Praetorian prefecture of Gaul

Praefectura praetorio Galliarum
Praetorian prefecture of the Gauls
Praet. Prefecture of the West Roman Empire
337-477
510-536
Praetorian Prefectures of the Roman Empire (395 AD)
Capital Augusta Treverorum (until 395/407)
Arelate (from 395/407)
Historical era Late Antiquity
 - Established 337
 - Conquest of the Provence by the Visigoths 477
 - Fall of the Provence to the Franks 536
Political subdivisions Diocese of Gaul
Diocese of Britain
Diocese of Spain
Diocese of the Seven Provinces

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

Contents

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 that once controlled by the short-lived Gallic Empire in the 260s.

After the permanent partition of the Empire in 395 into spheres of control, the prefecture of Gaul continued to belong to 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).

The prefecture continued to function until 477, when the last areas under its control were seized by the Visigoths after the abolishment of the Western imperial government of Ravenna in the previous year.

In 510, the Ostrogoth king Theodoric the Great re-established the prefecture in the small part of Gaul (the Provence) that he had just conquered, with capital again at Arelate. This prefecture lasted until the area was conquered by the Franks in 536, while the Ostrogoths were occupied by the East Roman invasion of Italy.

List of known praefecti praetorio Galliarum

4th century

5th century

6th century

References

  1. ^ Burns (1994), p. 58

Sources