The Diocese of Egypt ( la, Dioecesis Aegypti; el, Διοίκησις Αἰγύπτου) 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 ...

(from 395 the

Eastern Roman Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantino ...

), incorporating the provinces of

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

and

Cyrenaica 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 ...

. Its capital was at

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

, and its governor had the unique title of ''

praefectus augustalis During the Roman Empire, the governor of Roman Egypt ''(praefectus Aegypti)'' was a prefect who administered the Roman province of Egypt with the delegated authority ''( imperium)'' of the emperor. Egypt was established as a Roman province in co ...

'' ("Augustal Prefect", of the rank '' vir spectabilis''; previously the governor of the imperial 'crown domain' province Egypt) instead of the ordinary ''

vicarius ''Vicarius'' is a Latin word, meaning ''substitute'' or ''deputy''. It is the root of the English word "vicar". History Originally, in ancient Rome, this office was equivalent to the later English " vice-" (as in "deputy"), used as part of th ...

''. The diocese was initially part of the

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 majo ...

, but in ca. 380, it became a separate entity, which lasted until its territories were overrun by the

Muslim conquest of Egypt The Muslim conquest of Egypt, led by the army of 'Amr ibn al-'As, took place between 639 and 646 AD and was overseen by the Rashidun Caliphate. It ended the seven-century-long period of Roman reign over Egypt that began in 30 BC. Byzantine ru ...

in the 640s.

Administrative history

Egypt was formed into a separate diocese in about 381. According to the ''

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 o ...

'', which for the Eastern part of the Empire dates to ca. 401, the diocese came under a ''

'' of the

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 whic ...

, 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 ''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. ...

'' * ''

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. ...

'' (eastern Nile delta), originally established in the early 4th century as ''Aegyptus Herculia'', under a ''

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 '' ...

'' * '' Arcadia'' (central), established ca. 397 and having previously briefly listed in the 320s as ''Aegyptus Mercuria'', under a ''praeses'' * ''

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 ...

'' (southern), under a ''praeses'' * '' Libya Inferior'' or ''Libya Sicca'', under a ''praeses'' * ''

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 ...

'' 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 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'' ...

. Shortly after the creation of Egypt as a separate diocese (between 384 and 391), the post evolved into the ''

comes ''Comes'' ( ), plural ''comites'' ( ), was a Roman title or office, and the origin Latin form of the medieval and modern title "count". Before becoming a word for various types of title or office, the word originally meant "companion", either i ...

limitis Aegypti'', who was directly responsible for

Lower Egypt Lower Egypt ( ar, مصر السفلى '; ) is the northernmost region of Egypt, which consists of the fertile Nile Delta between Upper Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea, from El Aiyat, south of modern-day Cairo, and Dahshur. Historically, ...

, 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 The comitatenses and later the palatini were the units of the field armies of the late Roman Empire. They were the soldiers that replaced the legionaries, who had formed the backbone of the Roman military since the Marian reforms. Organizati ...

'' field army came under the command of the ''

magister militum (Latin for "master of soldiers", plural ) was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine the Great. The term referred to the senior military officer (equivalent to a war theatre commander, ...

per Orientem'', and the '' palatini'' (guards) under the two ''magistri militum praesentales'' in

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

. 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 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 ...

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 ''Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire'' (abbreviated as ''PLRE'') is a work of Roman prosopography published in a set of three volumes collectively describing many of the people attested to have lived in the Roman Empire from AD 260, the date ...

(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 In Greek mythology, Orestes or Orestis (; grc-gre, Ὀρέστης ) was the son of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon, and the brother of Electra. He is the subject of several Ancient Greek plays and of various myths connected with his madness an ...

(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)

Notes

Sources

* * {{coord missing, Egypt Byzantine Egypt Ancient Cyrenaica

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

Administrative history

''Praefecti Augustalii'' of the Diocese

See also

Notes

Sources