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| Provincia Alpes Graiae et vallis Poenina Provincia Alpes Atrectianae et vallis Poenina | |||||||
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| Province of theRoman Empire | |||||||
| 41/54 AD–476 | |||||||
.svg) TheRoman Empire c. 125 AD, with the province of Alpes Graiae et Poeninae highlighted | |||||||
| Capital | Forum Claudii Ceutronum (Alpes Graiae/Atrectianae) Forum Claudii Vallensium (Alpes Poeninae) | ||||||
| Historical era | Antiquity | ||||||
• Created byClaudius | 41/54 AD | ||||||
• Deposition ofRomulus Augustulus | 476 | ||||||
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| Today part of | France Italy Switzerland | ||||||
TheAlpes Graiae et Poeninae, also known by the 2nd century AD asAlpes Atrectianae et Poeninae,[1] was a small Alpineprovince of theRoman Empire created after the merging of theAlpes Poeninae (orVallis Poenina) and theAlpes Graiae (orAlpes Atrectianae). Comprising the modernCanton of Valais (Switzerland), theTarantaise Valley,Beaufortain,Haut-Faucigny (France) and theAosta Valley (Italy), it was one of the three provinces straddling theAlps between modernFrance andItaly, along with theAlpes Maritimae andAlpes Cottiae.
TheProcurator of the province resided in the capital of this province:Axima, which becameForum Claudii Ceutronum (Aime-la-Plagne), former capital of the Alpes Graiae.[2] He was seconded by aPraefectus inOctodorum, which becameForum Claudii Vallensium (Martigny) for the Alpes Poeninae.[3]
In ancient documents, the province appears under the formsAlpes Graiae,Alpes Poeninae et Graiae(provincia Alpium Graiarum et Poeninarum), andAlpes Graiae et Poeninae. The rarer variantAlpes Atrectianae occurs in epigraphic material.[4]
It may have been referred to asAlpes Graiae et Vallis Poenina at the time of its formation,[5][6] which would represent an expanded form ofAlpes Graiae et Poeninae.[4] ASeverian period inscription (193–235) attests the variantAlpium Atrectianarum et Vallis Poeninae, in whichAtrectianae replacesGraiae as a local or epigraphic alternative.[7][4][2]
According toLivy, the nameAlpes Poeninae derives from an indigenous deity namedPoeninus,[8][9] attested asPoininos on local inscriptions and in the cult titleJupiter Poeninus.[10] The name survives in the modern formPennine Alps, andVallis Poenina in the nameValais.[11]
Xavier Delamarre has likewise proposed to identify a Celtic theonym *Graios (attested inHerculi/Herculeio Graio) as the origin of the nameAlpes Graiae.[12]
According toGuy Barruol, the formAlpes Atrectianae may derive from a local kinglet called *Atrectius, just like theAlpes Cottiae are named afterCottius. Although the repeated occurrence of the cognomenAtrectianus among several governors of the province in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD is noteworthy, there is no evidence for a local dynast namedAtrectius, and such a figure remains hypothetical.[13][4]
The region of Vallis Poenina, corresponding to the modernCanton of Valais between theLake Geneva and theGreat St. Bernard Pass, was inhabited at the time of the Roman conquest by Celtic tribes known as theVallenses, namely theNantuates,Veragri,Seduni, andUberi. After the Roman invasion led byAugustus in 16–15 BC, the area was initially placed under military control(praefectus Raetis,Vindolicis,vallis Poeninae) and incorporated into the province ofRaetia et Vindelicia, which stretched between the central Alps and theDanube.[14][15]
The Vallensian tribes were grantedLatin Rights and grouped into a singlecivitas Vallensium during the reign ofClaudius (41–54 AD). Most scholars associate this period with the beginning of the administrative reorganisation that eventually detached theVallis Poenina fromRaetia et Vindelicia and linked it to theAlpes Graiae, theCeutron territory west of theLittle St Bernard Pass.[14][16][17][18] However, an inscription from Claudius's reign shows that theVallis Poenina was still under the authority of the procurator of Raetia at that time, and the exact moment when the two Alpine districts were fully united remains uncertain.[19]
By the 2nd century, the two regions formed the province ofAlpes Graiae et Poeninae, with Axima (Forum Claudii Ceutronum, modernAime-la-Plagne) serving as the chief town of the Graian division, and Octodurus (Forum Claudii Vallensium, modernMartigny) as the centre of the Poenine district.[16][14][2] Some scholars date the definitive unification of theAlpes Graiae andAlpes Poeninae to the reign ofSeptimius Severus (193–211 AD) rather than to the reign of Claudius.[20]
During the administrative reforms ofDiocletian (284–305), the province was integrated into thepraeses of theDioecesis Galliarum.[2][15] In 381, the firstBishop of the region, Theodul, was mentioned. After theFall of the Western Roman Empire, the region was invaded by theBurgundians and incorporated into theirkingdom. After its fall, it was integrated into the Frankish Kingdom in 534, then briefly invaded by theLombards in 574.[15]
This name first appears under Septimius Severus but could have been the province's official name as early as Claudius
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