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[[File:Brittain 410.jpg|thumb|right|300px|[[Roman Britain]] around [[Roman withdrawal from Britain|AD 410]], without speculative provincial borders.]] |
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{{Unreferenced|date=December 2009}} |
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'''Flavia Caesariensis''' ([[Latin]] for "The [[Caesar (title)|Caesar]]ian province of [[Flavia (gens)|Flavius]]"), sometimes known as '''Britannia Flavia''', was one of the [[Roman province|provinces]] of the [[Diocese of Britain|Diocese]] of "[[Diocese of the Britains|the Britains]]" created during the [[Diocletian Reforms]] at the end of the 3rd century.<ref>{{cite book | last = Frere | first = Sheppard | authorlink = Sheppard Frere | title = Britannia: a history of Roman Britain | publisher = Harvard University Press | year = 1967 | location = [[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge]] | pages =198–199 }}</ref> It was probably created after the defeat of the usurper [[Allectus]] by [[Constantius Chlorus]] in AD 296 and was mentioned in the {{circa|lk=no|312}} [[Verona List]] of the Roman provinces. It seems to have been named after [[Flavia (gens)#The Dynasty of Constantine|Chlorus's family]] and was probably located beside [[Maxima Caesariensis]], but their positions and capitals remain uncertain. At present, most scholars place Flavia Caesariensis in the southern [[Pennines]], possibly reaching the [[Irish Sea]] and including the lands of the [[Iceni]]. Its capital is sometimes placed at [[Lindum Colonia]] ([[Lincoln, Lincolnshire|Lincoln]]). |
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[[File:Roman Britain 410.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Valentia and the other Roman Provinces of Britannia in 410.]] |
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[[File:Roman Britain 410.jpg|left|200px|thumb|The traditional arrangement of the late Roman provinces after [[William Camden|Camden]],<ref name=cammy>{{Citation |last=Camden |first=William |author-link=William Camden |contribution=The Division of Britaine |contribution-url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/travellers/Camden/7 |title=Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland |date=1610 |translator=Philemon Holland |translator-link=Philemon Holland |orig-year=Original text published 1586 }}</ref> placing Flavia in central England. On the basis of modern archaeology, it's known that at least [[Corinium]] was part of [[Britannia I]].]] |
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[[File:Roman Britain - AD 400.png|left|200px|thumb|Another possible arrangement of the late Roman provinces, with more northerly borders for Flavia]] |
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==History== |
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'''Flavia Caesariensis''' was one of the provinces of [[Roman Britain]]. |
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Following the Roman conquest, Britain was administered as a [[Britannia (Roman province)|single province]] from [[Camulodunum]] ([[Colchester]]) and then [[Londinium]] ([[City of London|London]]) until the [[Severan Reforms]] following the revolt of its [[governor of Roman Britain|governor]] [[Clodius Albinus]]. These divided the territory into [[Upper Britain|Upper]] and [[Lower Britain]] (''Britannia Superior'' and ''Inferior''), whose respective capitals were at Londinium and [[Eboracum]] ([[York]]). During the first phases of the [[Diocletian Reforms]], Britain was under the control of the [[Allectus]]'s [[Britannic Empire]] as part of the [[Carausian Revolt]]. At some point after the territory was retaken by [[Constantius Chlorus]] in AD 296, the [[Diocese of the Britains]] (with its [[vicarius|vicar]] at Londinium) was formed and made a part of [[Praetorian prefecture|Prefecture]] of [[Praetorian prefecture of Gaul|Gaul]]. The Britains were divided among three, four, or five provinces,{{refn|[[Polemius Silvius]]'s 5th-century ''[[Nomina Omnium Provinciarum]]'' gives six provinces, but Roman administration over the [[Orkneys|Orcades]] (Orkney Islands) is generally discounted. Some modern scholars such as [[Eric Birley|Birley]], however, believe [[Maxima Caesariensis|Maxima]] and Flavia were originally a single province Caesariensis which was later divided. This comports with [[William Camden|Camden]]<ref name=cammy/> and some texts of [[Sextus Rufus]], although they make the original province Britannia Maxima.}} which seem to have borne the names [[Britannia Prima|Prima]], [[Britannia Secunda|Secunda]], [[Maxima Caesariensis]], and (possibly) Flavia Caesariensis and [[Valentia (Roman Britain)|Valentia]].{{refn|Valentia is generally treated as a later formation and placed variously beyond [[Hadrian's Wall|the Wall]], around the Wall, and in Wales. It may, however, have simply been another name for the British diocese as a whole.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Dornier|first=Ann|title=The Province of Valentia|journal=Britannia|volume=13|date=1982|pages=253–260|doi=10.2307/526498|jstor=526498 |s2cid=162652243 }}</ref>}}<ref>''[[Notitia Dignitatum]]''.</ref><ref>[[Verona List]].</ref> |
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The placement and capitals of these late British provinces are uncertain, although the ''[[Notitia Dignitatum]]'' lists the [[governors of Roman Britain|governor]] (''{{lang|la|[[praeses]]}}'') of Flavia being of [[equestrian (Roman)|equestrian]] rank, making it unlikely to have been based in [[Londinium]].{{why?|date=March 2015}} The list of bishops who attended the [[Council of Arles (314)|314 Council of Arles]] is patently corrupt{{refn|"Nomina Episcoporum, cum Clericis Suis, Quinam, et ex Quibus Provinciis, ad Arelatensem Synodum Convenerint" ["The Names of the Bishops with Their Clerics who Came Together at the Synod of Arles and from which Province They Came"] from the ''Consilia''<ref>[[Labbé, Philippe]] & [[Gabriel Cossart]] (eds.) [https://download.digitale-sammlungen.de/BOOKS/pdf_download.pl?id=bsb10321964 ''Sacrosancta Concilia ad Regiam Editionem Exacta: quae Nunc Quarta Parte Prodit Actior'' [''The Sancrosanct Councils Exacted for the Royal Edition: which the Editors Now Produce in Four Parts''], Vol. I: "Ab Initiis Æræ Christianæ ad Annum CCCXXIV" ["From the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Year 324"], col. 1429.] The Typographical Society for Ecclesiastical Books (Paris), 1671.</ref> in [[Francis Thackery|Thackery]]<ref name=thacky/> {{in lang|la}}}} but generally assumed to have mimicked the Roman administration: the identification of [[Lindum Colonia]] as a provincial capital rests on proposed emendations of one or the other of the bishops from the cities ''Londinensi'' and ''colonia Londinensium''.<!--sic--> Those emendations are highly speculative: [[Bishop Ussher]] proposed ''[[Colonia Victricensis|Colonia]]'', [[John Selden|Selden]] ''[[Camaloden]]'' or ''[[Camalodon]]'', and [[Henry Spelman|Spelman]] ''[[Camalodunum]]'' (all various names of [[Colchester]]);<ref name=thacky>Thackery, Francis. [https://archive.org/details/researchesintoe01thacgoog/page/n313 ''Researches into the Ecclesiastical and Political State of Ancient Britain under the Roman Emperors: with Observations upon the Principal Events and Characters Connected with the Christian Religion, during the First Five Centuries'', pp. 272 ff.] T. Cadell (London), 1843.</ref> [[William Camden|Camden]] took it as [[Caerleon]],<ref name=cammy/> with [[Edward Stillingfleet|Bishop Stillingfleet]]<ref name=stillfleet/> and [[Francis Thackery|Thackery]] proposing that a [[scribal error]] created ''Civ. Col. Londin.'' from an original ''[[Colonia Legionis II|Civ. Col. Leg. II]]'' ([[Caerleon]]).<ref name=thacky/> |
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It was created in the early 4th century under the reforms of [[Diocletian]] and it has been suggested that its capital may have been at [[Lincoln, Lincolnshire|Lincoln]] (based on a proposed amendment to the corrupt [[Verona List]]). Its boundaries are uncertain but probably consisted of the southern [[Pennines]], stretching west to the [[Irish Sea]] and may have extended far enough south to encompass the territory of the [[Iceni]]. The capital of [[Britannia Secunda]] at [[York]] indicates that Flavia's territory did not extend much further north of Lincoln. (It is not named in the surviving copies of the [[Verona List]], which dates to 312 -314.) |
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Describing the [[metropolitan bishop|metropolitan sees]] of the [[Celtic Christianity|early British church]] established by [[list of Welsh saints|SS]] [[Saint Fagan|Fagan]] and "[[Saint Duvian|Duvian]]", [[Gerald of Wales]] placed Flavia around [[London]], extending into [[Mercia]].<ref name=letter>Giraldus Cambriensis [Gerald of Wales]. [https://archive.org/stream/ycymmrodor30cymmuoft#page/130/mode/2up ''De Inuectionibus'' [On Invectives], Vol. II, Ch. I, in ''Y Cymmrodor: The Magazine of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion'', Vol. XXX, pp. 130–1.] George Simpson & Co. (Devizes), 1920. {{in lang|la}}</ref><ref name=letter2>[[Gerald of Wales]]. Translated by [[W.S. Davies]] as [https://archive.org/stream/ycymmrodor30cymmuoft#page/16/mode/2up ''The Book of Invectives of Giraldus Cambrensis'' in ''Y Cymmrodor: The Magazine of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion'', Vol. XXX, p. 16.] George Simpson & Co. (Devizes), 1920.</ref> [[Charles Bertram|Bertram]]'s highly-influential [[literary forgery|forgery]] ''[[De Situ Britanniae|The Description of Britain]]'' placed it similarly: although not including London, it included central England and was bound by the [[River Severn|Severn]], the [[Thames River|Thames]], the [[North Sea]], and the [[Humber]] and [[River Mersey|Mersey]];<ref>Hughes, William. [https://books.google.com/books?id=rR1bAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA87 ''The Geography of British History: A Geographical Description of the British Islands at Successive Periods from the Earliest Times to the Present Day: With a Sketch of the Commencement of Colonisation on the Part of the English Nation'', p. 87.] Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, & Green (London), 1863.</ref> this was accepted for a century from the 1740s to the 1840s before being revealed as a forgery. Modern scholars usually place [[Londinium]] in [[Maxima Caesariensis|Maxima]] rather than Flavia. [[Eric Birley|Birley]] has argued that Maxima and Flavia originally consisted of a single province, which received the name ''Britannia Caesariensis'' as a mark of favour for support against the rebel [[Allectus]] in 296. Although Flavia is usually thought to have been formed from the old province of [[Lower Britain]], Birley proposes that [[Upper Britain]] was divided in two (between [[Britannia Prima|Prima]] and Caesariensis) and then three (Prima, Maxima, and Flavia).{{citation needed|date=February 2015}} This repeats [[William Camden|Camden]]'s earlier theory (relying on [[Sextus Rufus]]) that Maxima was formed first and Flavia followed sometime after.<ref name=cammy/> Supporters of a later creation of Flavia note that it need not refer to [[Constantius Chlorus]] himself: instead, it may have honored any of [[Constantine the Great|Constantine]], [[Valentinian I|Valentinian]], or [[Theodosius I|Theodosius]].<ref name=stillfleet>[[Stillingfleet, Edward]]. [https://books.google.com/books?id=aRw1AQAAIAAJ&pg=PA77 ''Origines Britannicæ: or, the Antiquities of the British Churches with a Preface, concerning Some Pretended Antiquities Relating to Britain, in Vindication of the Bishop of St. Asaph'', New Ed., pp. 77 ff.] Wm. Straker (London), 1840.</ref> |
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Flavia Caesariensis and its southern neighbour, [[Maxima Caesariensis]], may have briefly comprised a single province which covered most of what is now eastern [[England]]. [[Eric Birley]] and others have suggested that the two provinces named Caesariensis were descended from a larger unit which received its unusual name due to Imperial favour. After London welcomed [[Constantius Chlorus]] in 296 he argues that he may have granted it the additional title of 'Caesariensis'. Given the circumstances at the time Constantius may well have divided the military command of [[Britannia Superior]] in two with an eastern province named Britannia Caesariensis and a western one named [[Britannia Prima]]. This division would have been later reorganised by splitting Britannia Caesariensis into north and south regions named after Constantius and the western Augustus, [[Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maximianus]] This would require the split to have taken place prior to Maximian's abdication in 305. As Constantius was elevated to the title of Augustus in the same year, London may also have adopted the title at the same time, as indeed it was later known. The short period of it holding the title Caesariensis may explain why there is little other evidence of that name. |
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==References== |
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An alternative explanation is that the province was named after Flavius Constantius, emperor of the west and that Maxima Caesarensis was named in honour of [[Galerius]], emperor of the east. This raises the question of why an eastern emperor was honoured and the two Augusti of the [[Tetrachy]] were not. |
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{{Reflist|2}} |
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{{Provinces of Britain}} |
{{Provinces of Britain}} |
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== See Also == |
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* [[Valentia (Roman Britain)|Valentia]] |
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{{Late Roman Provinces|state=collapsed}} |
{{Late Roman Provinces|state=collapsed}} |
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[[Category:Late Roman provinces]] |
[[Category:Late Roman provinces]] |
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[[Category:Roman Britain]] |
[[Category:Roman Britain]] |
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[[Category:States and territories established in the 3rd century]] |
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[[Category:States and territories established in the 4th century]] |
[[Category:States and territories established in the 4th century]] |
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[[Category:410 disestablishments]] |
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[[cy:Flavia Caesariensis]] |
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[[de:Flavia Caesariensis]] |
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[[id:Flavia Caesariensis]] |
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[[it:Flavia Caesariensis]] |
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Latest revision as of 19:55, 13 March 2023
Flavia Caesariensis (Latin for "The Caesarian province of Flavius"), sometimes known as Britannia Flavia, was one of the provinces of the Diocese of "the Britains" created during the Diocletian Reforms at the end of the 3rd century.[1] It was probably created after the defeat of the usurper Allectus by Constantius Chlorus in AD 296 and was mentioned in the c. 312 Verona List of the Roman provinces. It seems to have been named after Chlorus's family and was probably located beside Maxima Caesariensis, but their positions and capitals remain uncertain. At present, most scholars place Flavia Caesariensis in the southern Pennines, possibly reaching the Irish Sea and including the lands of the Iceni. Its capital is sometimes placed at Lindum Colonia (Lincoln).
History
[edit]Following the Roman conquest, Britain was administered as a single province from Camulodunum (Colchester) and then Londinium (London) until the Severan Reforms following the revolt of its governor Clodius Albinus. These divided the territory into Upper and Lower Britain (Britannia Superior and Inferior), whose respective capitals were at Londinium and Eboracum (York). During the first phases of the Diocletian Reforms, Britain was under the control of the Allectus's Britannic Empire as part of the Carausian Revolt. At some point after the territory was retaken by Constantius Chlorus in AD 296, the Diocese of the Britains (with its vicar at Londinium) was formed and made a part of Prefecture of Gaul. The Britains were divided among three, four, or five provinces,[3] which seem to have borne the names Prima, Secunda, Maxima Caesariensis, and (possibly) Flavia Caesariensis and Valentia.[5][6][7]
The placement and capitals of these late British provinces are uncertain, although the Notitia Dignitatum lists the governor (praeses) of Flavia being of equestrian rank, making it unlikely to have been based in Londinium.[why?] The list of bishops who attended the 314 Council of Arles is patently corrupt[10] but generally assumed to have mimicked the Roman administration: the identification of Lindum Colonia as a provincial capital rests on proposed emendations of one or the other of the bishops from the cities Londinensi and colonia Londinensium. Those emendations are highly speculative: Bishop Ussher proposed Colonia, Selden Camaloden or Camalodon, and Spelman Camalodunum (all various names of Colchester);[9] Camden took it as Caerleon,[2] with Bishop Stillingfleet[11] and Thackery proposing that a scribal error created Civ. Col. Londin. from an original Civ. Col. Leg. II (Caerleon).[9]
Describing the metropolitan sees of the early British church established by SS Fagan and "Duvian", Gerald of Wales placed Flavia around London, extending into Mercia.[12][13] Bertram's highly-influential forgery The Description of Britain placed it similarly: although not including London, it included central England and was bound by the Severn, the Thames, the North Sea, and the Humber and Mersey;[14] this was accepted for a century from the 1740s to the 1840s before being revealed as a forgery. Modern scholars usually place Londinium in Maxima rather than Flavia. Birley has argued that Maxima and Flavia originally consisted of a single province, which received the name Britannia Caesariensis as a mark of favour for support against the rebel Allectus in 296. Although Flavia is usually thought to have been formed from the old province of Lower Britain, Birley proposes that Upper Britain was divided in two (between Prima and Caesariensis) and then three (Prima, Maxima, and Flavia).[citation needed] This repeats Camden's earlier theory (relying on Sextus Rufus) that Maxima was formed first and Flavia followed sometime after.[2] Supporters of a later creation of Flavia note that it need not refer to Constantius Chlorus himself: instead, it may have honored any of Constantine, Valentinian, or Theodosius.[11]
References
[edit]- ^ Frere, Sheppard (1967). Britannia: a history of Roman Britain. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. pp. 198–199.
- ^ a b c d Camden, William (1610) [Original text published 1586], "The Division of Britaine", Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland, translated by Philemon Holland
- ^ Polemius Silvius's 5th-century Nomina Omnium Provinciarum gives six provinces, but Roman administration over the Orcades (Orkney Islands) is generally discounted. Some modern scholars such as Birley, however, believe Maxima and Flavia were originally a single province Caesariensis which was later divided. This comports with Camden[2] and some texts of Sextus Rufus, although they make the original province Britannia Maxima.
- ^ Dornier, Ann (1982). "The Province of Valentia". Britannia. 13: 253–260. doi:10.2307/526498. JSTOR 526498. S2CID 162652243.
- ^ Valentia is generally treated as a later formation and placed variously beyond the Wall, around the Wall, and in Wales. It may, however, have simply been another name for the British diocese as a whole.[4]
- ^ Notitia Dignitatum.
- ^ Verona List.
- ^ Labbé, Philippe & Gabriel Cossart (eds.) Sacrosancta Concilia ad Regiam Editionem Exacta: quae Nunc Quarta Parte Prodit Actior [The Sancrosanct Councils Exacted for the Royal Edition: which the Editors Now Produce in Four Parts], Vol. I: "Ab Initiis Æræ Christianæ ad Annum CCCXXIV" ["From the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Year 324"], col. 1429. The Typographical Society for Ecclesiastical Books (Paris), 1671.
- ^ a b c Thackery, Francis. Researches into the Ecclesiastical and Political State of Ancient Britain under the Roman Emperors: with Observations upon the Principal Events and Characters Connected with the Christian Religion, during the First Five Centuries, pp. 272 ff. T. Cadell (London), 1843.
- ^ "Nomina Episcoporum, cum Clericis Suis, Quinam, et ex Quibus Provinciis, ad Arelatensem Synodum Convenerint" ["The Names of the Bishops with Their Clerics who Came Together at the Synod of Arles and from which Province They Came"] from the Consilia[8] in Thackery[9] (in Latin)
- ^ a b Stillingfleet, Edward. Origines Britannicæ: or, the Antiquities of the British Churches with a Preface, concerning Some Pretended Antiquities Relating to Britain, in Vindication of the Bishop of St. Asaph, New Ed., pp. 77 ff. Wm. Straker (London), 1840.
- ^ Giraldus Cambriensis [Gerald of Wales]. De Inuectionibus [On Invectives], Vol. II, Ch. I, in Y Cymmrodor: The Magazine of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, Vol. XXX, pp. 130–1. George Simpson & Co. (Devizes), 1920. (in Latin)
- ^ Gerald of Wales. Translated by W.S. Davies as The Book of Invectives of Giraldus Cambrensis in Y Cymmrodor: The Magazine of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, Vol. XXX, p. 16. George Simpson & Co. (Devizes), 1920.
- ^ Hughes, William. The Geography of British History: A Geographical Description of the British Islands at Successive Periods from the Earliest Times to the Present Day: With a Sketch of the Commencement of Colonisation on the Part of the English Nation, p. 87. Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, & Green (London), 1863.