''Augustamnica'' (

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

) or ''Augoustamnike'' (

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

) was a

Roman 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 Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

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

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

created during the 4th century and was part of the

Diocese of Oriens The Diocese of the East, also called the Diocese of Oriens, (; ) 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 t ...

first and then of the

Diocese of Egypt The Diocese of Egypt (; ) 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 au ...

, until the

Muslim conquest of Egypt The Arab conquest of Egypt, led by the army of Amr ibn al-As, took place between 639 and 642 AD and was overseen by the Rashidun Caliphate. It ended the seven-century-long Roman Egypt, Roman period in Egypt that had begun in 30 BC and, more broa ...

in the 640s. Some ancient episcopal sees of the province are included in the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

's list of

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbi ...

Augustamnica

The province was instituted in tetrarchic times under the name of ''Aegyptus Herculia'' (for

Diocletian Diocletian ( ; ; ; 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed Jovius, was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Diocles to a family of low status in the Roman province of Dalmatia (Roman province), Dalmatia. As with other Illyri ...

's colleague

Maximian Maximian (; ), nicknamed Herculius, was Roman emperor from 286 to 305. He was ''Caesar (title), Caesar'' from 285 to 286, then ''Augustus (title), Augustus'' from 286 to 305. He shared the latter title with his co-emperor and superior, Diocleti ...

), with ancient Memphis as capital (315-325), but later re-merged in Aegyptus. In 341 the province was reconstituted, but the name was changed into ''Augustamnica'' to remove pagan connotations. It consisted of the Eastern part of the

Nile delta The Nile Delta (, or simply , ) is the River delta, delta formed in Lower Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the world's larger deltas—from Alexandria in the west to Port Said in the eas ...

and the ancient '' Heptanomia'', and belonged to the

.Keenan, p. 613. Dioecesis Aegypti 400 AD

Augustamnica was the only Egyptian province 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 ' ...

, a lower ranking governor. Around 381 the provinces of Egypt become a diocese in their own, and so Augustamnica become part of the Diocese of Egypt. Between 386 and the end of the 4th century the new province of

Arcadia Aegypti Arcadia or Arcadia Aegypti was a Late Roman province in northern Egypt. It was named for one of the reigning ''Augusti'' Augusti, of the Roman Empire, Arcadius () of the Theodosian dynasty when it was created in the late 4th century. Its capital ...

, named after Emperor

Arcadius Arcadius ( ; 377 – 1 May 408) was Roman emperor from 383 to his death in 408. He was the eldest son of the ''Augustus'' Theodosius I () and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla, and the brother of Honorius (). Arcadius ruled the eastern half of ...

, was created with territory from Augustamnica, the ''Heptanomia''; Augustamnica's capital was moved to

Pelusium Pelusium (Ancient Egyptian: ; /, romanized: , or , romanized: ; ; ; ; ) was an important city in the eastern extremes of Egypt's Nile Delta, to the southeast of the modern Port Said. It became a Roman provincial capital and Metropolitan arc ...

. From the military point of view, the province was under the ''Comes limitis Aegypti''. According to the ''

Notitia dignitatum The (Latin for 'List of all dignities and administrations both civil and military') 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 ...

'', the province hosted several military units: *''Ala secunda Ulpia Afrorum'' at Thaubasteos *''Ala secunda Aegyptiorum'' at Tacasiria, *''Cohors prima sagittariorum'' at Naithu *''Cohors prima Augusta Pannoniorum'' at Tohu, *''Cohors prima Epireorum'' at Castra Iudaeorum *''Cohors quarta Iuthungorum'' at Affroditus * ''Cohors secunda Ituraeorum'' at Aiy *''Cohors secunda Thracum'' at Muson *''Cohors quarta Numidarum'' at Narmunthi

Augustamnica I and II

Before 539, Augustamnica was divided into two provinces: ''Augustamnica Prima'' (First - North) and ''Augustamnica Secunda'' (Second - South). Augustamnica Prima had

as ''metropolis'' (administrative centre) and was under a ''

'', who governed the following cities:

, Setroithes (or Sethroitis), Tanis,

Thmuis Thmuis (; Greek: ; ) was a city in Lower Egypt, located on the canal east of the Nile, between its Tanitic and Mendesian branches. Its ruins are near the modern city of Timayy al-Imdid. History During the Ptolemaic period, Thmuis succeeded ...

, Rhinocorura,

Ostracine Ostracine (, ''Ostrakinē'') was an ancient city in the Roman province of Augustamnica Prima. It also served as a Latin Catholic bishopric, a suffragan of Pelusium, the metropolitan see of the province. History Pliny the Elder (Hist. naturalis, V ...

(or Ostracina), Pentaschoinon,

Casium Casius or Casium (, ''Kasion'') was a residential episcopal see in the Roman province of Augustamnica Prima in Lower Egypt, and is now a titular see of the Catholic Church.''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ), "Sedi tito ...

, Aphnaion,

Hephaestus Hephaestus ( , ; wikt:Hephaestus#Alternative forms, eight spellings; ) is the Greek god of artisans, blacksmiths, carpenters, craftsmen, fire, metallurgy, metalworking, sculpture and volcanoes.Walter Burkert, ''Greek Religion'' 1985: III.2. ...

, Panephysis, the Tents outside Gerra, the Tents inside Gerra,

Thennesus Thennesus was a town in the Roman province of Augustamnica Prima. It was on the Tanitic branch of the Nile. It is today called Tell-Tenis, Tell-Tannis or Qôm-Tannis, at the extremity of an island in Lake Menzaleh, near the Suez Canal. There are ...

, Panephusis.Georgius Cyprius, 685-700; Hierocles, Synecdemos 726:3-727:6. Leontopolis was the capital of Augustamnica Secunda.

Episcopal sees

Ancient episcopal sees of Augustamnica I listed in the ''

Annuario Pontificio The ''Annuario Pontificio'' ( Italian for ''Pontifical Yearbook'') is the annual directory of the Holy See of the Catholic Church. It lists the popes in chronological order and all officials of the Holy See's departments. It also provides nam ...

'' as

s:''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ), "Sedi titolari", pp. 819-1013 Ancient episcopal sees of Augustamnica II listed in the ''

'' as

Notes

References

* {{Late Roman Provinces, state=collapsed 310s establishments in the Roman Empire States and territories established in the 310s Byzantine Egypt Late Roman provinces Roman Egypt Pelusium