Editing Roman province

{{Short description|Major Roman administrative territorial entity outside of Italy}}
{{Distinguish|Province of Rome}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2023}}
{{History of geography sidebar}}
{{Roman government}}
[[File:Impero romano sotto Ottaviano Augusto 30aC - 6dC.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.5|Roman Empire under [[Augustus]] (31 BC – AD 14), showing the empire as of 31&nbsp;BC in yellow, additions to 19&nbsp;BC in dark green, additions in 9&nbsp;BC in light green, and additions to AD&nbsp;6 in pale green. Client states in mauve.]]
[[File:Roman Empire 125 political map.png|thumb|right|upright=1.5|The Roman Empire under [[Hadrian]] (125) showing the provinces as then organised.]]

The '''Roman provinces''' ({{Langx|la|provincia}}, pl. {{Lang|la|provinciae}}) 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 governor|governor]].<ref name="romanoimpero">{{Cite web |title=Le province romane |url=https://www.romanoimpero.com/2013/01/le-province-romane.html |access-date=20 November 2021 |language=it}}</ref>

For centuries, it was the largest administrative unit of the foreign possessions of ancient Rome.<ref name="romanoimpero" /> With the administrative reform initiated by [[Diocletian]], it became a third level administrative subdivision of the Roman Empire, or rather a subdivision of the [[Roman diocese|imperial dioceses]] (in turn subdivisions of the [[Praetorian prefecture|imperial prefectures]]).<ref name="romanoimpero" />

== History ==

A province was the basic and, until the [[Tetrarchy]] (from AD 293), the largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire's territorial possessions outside [[Roman Italy]].

During the republic and early empire, provinces were generally governed by politicians of [[Roman senate|senatorial]] rank, usually former [[Roman consul|consuls]] or former [[praetors]].<ref name="romanoimpero" /> A later exception was the province of Egypt, which was incorporated by [[Augustus]] after the death of [[Cleopatra]] and was ruled by a governor of only [[equestrian order|equestrian]] rank, perhaps as a discouragement to senatorial ambition.<ref name="romanoimpero" /> That exception was unique but not contrary to Roman law, as Egypt was considered Augustus's personal property, following the tradition of the [[Hellenistic Egypt|kings]] of the earlier [[Hellenistic period]].<ref name="romanoimpero" />

=== Republican period ===

The [[English language|English]] word ''province'' comes from the Latin word ''provincia''.{{sfn|Richardson|1992|p=564}} The Latin term ''provincia'' had an equivalent in eastern, Greek-speaking parts of the [[Greco-Roman world]]. In the Greek language, a province was called an ''eparchy'' ({{langx|el|{{lang|grc|ἐπαρχίᾱ}}}}, ''eparchia''), with a governor called an ''eparch'' ({{langx|el|{{lang|grc|ἔπαρχος}}}}, ''eparchos'').{{sfn|Mason|1974|pp=81, 84–86, 138–139}}

==== Emergence ====

The Latin {{lang|la|provincia}}, during the middle republic, referred not to a territory, but to a task assigned to a Roman magistrate. That task might require using the military command powers of ''[[imperium]]'' but otherwise could even be a task assigned to a junior magistrates without ''imperium'': for example, the treasury was the {{lang|la|provincia}} of a [[quaestor]] and the civil jurisdiction of the urban [[praetor]] was the {{lang|la|urbana provincia}}.{{sfn|Richardson|1992|p=564}} In the middle and late republican authors like Plautus, Terence, and Cicero, the word referred something akin to a modern ministerial portfolio:<ref>{{harvnb|Richardson|1992|pp=564–565|ps=, citing, among others, Plaut. ''Capt.'', 156, 158, 474; Ter. ''Haut.'', 516; Cic. ''Cael.'', 26.63.}}</ref> "when... the senate assigned {{lang|la|provinciae}} to the various magistrates... what they were doing was more like allocating a portfolio than putting people in charge of geographic areas".{{sfn|Richardson|1992|p=565}}

The first commanders dispatched with {{lang|la|provinciae}} were for the purpose of waging war and to command an army. However, merely that a ''provincia'' was assigned did not mean the Romans made that territory theirs. For example, [[Publius Sulpicius Galba Maximus]] in 211&nbsp;BC received Macedonia as his ''provincia'' but the republic did not annex the kingdom, even as Macedonia was continuously assigned until 205&nbsp;BC with the end of the [[First Macedonian War]]. Even though the [[Second Macedonian War|Second]] and [[Third Macedonian War]]s saw the Macedonian province revived, the senate settled affairs in the region by abolishing Macedonia and replacing it with four client republics. Macedonia only came under direct Roman administration in the aftermath of the [[Fourth Macedonian War]] in 148&nbsp;BC.{{sfn|Richardson|1992|pp=566–567}} Similarly, assignment of various {{lang|la|provinciae}} in Hispania was not accompanied by the creation of any regular administration of the area; indeed, even though two praetors were assigned to Hispania regularly from 196&nbsp;BC, no systematic settlement of the region occurred for nearly thirty years and what administration occurred was ''ad hoc'' and emerged from military necessities.{{sfn|Richardson|1992|p=567}}

In the middle republic, the administration of a territory – whether taxation or jurisdictrion – had basically no relationship with whether that place was assigned as a ''provincia'' by the senate. Rome would even intervene on territorial disputes which were part of no ''provincia'' at all and were not administered by Rome.{{sfn|Richardson|1992|p=570}} The territorial province, called a "permanent" ''provincia'' in the scholarship, emerged only gradually.

==== Permanent ''provincia'' ====

The acquisition of territories, however, through the middle republic created the recurrent task of defending and administering some place. The first "permanent" {{lang|la|provincia}} was that of Sicily, created after the [[First Punic War]]. In the immediate aftermath, a quaestor was sent to Sicily to look out for Roman interests but eventually, praetors were dispatched as well. The sources differ as to when sending a praetor became normal: Appian reports 241&nbsp;BC; Solinus indicates 227&nbsp;BC instead. Regardless, the change likely reflected Roman unease about Carthaginian power: quaestors could not command armies or fleets; praetors could and initially seem to have held largely garrison duties.{{sfn|Drogula|2015|pp=242–245}} This first province started a permanent shift in Roman thinking about {{lang|la|provincia}}. Instead of being a task of military expansion, it became a recurrent defensive assignment to oversee conquered territories. These defensive assignments, with few opportunities to gain glory, were less desirable and therefore became regularly assigned to the praetors.{{sfn|Drogula|2015|p=247}} 

Only around 180&nbsp;BC did provinces take on a more geographically defined position when a border was established to separate the two commanders assigned to Hispania on the river [[Guadalquivir|Baetis]].{{sfn|Drogula|2015|pp=250–51}} Later provinces, once campaigns were complete, were all largely defined geographically.{{sfn|Drogula|2015|pp=253–254}} Once this division of permanent and temporary {{lang|la|provinciae}} emerged, magistrates assigned to permanent provinces also came under pressures to achieve as much as possible during their terms. Whenever a military crisis occurred near some province, it was normally reassigned to one of the consuls; praetors were left with the garrison duties.{{sfn|Drogula|2015|pp=256–257, 263}} In the permanent provinces, the Roman commanders were initially not intended as administrators. However, the presence of the commander with forces sufficient to coerce compliance made him an obvious place to seek final judgement. A governor's legal jurisdiction thus grew from the demands of the provincial inhabitants for authoritative settlement of disputes.{{sfn|Drogula|2015|pp=266–268}} 

In the absence of opportunities for conquest and with little oversight for their activities, many praetorian governors settled on extorting the provincials. This profiteering threatened Roman control by unnecessarily angering the province's subject populations and was regardless dishonourable. It eventually drew a reaction from the senate, which reacted with laws to rein in the governors.{{sfn|Drogula|2015|pp=275–276}} After initial experimentation with ''ad hoc'' panels of inquest, various laws were passed, such as the ''[[lex Calpurnia de repetundis]]'' in 149&nbsp;BC, which established a [[Quaestio perpetua|permanent court]] to try corruption cases; troubles with corruption and laws reacting to it continued through the republican era.{{sfn|Drogula|2015|pp=279–281}} By the end of the republic, a multitude of laws had been passed on how a governor would complete his task, requiring presence in the province, regulating how he could requisition goods from provincial communities, limiting the number of years he could serve in the province, etc.{{sfn|Drogula|2015|p=292}}

==== Assignment ====

Prior to 123&nbsp;BC, the senate assigned consular provinces as it wished, usually in its first meeting of the consular year. The specific provinces to be assigned were normally determined by lot or by mutual agreement among the commanders; only extraordinarily did the senate assign a command {{lang|la|extra sortem}} (outside of sortition).{{sfn|Richardson|1992|p=573}} But in 123 or 122&nbsp;BC, the tribune [[Gaius Sempronius Gracchus]] passed the ''lex Sempronia de provinciis consularibus'', which required the senate to select the consular provinces before the consular elections and made this announcement immune from tribunician veto.{{sfnm|Drogula|2015|1p=298|Richardson|1992|2p=573}} The law had the effect of, over time, abolishing the temporary {{lang|la|provinciae}}, as it was not always realistic for the senate to anticipate the theatres of war some six months in advance. Instead, the senate chose to assign consuls to permanent provinces near expected trouble spots. From 200 to 124&nbsp;BC, only 22 per cent of recorded consular {{lang|la|provinciae}} were permanent provinces; between 122 and 53&nbsp;BC, this rose to 60 per cent.{{sfn|Drogula|2015|pp=299–300}}

While many of the provinces had been assigned to sitting praetors in the earlier part of the second century, with new praetorships created to fill empty provincial commands, by the start of the first century it had become uncommon for praetors to hold provincial commands during their formal annual term. Instead they generally took command as [[promagistrate]] after the end of their term. The use of prorogation was due to an insufficient number of praetors, which was for two reasons: more provinces needed commands<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brennan |first=T Corey |title=The praetorship in the Roman republic |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2000 |pages=626–627 |author-link=T. Corey Brennan}}</ref> and the increased number of permanent jury courts (''[[quaestiones perpetuae]]''), each of which had a praetor as president, exacerbated this issue.<ref>{{harvnb|Badian|2012}}. Formally, the presidency of one of the permanent courts was in fact the {{lang|la|provincia}} of the praetor-president.</ref> Praetors during the second century were normally prorogued ''pro praetore'', but starting with the Spanish provinces and expanding by 167&nbsp;BC, praetors were more commonly prorogued with the augmented rank ''[[proconsul|pro consule]]''; by the end of the republic, all governors acted ''pro consule''.{{sfn|Drogula|2015|pp=229–330, 341}}

Also important was the assertion of popular authority over the assignment of provincial commands. This started with [[Gaius Marius]], who had an allied tribune introduce a law transferring to him the already-taken province of Numidia (then held by [[Quintus Caecilius Metellus Numidicus|Quintus Caecilius Metellus]]), allowing Marius to assume command of the [[Jugurthine War]].{{sfnm|Drogula|2015|1p=304|Richardson|1992|2pp=573–574}} This innovation destabilised the system of assigning provincial commands, exacerbated internal political tensions, and later allowed ambitious politicians to assemble for themselves enormous commands which the senate would never have approved: the Pompeian ''lex Gabinia'' of 67&nbsp;BC granted Pompey all land within 50 miles of the Mediterranean; Caesar's Gallic command that encompassed three normal provinces.{{sfn|Drogula|2015|p=306}}

=== Late Republican period ===
In the late Republican period, Roman authorities generally preferred that a majority of people in Rome's provinces venerated, respected, and worshipped gods from Rome proper and Roman Italy to an extent, alongside normal services done in honor of their "traditional" gods.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Pearson |first1=Patricia O'Connell |title=World History: Our Human Story |last2=Holdren |first2=John |date=May 2021 |publisher=Sheridan Kentucky |isbn=978-1-60153-123-0 |location=Versailles, Kentucky |pages=181}}</ref>

==== Transition to empire ====
The increasing practices of prorogation and statutorily-defined "super commands" driven by {{lang|la|popularis}} political tactics{{sfn|Drogula|2015|p=307}} undermined the [[Constitution of the Roman Republic|republican constitutional]] principle of annually-elected magistracies. This allowed the powerful men to amass disproportionate wealth and military power through their provincial commands, which was one of the major factors in the transition from a republic to an imperial [[autocracy]].<ref>{{harvnb|Drogula|2015|p=311|ps=. "The use of populär legislation to manipulate ''provinciae'' and provincial assignment would also create the armies that brought down the republic".}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Nicolet |first=Claude |url=https://archive.org/details/spacegeographypo00nico |title=Space, geography, and politics in the early Roman empire |publisher=[[University of Michigan Press]] |year=1991 |isbn=978-0472100965 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/spacegeographypo00nico/page/n9 1], 15 |author-link=Claude Nicolet |url-access=registration |orig-year=1988}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Hekster |first1=Olivier |title=Frontiers in the Roman world |last2=Kaizer |first2=Ted |page=8}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Eder |first=W |title=Between republic and empire |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |year=1993 |page=98 |chapter=The Augustan principate as binding link}}</ref>{{sfn|Lintott|1999|p=114}}

The senate attempted to push back against these commands in many instances: it preferred to break up any large war into multiple territorially separated commands; for similar reasons, it opposed the [[Lex Gabinia de piratis persequendis|''lex Gabinia'']] which gave [[Pompey]] an overlapping command over large portions of the Mediterranean.{{sfn|Drogula|2015|p=309}} The senate, which had long acted as a check on aristocratic ambitions, was unable to stop these immense commands, which culminated eventually with the reduction of the number of meaningfully-independent governors during the [[Second Triumvirate|triumviral period]] to three men and, with the end of the republic, to one man.

=== Early imperial period {{anchor|Imperial province|Senatorial province|Public province|Augustan settlement|First settlement}} ===

During his sixth and seventh consulships (28 and 27&nbsp;BC), Augustus began a process which saw the republic return to "normality": he shared the ''fasces'' that year with his consular colleague month-by-month and announced the abolition of the triumvirate by the end of the year in accordance with promises to do so at the close of the civil wars.{{sfn|Crook|1996|pp=76–77}} At the start of 27&nbsp;BC, Augustus formally had a provincial command over all of Rome's provinces. That year, in his "first settlement", he ostentatiously returned his control of them and their attached armies to the senate, likely by declaring that the task assigned to him either by the ''[[lex Titia]]'' creating the Triumvirate or that the [[War of Actium|war on Cleopatra and Antony]] was complete.<ref>{{harvnb|Drogula|2015|p=354}}; Aug. ''RG'' 34.</ref> In return, at a carefully-managed meeting of the senate, he was given commands over Spain, Gaul, Syria, Cilicia, Cyprus, and Egypt to hold for ten years; these provinces contained 22 of the 28 extant Roman legions (over 80 per cent) and contained all prospective military theatres.{{sfn|Drogula|2015|pp=354–355}}

The provinces that were assigned to Augustus became known as '''imperial provinces''' and the remaining provinces, largely demilitarised and confined to the older republican conquests, became known as '''public''' or '''senatorial provinces''', as their commanders were still assigned by the senate on an annual basis consistent with tradition.{{sfn|Drogula|2015|p=355}} Because no one man could command in practically all the border-regions of the empire at once, Augustus appointed subordinate [[Legatus|legate]]s for each of the provinces with the title ''[[legatus Augusti pro praetore]]''. These lieutenant ''legati'' probably held ''imperium'' but, due to their lack of an independent command, were unable to triumph and could be replaced by their superior (Augustus) at any time.{{sfn|Drogula|2015|pp=355–356}} These arrangements were likely based on the precedent of Pompey's proconsulship over the Spanish provinces after 55&nbsp;BC entirely through legates, while he stayed in the vicinity of Rome.{{sfn|Bowman|1996|pp=346–347}}{{sfn|Drogula|2015|pp=356–57}} In contrast, the public provinces continued to be governed by proconsuls with formally independent commands.{{sfn|Drogula|2015|p=355}} In only three of the public provinces were there any armies: [[Africa (Roman province)|Africa]], [[Illyricum (Roman province)|Illyricum]], and [[Macedonia (Roman province)|Macedonia]]; after Augustus' [[Bellum Batonianum|Balkan wars]], only Africa retained a legion.{{sfn|Drogula|2015|p=364}}

To make this monopolisation of military commands palatable, Augustus separated prestige from military importance and inverted it. The title ''pro praetore'' had gone out of use by the end of the republic and was regardless in inferior status to a proconsul. More radically, Egypt (which was sufficiently powerful that a commander there could start a rebellion against the emperor) was commanded by an equestrian prefect, "a very low title indeed" as prefects were normally low-ranking officers and equestrians were not normally part of the elite.<ref>{{harvnb|Drogula|2015|p=370|ps=. Drogula also notes that appointing a person of such low status would mean that he would not have the support necessary among the elite to challenge the emperor successfully.}}</ref> In Augustus' "second settlement" of 23&nbsp;BC, he gave up his continual holding of the consulship in exchange for a general proconsulship – with a special dispensation from the law that nullified ''imperium'' within the city of Rome – over the imperial provinces.{{sfn|Drogula|2015|pp=358–359}} He also gave himself, through the senate, a general grant of ''imperium maius'', which gave him priority over the ordinary governors of the public provinces, allowing him to interfere in their affairs.{{sfn|Drogula|2015|pp=360–363}}

Within the public and imperial provinces there also existed distinctions of rank. In the public provinces, the provinces of Africa and Asia were given only to ex-consuls; ex-praetors received the others. The imperial provinces eventually produced a three-tier system with prefects and procurators, legates ''pro praetore'' who were ex-praetors, and legates ''pro praetore'' who were ex-consuls.{{sfn|Bowman|1996|pp=346, 369–370}} The public provinces' governors normally served only one year; the imperial provinces' governors on the other hand normally served several years before rotating out.{{sfn|Bowman|1996|p=347}} The extent to which the emperor exercised control over all the provinces increased during the imperial period: Tiberius, for example, once reprimanded legates in the imperial provinces for failing to forward financial reports to the senate; by the reign of Claudius, however, the senatorial provinces' proconsuls were regularly issued with orders directly from the emperor.<ref>{{harvnb|Bowman|1996|pp=347–48|ps=, noting also that Tiberius regularly remitted embassies from cities in the senatorial provinces to the senate to allow it "an illusion of its traditional functions".}}</ref>

=== Late imperial period ===
{{further|Roman diocese}}

[[File:Prima tetrarchia Diocletianus.PNG|thumb|right|upright=1.5|The new territorial division of [[tetrarchy|tetrarchic system]], promoted by [[Diocletian]] ({{circa|AD&nbsp;300}}). ]]

The emperor [[Diocletian]] introduced a radical reform known as the ''[[tetrarchy]]'' (AD&nbsp;284–305), with a western and an eastern senior emperor styled ''[[Augustus (honorific)|Augustus]]'', each seconded by a junior emperor (and designated successor) styled ''[[Caesar (title)|caesar]]''.<ref name="romanoimpero" /> Each of these four defended and administered a quarter of the empire. In the 290s, Diocletian divided the empire anew into almost a hundred provinces, including [[Roman Italy]].<ref name="romanoimpero" /> Their governors were hierarchically ranked, from the [[proconsul]]s of [[Africa Proconsularis]] and [[Asia (Roman province)|Asia]] through those governed by ''[[consularis|consulares]]'' and ''[[corrector]]es'' to the ''[[praeses|praesides]]''. The provinces in turn were grouped into (originally twelve) [[Roman diocese|dioceses]], headed usually by a ''[[vicarius]]'', who oversaw their affairs. Only the proconsuls and the [[urban prefect]] of Rome (and later Constantinople) were exempt from this, and were directly subordinated to the tetrarchs.<ref name="romanoimpero" />

Although the Caesars were soon eliminated from the picture, the four administrative resorts were restored in 318 by Emperor [[Constantine I (emperor)|Constantine&nbsp;I]], in the form of [[praetorian prefectures]], whose holders generally rotated frequently, as in the usual magistracies but without a colleague.<ref name="romanoimpero" /> Constantine also created a new capital, named after him as [[Constantinople]], which was sometimes called 'New Rome' because it became the permanent seat of the government.<ref name="romanoimpero" /> In Italy itself, Rome had not been the imperial residence for some time and 286 Diocletian formally moved the seat of government to [[Mediolanum]] (modern [[Milan]]), while taking up residence himself in [[Nicomedia]].<ref name="romanoimpero" /> During the 4th century, the administrative structure was modified several times, including repeated experiments with Eastern-Western co-emperors.<ref>Nuovo Atlante Storico De Agostini, 1997, pp. 40–41. (In Italian)</ref> 

Detailed information on the arrangements during this period is contained in the ''[[Notitia Dignitatum]]'' (Record of Offices), a document dating from the early 5th century. Most data is drawn from this authentic imperial source, as the names of the areas governed and titles of the governors are given there. There are however debates about the source of some data recorded in the ''{{lang|la|Notitia}}'', and it seems clear that some of its own sources are earlier than others. Some scholars compare this with the list of military territories under the ''[[Dux|duces]]'', in charge of border garrisons on so-called ''[[Limes (Roman Empire)|limites]]'', and the higher ranking ''{{lang|la|Comites rei militaris}}'', with more mobile forces, and the later, even higher [[Magister Militum|''magistri militum'']].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Note sull'«anzianità di servizio» nel lessico della legislazione imperiale romana |url=https://www.dirittoestoria.it/11/tradizione/De-Francesco-Anzianita-servizio-lessico-legislazione-imperiale.htm |access-date=20 November 2021 |language=it}}</ref>

[[Justinian&nbsp;I]] made the next great changes in 534–536 by abolishing, in some provinces, the strict separation of civil and military authority that Diocletian had established.<ref name="romanoimpero" />This process was continued on a larger scale with the creation of extraordinary [[Exarchate]]s in the 580s and culminated with the adoption of the military [[theme system]] in the 640s, which replaced the older administrative arrangements entirely.<ref name="romanoimpero" /> Some scholars use the reorganization of the empire into [[Theme (Byzantine district)|themata]] in this period as one of the demarcations between the [[Dominate]] and the Byzantine (or the Later Roman) period.{{fact|date=March 2023}}

== List of provinces ==
=== Republican provinces ===
* 241 BC – [[Sicilia (Roman province)|Sicilia]] (Sicily) taken over from the [[Carthaginians]] and annexed at the end of the [[First Punic War]]
* 237 BC – [[Sardinia and Corsica]]; these two islands were taken over from the Carthaginians and annexed soon after the [[Mercenary War]], in 238 BC and 237 BC respectively
* 197 BC – [[Hispania Citerior]]; along the east coast of the [[Iberian Peninsula]]; part of the territories taken over from the Carthaginians
* 197 BC – [[Hispania Ulterior]]; along the southern coast of the Iberian Peninsula; part of the territories taken over from the Carthaginians in the [[Second Punic War]]
* 147 BC – [[Macedonia (Roman province)|Macedonia]] was annexed after the [[Achaean War]]
* 146 BC – [[Africa (Roman province)|Africa]] (modern-day [[Tunisia]], eastern [[Algeria]] and western [[Libya]]); created after the destruction of Carthage in the [[Third Punic War]]
* 129 BC – [[Asia (Roman province)|Asia]], formerly the [[Attalid kingdom]], in western [[Anatolia]] (now in [[Turkey]]), bequeathed to Rome by its last king, [[Attalus III]], in 133 BC.
* 120 BC – [[Gallia Narbonensis]] (southern France); prior to its annexation it was called [[Gallia Transalpina]] (Gallia on the other side of [[the Alps]]) to distinguish it from [[Gallia Cisalpina]] (Gaul on this same side of the Alps, in northern Italy). It was annexed following attacks on the allied Greek city of Massalia ([[Marseille]]).
* 67 BC – [[Crete and Cyrenaica]]; [[Cyrenaica]] was bequeathed to Rome in 78 BC. However, it was not organised as a province. It was incorporated into the province of Creta et Cyrenae when [[Crete]] was annexed in 67 BC.
* 63 BC – [[Bithynia and Pontus|Bithynia et Pontus]]; the [[Kingdom of Bithynia]] (in North-western Anatolia) was bequeathed to Rome by its last king, [[Nicomedes IV]], in 74 BC. It was organised as a Roman province at the end of the [[Third Mithridatic War]] (73–63 BC) by [[Pompey]], who incorporated the western part of the defeated [[Kingdom of Pontus]] into it in 63 BC.
* 63 BC – [[Roman Syria|Syria]]; Pompey deposed the last [[Seleucid Empire|Seleucid king]] [[Philip II Philoromaeus]], creating the province of Syria.
* 63 BC – [[Cilicia (Roman province)|Cilicia]]; [[Cilicia]] was created as a province in the sense of area of military command in 102 BC in a campaign against [[piracy]]. The Romans controlled only a small area. In 74 BC [[Lycia]] and [[Pamphylia]] (to the east) were added to the small Roman possessions in Cilicia. Cilicia came fully under Roman control at the end of the [[Third Mithridatic War]] (73–63 BC), reorganised by Pompey in 63 BC.  
* 58 BC – [[Roman Cyprus|Cyprus]] was annexed after the death of its last king [[Ptolemy of Cyprus]] and added to the province of [[Cilicia]], creating the province of [[Cilicia (Roman province)|Cilicia et Cyprus]].
* 46 BC – [[Africa Nova]] (Eastern [[Numidia]] – Algeria), [[Julius Caesar]] annexed Eastern Numidia and the new province called ''Africa Nova'' (new Africa) to distinguish it from the older province of [[Africa (Roman province)|Africa]], created in 146 BC, which became known as ''Africa Vetus'' (old Africa). Western Numidia was annexed and added to the province of  ''Africa Nova'' in 40 BC. The territory remained the direct part of the Roman Empire except for a brief period when [[Caesar Augustus|Augustus]] restored [[Juba II]] (son of [[Juba I]]) as a client king (30–25 BC).

[[Cisalpine Gaul]] (in northern [[Italy]]) was occupied by Rome in the 220s BC and became considered geographically and ''[[de facto]]'' part of [[Roman Italy]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Carlà-Uhink |first=Filippo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dSY-DwAAQBAJ&q=Tota+Italia+essays&pg=PT454 |title=The 'Birth'of Italy: The Institutionalization of Italy as a Region, 3rd–1st Century BCE |date= 2017 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG |isbn=978-3-11-054478-7}}</ref> but remained politically and ''[[de jure]]'' separated. It was legally merged into the administrative unit of Roman Italy in 42 BC by the triumvir [[Augustus]] as a ratification of [[Caesar]]'s unpublished acts (''Acta Caesaris'').<ref>{{Cite book |last=Williams |first=J. H. C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RPj_FkEeVO4C&q=beyond+the+Rubicon |title=Beyond the Rubicon: Romans and Gauls in Republican Italy  |date= 2020 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780198153009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200522000630/https://books.google.it/books?id=RPj_FkEeVO4C&dq=beyond+the+Rubicon&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiI5YrC6rbkAhUvDmMBHXZOCMAQ6AEIKTAA |archive-date=22 May 2020}}</ref><ref name="DRR">{{Cite book |last=Long |first=George |title=Decline of the Roman republic: Volume 2 |year=1866 |location=London}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Cassius |first=Dio |title=Historia Romana |volume=41 |at=36 |author-link=Cassius Dio}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Laffi |first=Umberto |date=1992 |title=La provincia della Gallia Cisalpina |journal=Athenaeum |language=it |issue=80 |pages=5–23}}</ref><ref name="au">{{Cite web |last=Aurigemma |first=Salvatore |title=Gallia Cisalpina |url=http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/gallia-cisalpina_(Enciclopedia-Italiana)/ |access-date=14 October 2014 |website=www.treccani.it |publisher=Enciclopedia Italiana |language=it}}</ref>

=== Provinces of the Principate ===
[[File:RomanEmpire 117.svg|thumb|upright=1.6|right|The Roman Empire at its greatest extent, under [[Trajan]] (117); [[imperial province]]s are shaded green, [[senatorial province]]s are shaded pink, and [[client state]]s are shaded gray. ]]

==== Under Augustus ====
* 30 BC – [[Egypt (Roman province)|Aegyptus]], taken over by [[Augustus]] after his defeat of [[Mark Antony]] and [[Cleopatra VII]] in 30 BC. It was the first imperial province in that it was Augustus' own domain as the Egyptians recognised him as their new [[pharaoh]]. Its proper initial name was Alexandrea et Aegyptus. It was governed by Augustus' ''praefectus'', Alexandreae et Aegypti.
* 27 BC – [[Achaea (Roman province)|Achaia]] (southern and central Greece), Augustus separated it from [[Roman province of Macedonia|Macedonia]] (senatorial propraetorial province)
* 27 BC – [[Hispania Tarraconensis]]; former [[Hispania Citerior]] (northern, central and eastern Spain), created with the reorganisation of the provinces in Hispania by Augustus (imperial proconsular province).
* 27 BC – [[Lusitania]] ([[Portugal]] and [[Extremadura]] in Spain), created with the reorganisation of the provinces in Hispania by Augustus (imperial proconsular province)
* 27 BC – [[Illyricum (Roman province)|Illyricum]], Augustus conquered [[Illyria]] and southern [[Pannonia]] in 35–33 BC. Created as a senatorial province in 27 BC. Northern Pannonia was conquered during the Pannonian War (14–10 BC). Subdivided into [[Dalmatia (Roman province)|Dalmatia]] (a new name for Illyria) and Pannonia, which were officially called Upper and Lower Illyricum respectively in 9 BC, towards the end of the [[Batonian War]]. Initially a senatorial province, it became an imperial ''propraetorial'' province in 11 BC, during the Pannonian War. It was dissolved and the new provinces of Dalmatia and Pannonia were created during the reign of [[Vespasian]] (69–79). In 107, Pannonia was divided into [[Pannonia Superior]] and [[Pannonia Inferior]] – imperial provinces (proconsular and ''propraetorial'' respectively).
* 27 BC or 16–13 BC – [[Aquitania]] (south-western France) province created in the territories in [[Gaul]] conquered by [[Julius Caesar]]; there is uncertainty as to whether it was created with Augustus’ first visit and the first [[census]] on Gaul or during Augustus' visit in 16–13 (imperial proconsular province)
* 27 BC or 16–13 BC – [[Gallia Lugdunensis]] (central and part of northern France) province created in the territories in Gaul conquered by Julius Caesar; there is uncertainty as to whether it was created with Augustus’ first visit and the first census on Gaul or during Augustus’ visit in 16–13 (imperial proconsular province)
* 25 BC – [[Galatia (Roman province)|Galatia]] (central [[Anatolia]], Turkey), formerly a client kingdom, it was annexed by Augustus when [[Amyntas of Galatia|Amyntas]], its last king, died (imperial propraetorial province)
* 25 BC – [[Africa Proconsularis]]. The client kingdom of Numidia under king [[Juba II]] (30–25 BC), previously between 46–30 BC the  province ''Africa Nova'', was abolished, and merged with the province ''Africa Vetus'', creating the province ''Africa Proconsularis'' (except territory of ''Western Numidia'').
* 22 BC – [[Gallia Belgica]] ([[Netherlands]] south of the Rhine river, [[Belgium]], [[Luxembourg]], part of northern France and Germany west of the [[Rhine (river)|Rhine]]; there is uncertainty as to whether it was created with Augustus’ first visit and the first census on Gaul or during Augustus' visit in 16–13 (imperial proconsular province)
* 15 BC – [[Raetia]] (imperial ''procuratorial'' province)
* 14 BC – [[Hispania Baetica]]; former [[Hispania Ulterior]] (southern [[Spain]]); created with the reorganisation of the provinces in Hispania by Augustus (senatorial ''propraetorial'' province). The name derives from Betis, the Latin name for the [[Guadalquivir]] River.
* 7 BC – [[Germania Antiqua]], lost after three Roman legions were routed in 9 AD
*  AD 6? – [[Moesia]] (on the east and south bank of the River Danube part of modern [[Serbia]], the north part of [[North Macedonia]], northern [[Bulgaria]]), Conquered in 28 BC, originally it was a military district under the province of Macedonia. The first mention of a provincial governor was for 6 AD, at the beginning of the [[Bellum Batonianum|Batonian War]]. In 85 Moesia was divided into [[Moesia Superior]] and [[Moesia Inferior]] (imperial proconsular provinces).
*  AD 6 – [[Iudaea Province|Judaea]], imperial ''procuratorial province'', created after the deposition of ethnarch [[Herod Archelaus]], formed initially from the territory of [[Samaria]], [[Judea]], and [[Idumea]]. Reverted to the status of client kingdom under king [[Herod Agrippa]] in AD 41 by [[Claudius]] and became province again after Agrippa's death in AD 44, enlarged by territories of [[Galilee]] and [[Perea (Holy Land)|Peraea]]; renamed [[Syria Palaestina]] by [[Hadrian]] in AD 135 and upgraded to proconsular province.

==== Under Tiberius ====
* AD 17 – [[Cappadocia (Roman province)|Cappadocia]] (central Anatolia – Turkey); imperial ''propraetorial'' (later proconsular) province, created after the death of its last client king [[Archelaus of Cappadocia|Archelaus]].

==== Under Claudius ====
* AD 42 – [[Mauretania Tingitana]] (northern [[Morocco]]); after the death of [[Ptolemy of Mauretania|Ptolemy]], the last king of Mauretania, in AD 40, his kingdom was annexed. It was begun by [[Caligula]] and was completed by [[Claudius]] with the defeat of the rebels. In AD 42, Claudius divided it into two provinces (imperial ''procuratorial'' province).
* AD 42 – [[Mauretania Caesariensis]], (western and central [[Algeria]]), after the death of Ptolemy, the last king of Mauretania, in AD 40, his kingdom was annexed. It was begun by Caligula and was completed by Claudius with the defeat of the rebels. In AD 42 Claudius divided it into two provinces( imperial ''procuratorial'' province).
*  AD 41/53 – [[Noricum]] (central [[Austria]], north-eastern [[Slovenia]] and part of [[Bavaria]]), it was incorporated into the empire in 16 BC. It was called a province, but it remained a client kingdom under the control of an imperial procurator. It was turned into a proper province during the reign of Claudius (41–54) (imperial ''propraetorial'' province).
* AD 43 – [[Roman Britain|Britannia]]; Claudius initiated the invasion of Britannia. Up to AD 60, the Romans controlled the area south of a line from the [[River Humber]] to the [[Severn Estuary]]. Wales was finally subdued in 78. In 78–84 [[Gnaeus Julius Agricola|Agricola]] conquered the north of England and Scotland. Scotland was then abandoned (imperial proconsular province). In 197 [[Septimius Severus]] divided Britannia into [[Britannia Superior]] and [[Britannia Inferior]]. Imperial provinces (proconsular and ''propraetorial'' respectively).
* AD 43 – [[Lycia]] annexed by Claudius (in 74 AD merged with [[Pamphylia]] to form [[Lycia et Pamphylia]]).
* AD 46 – [[Thracia]] (Thrace, north-eastern Greece, south-eastern Bulgaria and European Turkey), it was annexed by Claudius (imperial ''procuratorial'' province).
* AD 47? – [[Alpes Poeninae|Alpes Atrectianae et Poeninae]] (between Italy and [[Switzerland]]), Augustus subdued its inhabitants, the Salassi, in 15 BC. It was incorporated into Raetia. The date of the creation of the province is uncertain. It is usually set at the date of Claudius' foundation of Forum Claudii Vallensium (Martigny), which became its capital (imperial ''procuratorial'' province).

==== Under Nero ====
* AD 62 – [[Pontus (region)|Pontus]] (the eastern half of the [[Kingdom of Pontus]]) together with [[Colchis]] annexed, later incorporated in the province of [[Cappadocia]] (probably under Emperor [[Trajan]]).
* AD 63 – [[Bosporan Kingdom]] incorporated as part of the Roman province of [[Moesia Inferior]]. In 68 AD [[Galba]] restored the Bosporan Kingdom as a client kingdom.
* AD 63? – [[Alpes Maritimae]] (on the [[French Alps]]), created as a protectorate by Augustus, it probably became a province under [[Nero]] when Alpes Cottiae became a province (imperial ''procuratorial'' province)
* AD 63 – [[Alpes Cottiae]] (between France and Italy), in 14 BC it became a nominal prefecture which was run by the ruling dynasty of the Cotii. It was named after the king, Marcus Julius Cottius. It became a province in 63 (imperial ''procuratorial'' province).

==== Under Vespasian ====
* AD 72 – [[Commagene]], its last client king [[Antiochus IV of Commagene|Antiochus IV]] was deposed and Commagene was annexed to Syria.
* AD 72 – [[Lesser Armenia]], its last client king [[Aristobulus of Chalcis]] was deposed and Lesser Armenia was annexed to Syria.
* AD 72 – Western mountainous parts of [[Cilicia]], formed into three client kingdoms established by [[Augustus]], were disestablished, and merged with the imperial province of [[Cilicia (Roman province)|Cilicia]]. 
* AD 74 – [[Lycia et Pamphylia]]. [[Vespasian]] (reigned AD 69–79) merged [[Lycia]], annexed by [[Claudius]], and [[Pamphylia]] which had been a part of the province of [[Galatia (Roman province)|Galatia]].

==== Under Domitian ====
* AD 83/84 – [[Germania Superior]] (southern Germany) The push into southern Germany up to the [[Agri Decumates]] by [[Domitian]] created the necessity to create this province, which had been a military district in Gallia Belgica when it was restricted to the west bank of the River Rhine (imperial proconsular province).
* AD 83/84 – [[Germania Inferior]] ([[Netherlands]] south of the River [[Rhine]], part of [[Belgium]], and part of Germany west of the Rhine) originally a military district under Gallia Belgica, created when Germania Superior was created (imperial proconsular province).
* AD 92 – [[Anjar, Lebanon|Chalcis]] was annexed to Syria after the death of its last ruler, tetrarch [[Aristobulus of Chalcis]].

==== Under Trajan ====
* AD 100 – Territories of [[Iturea]], [[Lajat|Trachonitis]], [[Batanea]], [[Gaulanitis]], [[Auranitis]] and [[Paneas]] were annexed to Syria after the death of king [[Herod Agrippa II]].
* AD 106 – [[Arabia Petraea|Arabia]], formerly the Kingdom of Nabataea, it was annexed without resistance by [[Trajan]] (imperial ''propraetorial'' province)
* AD 107 – [[Roman Dacia|Dacia]] "Trajana" (the Romanian regions of south-eastern [[Transylvania]], the [[Banat]], and [[Oltenia]]), conquered by Trajan in the [[Trajan's Dacian Wars|Dacian Wars]] (imperial proconsular province). Divided into [[Dacia Superior]] and [[Dacia Inferior]] in 158 by [[Antoninus Pius]]. Divided into three provinces ([[Tres Daciae]]) in 166 by [[Marcus Aurelius]]: Porolissensis, Apulensis and Malvensis (imperial ''procuratorial'' provinces). Abandoned by [[Aurelian]] in 271.
* AD 103/114 – [[Epirus Nova]] (in western Greece and southern Albania), Epirus was originally under the province of Macedonia. It was placed under Achaia in 27 BC except for its northernmost part, which remained part of Macedonia. It became a separate province under Trajan, sometime between 103 and 114 AD, and was renamed Epirus Nova (New Epirus) (imperial ''procuratorial'' province).
* AD 114 – [[Roman Armenia|Armenia]], annexed by Trajan, who deposed its client king. In 118 [[Hadrian]] restored this client kingdom
* AD 116 – [[Mesopotamia (Roman province)|Mesopotamia]] ([[Iraq]]) seized from the Parthians and annexed by Trajan, who invaded the Parthian Empire in late 115. Given back to the Parthians by Hadrian in 118. In 198 [[Septimius Severus]] conquered a small area in the north and named it Mesopotamia. It was attacked twice by the Persians (imperial ''praefectorial'' province).
* AD 116 – [[Assyria (Roman province)|Assyria]], Trajan suppressed a revolt by Assyrians in Mesopotamia and created the province. Hadrian relinquished it in 118.

==== Under Septimius Severus ====
* AD 193 – [[Numidia (Roman province)|Numidia]], was separated from [[Africa Proconsularis]] by [[Septimius Severus]] (imperial propraetorial province).
* AD 194 – [[Syria Coele (Roman province)|Syria Coele]] and [[Phoenice (Roman province)|Syria Phoenice]], Septimius Severus divided [[Syria (Roman province)|Syria]] into these two units in the north and the south respectively. Imperial provinces (proconsular and propraetorial respectively).

==== Under Caracalla ====
* AD 214 – [[Osrhoene]], this kingdom (in northern Mesopotamia, in parts of today's Iraq, Syria and Turkey) was annexed.

==== Under Aurelian ====
* AD 271 – [[Dacia Aureliana]] (most of Bulgaria and Serbia) created by [[Aurelian]] in the territory of the former Moesia Superior after his evacuation of Dacia Trajana beyond the River Danube.

:<small>Many of the above provinces were under Roman military control or under the rule of Roman clients for a long time before being officially constituted as civil provinces. Only the date of the official formation of the province is marked above, not the date of conquest.</small>

=== Provinces of the late empire ===
{{See also|List of Late Roman provinces}}

== Primary sources for lists of provinces ==

===Early Roman Empire provinces===
* [[Germania (book)|''Germania'']] (ca. 100)
* [[Geography (Ptolemy)|''Geography'' (Ptolemy)]] (ca. 140)

===Late Roman Empire provinces===
* ''[[Laterculus Veronensis]]'' (ca. 310)
* ''[[Notitia dignitatum]]'' (ca. 400–420)
* ''[[Laterculus]] [[Polemii Silvii]]'' (ca. 430)
* ''[[Synecdemus]]'' (ca. 520)

== See also ==
{{Portal|Ancient Rome}}
* [[Ancient geography]]
* [[Classical antiquity]]
* [[Early world maps]]
* [[Ecumene]]
* [[Geography]]
* [[History of cartography]]
* [[History of the Mediterranean region]]
* [[Latin spelling and pronunciation]]
* [[List of Graeco-Roman geographers]]
* [[List of historical maps]]
* [[Local government (ancient Roman)]]

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist|20em}}

=== Sources ===
; Modern sources
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{Cite book|last=Badian |first=Ernst |url=https://oxfordre.com/classics/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-5393 |year=2012 |title=provincia |chapter=Provincia/Province |website=Oxford Classical Dictionary |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.5393 |isbn=978-0-19-938113-5 }} 
* {{Cite book |title=The Augustan empire, 43 BC–AD 69 |series=Cambridge Ancient History |volume=10 |edition=2nd |date=1996 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JZLW4-wba7UC |editor-last1=Bowman |editor-first1=Alan K |display-editors=etal |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-26430-8 |ref={{harvid|CAH<sup>2</sup> 10|1996}} }}
** {{harvc |last=Bowman |first=Alan K |c=Provincial administration and taxation |in=CAH<sup>2</sup> 10 |year=1996 |pages=344–70 }}
** {{harvc |last=Crook |first=J A |c=Political history, 30 BC to AD 14 |in=CAH<sup>2</sup> 10 |year=1996 |pages=70–112 }}

* {{Cite book |last=Drogula |first=Fred |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XJ6_BwAAQBAJ |title=Commanders & command in the Roman republic and early empire |year=2015 |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |isbn=978-1-4696-2314-6 |location=Chapel Hill |oclc=905949529}}
* {{Cite book |last=Lintott |first=Andrew |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E5vVb0W3IwcC |title=Imperium Romanum: politics and administration |date=1993 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-09375-0 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Lintott |first=Andrew |author-link=Andrew Lintott |title=The constitution of the Roman republic |year=1999 |publisher=Oxford University Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yaFPohP2lB8C |isbn=0-19-815068-7 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Loewenstein |first=Karl |title=The Governance of Rome |date=1973 |publisher=Springer |isbn=90-247-1458-3}}
* {{Cite book |last=Mason |first=Hugh J |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k2QPAQAAMAAJ |title=Greek Terms for Roman Institutions: A Lexicon and Analysis |date=1974 |publisher=Hakkert |location=Toronto|isbn=9780888660138 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Richardson |first=John |chapter=The administration of the empire |pages=564–98 |title=The last age of the Roman Republic, 146–43 BC |series=Cambridge Ancient History |volume=9 |edition=2nd |date=1992 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3yUkzNLiY4oC |editor-last1=Crook |editor-first1=John |display-editors=etal |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-85073-8 |oclc=121060 }}
{{refend}}

; Other sources
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite web |website=Livius.org |title=Early imperial Roman provinces |url=https://www.livius.org/gi-gr/governor/provinces.html |url-status=dead |access-date=26 March 2020 |archive-date=26 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161226144146/http://www.livius.org/gi-gr/governor/provinces.html }}
* {{Cite book |last=Scarre |first=Chris |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XIlPEAAAQBAJ |title=The Penguin historical atlas of ancient Rome |date=1995 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-0-14-051329-5 |pages=74–75 }}
* {{cite book |title=Großer Atlas zur Weltgeschichte |language=de }}<!-- insufficient bibliographic information -->
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Ancient Roman provinces|Roman provinces}}
* [http://www.euratlas.net/history/europe/300/index.html Map of the Roman Empire in the year 300]
* [[A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities|https://web.archive.org/web/20060409205643/http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-dgra/]]

{{anchor|The Roman provinces in 117}}
{{Roman provinces AD 117}}
{{Late Roman Provinces|state=collapsed}}
{{Terms for types of country subdivisions|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Ancient Roman provinces| ]]
[[Category:Historical regions]]
[[Category:Provinces]]