Gallia Lugdunensis (French:Gaule Lyonnaise) was aprovince of theRoman Empire in what is now the modern country ofFrance, part of theCeltic territory ofGaul formerly known asCeltica. It is named after its capitalLugdunum (today'sLyon), possibly Roman Europe's major city west of Italy, and a major imperial mint. Outside Lugdunum was theSanctuary of the Three Gauls, where representatives met to celebrate the cult of Rome and Augustus.
InDe Bello Gallico describing his conquest of Gaul (58–50 BC), Julius Caesar distinguished betweenprovincia nostra in the south of Gaul, which already was a Roman province in his time, and the three other parts of Gaul: the territories of theAquitani, of theBelgae, and of theGalli also known as theCeltae. The territory of the Galli extended from the riversSeine andMarne in the north-east, which formed the boundary withGallia Belgica, to the riverGaronne in the south-west, which formed the border withGallia Aquitania. UnderAugustus,Gallia Lugdunensis was created by reducing in size the territory of the Gauls (Galli): the portion between the riverLoire and the Garonne was given toGallia Aquitania, and central-eastern portions were given to the new province ofGermania Superior. The map shows the extent after these reductions. The date of the creation ofGallia Lugdunensis is under discussion, whether between 27 and 25 BC or between 16 and 13 BC, during Augustus' visits to Gaul.
It was an imperial province, deemed important enough to be governed by an imperiallegate. Under theTetrarchy (AD 296), it was first divided into two,Lugdunensis Prima, with its capital at Lyon, andLugdunensis Secunda, with its capital atRouen. This division is recorded in theVerona List.[1] Both new provinces belonged to thediocese of Gaul, alongside the Helvetic, Belgian and German provinces.
Constantine I (r. 306–337 AD) divided the provinces again.Lugdunensis Senonia, with its capital atSens, was split off from Prima, whileLugdunensis Tertia, with its capital atTours, was separated fromSecunda. According to theNotitia Dignitatum, Prima was governed by aconsularis, while the other three were governed by apraeses. All the provinces were gradually overrun by invadingFranks andBurgundians during the 5th century. What was left of the provinces effectively ceased to exist in AD 486/487 when the Roman generalSyagrius, who controlledSecunda andSenonia, was defeated by the Franks.[1]
The cities andcastra of the four provinces are listed in the late 4th-centuryNotitia Galliarum by their ethnic titles. Thecastrum of Mâcon is a later addition to theNotitia. They are listed here with their conventional short names (where different from the ethnic name) and their modern names:[2]
The Roman empire in the time ofHadrian (ruled 117–138 AD), showing, in centralGaul, theimperial province ofGallia Lugdunensis (north/central France). Note that the coast lines shown on the map are those of today, known to be different from those in Roman times in parts ofGallia Lugdunensis.
As found in theNotitia Dignitatum. Provincial administration reformed anddioceses established byDiocletian,c. 293. Permanentpraetorian 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.