''Praeses'' (
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 ...
''praesides'') is a
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 ...
word meaning "placed before" or "at the head".
In antiquity, notably under the
Roman Dominate
The Dominate, also known as the late Roman Empire, is the name sometimes given to the "despotic" later phase of imperial government in the ancient Roman Empire. It followed the earlier period known as the "Principate". Until the empire was reunit ...
, 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
The Principate is the name sometimes given to the first period of the Roman Empire from the beginning of the reign of Augustus in 27 BC to the end of the Crisis of the Third Century in AD 284, after which it evolved into the so-called Dominate. ...
, but came in general use under the
Nerva–Antonine dynasty.
The jurist
Aemilius Macer, who wrote at the time of
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 ...
(reigned 198–217), insists that the term was applied only to the governors who were also
senators—thereby excluding the
equestrian
The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse".
Horseback riding (or Riding in British English)
Examples of this are:
*Equestrian sports
*Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...
''
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 Augusti
''Augustus'' (plural ''Augusti''; , ; "majestic", "great" or "venerable") was an ancient Roman title given as both name and title to Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (often referred to simply as Augustus), Rome's first Emperor. On his death, it b ...
'' etc.), and even, occasionally, for
legion commanders or fiscal ''procuratores''. By the mid-3rd century, however, ''praeses'' had become an official term, including for equestrian officials.
The form ''
rocuratorvice praesidis'' had also come into common use for equestrian ''procuratores'' entrusted with the governance of provinces in the absence of, or in lieu of, the regular (senatorial) governor. This marks a decisive step in the assumption of full provincial governorships by equestrians, with the first equestrian ''praesides provinciae'' appearing in the 270s.
This evolution was formalized in the reforms of
Diocletian (r. 284–305) and
Constantine the Great
Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to convert to Christianity. Born in Naissus, Dacia Mediterran ...
(r. 306–337), when the term ''praeses'' came to designate a specific class of provincial governors, the lowest after the ''
consulares'' and the ''
corrector
A corrector (English plural ''correctors'', Latin plural ''correctores'') is a person or object practicing correction, usually by removing or rectifying errors.
The word is originally a Roman title, ''corrector'', derived from the Latin verb '' ...
es''. In the East, however, they ranked between the two other classes, possibly because the few ''correctores'' there were instituted after the ''praesides''.
The term ''praeses'' remained in general use for provincial governors, and was still used in legal parlance to designate all classes of provincial governors collectively. In common usage, the ''praesides'' were often also designated by more generic titles such as ''
iudex'' ("judge"), ''
rector'' or ''
moderator'', and sometimes archaically as ''
praetor
Praetor ( , ), also pretor, was the title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected '' magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to discharge vari ...
''. In
Greek, the term was rendered as (''
hegemon
Hegemony (, , ) is the political, economic, and military predominance of one state over other states. In Ancient Greece (8th BC – AD 6th ), hegemony denoted the politico-military dominance of the ''hegemon'' city-state over other city-states. ...
'').
Most of the provinces created by Diocletian by splitting the larger older ones were entrusted to such ''praesides'', and they form the most numerous group of governors in the late-4th century ''
Notitia Dignitatum'':
;in thirty-one provinces in the Western Roman Empire
[''Notitia Dignitatum'']
''in partibus Occidentis'', I
/ref>
*four in the Diocese of Illyricum
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 associat ...
: Dalmatia
Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see names in other languages) is one of the four historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of the Adriatic Sea, str ...
, Pannonia Prima, Noricum Mediterraneum
Noricum () is the Latin name for the Celtic kingdom or federation of tribes that included most of modern Austria and part of Slovenia. In the first century AD, it became a province of the Roman Empire. Its borders were the Danube to the nor ...
, Noricum Ripense
Noricum () is the Latin name for the Celtic kingdom or federation of tribes that included most of modern Austria and part of Slovenia. In the first century AD, it became a province of the Roman Empire. Its borders were the Danube to the north, ...
*seven in Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
: Alpes Cottiae
The Alpes Cottiae (; English: 'Cottian Alps') were a small province of the Roman Empire founded in 63 AD by Emperor Nero. It was one of the three provinces straddling the Alps between modern France and Italy, along with the Alpes Graiae et Poen ...
, Rhaetia Prima and Secunda, Samnium
Samnium ( it, Sannio) is a Latin exonym for a region of Southern Italy anciently inhabited by the Samnites. Their own endonyms were ''Safinim'' for the country (attested in one inscription and one coin legend) and ''Safineis'' for the Th ...
, Valeria, Corsica et Sardinia
The Province of Sardinia and Corsica ( la, Provincia Sardinia et Corsica) was an ancient Roman province including the islands of Sardinia and Corsica.
Pre-Roman times
The Nuragic civilization flourished in Sardinia from 1800 to 500 BC. The a ...
.
*two in the Diocese of Africa: Mauretania Sitifensis, Tripolitana
*four in Diocese of the Spains (Iberia and opposite African coast): Tarraconensis, Carthaginensis, Insulae Baleares, Mauretania Tingitana
Mauretania Tingitana ( Latin for "Tangerine Mauretania") was a Roman province, coinciding roughly with the northern part of present-day Morocco. The territory stretched from the northern peninsula opposite Gibraltar, to Sala Colonia (or Chel ...
*eleven in the Diocese of the Gauls: Alpes Maritimae, Alpes Poenninae et Graiae
The Alpes Graiae et Poeninae, later known as Alpes Atrectianae et Poeninae (officially Alpes Atrectianae et Vallis Poenina), were a small Alpine province of the Roman Empire created after the merging of the ''Alpes Poeninae'' (or ''Vallis Poenina ...
, Maxima Sequanorum, Aquitanica Prima and Secunda, Novempopulania, Narbonensis Prima
Gallia Narbonensis (Latin for "Gaul of Narbonne", from its chief settlement) was a Roman province located in what is now Languedoc and Provence, in Southern France. It was also known as Provincia Nostra ("Our Province"), because it was the ...
and Secunda, Lugdunensis Secunda, Tertia and Senonica
*three in the Diocese of Britain
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 associate ...
: Britannia Prima and Secunda, Flavia Caesariensis.
;in forty provinces in the Eastern Roman Empire[''Notitia Dignitatum'']
''in partibus Orientis'', I
/ref>
* five in the Diocese of Egypt: 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 Inferior, 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 ...
, Ægyptus, Arcadia.
* eight in the Diocese of the East: Palaestina Salutaris and Secunda, Phoenice Libanensis, Euphratensis, Syria Salutaris, Osrhoene, Mesopotamia, Cilicia Secunda
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 coa ...
* seven in the Diocese of Asia: Pisidia, Lycaonia
Lycaonia (; el, Λυκαονία, ''Lykaonia''; tr, Likaonya) was a large region in the interior of Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey), north of the Taurus Mountains. It was bounded on the east by Cappadocia, on the north by Galatia, on the west b ...
, Phrygia Pacatiana
In classical antiquity, Phrygia ( ; grc, Φρυγία, ''Phrygía'' ) was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now Asian Turkey, centered on the Sangarios River. After its conquest, it became a region of the great empire ...
and Phrygia Salutaris, Lycia
Lycia ( Lycian: 𐊗𐊕𐊐𐊎𐊆𐊖 ''Trm̃mis''; el, Λυκία, ; tr, Likya) was a state or nationality that flourished in Anatolia from 15–14th centuries BC (as Lukka) to 546 BC. It bordered the Mediterranean Sea in what is ...
, Caria
Caria (; from Greek: Καρία, ''Karia''; tr, Karya) was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid- Ionia (Mycale) south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Ionian and Dorian Greeks colonized the west of it and joine ...
, Insulae.
* eight in the Diocese of Pontus: Honorias, Cappadocia Prima
Cappadocia was a province of the Roman Empire in Anatolia (modern central-eastern Turkey), with its capital at Caesarea. It was established in 17 AD by the Emperor Tiberius (ruled 14–37 AD), following the death of Cappadocia's last king, Arc ...
and Secunda, Helenopontus, Pontus Polemoniacus
Pontus or Pontos may refer to:
* Short Latin name for the Pontus Euxinus, the Greek name for the Black Sea (aka the Euxine sea)
* Pontus (mythology), a sea god in Greek mythology
* Pontus (region), on the southern coast of the Black Sea, in modern ...
, Armenia Prima
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...
and Armenia Secunda
Roman Armenia refers to the rule of parts of Greater Armenia by the Roman Empire, from the 1st century AD to the end of Late Antiquity. While Armenia Minor had become a client state and incorporated into the Roman Empire proper during the 1st c ...
, Galatia Salutaris
Galatia () was the name of a province of the Roman Empire in Anatolia (modern central Turkey). It was established by the first emperor, Augustus (sole rule 30 BC – 14 AD), in 25 BC, covering most of formerly independent Celtic Galatia, with it ...
.
* four in the Diocese of Thrace: Haemimontus, Rhodope, Moesia Secunda
Moesia (; Latin: ''Moesia''; el, Μοισία, Moisía) was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River, which included most of the territory of modern eastern Serbia, Kosovo, north-eastern Alb ...
, Scythia
Scythia ( Scythian: ; Old Persian: ; Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) or Scythica (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ), also known as Pontic Scythia, was a kingdom created by the Scythians during the 6th to 3rd centuries BC in the Pontic–Caspian steppe.
...
* four in the Diocese of Dacia: Dacia Ripensis, Moesia Prima, Praevalitana
Praevalitana (also ''Prevalitana'', ''Prevaliana'', ''Praevaliana'' or ''Prevalis'') was a Late Roman province that existed between c. 284 and c. 600. It included parts of present-day Montenegro, northern Albania, and part of present-day Kosovo ...
, Dardania
* four in the Diocese of Macedonia: Thessalia, Epirus Vetus
sq, Epiri rup, Epiru
, native_name_lang =
, settlement_type = Historical region
, image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg
, map_alt =
, map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinric ...
and Epirus Nova
sq, Epiri rup, Epiru
, native_name_lang =
, settlement_type = Historical region
, image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg
, map_alt =
, map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinric ...
, Macedonia Salutaris
Macedonia ( grc-gre, Μακεδονία) was a province of the Roman Empire, encompassing the territory of the former Antigonid Kingdom of Macedonia, which had been conquered by Rome in 168 BC at the conclusion of the Third Macedonian War. The p ...
.
In the East, the staff ('' officium'') of the ''praeses'' (attested for Thebais) comprised the same as that of a ''consularis'', i.e. a ''princeps officii'', '' cornicularius'', '' commentariensis'', '' adiutor'', '' numerarius'', '' ab actis'', '' a libellis'', '' subadiuva''; finally unspecified ''exceptores'' and ''cohortalini'' (menial staff). In the West (attested for Dalmatia), the ''officium'' was again the same as with the ''consulares'' and ''correctores'', comprising the ''princeps officii'', ''cornicularius'', two ''tabularii'', ''commentariensis'', ''adiutor'', ''ab actis'', ''subadiuva'', and the usual ''exceptores'' and ''cohortalini''.[''Notitia Dignitatum'']
''in partibus Occidentis'', XLV
/ref>
The status of a ''praeses'' could also be awarded as a separate honour, ''ex praeside'', attached to the rank of ''vir perfectissimus
Vir (; it, Puntadura, Dalmatian: ''Punta de Ura'') is an island on the Croatian coast of the Adriatic Sea with an area of 22 km2.
It lies in Dalmatia, north of the city of Zadar. It is connected to the mainland via a road bridge. The main ...
''.
German advisors
In German academia a doctoral advisor is called the . However, in the 18th century and before, the doctoral system was quite different. Instead of a as such, the candidate had a ''praeses'' to act as mentor and who would also head the oral ''viva voce'' exam. In the 18th century the ''praeses'' often chose the subject and compiled the theses and the candidate had only to defend. Sometimes there were several candidates at the same time defending the same thesis, in order to save time.
Modern uses
The chair of a student society in the Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
or Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...
may be called a praeses; in Dutch the official spelling has changed to "''preses''" but most student societies still observe the Latin spelling. Various minor offices may be designated by a compound title, e.g. ''dooppraeses'' in charge of initiation and associated hazing.
In Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...
, the office of archbishop
In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdio ...
has been abolished. Instead, the Lutheran Church of Norway has a Bishops Conference which is presided over by a ''praeses''.
The church bodies Evangelical Church in the Rhineland
Protestant Church in the Rhineland (german: Evangelische Kirche im Rheinland; EKiR) is a United Protestant church body in parts of the German states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland and Hesse ( Wetzlar). This is actual ...
and Evangelical Church of Westphalia, in which the title and function of bishop are unknown, are also chaired by a ''praeses'' (german: Präses, plural: Präsides).
In other German church bodies the title usually refers to the president of the synod
A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word '' synod'' comes from the meaning "assembly" or "meeting" and is analogous with the Latin word mean ...
.
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
* Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
monastic institutions, especially Franciscan
, image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg
, image_size = 200px
, caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans
, abbreviation = OFM
, predecessor =
, ...
ones, use the term to indicate the presiding officer of a collegial meeting of the order.
The official Scots title of the Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament is ''Preses o the Scots Pairlament''.
The Polish word ''prezes'', derived from Latin ''praeses'' means ''chairman''.
References
Ancient Roman titles
Gubernatorial titles
Government of the Roman Empire
Byzantine administrative offices
{{italic title