Praetorian prefecture of Gaul

Infobox Former Subdivision
native_name = aut|Praefectura praetorio Galliarum
conventional_long_name = Praetorian prefecture of the Gauls
common_name = Prefecture of Gaul
continent = Europe, Africa
subdivision = Praet. Prefecture
nation = the West Roman Empire
era = Late Antiquity
capital = Augusta Treverorum (until 395)
Arelate (from 395)|
life_span = 337-477
510-536
year_start = 337
year_end = 536
event_end = Fall of the Provence to the Franks
event1 = Conquest of the Provence by the Visigoths
date_event1 = 477
political_subdiv = Diocese of Gaul Diocese of Britain Diocese of Spain Diocese of the Seven ProvincesThe praetorian prefecture of the Gauls (i.e. the provinces of Gaul, in Latin: "praefectura praetorio Galliarum") was one of four large praetorian prefectures into which the Late Roman Empire was divided.

History

The prefecture was established after the death of Constantine the Great in 337, when the empire was split up among his sons and Constantine II received the rule of the western provinces, with a praetorian prefect as his chief aide. The prefecture comprised not only Gaul but also Upper and Lower Germany, Roman Britain, Spain and Mauretania Tingitana in Africa. Its territory overlapped considerably with that once controlled by the short-lived Gallic Empire in the 260s. After the permanent partition of the Empire in 395, it fell to the Western Roman Empire. "Augusta Treverorum" (present-day Trier in Germany) served as the prefecture's seat until 407 (or, according to other estimates, in 395), when it was transferred to "Arelate" (Arles). The prefecture continued to function until 477, when the last areas under its control were seized by the Visigoths after the abolishment of the Western imperial government of Ravenna in the previous year. In 510, the Ostrogoth king Theodoric the Great re-established the prefecture in the small part of Gaul (the Provence) that he had just conquered, with capital again at Arelate. This prefecture lasted until the area was conquered by the Franks in 536, while the Ostrogoths were occupied by the East Roman invasion of Italy.

List of known "praefecti praetorio Galliarum"

* Ambrosius (340)
* Aconius Catullinus (341, uncertain whether he was prefect of Gaul)
* Fabius Titianus (342-350)
* Vulcacius Rufinus (353-354)
* Caius Ceionius Rufius Volusianus (354-355)
* Honoratus (355-357)
* Flavius Florentius (ca. 357-360)
* Nebridius (360-361)
* Decimius Germaniacus (361)
* Flavius Claudius Antonius (376-377)
* Ausonius (377-378, co-prefect from 376)
* Hesperius (378-380)
* Flavius Manlius Theodorus (382-383)
* Evodius (ca. 384-386)
* Constantius (389)
* Flavius Vincentius (396-401)
* Andromachus (ca. 401)
* Claudius Posthumus Dardanus (1st term, ca. 402)
* Romulianus (404-405)
* Petronius (402-408) - seat of the prefecture moved to Arelate in 407
* Limenius (408) - assassinated at Ticinum (Pavia)
* Apollinaris (408)
* Decimus Rusticus (409-411)
* Claudius Posthumus Dardanus (2nd term, 412-413)
* Vicentius (413)
* Iulius (ca. 414)
* Agricola (416-418)
* Exsuperantius (421-424)
* Amatus (ca. 425)
* Flavius Aetius (426-ca. 427)
* Auxiliaris (435-437)
* Avitus (ca. 439)
* Florentius (439)
* Albinus (440)
* Marcellus (ca. 441-445)
* Tonantius Ferreolus (450/451-453)
* Priscus Valerianus (before 456)
* Paeonius (456-458)
* Magnus (459-460)
* Arvandus (464-469)
* Magnus Felix (ca. 470)
* Entropius (ca. 471)
* Polemius (475-after 477) - the last remnants of the prefecture in the Provence were conquered by the Visigoths
* Petrus Marcellinus Felix Liberius (510-536) - Prefect under Ostrogothic rule