| Praetorian prefecture of Italy Praefectura praetorio Italiae | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Praetorian prefecture of theRoman Empire | |||||||||||||
| 337–584 | |||||||||||||
 Praetorian prefectures of the Roman Empire in 395 | |||||||||||||
| Capital | Ravenna from 476[citation needed] | ||||||||||||
| Historical era | Late antiquity | ||||||||||||
• Established | 337 | ||||||||||||
| 476 | |||||||||||||
| 493 | |||||||||||||
• Start ofGothic War | 535 | ||||||||||||
| 568 | |||||||||||||
• Foundation of Exarchate of Ravenna | 584 | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Thepraetorian prefecture of Italy (Latin:Praefectura praetorio Italiae, in its full form (until 356)praefectura praetorio Italiae, Illyrici et Africae) was one of fourpraetorian prefectures into which the LateRoman Empire was divided since the first half of the 4th century. It comprised theItalian peninsula, the westernBalkans, the upperDanubian provinces and parts ofNorth Africa. The Prefecture's seat moved fromRome toMilan and finally,Ravenna. It existed during theLater Roman Empire, and was part of theWestern Roman Empire. The prefecture continued to function withinOdoacer's andOstrogothic kingdoms, and later within theByzantine Empire, up to 584, when it was reorganized into theExarchate of Ravenna.[1][2]
Since most Latin terms and titles had their Greek equivalents, praetorian prefect of Italy was often titled as praetorianeparch of Italy (Greek:πραιτωριανός έπαρχος της Ιταλίας), and the praetorian prefecture itself was designated as praetorianeparchy (Greek:ἐπαρχότης τῶν πραιτωρίων).
The prefecture was established in the division of the Empire after the death ofConstantine the Great in 337, and was made up ofdioceses. Initially these were theDiocese of Africa, theDiocese of Italy, theDiocese of Pannonia, theDiocese of Dacia and theDiocese of Macedonia (the last two were untilc. 327 united in theDiocese of Moesia). Eventually the Diocese of Italy was split in two, theDiocese of Suburbicarian Italy (Italia suburbicaria: "Italy under the City", also referred to as "Diocese of the City of Rome") and theDiocese of Annonarian Italy (Italia annonaria: "provisioning Italy").
In 347, thepraetorian prefecture of Illyricum was established, comprising the dioceses of Pannonia, Dacia and Macedonia. Vulcacius Rufinus was the prefect, 347–352. The new prefecture was abolished in 361 byJulian and reestablished in 375 byGratian. Its territory was contested between the two halves of the Empire, until the final partition in 395, when theDiocese of Pannonia was split off from the Illyricum and joined to the Western Empire and the prefecture of Italy as theDiocese of Illyricum.
Despite the end of the Western Empire in 476, the Germanic successor states underOdoacer andTheodoric continued to use the Roman administrative machinery, as well as being nominal subjects of theEastern emperor atConstantinople. The Prefecture thus survived, but with reduced territorial jurisdiction, confined to regions under Odoacer's or Ostrogothic rule.
During theGothic War (535–554), entire Italy came under theByzantine rule, and the Praetorian prefecture of Italy continued to exist, centered in Ravenna, and divided into provinces. However, with theLombard invasion in 568, Byzantine rule became reduced to fragmented and increasingly isolated territories. Responding to that, remaining territories were grouped into several regions, oreparchies in 580 (Aemilia, Annonaria, Calabria, Campania, Urbicaria), but already by 584 the entire administrative structure was reorganized into theExarchate of Italy, also centered in Ravenna, and headed by an imperialexarch of Italy, who was both civilian and military governor ofByzantine Italy.[3]
Within the newly established Italian exarchate, praetorian prefects of Italy continue however to be attested, as heads of civilian branch of administration, until well into the 7th century. One of the last attested holders occurs in 639, and a couple of seals bearing the titleeparchos ("prefect" in Greek) survive from the late 7th century, although it has been suggested that they are a misprint forexarchos ("exarch").[4]
UnderOdoacer:
Under theOstrogoths:
