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Osroene (Roman Province)
Osroene ( grc, Ὀσροηνή), also spelled Osrohene and Osrhoene, was a Roman province which existed for nearly 400 years. It was formed after the absorption of the Osroene, Kingdom of Osroene in 214 CE and served as a frontier province against the Sassanid Empire until the Muslim conquests of the 7th century. For the whole of its existence, the province would remain a bone of contention between the Romans and their eastern neighbors, the Sassanid Persians, suffering heavily in the recurrent Roman–Persian Wars. War broke out after the death of the Roman emperor Decius in 251 and the province was invaded by the Persians. In the second half of the 250s, the Persian shah Shapur I (r. ca. 240–270) attacked the Roman east, which was defended by the Roman emperor Valerian (emperor), Valerianus (r. 253–260), whom he Battle of Edessa, captured at Edessa, Mesopotamia, Edessa in 260. In the next year however, Shapur was heavily defeated by Odaenathus of Palmyra and driven out of O ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman Province
The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was ruled by a Roman appointed as governor. For centuries it was the largest administrative unit of the foreign possessions of ancient Rome. With the administrative reform initiated by Diocletian, it became a third level administrative subdivision of the Roman Empire, or rather a subdivision of the imperial dioceses (in turn subdivisions of the imperial prefectures). Terminology The English word ''province'' comes from the Latin word ''provincia''. In early Republican times, the term was used as a common designation for any task or set of responsibilities assigned by the Roman Senate to an individual who held ''imperium'' (right of command), which was often a military command within a specified theatre of operations. In time, the term became t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edessa, Mesopotamia
Edessa (; grc, Ἔδεσσα, Édessa) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, founded during the Hellenistic period by King Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Seleucid Empire. It later became capital of the Kingdom of Osroene, and continued as capital of the Roman province of Osroene. In Late Antiquity, it became a prominent center of Christian learning and seat of the Catechetical School of Edessa. During the Crusades, it was the capital of the County of Edessa. The city was situated on the banks of the Daysan River (; ), a tributary of the Khabur, and was defended by Şanlıurfa Castle, the high central citadel. Ancient Edessa is the predecessor of modern Urfa ( tr, Şanlıurfa; ku, Riha; ar, الرُّهَا, ar-Ruhā; hy, Ուռհա, Urha), in the Şanlıurfa Province, Turkey. Modern names of the city are likely derived from Urhay or Orhay ( syc, ܐܘܪܗܝ, ʾŪrhāy / ʾŌrhāy), the site's Syriac name before the re-foundation of the settlement by S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vir Spectabilis
The title ''vir illustris'' ('illustrious man') is used as a formal indication of standing in late antiquity to describe the highest ranks within the senates of Ancient Rome, Rome and Constantinople. All senators had the title ''vir clarissimus'' ('very famous man'); but from the mid fourth century onwards, ''vir illustris'' and ''vir spectabilis'' ('admirable man', a lower rank than ''illustris'') were used to distinguish holders of high office. History Origins The custom of Roman senators of late antiquity appending the title of ''vir clarissimus'' to their names developed gradually over the first two centuries. During the fourth century, the senatorial order greatly increased in number, so that the title became more common and new titles were devised to distinguish senators of a higher dignity, namely ''vir spectabilis'' and ''vir illustris''. The first instance of ''vir illustris'' occurred in AD 354 with its use by the ''Praetorian prefect, Praefectus praetorio''. For some ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dux Mesopotamiae
Mesopotamia was the name of a Roman province, initially a short-lived creation of the Roman emperor Trajan in 116–117 and then re-established by Emperor Septimius Severus in c. 198. Control of the province was subsequently fought over between the Roman and the Sassanid empires until the Muslim conquests of the 7th century. Trajan's province In 113, the Roman emperor Trajan (r. 98–117) launched a war against Rome's long-time eastern rival, the Parthian Empire. In 114, he conquered Armenia, which was made into a province, and by the end of 115, he had conquered northern Mesopotamia. This too was organized as a province in early 116, when coins were minted to celebrate the fact. Later in the same year, Trajan marched into central and southern Mesopotamia (enlarging and completing the province of Mesopotamia) and across the river Tigris to Adiabene, which he annexed into another Roman province, Assyria. But he did not stop there. In the last months of 116, he captured the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Praeses
''Praeses'' (Latin ''praesides'') is a Latin word meaning "placed before" or "at the head". In antiquity, notably under the Roman Dominate, it was used to refer to Roman governors; it continues to see some use for various modern positions. Roman governors ''Praeses'' began to be used as a generic description for provincial governors—often through paraphrases, such as ''qui praeest'' ("he who presides")—already since the early Principate, but came in general use under the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. The jurist Aemilius Macer, who wrote at the time of Caracalla (reigned 198–217), insists that the term was applied only to the governors who were also senators—thereby excluding the equestrian '' procuratores''—but, while this may reflect earlier usage, it was certainly no longer the case by the time he wrote. In the usage of the 2nd and 3rd centuries, the term appears originally to have been used as an honorific, affixed to the formal gubernatorial titles (''legatus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman Governor
A Roman governor was an official either elected or appointed to be the chief administrator of Roman law throughout one or more of the many provinces constituting the Roman Empire. The generic term in Roman legal language was '' Rector provinciae,'' regardless of the specific titles, which also reflects the province's intrinsic and strategic status, and corresponding differences in authority. By the time of the early Empire, two types of provinces existed—senatorial and imperial—and several types of governor would emerge. Only ''proconsuls'' and ''propraetors'' fell under the classification of promagistrate. Duties of the governor The governor was the province's chief judge. He had the sole right to impose capital punishment, and capital cases were normally tried before him. To appeal a governor's decision necessitated travelling to Rome and presenting one's case before either the ''praetor urbanus'', or even the Emperor himself, an expensive, and thus rare, process. An appe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Notitia Dignitatum
The ''Notitia Dignitatum'' (Latin for "The List of Offices") is a document of the late Roman Empire that details the administrative organization of the Western and the Eastern Roman Empire. It is unique as one of very few surviving documents of Roman government, and describes several thousand offices from the imperial court to provincial governments, diplomatic missions, and army units. It is usually considered to be accurate for the Western Roman Empire in the AD 420s and for the Eastern or Byzantine Empire in the AD 390s. However, the text itself is not dated (nor is its author named), and omissions complicate ascertaining its date from its content. Copies of the manuscript There are several extant 15th- and 16th-century copies of the document, plus a colour-illuminated iteration of 1542. All the known, extant copies are derived, either directly or indirectly, from ''Codex Spirensis'', a codex known to have existed in the library of the Chapter of Speyer Cathedral in 1542, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Praetorian Prefecture Of The East
The praetorian prefecture of the East, or of the Orient ( la, praefectura praetorio Orientis, el, ἐπαρχότης/ὑπαρχία τῶν πραιτωρίων τῆς ἀνατολῆς) was one of four large praetorian prefectures into which the Late Roman Empire was divided. As it comprised the larger part of the Eastern Roman Empire, and its seat was at Constantinople, the praetorian prefect was the second most powerful man in the East, after the Emperor, in essence serving as his first minister. Structure The Prefecture was established after the death of Constantine the Great in 337, when the empire was split up among his sons and Constantius II received the rule of the East, with a praetorian prefect as his chief aide. The part allotted to Constantius encompassed four (later five) dioceses, each in turn comprising several provinces. The authority of the prefecture stretched from the Eastern Balkans, grouped into the Diocese of Thrace, to Asia Minor, divided into the d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diocese Of The East
The Diocese of the East ( la, Dioecesis Orientis; el, ) was a diocese of the later Roman Empire, incorporating the provinces of the western Middle East, between the Mediterranean Sea and Mesopotamia. During late Antiquity, it was one of the major commercial, agricultural, religious and intellectual areas of the empire, and its strategic location facing the Sassanid Empire and the unruly desert tribes gave it exceptional military importance. History The capital of the diocese was at Antioch, and its governor had the special title of ''comes Orientis'' ("Count of the East", of the rank ''vir spectabilis'' and later ''vir gloriosus'') instead of the ordinary "''vicarius''". The diocese was established after the reforms of Diocletian (r. 284–305), and was subordinate to the praetorian prefecture of the East. The diocese included originally all Middle Eastern provinces of the Empire: Isauria, Cilicia, Cyprus, Euphratensis, Mesopotamia, Osroene, Syria Coele, Phoenice, Palaestina Pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tetrarchy
The Tetrarchy was the system instituted by Roman emperor Diocletian in 293 AD to govern the ancient Roman Empire by dividing it between two emperors, the '' augusti'', and their juniors colleagues and designated successors, the '' caesares''. This marked the end of the Crisis of the Third Century. Initially Diocletian chose Maximian as his ''caesar'' in 285, raising him to co-''augustus'' the following year; Maximian was to govern the western provinces and Diocletian would administer the eastern ones. The role of the ''augustus'' was likened to Jupiter, while his ''caesar'' was akin to Jupiter's son Hercules. Galerius and Constantius were appointed ''caesares'' in March 293. Diocletian and Maximian retired on 1 May 305, raising Galerius and Constantius to the rank of ''augustus''. Their places as ''caesares'' were in turn taken by Valerius Severus and Maximinus Daza. The orderly system of two senior and two junior rulers endured until Constantius died in July 306, and his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diocletian
Diocletian (; la, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus, grc, Διοκλητιανός, Diokletianós; c. 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed ''Iovius'', was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Gaius Valerius Diocles to a family of low status in the Roman province of Dalmatia. Diocles rose through the ranks of the military early in his career, eventually becoming a cavalry commander for the army of Emperor Carus. After the deaths of Carus and his son Numerian on a campaign in Persia, Diocles was proclaimed emperor by the troops, taking the name Diocletianus. The title was also claimed by Carus's surviving son, Carinus, but Diocletian defeated him in the Battle of the Margus. Diocletian's reign stabilized the empire and ended the Crisis of the Third Century. He appointed fellow officer Maximian as ''Augustus'', co-emperor, in 286. Diocletian reigned in the Eastern Empire, and Maximian reigned in the Western Empire. Diocletian delegated further on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
