Praevalitana (also ''Prevalitana'', ''Prevaliana'', ''Praevaliana'' or ''Prevalis'') was a Late
Roman 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 ...
that existed between c. 284 and c. 600. It included parts of present-day
Montenegro
, image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg
, coa_size = 80
, national_motto =
, national_anthem = ()
, image_map = Europe-Mont ...
,
Albania
Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...
, and part of present-day
Kosovo
Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...
. Its capital city was
Doclea, later
Scodra.
Background
The
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...
conquered the Adriatic-Balkanic region after the Third
Illyrian War, in which the Romans defeated
Gentius, the last king of
Illyria, at
Scodra in 168 BC and captured him, bringing him to Rome in 165 BC. Four client-republics were set up, which were in fact governed by Roman administrators.
In 27 BC, the region was organized as a
Roman province
The Roman provinces (, pl. ) were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was ruled by a Roman appointed as Roman g ...
called
Illyricum, directly governed by Rome and with Scodra as its capital. Illyricum was split into two in AD 10, as the provinces of
Pannonia
Pannonia (, ) was a Roman province, province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, on the west by Noricum and upper Roman Italy, Italy, and on the southward by Dalmatia (Roman province), Dalmatia and upper Moesia. It ...
and
Dalmatia
Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...
. The province of Dalmatia spread inland to cover all of the
Dinaric Alps
The Dinaric Alps (), also Dinarides, are a mountain range in Southern Europe, Southern and Southcentral Europe, separating the continental Balkan Peninsula from the Adriatic Sea. They stretch from Italy in the northwest through Slovenia, Croatia ...
and most of the eastern Adriatic coast, including all of Montenegro.
Province
The province of Praevalitana was established during the reign of Emperor
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 ...
(r. 284–305) from the southeastern corner of the former province of
Dalmatia
Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...
and became part of the
Diocese of Moesia (290–357), one of 12 dioceses created by Diocletian within his
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 junior colleagues and designated successors, the ''caesares''.
I ...
.
[''A Companion to Ancient Macedonia'', pp. 547-549] It was perhaps named Praevalitana (meaning "the region before the valley") because it stood directly to the west of
Kosovo field.
The Diocese of Moesia was later divided in two and reorganized as the
Diocese of Dacia in the north and the
Diocese of Macedonia in the south. Praevalitana initially was part of the
Diocese of Macedonia but was later moved into the
Diocese of Dacia (which comprised
Dacia Mediterranea,
Dacia Ripensis,
Dardania and
Moesia Prima), a subdivision of the
Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum
The praetorian prefecture of Illyricum (; , also termed simply the prefecture of Illyricum) was one of four praetorian prefectures into which the Later Roman Empire, Late Roman Empire was divided.
The administrative centre of the prefecture wa ...
(395). A province of brief existence,
Macedonia Salutaris, was divided between Praevalitana and
Epirus Nova (412).
[
After the ]Western Roman Empire
In modern historiography, the Western Roman Empire was the western provinces of the Roman Empire, collectively, during any period in which they were administered separately from the eastern provinces by a separate, independent imperial court. ...
collapsed in 476, the region remained under the rule of the Eastern Roman Empire. In the 530s, Byzantine generals of Emperor Justinian I
Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565.
His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...
(r. 527–565) used Praevalitana as a base for military campaigns against the Ostrogoths
The Ostrogoths () were a Roman-era Germanic peoples, Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Goths, Gothic kingdoms within the Western Roman Empire, drawing upon the large Gothic populatio ...
in Dalmatia during the Gothic War.
During the Migration Period
The Migration Period ( 300 to 600 AD), also known as the Barbarian Invasions, was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories ...
, Praevalitana was overrun by invasions of the Avars and Slavs
The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and ...
. In the 6th and 7th centuries, they destroyed the province's main cities and overran much of the hinterland.
Cities
The first written records of any kind of settlement in southern Dalmatia refer to the Roman province of Praevalitana and the Roman city of Birsiminium, which lived in the shadow of the Illyrian town of Doclea (Duklja), a large city by the standards of that time, boasting 8–10 thousand inhabitants and named after one of the two major Illyrian tribes inhabiting these parts, the "Docleatae". The Docleatae inhabited the fertile valley of the River Zeta, located along the vital link between the coastal and continental regions of Montenegro, which helped their swift economic rise.
The other tribe, the "Labeates", inhabited the entire area between Lake Skadar and modern Podgorica
Podgorica ( cnr-Cyrl, Подгорица; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Montenegro, largest city of Montenegro. The city is just north of Lake Skadar and close to coastal destinations on the Adriatic Sea. Histor ...
. They had their main fortification, called Metheon (known today as Medun), and well developed social and military systems in place.
From the 8-9th century, the settling of Slavic and Avaric tribes began in this area, always coupled with destructive raids on the native tribes and settlements. Doclea was not exempt from these violent raids, which would, eventually, along with natural disasters, lead to the complete obliteration of this once prosperous town. After the Slavic tribes settled in this area they established another settlement, which took over the role previously held by Doclea: it was named Ribnica (Podgorica). The native non-romanized population retreated into the Albanian highlands, while Acruvium (present-day Kotor) on the coast survived the Slav attacks and prospered as a merchant city-state of the original romanized Illyrians until the 10th century. Other cities in the province included Anderva (Nikšić) and Risinium (Risan). As well as Siparantum (Peja), from the 5th to 9th century also known as ''Pescium/Episkion'' (Episcopal City).
Ecclesiastical order
During the existence of the province, its capital city of Scodra was also the main ecclesiastical center in the region. Bishop of Scodra held metropolitan jurisdiction over all other bishops within the province, including those of Dioclea and Lissus. In 431, metropolitan Senecio of Scodra participated at the Third Ecumenical Council, in Ephesus. In 535, the Metropolis of Scodra and its suffragan bishops came under jurisdiction of the newly created Archbishopric of Justiniana Prima. Siparantum, modern-day Peja, used to be the center of an Episcopal See
An episcopal see is the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction.
Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, making it synonymous with ''diocese'' ...
, indicated by its name ''Pescium/Episkion''. At the beginning of the 7th century, ecclesiastical order collapsed with the fall of the province.
References
Sources
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{{commons category, Praevalitana
Late Roman provinces
Montenegro in the Roman era
Albania in the Roman era
Serbia in the Roman era