Notitia Dignitatum
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The Notitia Dignitatum is a unique document of the Roman imperial chanceries. One of the very few surviving documents of Roman government, it details the administrative organisation of the eastern and western empires from the imperial court down to the provincial level. It is usually considered to be up to date for the Western empire in 420s, and for the Eastern empire in 400s. However, no absolute date can be given, and there are omissions and problems.
The Notitia derives its name from the description at the beginning of the manuscripts: "Notitia dignitatum omnium tam civilium quam militarium utriusque imperii occidentis orientisque. hoc documentum rationem reddit de structura et administratione imperii Romani aetate Theodosiana. ultima redactio notitiae dignitatum a primis decenniis saeculi quinti provenit." ("Listing of the officers, both civil and military, of both empires, western and eastern. This document presents the structure and the administration of the Roman Empire during the Theodosian age. The last edition of the notitia dignitatum comes from the first decade of the fifth century").
There are several extant 14th and 15th century copies (plus a colour-illuminated 1542 version). All derive from a lost manuscript that brought together several previous documents of which one was of the 9th century.
[edit] Contents
For each half of the empire, the Notitia enumerates all major 'dignities' (i.e offices) in its gift, often with their location and even their exact officium (staff, enumerated except for the most junior). These are organised by:
- Court officials (including the most senior dignitaries such as praetorian prefects).
- Vicars and provincial governors, arranged by praetorian prefecture and diocese.
- Military commanders (magistri militum, comites rei militaris and duces, showing the full titles and stations of their regiments.
[edit] Sources and references
- Westermann Großer Atlas zur Weltgeschichte contains many precise maps
- Pauly-Wissowa (German-language encyclopaedia on all classical Antiquity) provides articles and further bibliography on almost every term or name one may want to know more about
- Notitia dignitatum: accedunt Notitia urbis Constantinopolitanae et Laterculi provinciarum, edidit Otto Seeck, Berolini: Weidmann, 1876.
- A.H.M. Jones, The Later Roman Empire, 284-602. A Social, Economic and Administrative Survey, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1986, ISBN 0-8018-3285-3
[edit] External links
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- Various Latin texts, translations and commentaries (including maps and concordances) are listed at the specialized CNH website, and if available on the web are linked therefrom. There is also a map of the Roman state c.400. On this site you will find a complete bibliography and also links. For example, a complete English translation by William Fairley is on the web in the Medieval Sourcebook. As every translation is a calculated risk, balancing between illegibility for the modern non-expert reader and historical inaccuracy, one does best to look up the Latin original and search further from there.
- Notitia Dignitatum, with pictures, from bibliotheca Augustana
- Late Roman Shield Patterns, a study on the shield patterns of Roman army contained in Notitia Dignitatum
- "Notitia Dignitatum"
