Byzacena

Byzacena (or Byzacium) (Ancient Greek: Βυζάκιον, Byzakion)[1] was a Late Roman province in the central part of Roman North Africa, which is now roughly Tunisia, split off from Africa Proconsularis.

Provincia Byzacena
ἐπαρχία Βυζακινῆς
Province of the Late Roman Empire-Byzantine Empires
293–439
534–698

Map of Roman Africa and Egypt; Byzacena shown in top right.

The Province of Byzacena, showing its territorial extent, capital and major cities.
CapitalHadrumetum
History
Historical eraLate Antiquity-Early Middle Ages
• Division by Diocletian
c. 293
439
• Byzantine reconquest by Vandalic War
534
• Reorganization into the Exarchate
591
698
Preceded by		Succeeded by
Africa (Roman province)
Vandal Kingdom
Vandal Kingdom
Ifriqiya
Today part ofTunisia

History

At the end of the 3rd century AD, the Roman emperor Diocletian divided the great Roman province of Africa Proconsularis into three smaller provinces: Zeugitana in the north, still governed by a proconsul and referred to as Proconsularis; Byzacena to its adjacent south, and Tripolitania to its adjacent south, roughly corresponding to southeast Tunisia and northwest Libya. Byzacena corresponded roughly to eastern Tunisia or the modern Tunisian region of Sahel.

Hadrumetum (modern Sousse) became the capital of the newly made province, whose governor had the rank of consularis. At this period the Metropolitan Archbishopric of Byzacena was, after the great metropolis Carthage, the most important city in Roman (North) Africa west of Egypt and its Patriarch of Alexandria.

Episcopal sees

Ancient episcopal sees of Byzacena listed in the Annuario Pontificio as titular sees:[2]

See also

References
  1. Procopius, History of the Wars, §4.12
  2. Annuario Pontificio 2013 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2013, ISBN 978-88-209-9070-1), "Sedi titolari", pp. 819-1013
  3. located at Latitude: 36.19392 - Longitude: 10.02064.
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