| Diocese of the East Dioecesis Orientis Ἑῴα Διοίκησις | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diocese of theRoman Empire andByzantine Empire | |||||||||||||
| 314–535/536 | |||||||||||||
 The Diocese of the East c. 400 | |||||||||||||
| Capital | Antioch | ||||||||||||
| Historical era | Late Antiquity | ||||||||||||
• Established | 314 | ||||||||||||
• Diocese abolished byJustinian I | 535 or 536 | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
TheDiocese of the East, also called theDiocese of Oriens (Latin:Dioecesis Orientis;Greek:Διοίκησις Ἑῴα), was adiocese of the laterRoman Empire andByzantine Empire, incorporating the provinces of the westernMiddle East, between theMediterranean Sea andMesopotamia. Duringlate Antiquity, it was one of the major commercial, agricultural, religious and intellectual areas of the empire, and its strategic location facing theSassanid Empire and the nomadic tribes gave it exceptional military importance.[1]
The capital of the diocese was atAntioch, and its governor had the special title ofcomes Orientis ("Count of the East", of the rankvir spectabilis and latervir gloriosus) instead of the ordinary "vicarius". The diocese was established after the reforms ofDiocletian (r. 284–305), and was subordinate to thepraetorian prefecture of the East.[1][2]
The diocese included originally all Middle Eastern provinces of the Empire:Isauria,Cilicia,Cyprus,Euphratensis,Mesopotamia,Osroene,Syria Coele,Phoenice,Syria Palaestina,Arabia, and theEgyptian provincesAegyptus,Augustamnica,Thebais,Libya Superior andLibya Inferior, which were grouped into the separateDiocese of Egypt underValens (r. 364–378).[1] During the course of the 4th century, several provinces were split, resulting in the new provinces of Cilicia I and Cilicia II,Syria I and Syria II Salutaris, Phoenice I and Phoenice II Libanensis (east of Mt. Lebanon),Palaestina I,Palaestina II andPalaestina Salutaris (or Palaestina III). The last creation of a new province dated in the reign ofJustinian I (r. 527–565), whenTheodorias, the region aroundLaodicea, was split off from Syria I. At about the same time, Cyprus was split off and became part of a new super-province, thequaestura exercitus.[2]
In 535, as part of his administrative reforms, Justinian I abolished the diocese, and thecomes Orientis became the provincial governor of Syria I, while retaining his previous rank ofvir spectabilis and his salary.[3]
The entire area of the former diocese came underSassanid Persian occupation in the 610s and 620s, during theByzantine–Sassanid War of 602–628. Shortly after the Byzantine victory in the war and the recovery of the region, it was again lost, this time permanently, to theMuslims, with the exception ofCilicia andmost of the Levantine coasts later reconquered: by the 640s, Cilicia formed the border (Al-Awasim) between Byzantium and the new ArabRashidun Caliphate and its successors, whileCyprus became adisputed territory. From the old provinces of the Diocese of the East, onlyIsauria and parts of the two Cilicias remained under Byzantine rule, grouped under the newAnatolic Theme.[2]
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