Flavia Caesariensis
Encyclopedia
Flavia Caesariensis was one of the provinces of Roman Britain
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...

.

It was created in the early 4th century under the reforms of Diocletian
Diocletian
Diocletian |latinized]] upon his accession to Diocletian . c. 22 December 244  – 3 December 311), was a Roman Emperor from 284 to 305....

 and it has been suggested that its capital may have been at Lincoln
Lincoln, Lincolnshire
Lincoln is a cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England.The non-metropolitan district of Lincoln has a population of 85,595; the 2001 census gave the entire area of Lincoln a population of 120,779....

 (based on a proposed amendment to the corrupt Verona List
Verona List
The Laterculus Veronensis or Verona List is a list of Roman provinces from the times of the Roman emperors Diocletian and Constantine I. The list is transmitted only in a 7th-century manuscript, which is preserved in the Chapter House Library in Verona. The most recent critical edition is that of...

). Its boundaries are uncertain but probably consisted of the southern Pennines
Pennines
The Pennines are a low-rising mountain range, separating the North West of England from Yorkshire and the North East.Often described as the "backbone of England", they form a more-or-less continuous range stretching from the Peak District in Derbyshire, around the northern and eastern edges of...

, stretching west to the Irish Sea
Irish Sea
The Irish Sea separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is connected to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel, and to the Atlantic Ocean in the north by the North Channel. Anglesey is the largest island within the Irish Sea, followed by the Isle of Man...

 and may have extended far enough south to encompass the territory of the Iceni
Iceni
The Iceni or Eceni were a British tribe who inhabited an area of East Anglia corresponding roughly to the modern-day county of Norfolk between the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD...

. The capital of Britannia Secunda
Britannia Secunda
Britannia Secunda was one of the provinces of Roman Britain in existence by c. 312 AD and probably created as part of the administrative reforms of the Roman Emperor Diocletian after the defeat of the usurper Allectus by Constantius Chlorus in 296 AD. The governors of Britannia Secunda were of...

 at York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...

 indicates that Flavia's territory did not extend much further north of Lincoln. (It is not named in the surviving copies of the Verona List
Verona List
The Laterculus Veronensis or Verona List is a list of Roman provinces from the times of the Roman emperors Diocletian and Constantine I. The list is transmitted only in a 7th-century manuscript, which is preserved in the Chapter House Library in Verona. The most recent critical edition is that of...

, which dates to 312 -314.)

Flavia Caesariensis and its southern neighbour, Maxima Caesariensis
Maxima Caesariensis
Maxima Caesariensis was the name of one of the four provinces of later Roman Britain . Its capital was Londinium and probably encompassed what is now south east England. Originally, its governors were of equestrian rank but by the mid fourth century they had to be of consular rank...

, may have briefly comprised a single province which covered most of what is now eastern England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. Eric Birley
Eric Birley
Eric Barff Birley , was a British historian and archaeologist, particularly associated with the excavation of the forts of Hadrian's Wall, notably at Vindolanda. He was born in Eccles, Lancashire, England, on 12 January 1906...

 and others have suggested that the two provinces named Caesariensis were descended from a larger unit which received its unusual name due to Imperial favour. After London welcomed Constantius Chlorus
Constantius Chlorus
Constantius I , commonly known as Constantius Chlorus, was Roman Emperor from 293 to 306. He was the father of Constantine the Great and founder of the Constantinian dynasty. As Caesar he defeated the usurper Allectus in Britain and campaigned extensively along the Rhine frontier, defeating the...

 in 296 he argues that he may have granted it the additional title of 'Caesariensis'. Given the circumstances at the time Constantius may well have divided the military command of Britannia Superior
Britannia Superior
Britannia Superior was one of the provinces of Roman Britain created around 197 AD by Emperor Septimus Severus immediately after winning a civil war against Clodius Albinus, a war fought to determine who would be the next emperor. Albinus was the governor of Britannia during that civil war...

 in two with an eastern province named Britannia Caesariensis and a western one named Britannia Prima
Britannia Prima
Britannia Prima was one of the provinces of Roman Britain in existence by c. 312 AD. It was probably created as part of the administrative reforms of the Roman Emperor Diocletian after the defeat of the usurper Allectus by Constantius Chlorus in 296 AD. In the 3rd century, the Romans created...

. This division would have been later reorganised by splitting Britannia Caesariensis into north and south regions named after Constantius and the western Augustus, Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maximianus This would require the split to have taken place prior to Maximian's abdication in 305. As Constantius was elevated to the title of Augustus in the same year, London may also have adopted the title at the same time, as indeed it was later known. The short period of it holding the title Caesariensis may explain why there is little other evidence of that name.

An alternative explanation is that the province was named after Flavius Constantius, emperor of the west and that Maxima Caesarensis was named in honour of Galerius
Galerius
Galerius , was Roman Emperor from 305 to 311. During his reign he campaigned, aided by Diocletian, against the Sassanid Empire, sacking their capital Ctesiphon in 299. He also campaigned across the Danube against the Carpi, defeating them in 297 and 300...

, emperor of the east. This raises the question of why an eastern emperor was honoured and the two Augusti of the Tetrachy were not.
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