Byzacena

Roman province located in modern-day Tunisia
Provincia Byzacena
ἐπαρχία ΒυζακινῆςProvince of the Late Roman Empire - Byzantine Empire293–439
534–698
Map of Roman Africa and Egypt; Byzacena shown in top right.
The Province of Byzacena, showing its territorial extent, capital and major cities.CapitalHadrumetumHistorical eraLate Antiquity - Early Middle Ages
• Division by Diocletian
c. 293
• Vandal Conquest of Carthage
439
• Byzantine reconquest by Vandalic War
534
• Reorganization into the Exarchate
591
• Fall of Carthage
698
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Africa (Roman province)
Vandal Kingdom
Vandal Kingdom
Ifriqiya
Today part ofTunisia

Byzacena (or Byzacium) (Ancient Greek: Βυζάκιον, Byzakion)[1] was a Late Roman province in the central part of Roman North Africa, which is now roughly Tunisia, split off from Africa Proconsularis.

History

At the end of the 3rd century AD, the Roman emperor Diocletian divided the great Roman province of Africa Proconsularis into three smaller provinces: Zeugitana in the north, still governed by a proconsul and referred to as Proconsularis; Byzacena to its adjacent south, and Tripolitania to its adjacent south, roughly corresponding to southeast Tunisia and northwest Libya. Byzacena corresponded roughly to eastern Tunisia or the modern Tunisian region of Sahel.

Hadrumetum (modern Sousse) became the capital of the newly made province, whose governor had the rank of consularis. At this period the Metropolitan Archbishopric of Byzacena was, after the great metropolis Carthage, the most important city in Roman (North) Africa west of Egypt and its Patriarch of Alexandria.

Episcopal sees

Ancient episcopal sees of Byzacena listed in the Annuario Pontificio as titular sees:[2]

See also

References

  1. ^ Procopius, History of the Wars, §4.12
  2. ^ Annuario Pontificio 2013 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2013, ISBN 978-88-209-9070-1), "Sedi titolari", pp. 819-1013
  3. ^ located at Latitude: 36.19392 - Longitude: 10.02064.

Sources and external links

  • GCatholic - Tunisia
  • Map of the Roman state according to the Compilation notitia dignitatum
  • Place-names in the Compilation notitia dignitatum
  • v
  • t
  • e
History
As found in the Notitia Dignitatum. Provincial administration reformed and dioceses established by Diocletian, c. 293. Permanent praetorian prefectures established after the death of Constantine I. Empire permanently partitioned after 395. Exarchates of Ravenna and Africa established after 584. After massive territorial losses in the 7th century, the remaining provinces were superseded by the theme system in c. 640–660, although in Asia Minor and parts of Greece they survived under the themes until the early 9th century.
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