Britannia Inferior

Britannia Inferior was a subdivision of the Roman province of Britannia established c.214 by the emperor Caracalla, son of Septimius Severus. 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.1 This subdivision of Britannia lasted throughout the Severan dynasty until the reorganization of the empire under Diocletian in 296.

Note: the name Britannia Inferior does not imply "inferior" in the modern sense. Its literal translation is "Lower Britain", though it is located in Northern England, because Romans named locations according to their proximity to the city of Rome itselfcitation needed. 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. 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.

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. 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. Thus, it is likely that the division of military control in Britannia was formally established by Caracalla sometime between 211-20.4

Reorganization

In A.D. 296, the emperor Diocletian conducted a major reorganization of the empire. The newly named Diocese of Britannia was subdivided into four provinces, Britannia Prima, Britannia Secunda, Maxima Caesariensis and Flavia Caesariensis.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.4

 
 
 
 
 
 Britannia
43-early 3rd c.
Capital Camulodunum
(43-c.65),
then Londinium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Britannia Inferior,
Early 3rd c. - 293,
capital at Eboracum
 
 Britannia Superior
Early 3rd c. - 293,
capital at Londinium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Flavia Caesariensis,
293-410,
capital Lincoln
 
 Britannia Secunda,
293-410,
capital Eboracum
 
 Maxima Caesariensis,
293-410,
capital Londinium
 
 Britannia Prima,
293-410,
capital Cirencester

References

  1. ^ The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume XII, London: Cambridge University Press, 1970: p.706
  2. ^ Sheppare Frere, Britannia: a history of Roman Britain, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1967, p.169
  3. ^ Cambridge, p.8
  4. ^ a b Ibid
  5. ^ 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.


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