Notitia Galliarum

The Notitia Galliarum (or Notitia provinciarum et civitatum Galliae) is a Roman register of cities dating to the 4th–6th centuries AD.[1] The Latin register is divided into two headings. Ten provinces are listed under the diocese of Gaul and seven under the diocese of the Seven Provinces. For each province the capital city is given and then its other cities (civitates). They are given their ethnic names, i.e., "city of [people]". A total of 115 cities are listed along with six or seven castra (forts) and one portus (harbour).[2]

Start of the list in a copy made by Ciriaco d'Ancona for Bishop Pietro Donato from a Carolingian original during the council of Basel in 1436.
Start of the list in a copy made for Abbot Grimald of Saint Gall (841–872)

The original list was probably drawn up during the reign of Magnus Maximus (383–388). Its rubric states that it was made on the order of the bishops, but this was probably added later when the list was updated.[2] The civitates of the Notitia parallel the dioceses of the Roman church,[3] bur for the 6th rather than the 4th century.[2] It was probably at that time that the castra and portus, which had acquired bishops, were added, along with the rubric. The bishops' purpose was to prevent disputes over metropolitan authority, "lest antiquity be overturned by any eventuality".[2]

The Notitia remained an important reference point throughout the Middle Ages and is preserved in over 100 manuscripts, but often interpolated.[3]

See also

Notes
  1. Harries 1978, pp. 39–43, contains the text of the Notitia with a map.
  2. Harries 2018.
  3. Johne 2006.

Bibliography
  • Harries, Jill D. (1978). "Church and State in the Notitia Galliarum". The Journal of Roman Studies. 68: 26–43. doi:10.2307/299625. JSTOR 299625.
  • Harries, Jill D. (2018). "Notitia Galliarum". In Nicholson, Oliver (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity, Volume 2: J–Z. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 1086. ISBN 978-0-19-881625-6.
  • Johne, Klaus-Peter (2006). "Notitia Galliarum". Brill's New Pauly. Brill Online. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
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