The Diocese of the East ( la, Dioecesis Orientis; el, ) was a
diocese
In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associ ...
of the later
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...
, incorporating the provinces of the western
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
, between the
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...
and
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...
. During
late Antiquity
Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English h ...
, 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
Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ� ...
, 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
Cilicia (); el, Κιλικία, ''Kilikía''; Middle Persian: ''klkyʾy'' (''Klikiyā''); Parthian: ''kylkyʾ'' (''Kilikiyā''); tr, Kilikya). is a geographical region in southern Anatolia in Turkey, extending inland from the northeastern co ...
,
Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...
,
Euphratensis,
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...
,
Osroene,
Syria Coele
Coele-Syria (, also spelt Coele Syria, Coelesyria, Celesyria) alternatively Coelo-Syria or Coelosyria (; grc-gre, Κοίλη Συρία, ''Koílē Syría'', 'Hollow Syria'; lat, Cœlē Syria or ), was a region of Syria in classical antiquit ...
,
Phoenice,
Palaestina Prima,
Palaestina Secunda,
Arabia
The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Pl ...
, and the
Egyptian provinces
Aegyptus,
Augustamnica
''Augustamnica'' ( Latin) or ''Augoustamnike'' ( Greek) was a Roman province of Egypt created during the 5th century and was part of the Diocese of Oriens first and then of the Diocese of Egypt, until the Muslim conquest of Egypt in the 640s.
...
,
Thebais
The Thebaid or Thebais ( grc-gre, Θηβαΐς, ''Thēbaïs'') was a region in ancient Egypt, comprising the 13 southernmost nomes of Upper Egypt, from Abydos to Aswan.
Pharaonic history
The Thebaid acquired its name from its proximity t ...
,
Libya Superior
Cyrenaica ( ) or Kyrenaika ( ar, برقة, Barqah, grc-koi, Κυρηναϊκή ��παρχίαKurēnaïkḗ parkhíā}, after the city of Cyrene), is the eastern region of Libya. Cyrenaica includes all of the eastern part of Libya between ...
and
Libya Inferior, which were grouped into the separate
Diocese of Egypt under
Valens (r. 364–378).
During the course of the 4th century, several provinces were split, resulting in the new provinces of Cilicia I and Cilicia II,
Syria I and Syria II Salutaris, Phoenice I and Phoenice II Libanensis (east of Mt. Lebanon),
Palaestina I,
Palaestina II and
Palaestina Salutaris (or Palaestina III). The last creation of a new province dated in the reign of
Justinian I
Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565.
His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized '' renov ...
(r. 527–565), when
Theodorias, the region around
Laodicea, was split off from Syria I. At about the same time, Cyprus was split off and became part of a new super-province, the ''
quaestura exercitus''.
In 535, as part of his administrative reforms, Justinian I abolished the diocese, and the ''comes Orientis'' became the provincial governor of Syria I, while retaining his previous rank of ''
vir spectabilis'' and his salary.
The entire area of the former diocese came under
Sassanid Persian occupation in the 610s and 620s, during the
Byzantine–Sassanid War of 602–628. Shortly after the Byzantine victory in the war and the recovery of the region, it was again lost, this time permanently, to the
Muslim conquests: by the 640s, Cilicia formed the border between Byzantium and the new Arab
Caliphate
A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
, while Cyprus became a disputed territory. From the old provinces of the Diocese of the East, only Isauria and parts of the two Cilicias remained under Byzantine rule, grouped under the new
Anatolic Theme.
List of ''Comites Orientis''
*
Quintus Flavius Maesius Egnatius Lollianus
Quintus Flavius Maesius Egnatius Lollianus Mavortius ( 330–356) was a politician of the Roman Empire.
In the 18th century an acephalous statue of Mavortius was discovered in Puteoli, then Pozzuoli (near Naples, Italy); after a restoration, th ...
(330–336)
* Felicianus (335–?)
*
Nebridius (354–358)
*
Domitius Modestus (358–362)
* Iulianus (362–363)
*
Aradius Rufinus (363–364)
*
Eutolmius Tatianus (c. 370)
* Tuscianus (381)
*
Philagrius (382)
*
Proculus (383–384)
* Icarius (c. 384)
* Irenaeus (431–435)
*
Ephraim of Amida (c. 522–c. 525)
* Asterius (587–588)
* Bacchus (588–589)
* Bonosus (c. 609–610)
References
{{coord missing, Asia
East
East
Late Roman Syria
Byzantine Syria
Praetorian prefecture of the East
314 establishments
States and territories established in the 310s
535 disestablishments
States and territories disestablished in the 530s