Dux et praeses provinciae Mauritaniae et Caesariensis

Army leaders of the Comitatenses and Limitanei in the 5th century AD.

Notitia Dignitatum, Limes sections / forts under the command of the Dux: Columnatensis, Vidensis, Inferioris, Fortensis, Muticitani, Audiensis, Caput cellensis, Augustensis

The Hispanic and Mauritanian provinces in the 5th century

The Dux et praeses provinciae Mauritaniae et Caesariensis (military leader and governor of the province of Mauritania and Caesariensis, later comes et praeses p [rovinciae] M [auretaniae] C [aesariensis] ) was a high officer in the western Roman army and one from the 4th century at the latest of the commanders of the border troops in North Africa.

His area of ​​responsibility ( ducat ) extended to the Limes of the province of Mauretania Caesariensis , which corresponds to the territory of today's northern Algerian coastal country.

His immediate superiors were the Comes Africae and the Magister Peditum . In the hierarchy of the late Roman imperial nobility, a praeses assumed the position of vir perfectissimus , a dux limitis that of vir spectabilis .

development

In contrast to most other late Roman provinces, the highest military and civil authority there was still with an incumbent. During the reign of Gallienus , Cornelius Octavianus, the Dux per Africam Numidiam Mauretaniamque, was the first to command the troops stationed in western North Africa. This military commander - mentioned in an inscription from Bisica - may have previously been Praeses of the Mauretania Caesariensis and was entrusted with this special command around 258, apparently due to an extraordinary crisis situation, which also included the supreme command of the troop formation of several provinces. According to some researchers, his office was apparently limited to border defense, as the provinces of Numidia and Africa proconsularis continued to be administered by civil governors. His subordinate was the Praeses der Mauretania , who soon received his own command as Dux et praeses Mauretaniae Caesariensis . According to Otto Seeck, the reason for the personal union was that the province:

"... further removed from the headquarters of the Central Command and at the same time more exposed to the barbarian incursions."

Under Diocletian (284-305) a new province, the Mauretania Sitifensis, was split off from the Mauretania Caesariensis . The province of Mauretania Tingitana remained unchanged. The addition " provinciae " is only used in the military commanders of the western Roman provinces Tripolitania and Sequania . At the end of the 4th or beginning of the 5th century, the Dux seems to have risen to the rank of Comes rei militaris . Between 429 and 439, when the Vandals took over , this section of the Limes was finally dissolved.

Known incumbents by name

• Cornelius Octavianus ( Dux per Africam Numidiam Mauretaniamque , around 258)
• Aurelius Litua ( Praeses , 4th century)
• Firmus ( Dux Mauretaniae under Valentinian I.)
• Fl [avius] Hyginus ( Comes et praeses , late 4th or early 5th century)

Administrative staff

The Officium (administrative staff) of the Dux comprised the following offices:

• Principem ex officis magistrorum militum praesentalium alternis annis (office manager from the army master’s staff, he was reappointed every two years by the army master)
• Numerarios duos singulos ex officiis suprascriptis (two paymasters)
• Commentariensem ex officiis suprascriptis (bookkeeper and legal expert, reappointed every two years)
• Cornicularium (secretary and steward)
• Adiutorem (assistant)
• Subadiuuam (assistant)
• Regrendarium (administrator or archivist)
• Exceptores (writers)
• Singulares et reliquos officiales (bodyguards / ordonances)

Remarkably, there is also a cornicularius in its staff . He was usually also responsible for stocking up the units. Such officials are only mentioned in the Notitia for five other Comes and Duces . In late antiquity, this task was usually the responsibility of the civil administration.

troops

The Dux troop list was only given in the Notitia Dignitatum . It is noticeable that only the eight Limes sections of the province and the rank of the commanding officers ( Praepositus limites ) are given. Praepositus (Latin for overseer, supervisor, superior) was the usual title in late antiquity for commanders of individual sections of the African Limes. It is estimated that 100 to 200 men ( Limitanei ) were secured in each of these border sections . No mobile troops ( Comitatenses ) were apparently stationed there. The provincial fleet ( Classis Mauretanica ) responsible for this stretch of coast existed since the end of the 2nd century AD. Its main base was in the provincial metropolis of Caesarea (Cherchell). The latter or marines ( Liburnari ) stationed in the province are no longer mentioned in the Notitia.

Distributio Numerorum

According to the ND Occ. the following units were available to the Dux :

Officers / unit / Limes section / forts	comment	Illustration
Praepositus limitis columnatensis	A Praepositus limits Columnatensis can also be found in the troop list of the Comes Africae . He could be the same officer as the above, but may have served in both armies at different times.	Shield sign unknown
Praepositus limitis Vidensis		Shield sign unknown
Praepositus limitis inferioris		Shield sign unknown
Praepositus limitis fortensis	Presumably a vexillation of the Fortenses which were enlisted in the field army under the command of the Comes Africae . Another detachment from this unit was under the command of the Dux provinciae Tripolitanae .	Shield sign of the Fortenses
Praepositus limitis Muticitani		Shield sign unknown
Praepositus limitis Audiensis		Shield sign unknown
Praepositus limitis head cellensis	A Praepositus limits Caputcellensis can also be found in the troop list of the Comes Africae . He could be the same officer as the above, but may have served in both armies at different times.	Shield sign unknown
Praepositus limitis Augustensis	This unit should originally have emerged from the Tertio Augustani in the field army of the Comes Africae . It was the remnant of the Legio III Augusta , once the main legion of North Africa, which started in 30 BC. Was stationed in the legionary camp of Lambaesis .	Sign of the Tertio Augustani

Remarks

1. ↑ ND.occ. XXX, 1 and 11
2. ↑ K. Stauner 2010, pp. 147-148, inscription from Bisica, Africa proconsularis, around 258, CIL 8, 12296
3. ↑ Michael Zerjadtke, 2018, Section 7.2.2
4. ^ Patronage plaque from Córdoba, CIL 2, 2210 , K. Stauner 2010, p. 148, Altheim / Stiehl 1968, p. 220.
5. ^ Officium autem habet idem vir spectabilis dux hoc modo
6. ↑ ND occ .: XXX, 11
7. ↑ Konrad Stauner 2010, pp. 133–161.
8. ↑ David Mattingly 1994, p. 188.
9. ↑ sub dispositions

literature

• Konrad Stauner: The cornicularius in the offices of the comital and ducal commanders in the Notitia dignitatum. In: Tyche. Contributions to ancient history, papyrology and epigraphy . Volume 25, 2010, pp. 131-171 ( online ).
• Ingo Maier: Appendix 4: Numeration of the new edition of the compilation 'notitia dignitatum' (Cnd).
• Ingo Maier: The Barberinus and Munich codices of the 'Notitia Dignitatum omnium'. Latomus 28.4, 1969, pp. 960-1035 and 1022.
• Benjamin Isaac: The meaning of the terms Limes and Limitanei. The Journal of Roman Studies, No. 78, 1988, pp. 125-147.
• Julio Rodríguez González: Historia de las legiones Romanas, Almena Ediciones. Madrid, 2003. ISBN 9788496170025
• Adrian Goldsworthy: Storia completa dellesercito romano . Logos, Modena 2007. ISBN 978-88-7940-306-1
• Yan Le Bohec: Armi e guerrieri di Roma antica. Since Diocleziano alla caduta dell'impero. Carocci, Rome 2008. ISBN 978-88-430-4677-5
• David Mattingly: Tripolitania. University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor 1994, ISBN 0-472-10658-9 / Batsford, London 1995, ISBN 0-7134-5742-2 .
• Christian Witschel: On the situation in Roman Africa during the 3rd century . In: Klaus-Peter Johne, Thomas Gerhardt, Udo Hartmann (eds.): Deleto paene imperio Romano. Transformation processes of the Roman Empire in the 3rd century and their reception in modern times . Steiner, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-515-08941-1 .
• Franz Altheim, Ruth Stiehl: The Arabs in the Old World. Other new finds - North Africa to the immigration of the vandal. Du Nuwas, Volume 5, Part 1, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 1968.
• Michael Zerjadtke: The Dux office in late antiquity and the early Middle Ages: The ducatus in the field of tension between Roman influence and its own development. Verlag Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 2018.

Web links

• The Dux in the Notitia Dignitatum (English)