK, A.H.M., Jones, Arnold Hugh Martin Jones, The Later Roman Empire, 284-602: A Social, Economic, and Administrative Survey, 1964,
- BOOK, Alexander, Kazhdan, Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, Oxford University Press, 1991, 978-0-19-504652-6,
- BOOK, Christopher, Kelly, Bureaucracy and Government, The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Constantine, Lenski, Noel, 2006, Cambridge University Press, 978-0-521-52157-4,
- BOOK, Morrisson, Cécile, Cécile Morrisson, Le Monde byzantin, tome 1: L'Empire romain d'Orient, 330-641, Polis Editions, Athens, 2007, 978-960-435-134-3, el,
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