Praetorian prefecture of Gaul

The praetorian prefecture of the Gauls (Latin: praefectura praetorio Galliarum) was one of four large prefectures into which the Late Roman Empire was divided.

History

The prefecture was established after the death of Constantine I in 337, when the empire was split up among his sons and Constantine II received the rule of the western provinces, with a praetorian prefect as his chief aide. The prefecture comprised not only Gaul but also Upper and Lower Germany, Roman Britain, Spain and Mauretania Tingitana in Africa. Its territory overlapped considerably with what was once controlled by the short-lived Gallic Empire in the 260s.

After the permanent partition of the Empire in 395 into West and East spheres of control, the prefecture of Gaul continued to belong to the Western Roman Empire. Augusta Treverorum (present-day Trier in Germany) served as the prefecture's seat until 407 (or, according to other estimates, in 395), when it was transferred to Arelate (Arles).

Praetorian prefecture

The praetorian prefecture (Latin: praefectura praetorio, in Greek variously named ἐπαρχότης τῶν πραιτωρίων or ὑπαρχία τῶν πραιτωρίων) was the largest administrative division of the late Roman Empire, above the mid-level dioceses and the low-level provinces. Praetorian prefectures originated in the reign of Constantine I (r. 306-337), reaching their more or less final form in the last third of the 4th century and surviving until the 7th century, when the reforms of Heraclius diminished the prefecture's power, and the Muslim conquests forced the East Roman Empire to adopt the new theme system. Elements of the prefecture's administrative apparatus however are documented to have survived in the Byzantine Empire until the first half of the 9th century.

History

The office of the praetorian prefect had a long history dating back to the origins of the Roman Empire: initially, its two holders were the commanders of the Praetorian Guard, but gradually, they became the emperor's chief aides, and amassed considerable administrative and judicial responsibilities. The exact process of transformation to the chief civilian administrator of a specific territorial circumscription is still unclear. A common misconception, based on Zosimus, is that Constantine I established the praetorian prefectures as definite territorial administrations as early as 318, or in 324, after his victory over Licinius.

Gallican Rite

The Gallican Rite is a historical version of Christian liturgy and other ritual practices in Western Christianity; it is not a single rite but a family of rites within the Latin Church which comprised the majority use of most of Western Christianity for the greater part of the 1st millennium AD. The rites first developed in the early centuries as the Syriac-Greek rites of Jerusalem and Antioch and were first translated into Latin in various parts of the Western Roman Empire Praetorian prefecture of Gaul. By the 5th century, it was well established in the Roman civil diocese of Gaul, an early center of Christianity. Ireland too is known to have had a form of this Gallican Liturgy mixed with Celtic customs. The rites can be considered part of what is now the Western branch of the Catholic Church.

History and origin

Arles

Arles (French pronunciation: ​[aʁl]; Occitan: Arle [ˈaʀle] in both classical and Mistralian norms; Arelate in ancient Latin) is a city and commune in the south of France, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, of which it is a subprefecture, in the former province of Provence.

A large part of the Camargue is located on the territory of the commune, making it the largest commune in Metropolitan France in terms of territory (though Maripasoula, French Guiana, is much larger). The city has a long history, and was of considerable importance in the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis. The Roman and Romanesque Monuments of Arles were listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1981. The Dutch post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh lived in Arles from 1888 to 1889 and produced over 300 paintings and drawings during his time there. An international photography festival has been held in the city since 1970.

Geography

The river Rhône forks into two branches just upstream of Arles, forming the Camargue delta. Because the Camargue is for a large part administratively part of Arles, the commune as a whole is the largest commune in Metropolitan France in terms of territory, although its population is only slightly more than 50,000. Its area is 758.93 km² (293.02 sq mi), which is more than seven times the area of Paris.

Roman

A Roman or Romans is a thing or person of or from the city of Rome

Roman or Romans may also refer to:

History