Britannia Inferior was a subdivision of the Roman province of Britannia established c. The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial Britannia was the term originally used by the Romans to refer first to the British Isles, and later to the island of Great Britain. 214 by the emperor Caracalla, son of Septimius Severus. Caracalla ( April 4 188 &ndash April 8, 217) born Lucius Septimius Bassianus and later Lucius Septimius Severus (or rarely Severus I) ( April 11 145 - February 4 211) was a Roman general and Roman Emperor Located in modern northern England, the region was governed from the city of Eburacum (modern York) by a praetorian legate in command of a single legion stationed in the city. Northern England, The North, The North of England or (less commonly The North Country refers to the parts of England north of an ill-defined line Eboracum was a fort and City in Roman Britain. Today it is known as York, located in North Yorkshire, England. York ( is an historic Walled city sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. [1] This subdivision of Britannia lasted throughout the Severan dynasty until the reorganization of the empire under Diocletian in 296. The Severan dynasty was a Roman imperial Dynasty, which ruled the Roman Empire between 193 and 235. Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus ( ca. December 22 244 The modern historian Timothy Barnes takes December 22 as his birthdate
Note: the name Britannia Inferior is something of a misnomer, as its literal translation is Lower Britain, though it is located in Northern England. This coming from a fact that Romans named locations according to their proximity to the city of Rome itself. Therefore, Britannia that was further from Rome was called Inferior.
Establishment
During the reign of Commodus, the defenses along the northern border of the empire in Britannia fell into neglect and disrepair. Lucius Aurelius Commodus Antoninus ( August 31, 161 – December 31, 192) was a Roman Emperor who ruled from 180 to 192 (also with The peace of the region was further disturbed in the tumultuous period after Commodus' death as the military power vacuum on the continent distracted the defensive legions stationed in Britannia. [2]
After his accession in A. D. 193, Severus took special interest in refortifying the northern border in Britannia, and in 208 he relocated in Eburacum to oversee the military campaigns to pacify the northern tribes. Eboracum was a fort and City in Roman Britain. Today it is known as York, located in North Yorkshire, England.
While there is some confusion as to the exact date when the subdivision of Britannia was made, it seems clear that Severus' intentions were to break up the size of the military under the command of an individual governor (as he had done in Syria), preventing them from wielding too large a military force, or at least one that could destabilize the emperor's control. Britannia was the term originally used by the Romans to refer first to the British Isles, and later to the island of Great Britain. Herodian places the date of the split occurred in 197 [3], though there is no evidence of this distinction being formalized in inscriptions until after the death of Severus in 211. For the grammarian see Aelius Herodianus. For the dynasty see Herodian Dynasty. Thus, it is likely that the division of military control in Britannia was formally established by Caracalla sometime between 211-20. Caracalla ( April 4 188 &ndash April 8, 217) born Lucius Septimius Bassianus and later [4]
Reorganization
In A. D. 296, the emperor Diocletian conducted a major reorganization of the empire. Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus ( ca. December 22 244 The modern historian Timothy Barnes takes December 22 as his birthdate The newly named Diocese of Britannia was subdivided into four provinces, Britannia Prima, Britannia Secunda, Maxima Caesariensis and Flavia Caesariensis. Britannia Prima was one of the provinces of Roman Britain in existence by c Britannia Secunda was one of the provinces of Roman Britain in existence by c Maxima Caesariensis was the name of one of the four provinces of later Roman Britain (but is not named in the surviving copies of the Verona List, dated 312 Flavia Caesariensis was one of the provinces of Roman Britain. [5]
Britannia Inferior was broken down into the provinces of Britania Secunda, with York (Eburacum) as its capital, and Flavia Caesariensis, with Lincoln (Lindum) as its capital. [6]
References
- ^ The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume XII, London: Cambridge University Press, 1970: p. 706
- ^ Sheppare Frere, Britannia: a history of Roman Britain, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1967, p. 169
- ^ Cambridge, p. 8
- ^ Ibid
- ^ 124. The Provincial Reorganization, Roman Civilization Volume II: Selected Readings, The Empire, ed. Naphtali Lewis and Meyer Reinhold, 3rd Edition, New York: Columbia University Press, 1990, p. 427-428.
- ^ Ibid
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