Notitia Galliarum
The Notitia Galliarum (or Notitia provinciarum et civitatum Galliae) is a Roman register of cities dating to the 4th–6th centuries AD.[1] The Latin register is divided into two headings. Ten provinces are listed under the diocese of Gaul and seven under the diocese of the Seven Provinces. For each province the capital city is given and then its other cities (civitates). They are given their ethnic names, i.e., "city of [people]". A total of 115 cities are listed along with six or seven castra (forts) and one portus (harbour).[2]
The original list was probably drawn up during the reign of Magnus Maximus (383–388). Its rubric states that it was made on the order of the bishops, but this was probably added later when the list was updated.[2] The civitates of the Notitia parallel the dioceses of the Roman church,[3] but for the 6th rather than the 4th century.[2] It was probably at that time that the castra and portus, which had acquired bishops, were added, along with the rubric. The bishops' purpose was to prevent disputes over metropolitan authority, "lest antiquity be overturned by any eventuality".[2]
The Notitia remained an important reference point throughout the Middle Ages and is preserved in over 100 manuscripts, but often interpolated.[3]
Cities listed
List of Roman provinces with cities (by modern name), taken from Harries 1978.
- Lugdunensis Prima
- Lugdunensis Secunda
- Lugdunensis Tertia
- Lugdunensis Senonia
- Belgica Prima
- Belgica Secunda
- Germania Prima
- Germania Secunda
- Maxima Sequanorum
- Alpes Graiae et Poeninae
- Septem Provinciae
- Aquitanica Prima
- Aquitanica Secunda
- Novempopulana
- Narbonensis Prima
- Narbonensis Secunda
- Alpes Maritimae
See also
- Laterculus Veronensis, a list of Roman provinces from earlier in the 4th century
- Notitia Dignitatum, a list of Roman offices from about 400
Notes
- ^ Harries 1978, pp. 39–43, contains the text of the Notitia with a map.
- ^ a b c d Harries 2018.
- ^ a b Johne 2006.
Bibliography
- Harries, Jill D. (1978). "Church and State in the Notitia Galliarum". The Journal of Roman Studies. 68: 26–43. doi:10.2307/299625. JSTOR 299625.
- Harries, Jill D. (2018). "Notitia Galliarum". In Nicholson, Oliver (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity, Volume 2: J–Z. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 1086. ISBN 978-0-19-881625-6.
- Johne, Klaus-Peter (2006). "Notitia Galliarum". Brill's New Pauly. Brill Online. doi:10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e825300. Retrieved 13 December 2020.