Diocese of Egypt (Late Antiquity)

The Diocese of Egypt ( la, Dioecesis Aegypti; el, Διοίκησις Αἰγύπτου) was a diocese of the later Roman Empire (from 395 the Eastern Roman Empire), incorporating the provinces of Egypt and Cyrenaica. Its capital was at Alexandria, and its governor had the unique title of ''praefectus augustalis'' ("Augustal Prefect", of the rank ''vir spectabilis''; previously the governor of the imperial 'crown domain' province Egypt) instead of the ordinary ''vicarius''. The diocese was initially part of the Diocese of the East, but in ca. 380, it became a separate entity, which lasted until its territories were overrun by the Muslim conquest of Egypt in the 640s.

Administrative history

Egypt was formed into a separate diocese in about 381. According to the '' Notitia Dignitatum'', which for the Eastern part of the Empire dates to ca. 401, the diocese came under a ''vicarius'' of the praetorian prefecture of the East, with the title of ''praefectus augustalis'', and included six provinces:''Notitia Dignitatum''
''in partibus Orientis'', I
/ref>

* ''Aegyptus'' (western Nile delta), originally established in the early 4th century as ''Aegyptus Iovia'', under a ''praeses''
* ''Augustamnica'' (eastern Nile delta), originally established in the early 4th century as ''Aegyptus Herculia'', under a ''corrector''
* ''Arcadia'' (central), established ca. 397 and having previously briefly listed in the 320s as ''Aegyptus Mercuria'', under a ''praeses''
* ''Thebais'' (southern), under a ''praeses''
* ''Libya Inferior'' or ''Libya Sicca'', under a ''praeses''
* ''Libya Superior'' or ''Pentapolis'', under a ''praeses''

Parallel to the civil administration, the Roman army in Egypt had been placed under a single general and military governor styled ''dux'' (''dux Aegypti et Thebaidos utrarumque Libyarum'') in the Tetrarchy. Shortly after the creation of Egypt as a separate diocese (between 384 and 391), the post evolved into the ''comes limitis Aegypti'', who was directly responsible for Lower Egypt, while the subordinate ''dux Thebaidis'' was in charge of Upper Egypt (Thebais). In the middle of the 5th century, however, the latter was also promoted to the rank of ''comes'' (''comes Thebaici limitis''). The two officers were responsible for the ''limitanei'' (border garrison) troops stationed in the province, while until the time of Anastasius I the ''comitatenses'' field army came under the command of the ''magister militum per Orientem'', and the '' palatini'' (guards) under the two ''magistri militum praesentales'' in Constantinople.

The ''comes limitis Aegypti'' enjoyed great power and influence in the diocese, rivalling that of the ''praefectus augustalis'' himself. From the 5th century, the ''comes'' is attested as exercising some civilian duties as well, and from 470 on, the offices of ''comes'' and ''praefectus augustalis'' were sometimes combined in a single person.

This tendency to unite civil and military authority was formalized by Justinian I in his 539 reform of Egyptian administration. The diocese was effectively abolished, and regional ducats established, where the presiding ''dux et augustalis'' was placed above the combined civil and military authority:

* ''dux et augustalis Aegypti'', controlling ''Aegyptus I'' and ''Aegyptus II''
* ''dux et augustalis Thebaidis'', controlling ''Thebais superior'' and ''Thebais inferior''
* ''Augustamnica I'' and ''Augustamnica II'' were likewise probably — the relevant portion of the edict is defective — were placed under a single ''dux et augustalis''
* in the two Libyan provinces, the civil governors were subordinated to the respective ''dux''
* ''Arcadia'' remained under its ''praeses'', probably subordinated to the ''dux et augustalis Thebaidos'', and a ''dux et augustalis Arcadiae'' does not appear until after the Persian occupation of 619–629.

''Praefecti Augustalii'' of the Diocese

Taken from the Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire (except for Theognostus):
* Eutolmius Tatianus (367-370)
* Olympius Palladius (370-371)
* Aelius Palladius (371-374)
* Publius (c. 376)
* Bassianus (c. 379)
* Hadrianus (c. 379)
* Iulianus (c. 380)
* Antoninus (381-382)
* Palladius (382)
* Hypatius (383)
* Optatus (384)
* Florentius (384-386)
* Paulinus (386-387)
* Eusebius (387)
* Flavius Ulpius Erythrius (388)
* Alexander (388-390)
* Evagrius (391)
* Hypatius (392)
* Potamius (392)
* Orestes (415)
* Theognostus (c. 482) Duchesne, Louis (1909): ''Early History of the Christian Church. From Its Foundation to the End of the Fifth Century. – Volume III: The Fifth Century'' – Read Books, 2008, p. 550.
* Petrus Marcellinus Felix Liberius (c. 539-542)

See also

* Greco-Roman world
* Greek and Roman Egypt

Notes

Sources

*
*

{{coord missing, Egypt

Byzantine Egypt
Ancient Cyrenaica
Egypt
Egypt
History of Christianity in Egypt
Christianity in the Middle East
Praetorian prefecture of the East
States and territories established in the 380s
4th-century establishments in Egypt
6th-century disestablishments in Africa
380s establishments
539 disestablishments