Praetorian prefecture of Gaul
Encyclopedia
The praetorian prefecture of the Gauls (i.e. the provinces of Gaul
, in Latin: praefectura praetorio Galliarum) was one of four large praetorian prefecture
s into which the Late Roman Empire
was divided.
in 337, when the empire was split up among his sons and Constantine II
received the rule of the western provinces, with a praetorian prefect
as his chief aide. The prefecture comprised not only Gaul
but also Upper
and Lower Germany
, Roman Britain
, Spain
and Mauretania Tingitana
in Africa. Its territory overlapped considerably with that once controlled by the short-lived Gallic Empire
in the 260s.
After the permanent partition of the Empire in 395 into spheres of control, the prefecture of Gaul continued to belong to Western Roman Empire
. Augusta Treverorum (present-day Trier
in Germany
) served as the prefecture's seat until 407 (or, according to other estimates, in 395), when it was transferred to Arelate (Arles
).
The prefecture continued to function until 477, when the last areas under its control were seized by the Visigoths after the abolishment of the Western imperial government of Ravenna
in the previous year.
In 510, the Ostrogoth king
Theodoric the Great
re-established the prefecture in the small part of Gaul (the Provence
) that he had just conquered, with capital again at Arelate. This prefecture lasted until the area was conquered by the Franks
in 536, while the Ostrogoths were occupied by the East Roman invasion of Italy.
Roman Gaul
Roman Gaul consisted of an area of provincial rule in the Roman Empire, in modern day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and western Germany. Roman control of the area lasted for less than 500 years....
, in Latin: praefectura praetorio Galliarum) was one of four large praetorian prefecture
Praetorian prefecture
The praetorian prefecture 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 The praetorian prefecture was the largest administrative division of the late Roman...
s into which the Late Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
was divided.
History
The prefecture was established after the death of Constantine IConstantine I
Constantine the Great , also known as Constantine I or Saint Constantine, was Roman Emperor from 306 to 337. Well known for being the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity, Constantine and co-Emperor Licinius issued the Edict of Milan in 313, which proclaimed religious tolerance of all...
in 337, when the empire was split up among his sons and Constantine II
Constantine II (emperor)
Constantine II , was Roman Emperor from 337 to 340. Co-emperor alongside his brothers, his short reign saw the beginnings of conflict emerge between the sons of Constantine the Great, and his attempt to exert his perceived rights of primogeniture ended up causing his death in a failed invasion of...
received the rule of the western provinces, with a praetorian prefect
Praetorian prefect
Praetorian prefect was the title of a high office in the Roman Empire. Originating as the commander of the Praetorian Guard, the office gradually acquired extensive legal and administrative functions, with its holders becoming the Emperor's chief aides...
as his chief aide. The prefecture comprised not only Gaul
Roman Gaul
Roman Gaul consisted of an area of provincial rule in the Roman Empire, in modern day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and western Germany. Roman control of the area lasted for less than 500 years....
but also Upper
Germania Superior
Germania Superior , so called for the reason that it lay upstream of Germania Inferior, was a province of the Roman Empire. It comprised an area of western Switzerland, the French Jura and Alsace regions, and southwestern Germany...
and Lower Germany
Germania Inferior
Germania Inferior was a Roman province located on the left bank of the Rhine, in today's Luxembourg, southern Netherlands, parts of Belgium, and North Rhine-Westphalia left of the Rhine....
, 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...
, Spain
Hispania
Another theory holds that the name derives from Ezpanna, the Basque word for "border" or "edge", thus meaning the farthest area or place. Isidore of Sevilla considered Hispania derived from Hispalis....
and Mauretania Tingitana
Mauretania Tingitana
Mauretania Tingitana was a Roman province located in northwestern Africa, coinciding roughly with the northern part of present-day Morocco. The province extended from the northern peninsula, opposite Gibraltar, to Chellah and Volubilis to the south, and as far east as the Oued Laou river. Its...
in Africa. Its territory overlapped considerably with that once controlled by the short-lived Gallic Empire
Gallic Empire
The Gallic Empire is the modern name for a breakaway realm that existed from 260 to 274. It originated during the Roman Empire's Crisis of the Third Century....
in the 260s.
After the permanent partition of the Empire in 395 into spheres of control, the prefecture of Gaul continued to belong to Western Roman Empire
Western Roman Empire
The Western Roman Empire was the western half of the Roman Empire after its division by Diocletian in 285; the other half of the Roman Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire, commonly referred to today as the Byzantine Empire....
. Augusta Treverorum (present-day Trier
Trier
Trier, historically called in English Treves is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC....
in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
) served as the prefecture's seat until 407 (or, according to other estimates, in 395), when it was transferred to Arelate (Arles
Arles
Arles is a city and commune in the south of France, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, of which it is a subprefecture, in the former province of Provence....
).
The prefecture continued to function until 477, when the last areas under its control were seized by the Visigoths after the abolishment of the Western imperial government of Ravenna
Ravenna
Ravenna is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and the second largest comune in Italy by land area, although, at , it is little more than half the size of the largest comune, Rome...
in the previous year.
In 510, the Ostrogoth king
Ostrogothic Kingdom
The Kingdom established by the Ostrogoths in Italy and neighbouring areas lasted from 493 to 553. In Italy the Ostrogoths replaced Odoacer, the de facto ruler of Italy who had deposed the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire in 476. The Gothic kingdom reached its zenith under the rule of its...
Theodoric the Great
Theodoric the Great
Theodoric the Great was king of the Ostrogoths , ruler of Italy , regent of the Visigoths , and a viceroy of the Eastern Roman Empire...
re-established the prefecture in the small part of Gaul (the Provence
Provence
Provence ; Provençal: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm) is a region of south eastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...
) that he had just conquered, with capital again at Arelate. This prefecture lasted until the area was conquered by the Franks
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
in 536, while the Ostrogoths were occupied by the East Roman invasion of Italy.
4th century
- Ambrosius (340)
- Aconius Catullinus (341, uncertain whether he was prefect of Gaul)
- Fabius Titianus (342-350)
- Vulcacius RufinusVulcacius RufinusVulcacius Rufinus was a Roman politician, related to the Constantinian dynasty.- Biography :A pagan, Rufinus was the brother of Neratius Cerealis, of Galla , and of the mother, of unknown name, of Maximus...
(353-354) - Gaius Ceionius Rufius Volusianus (354-355)
- Honoratus (355-357)
- Flavius FlorentiusFlorentius (prefect)Florentius was a Roman praetorian prefect under the Caesar Julian and later a consul, before falling from grace when Julian became emperor.- Life :...
(ca. 357-360) - Nebridius (360-361)
- Decimius Germaniacus (361)
- Sallustius (in 363)
- Vulcacius RufinusVulcacius RufinusVulcacius Rufinus was a Roman politician, related to the Constantinian dynasty.- Biography :A pagan, Rufinus was the brother of Neratius Cerealis, of Galla , and of the mother, of unknown name, of Maximus...
(2nd term, 365-368) - Maximinus (371-376)
- Flavius Claudius Antonius (376-377)
- AusoniusAusoniusDecimius Magnus Ausonius was a Latin poet and rhetorician, born at Burdigala .-Biography:Decimius Magnus Ausonius was born in Bordeaux in ca. 310. His father was a noted physician of Greek ancestry and his mother was descended on both sides from long-established aristocratic Gallo-Roman families...
(377-378, co-prefect from 376) - SiburiusSiburiusSiburius , for whom only the single name survives, was a high-ranking official of the Roman Empire. He was one of several Gauls who rose to political prominence in the late 4th century as a result of the emperor Gratian's appointment of his Bordelaise tutor Ausonius to high office.-Life and...
(378-382) - Mallius Theodorus (382-383)
- Evodius (ca. 384-386)
- Constantinianus (389)
- NeoteriusNeoterius- Life :Probably born in Rome, he was notarius under Emperor Valentinian I when, in 365, he was sent to Africa to guarantee for the loyalty of that province during the usurpation of Procopius, who had rebelled against the Eastern Emperor Valens....
(390) - Hilarius (396)
- Theodorus (396/397)
- Flavius Vincentius (397-400)
5th century
- Andromachus (ca. 401)
- Claudius Posthumus Dardanus (1st term, ca. 402)
- Romulianus (404-405)
- Petronius (402-408) - seat of the prefecture moved to Arelate in 407
- Limenius (408) - assassinated at TicinumTicinumTicinum was an ancient city of Gallia Transpadana, founded on the banks of the river of the same name a little way above its confluence with the Padus ....
(PaviaPaviaPavia , the ancient Ticinum, is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, northern Italy, 35 km south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It is the capital of the province of Pavia. It has a population of c. 71,000...
) - Apollinaris (408)
- Decimus RusticusDecimus RusticusDecimus Rusticus of Treves and Lyon he was a Master of the Offices and the praetorian prefect of Gaul between 409 and 410 or 413. He was one of those responsible for the withdrawal from Britannia...
(409-411) - Claudius Posthumus Dardanus (2nd term, 412-413)
- Vicentius (413)
- Iulius (ca. 414)
- Flavius Julius AgricolaFlavius Julius AgricolaAgricola, full name possibly Julius Agricola was a West Roman statesman who served twice as praetorian prefect and became consul for 421.- Biography :...
(416-418) - Exsuperantius (421-424)
- Amatus (ca. 425)
- Flavius AetiusFlavius AëtiusFlavius Aëtius , dux et patricius, was a Roman general of the closing period of the Western Roman Empire. He was an able military commander and the most influential man in the Western Roman Empire for two decades . He managed policy in regard to the attacks of barbarian peoples pressing on the Empire...
(426-ca. 427) - Auxiliaris (435-437)
- AvitusAvitusEparchius Avitus was Western Roman Emperor from July 8 or July 9, 455 to October 17, 456. A Gallic-Roman aristocrat, he was a senator and a high-ranking officer both in the civil and military administration, as well as Bishop of Piacenza.A representative of the Gallic-Roman aristocracy, he...
(ca. 439) - Florentius (439)
- Caecina Decius Aginatius AlbinusCaecina Decius Aginatius Albinus (consul 444)Flavius Caecina Decius Aginatius Albinus was an aristocrat of the Roman Empire; he was made consul for 444 as the junior partner of Emperor Theodosius II.- Life :...
(440) - Marcellus (ca. 441-445)
- Tonantius FerreolusTonantius Ferreolus (prefect)Tonantius Ferreolus was the praetorian prefect of Gaul from 451.He was either "personally related to" or "connected through relatives" with Sidonius Apollinaris, and was associated with Thaumastus in the impeachment of Arvandus...
(450/451-453) - Priscus ValerianusPriscus ValerianusPriscus Valerianus was a Roman praetorian prefect of patrician rank, connected to both the emperor Avitus and Bishop Eucherius of Lyons....
(before 456) - Paeonius (456-458)
- Magnus (459-460)
- ArvandusArvandusArvandus was a Gaul who rose through the hierarchy of Imperial Roman society to twice be appointed Praetorian prefect of Gaul.On the first occasion, 461, he was appointed by Emperor Libius Severus. This appointment ended when Severus died in 465...
(464-469) - Flavius MagnusFlavius MagnusFlavius Magnus was a powerful politician in Gaul, where he was widely respected for his integrity and practical wisdom during the late age of the Western Roman Empire...
(469) - Magnus Felix (ca. 470)
- Entropius (ca. 471)
- Polemius (475-after 477) - the last remnants of the prefecture in the Provence were conquered by the Visigoths
6th century
- Petrus Marcellinus Felix LiberiusLiberius (praetorian prefect)Petrus Marcellinus Felix Liberius was a Late Roman aristocrat and official, whose career spanned seven decades in the highest offices of both the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy and the Eastern Roman Empire...
(510-536) - Prefect under Ostrogothic rule