Movatterモバイル変換

Diocese of Egypt

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article includes a list ofgeneral references, butit lacks sufficient correspondinginline citations. Please help toimprove this article byintroducing more precise citations.(May 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Administrative area of the Roman/Byzantine Empire in Africa (381–539)

This article is about the Byzantine administrative circumscription. For the Anglican ecclesiastical diocese, seeAnglican Diocese of Egypt.

Diocese of Egypt

Dioecesis Aegypti
Διοίκησις Αἰγύπτου

Diocese of theByzantine Empire

c. 381 – 539

The Diocese of Egypt c. 400.

Capital

Alexandria

Historical era

Late Antiquity

• Separation from theDiocese of the East

c. 381

• Diocese abolished by emperorJustinian I.

539

Preceded by

Roman Egypt

Today part of

Egypt
Libya

TheDiocese of Egypt (Latin:Dioecesis Aegypti;Greek:Διοίκησις Αἰγύπτου) was adiocese of the laterRoman Empire (from 395 theEastern Roman Empire), incorporating the provinces ofEgypt andCyrenaica. Its capital was atAlexandria, and its governor had the unique title ofpraefectus augustalis ("Augustal Prefect", of the rankvir spectabilis; previously the governor of the imperial 'crown domain' province Egypt) instead of the ordinaryvicarius. The diocese was initially part of theDiocese of the East, but in ca. 380, it became a separate entity, which lasted until its territories were overrun by theMuslim conquest of Egypt in the 640s.

Administrative history

[edit]

Egypt was formed into a separate diocese in about 381.^[1] According to theNotitia Dignitatum, which for the Eastern part of the Empire dates to ca. 401, the diocese came under avicarius of thepraetorian prefecture of the East, with the title ofpraefectus augustalis, and included six provinces:^[2]^[3]

Aegyptus (western Nile delta), originally established in the early 4th century asAegyptus Iovia, under apraeses
Augustamnica (eastern Nile delta), originally established in the early 4th century asAegyptus Herculia, under acorrector
Arcadia (central), established ca. 397 and having previously briefly listed in the 320s asAegyptus Mercuria, under apraeses
Thebais (southern), under apraeses
Libya Inferior orLibya Sicca, under apraeses
Libya Superior orPentapolis, under apraeses

Parallel to the civil administration, the Roman army in Egypt had been placed under a single general and military governor styleddux (dux Aegypti et Thebaidos utrarumque Libyarum) in theTetrarchy. Shortly after the creation of Egypt as a separate diocese (between 384 and 391), the post evolved into thecomes limitis Aegypti, who was directly responsible forLower Egypt, while the subordinatedux Thebaidis was in charge of Upper Egypt (Thebais). In the middle of the 5th century, however, the latter was also promoted to the rank ofcomes (comes Thebaici limitis).^[4] The two officers were responsible for thelimitanei (border garrison) troops stationed in the province, while until the time ofAnastasius I thecomitatenses field army came under the command of themagister militum per Orientem, and thepalatini (guards) under the twomagistri militum praesentales inConstantinople.^[5]

Thecomes limitis Aegypti enjoyed great power and influence in the diocese, rivalling that of thepraefectus augustalis himself. From the 5th century, thecomes is attested as exercising some civilian duties as well, and from 470 on, the offices ofcomes andpraefectus augustalis were sometimes combined in a single person.^[6]

This tendency to unite civil and military authority was formalized byJustinian I in his 539 reform of Egyptian administration. The diocese was effectively abolished, and regional ducats established, where the presidingdux et augustalis was placed above the combined civil and military authority:^[6]^[7]

dux et augustalis Aegypti, controllingAegyptus I andAegyptus II
dux et augustalis Thebaidis, controllingThebais superior andThebais inferior
Augustamnica I andAugustamnica II were likewise probably — the relevant portion of the edict is defective — were placed under a singledux et augustalis
in the two Libyan provinces, the civil governors were subordinated to the respectivedux
Arcadia remained under itspraeses, probably subordinated to thedux et augustalis Thebaidos, and adux et augustalis Arcadiae does not appear until after thePersian occupation of 619–629.

Praefecti Augustalii of the Diocese

[edit]

Taken from theProsopography of the Later Roman Empire (except for Theognostus):

Eutolmius Tatianus (367-370)
Olympius Palladius (370-371)
Aelius Palladius (371-374)
Publius (c. 376)
Bassianus (c. 379)
Hadrianus (c. 379)
Iulianus (c. 380)
Antoninus (381-382)
Palladius (382)
Hypatius (383)
Optatus (384)
Florentius (384-386)
Paulinus (386-387)
Eusebius (387)
Flavius Ulpius Erythrius (388)
Alexander (388-390)
Evagrius (391)
Hypatius (392)
Potamius (392)
Orestes (415)
Theognostus (c. 482)^[8]
Petrus Marcellinus Felix Liberius (c. 539-542)

Notes

[edit]

^Palme 2007, p. 245.
^Palme 2007, pp. 245–246.
^Notitia Dignitatum,in partibus Orientis, I
^Palme 2007, p. 247.
^Palme 2007, pp. 247–248.
^^a ^bPalme 2007, p. 248.
^Hendy 1985, pp. 179–180.
^Duchesne, Louis (1909):Early History of the Christian Church. From Its Foundation to the End of the Fifth Century. – Volume III: The Fifth Century – Read Books, 2008, p. 550.ISBN 978-1-4437-7159-7

Sources

[edit]

Hendy, Michael F. (1985).Studies in the Byzantine Monetary Economy c. 300–1450. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.ISBN 0-521-24715-2.
Palme, Bernhard (2007)."The Imperial Presence: Government and Army". In Bagnall, Roger S. (ed.).Egypt in the Byzantine World, 300–700. Cambridge University Press. pp. 244–270.ISBN 978-0521871372.

Late Roman and early Byzantine provinces (4th–7th centuries AD)

History

As found in theNotitia Dignitatum. Provincial administration reformed anddioceses established byDiocletian,c. 293. Permanent praetorian prefectures established after the death ofConstantine I. Empire permanently partitioned after 395. Exarchates ofRavenna andAfrica established after 584. After massive territorial losses in the 7th century, the remaining provinces were superseded by thetheme system in c. 640–660, although inAsia Minor and parts of Greece they survived under the themes until the early 9th century.

Western Roman Empire (395–476)

Praetorian prefecture
of Gaul

Diocese of Gaul	Alpes Poeninae et Graiae Belgica I Belgica II Germania I Germania II Lugdunensis I Lugdunensis II Lugdunensis III Lugdunensis IV Maxima Sequanorum
Diocese of Vienne¹	Alpes Maritimae Aquitanica I Aquitanica II Narbonensis I Narbonensis II Novempopulania Viennensis
Diocese of Spain	Baetica Balearica Carthaginensis Gallaecia Lusitania Mauretania Tingitana Tarraconensis
Diocese of the Britains	Britannia I Britannia II Flavia Caesariensis Maxima Caesariensis Valentia (?)

Praetorian prefecture
of Italy

Diocese of Suburbicarian Italy	Apulia et Calabria Campania Corsica Lucania et Bruttium Picenum Suburbicarium Samnium Sardinia Sicilia Tuscia et Umbria Valeria
Diocese of Annonarian Italy	Alpes Cottiae Flaminia et Picenum Annonarium Liguria etAemilia Raetia I Raetia II Venetia et Histria
Diocese of Africa²	Africa proconsularis (Zeugitana) Byzacena Mauretania Caesariensis Mauretania Sitifensis Numidia (divided as Cirtensis and Militiana during the Tetrarchy) Tripolitania (Roman province)

Eastern Roman Empire (395–c. 640)

Praetorian prefecture
of Illyricum

Diocese of Pannonia³	Dalmatia Noricum mediterraneum Noricum ripense Pannonia I Pannonia II Savia Valeria ripensis
Diocese of Dacia	Dacia Mediterranea Dacia Ripensis Dardania Moesia I Praevalitana
Diocese of Macedonia	Achaea Creta Epirus Nova Epirus Vetus Macedonia Prima Macedonia II Salutaris Thessalia

Praetorian prefecture
of the East

Diocese of Thrace⁵	Europa Haemimontus Moesia II⁴ Rhodope Scythia⁴ Thracia
Diocese of Asia⁵	Asia Caria⁴ Hellespontus Islands⁴ Lycaonia (370) Lycia Lydia Pamphylia Pisidia Phrygia Pacatiana Phrygia Salutaris
Diocese of Pontus⁵	Armenia I⁵ Armenia II⁵ Armenia Maior⁵ Armenian Satrapies⁵ Armenia III (536) Armenia IV (536) Bithynia Cappadocia I⁵ Cappadocia II⁵ Galatia I⁵ Galatia II Salutaris⁵ Helenopontus⁵ Honorias⁵ Paphlagonia⁵ Pontus Polemoniacus⁵
Diocese of the East⁵	Arabia Cilicia I Cilicia II Cyprus⁴ Euphratensis Isauria Mesopotamia Osroene Palaestina I Palaestina II Palaestina III Salutaris Phoenice I Phoenice II Libanensis Syria I Syria II Salutaris Theodorias (528)
Diocese of Egypt⁵	Aegyptus I Aegyptus II Arcadia Augustamnica I Augustamnica II Libya Superior Libya Inferior Thebais Superior Thebais Inferior

Other territories
Taurica Quaestura exercitus (536) Spania (552)

¹ Later theSeptem Provinciae
² Re-established afterreconquest by the Eastern Empire in 534 as the separatePrefecture of Africa
³ Later theDiocese of Illyricum
⁴ Placed under theQuaestura exercitus in 536
⁵ Affected (i.e. boundaries modified, abolished or renamed) byJustinian I's administrative reorganization in 534–536

‹ ThetemplateLife in Egypt is beingconsidered for merging. ›

Egypt topics

History

Chronology	Prehistoric Ancient topics Achaemenid 27th Dynasty 31st Dynasty Ptolemaic Battle of Actium Lighthouse of Alexandria Roman Diocese of Egypt Library of Alexandria Christian Sassanid Muslim Rashidun Caliphate Fustat Islamization Tulunid dynasty Ikhshidid dynasty Fatimid Caliphate Crusader invasions Ayyubid dynasty Mamluk Sultanate Mamluk Ottoman Ottoman Egypt Khedivate and Kingdom of Egypt Muhammad Ali dynasty Nahda Khedivate Egyptian–Ethiopian War Urabi revolt Modern French occupation Revolt of Cairo British occupation 1919 revolution Sultanate World War II Kingdom 1948 Arab–Israeli War Republic Nasser era 1952 Egyptian revolution Land reform Suez Crisis United Arab Republic Six-Day War Sadat era Yom Kippur War Egyptian–Libyan War Assassination of Anwar Sadat Mubarak era 2010s Crisis 2011 Egyptian revolution 2013 Rabaa massacre
By topic	Anarchism Capital Cigarette industry Constitution Copts Genetic Healthcare Jews Muslim Brotherhood 1928–1938 1939–1954 1954–present Parliament Population Postal Saladin Timekeeping devices
By city	Alexandria Cairo Port Said

Geography
Biota Borders Cities Climate Deserts Earthquakes Environmental issues Fossils Geology Halfaya Pass Islands Lakes Mountains Mount Sinai Nile Delta Northern coast Oases Qattara Depression Red Sea Riviera Rivers Nile Sinai Peninsula Suez Canal Towns and villages Wadis Wildlife