Dux provinciae Tripolitanae

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Army leaders of the Comitatenses and Limitanei in the 5th century AD.
Notitia Dignitatum, the Limes sectors / forts under the command of the Dux of Tripolitania: Talalatensis, Thentettani, Byzerentani, Tillibarensis, Madensis, Maccomadensis, Tintiberitani, Bubensis, Mamucensis, Basensis, Varensis, Leptitanis, Madensis, Sarcitani
Map of the Limes Tripolitanus

The Dux provinciae Tripolitanae (military leader of the province of Tripolitania) - also Dux et corrector limitis Tripolitani or Comes et Dux provinciae Tripolitanae - was a high officer in the Western Roman army and from the 4th century at the latest one of the commanders of the Roman border troops in North Africa .

His area of ​​responsibility ( ducat ) extended to the Limes of the Province of Tripolitania , essentially a coastal strip on the Mediterranean between the Great and Small Syrte in the east and west and the Mons Ater (Gebel as-Soda) in the south, a territory in the northwest of today's Libya . His official seat was probably in the port city and provincial metropolis Leptis Magna .

His immediate superiors were the Comes Africae and the Magister Peditum . In the hierarchy of the late Roman imperial nobility, the Dux assumed the position of vir spectabilis , in the 6th century that of vir clarissimus .

Incumbents known by name:

  • Silvano ( dux et corrector , 393)
  • Flavius ​​Macedonius ( comes et dux , late 4th to early 5th century)
  • Nestorius ( comes et dux , 406)
  • Flavius ​​Ortygius ( comes et dux , 408–423)
  • Sergios (543)

development

It appears that the Tripolitan border guards were reorganized during the reign of Emperor Philip Arabs (244–249). The border was divided into several sections for which a Praepositus was responsible. The staff positions were located in the larger rear cohort forts. The Limes Tripolitanus ran along a road that stretched from the coastal town of Tacape ( Gabès ) in the west to Lepcis Magna (al-Khums) to the east . At the small fort Bezereos it touched the immediate border area and subsequently ran back to the coast on the heights of the Nafusa and Garian mountain ranges via the military bases Tentheos and Thenadassa (Ain Wif).

The first evidence of an independent province of Tripolitania goes back to the time of the imperial reform under Emperor Diocletian (284-305). For a short time the management of the military and civil administration was carried out in personal union. In this sense, the Comes et praeses provinciae Tripolitanae Flavius ​​Titus Archontius Nilus ruled the province from 355 to 360, and most likely Flavius ​​Nepotianus as his successor. Around 363 the provincial forces were again led by a civil governor ( praeses ) named Ruricio. Presumably, the titulature in the medieval copy of the Notitia Dignitatum was not correctly or incompletely reproduced by the copyists, in 393 the commander there was addressed as Dux et corrector limitis Tripolitani . He would therefore also have headed the civil administration of the province. This fact could be due to the increased attacks by nomadic tribes ( Austuriani ). The addition "provinciae" is only used in the military commanders of the western Roman provinces of Mauritaniae et Caesariensis and Sequania .

At the beginning of the 5th century, a Comes et Dux commanded the provincial contingent - probably due to the increased risk situation. In 429 vandals and Alans overran the Dioecesis Africae . As the ceramic spectrum from the small fort Bezereos shows, the Limes Tripolitanus seems to have been abandoned sometime between 430 and 440 AD. In 534, after the subjugation of the Vandals to Eastern Roman rule, Emperor Justinian placed North Africa under a Praetorian prefect . Under him, a Dux limitis Tripolitanae provinciae based in Leptimagnensi was used again. In 543 the Dux Sergios had 79 tribal leaders of the Laguatan executed in Lepcis, whereupon a revolt broke out that lasted until 548. Later the ducate was assigned to the Dioecesis Oriens and merged with the exarchate of Carthage at the end of the 6th 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 utrosque (paymaster)
  • Commentariensem utrumque (bookkeeper and legal expert)
  • 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. In times of crisis , the Dux may have been able to dispose of the supplies from the public stores without authorization. It is also an indication that in the Tripolitana the military and civil administration were in the hands of the Duces .

troops

The Dux troop list was only given in the Notitia Dignitatum . It provides an insight into the military organization of the Tripolitan border, starting around 423 AD, at the end of Honorius' reign . It is noticeable that - apart from two - no standard designations are given, only the 12 Limes sections and the rank of the commanding officers ( Praepositus limites ). It seems that these associations consisted of militiamen who were settled there as farmers and were only deployed when the desert tribes invaded. 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 . Mobile troops ( Comitatenses ) and naval units were apparently not stationed in Tripolitania , which was only of moderate economic importance for the empire .

Distributio Numerorum

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

Officers / unit / Limes section / forts comment Illustration
Praepositus limitis Talalatensis This section of the Limes was guarded by the garrison of Fort Talalati . The unit stationed there was the Cohors VIII Fida equitata , who built the fort in 263 AD.
Shield sign unknown
Praepositus limitis Tenthettani This section of the border was created in the 3rd century and was secured by the garrison of the small fort Tentheos . According to an inscription, it was possibly with a unit of Syrian archers, the Cohors I Syrorum sagittariorum .
Shield sign unknown
Praepositus limitis Bizerentane This section of the Limes was monitored by the garrison of the small fort Bezereos . The name of the unit stationed there in late antiquity ( Limitanei, gentiles? ) Is unknown.
Shield sign unknown
Praepositus limitis Tillibarensis This section of the Limes was monitored by the garrison of Tillibari Castle . A Cohors II Flavia Afrorum equitata has been recorded as a parent troop in Tillibari at least since the Severan period . As from the Notitia Dignitatum Occ, which probably originated between AD 425 and 433 . shows, perhaps a division of this unit was still on this Limes section in the late 4th century.
Shield sign unknown
Praepositus limitis Madensis
Shield sign unknown
Praepositus limitis Maccomadensis This section of the Limes protected the area around the city of Euphranta / Macomades , today Sirte on the coast of the Great Syrte.
Shield sign unknown
Praepositus limitis Tintiberitani
Shield sign unknown
Praepositus limitis Bubensis
Shield sign unknown
Praepositus limitis Mamucensis
Shield sign unknown
Praepositus limitis Balensis
Shield sign unknown
Praepositus limitis varensis
Shield sign unknown
Praepositus limitis Sarcitani
Shield sign unknown
Milites Fortenses in castris Leptitanis , Leptis Magna This unit appears to have been a vexillation of the Fortenses , the last of the Legiones Comitatenses to be listed in the Magister Peditum's register of troops . They were subordinate to the Comes Africae .
Shield sign of the Fortenses
Milites Munifices in Castris Madensibus Munifices were soldiers who, like the Immunes , were not exempt from heavy duty. They were probably also members of a vexillation in the Fortenses Legion. It is possible that, since no commander is given for these units in the Notitia , they were under the command of the Praepositus on the Varens section. This unit could have been in the Gheriat el-Garbia fort until the Vandal invasion .
Shield sign unknown

Remarks

  1. ↑ MF Schwarze 2018, pp. 308–309.
  2. ↑ IRT 480, Flavious Ortygius, v (ir) c (larissimus) et sp (ectabilis) com (es) et dux p (rovinciae) T (ripolitanae), Codex Theodosianus 12.1.133 and 11.36.33, Ralf Scharf 2005, footnote 50, p. 73, Konrad Stauner 2010, p. 160.
  3. ^ Gareth Sears : Late Roman African Urbanism. Continuity and transformation in the city. (= BAR International Series 1693), Archaeopress, Oxford 2007, p. 72.
  4. ↑ CIL 08, 22766 , CIL 08, 22768 , Maurice Euzennat : Quatre années de recherches sur la frontière romaine en Tunisie méridionale . In: Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres , 116-1 (1972), pp. 7-27; here: p. 20.
  5. ↑ CIL 08, 22768 , Itinerarium Antonini 74, 5; Small fort Bezereos at 33 ° 30 ′ 13.33 ″  N , 9 ° 29 ′ 52.96 ″  E , Florian Schimmer 2012, pp. 33–39, here: p. 33, Christian Witschel 2006, pp. 145–222; here: p. 181, JM Reynolds 1976–1977, p. 13.
  6. ^ DJ Mattingly 2008, p. 2, Procopius, Kriege, Bücher III-IV, Corippus, Iohannidos
  7. ^ ND occ .: 31, Ralf Scharf 2005, footnote 46, p. 72, Codex Theodosinaus XII, 1.133; see also XI, 36, 33; ND. Occ. XXXI, 17; 480, 529, Codex Iustinus I, 27,2,1a, Ammianus June 28, 2011: militarium curam presidi delata Ruricio , Michael Mackensen: 2015, pp. 259-270; here: p. 268, Konrad Stauner 2011, p. 155, MF Schwarze 2018, p. 308–309.
  8. ^ Officium autem habet idem vir spectabilis dux hoc modo
  9. ↑ ND occ .: XXXI, 33
  10. ↑ Konrad Stauner 2010, pp. 133–161.
  11. ↑ David Mattingly 1995, p. 188.
  12. ↑ sub dispositions
  13. ↑ CIL 08, 22765 .
  14. ^ Pol Trousset : Recherches sur le limes Tripolitanus, du Chott el-Djerid à la frontière tuniso-libyenne. (Etudes d'Antiquites africaines). Éditions du Center national de la recherche scientifique, Paris 1974, ISBN 2-222-01589-8 . Pp. 98-102; here: p. 101.
  15. ↑ AE 1992, 01761 , David Mattingly 1991, pp. 75-82; here: p. 81.
  16. ↑ P. Trousset, 1984, p. 1487.
  17. ↑ Notitia dignitatum occ. 25, 33 ( Comes Africae ) and occ. 31, 21 (Dux provinciae Tripolitanae)
  18. ↑ ND occ. 139, 13, 137, 5 and 98/9, 129

literature

  • Michael Mackensen : On the late Roman use of the small fort “Vezereos” on the “limes Tripolitanus” (southern Tunisia). In: Peter Henrich , Christian Miks, Jürgen Obmann, Martin Wieland (eds.): Non solum .... sed etiam . Festschrift for Thomas Fischer on his 65th birthday, Marie Leidorf. Rahden 2015, ISBN 978-3-89646-081-3 .
  • Florian Schimmer : New evidence for a Roman fort and 'vicus' at Mizda (Tripolitania). In: Libyan Studies. 43, 2012.
  • 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 ).
  • David Mattingly : Laguatan, Encyclopédie berbère, 2008, ISBN 978-2-7449-0707-4 .
  • Ralf Scharf: The Dux Mogontiacensis and the Notitia Dignitatum. A study on the late antique border defense (= Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde. Supplementary volume 48). de Gruyter, Berlin a. a. 2005, ISBN 3-11-018835-X .
  • David Mattingly: The constructor of Gasr Duib, Numisius Maximus, Tri (unus cohortis I Syrorum sagittariorum). In: Antiquités africaines. No. 27, 1991.
  • David Mattingly: Tripolitania. University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor 1994, ISBN 0-472-10658-9 . (Batsford, London 1995, ISBN 0-7134-5742-2 )
  • Yan Le Bohec: Armi e guerrieri di Roma antica. Since Diocleziano alla caduta dell'impero. Carocci, Rome 2008, ISBN 978-88-430-4677-5 .
  • Adrian Goldsworthy: Storia completa dellesercito romano . Logos, Modena 2007, ISBN 978-88-7940-306-1 .
  • 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 .
  • Julio Rodríguez González: Historia de las legiones Romanas, Almena Ediciones. Madrid, 2003, ISBN 84-96170-02-0 .
  • Benjamin Isaac: The meaning of the terms Limes and Limitanei. In: The Journal of Roman Studies. No. 78, 1988, pp. 125-147.
  • Poul Trousset: Bezereos. In: Encyclopédie Berbère. Volume 10, Édisud, Aix-en-Provence 1984, ISBN 2-85744-549-0 .
  • Joyce Reynolds: The Austuriani and Tripolitania in the early fifth century. Annual Report. In: Libyan Studies. 8, 1977.
  • 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.
  • Julien Guey: Note on Flavius ​​Archontius Nilus et Flavius ​​Nepotianus . In: Revue des études anciennes 53 (1951) No. 3-4 pp. 248-252.
  • Giacomo Caputo: Flavius ​​Népotianus. Comes et praeses provinciae Tripolitanae . In: Revue des Études Anciennes 53 (1951) No. 3–4 pp. 234–247.

Web links

The Dux in the Notitia Dignitatum