Britannia Inferior (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

for "Lower

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

") was a new

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...

carved out of

Roman Britain Roman Britain was the period in classical antiquity when large parts of the island of Great Britain were under occupation by the Roman Empire. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. During that time, the territory conquered wa ...

probably around AD 197 during the reforms of

Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus (; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through the customary suc ...

although the division may have occurred later, between 211 and 220, under

Caracalla Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Lucius Septimius Bassianus, 4 April 188 – 8 April 217), better known by his nickname "Caracalla" () was Roman emperor from 198 to 217. He was a member of the Severan dynasty, the elder son of Emperor ...

. The removal of the governors in

Londinium Londinium, also known as Roman London, was the capital of Roman Britain during most of the period of Roman rule. It was originally a settlement established on the current site of the City of London around AD 47–50. It sat at a key cros ...

from control over the legions guarding

Hadrian's Wall Hadrian's Wall ( la, Vallum Aelium), also known as the Roman Wall, Picts' Wall, or ''Vallum Hadriani'' in Latin, is a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. Ru ...

was aimed at reducing their power, given

Clodius Albinus Decimus Clodius Albinus ( 150 – 19 February 197) was a Roman imperial pretender between 193 and 197. He was proclaimed emperor by the legions in Britain and Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula, comprising modern Spain and Portugal) after the murd ...

's recent bid to become

emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother ( ...

. The province was probably formalised around 214 by Severus's son

. Including most of modern

northern England Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angles, Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Scandinavian York, K ...

and the

Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the In ...

, the region was governed from the city of

Eboracum Eboracum () was a fort and later a city in the Roman province of Britannia. In its prime it was the largest town in northern Britain and a provincial capital. The site remained occupied after the decline of the Western Roman Empire and ultimat ...

(modern

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

) by a praetorian legate in command of a single legion stationed in the city. This subdivision of Britannia lasted throughout the

Severan dynasty The Severan dynasty was a Roman imperial dynasty that ruled the Roman Empire between 193 and 235, during the Roman imperial period. The dynasty was founded by the emperor Septimius Severus (), who rose to power after the Year of the Five Empero ...

until the reorganisation of the empire under

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 ...

in 296.

Establishment

During the reign of

Commodus Commodus (; 31 August 161 – 31 December 192) was a Roman emperor who ruled from 177 to 192. He served jointly with his father Marcus Aurelius from 176 until the latter's death in 180, and thereafter he reigned alone until his assassination. ...

, the defences along the northern border of the empire in

Britannia Britannia () is the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used in classical antiquity, the Latin ''Britannia'' was the name variously applied to the British Isles, Grea ...

fell into neglect and disrepair. The peace of the region was further disturbed in the tumultuous period after Commodus' death as the military power vacuum on the continent distracted the defensive legions stationed in Britannia. After his accession in 193, Severus took special interest in refortifying the northern border in Britannia, and in 208 he moved to

to oversee the military campaigns against the northern tribes. While there is some confusion as to the exact date when the subdivision of Britannia was made, it seems clear that Severus's intentions were to break up the size of the military under the command of an individual governor (as he had done in

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

), preventing them from wielding too large a military force, or at least one that could destabilize the emperor's control. An African inscription dated to the reign of Caracalla provides a potential early confirmation of the division occurring under Severus.

Herodian Herodian or Herodianus ( el, Ἡρωδιανός) of Syria, sometimes referred to as "Herodian of Antioch" (c. 170 – c. 240), was a minor Roman civil servant who wrote a colourful history in Greek titled ''History of the Empire from the Death o ...

puts the date of the split in 197, although there is no evidence of this distinction being formalised in inscriptions until after the death of Severus in 211. Thus, it is likely that the division of military control in Britannia was formally established by

sometime between 211 and 20.''The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume XII'', p. 8 Caracalla also moved the southern border of the province northwards from the line established by Severus, transferring northern modern Wales and the region surrounding Chester to Britannia Superior.

History

In the reign of Severus, the province's fortifications were significantly improved in order to provide better defence against northern tribes. A major rebuilding of Hadrian's Wall was included among these efforts. The province hosted a single legion during Caracalla's reign, the VI Victrix, which was stationed at Eboracum. However, although Britannia Inferior had only the single legion (compared to the two stationed in Britannia Superior) the northern province actually had more soldiers than the south did, as a result of the large number of auxiliaries in the north. After the successes of Severus against the northern tribes, these troops furnished small units known as exploratores which were sent beyond the frontier to oversee native activities and ensure that the terms of Roman treaties with these groups were upheld. These measures were mostly effective and during Britannia Inferior's existence the northern border was largely peaceful after the campaign of Severus. From 260 to 273 AD Britannia Inferior, along with much of the rest of the western Empire, broke away from the rest of the Roman Empire to form the Gallic Empire. The second half of the province's history also coincided with a period of poor economic conditions across Roman Britain. The symbol of the province, attested by several lead sealings, was a bull.

Reorganisation

In 296, the emperor

conducted a major reorganisation of the empire. The newly named Diocese of Britannia was subdivided into four provinces, Britannia Prima and Maxima Caesariensis from

Britannia Superior Britannia Superior (Latin for "Upper Britain") was a province of Roman Britain created after the civil war between Septimius Severus and Claudius Albinus. Although Herodian credits Severus with dividing Roman Britain into the Northern territor ...

and Britannia Secunda (capital in Eboracum) and Flavia Caesariensis (capital in Lindum) from Britannia Inferior."124: The Provincial Reorganisation", ''Roman Civilization Volume II: Selected Readings, The Empire,'' ed. Naphtali Lewis and Meyer Reinhold, 3rd ed. New York: Columbia University Press, 1990, pp. 427-428.

References

{{Authority control Late Roman provinces States and territories established in the 190s 3rd century in Roman Britain States and territories disestablished in the 3rd century 197 establishments 190s establishments in the Roman Empire 2nd-century establishments in Roman Britain 290s disestablishments in the Roman Empire 3rd-century disestablishments in Roman Britain Northern England

Establishment

History

Reorganisation

See also

References