The name
Italia covered an area whose borders evolved over time. According to
Strabo's
Geographica, before the expansion of the
Roman Republic, the name was used by Greeks to indicate the land between the
strait of Messina and the line connecting the
gulf of Salerno and
gulf of Taranto (corresponding roughly to the current region of
Calabria); later the term was extended by Romans to include the
Italian Peninsula up to the
Rubicon, a river located between
Northern and
Central Italy. In 49 BC, with the
Lex Roscia,
Julius Caesar gave Roman citizenship to the people of the
Cisalpine Gaul; while in 42 BC the hitherto existing province was abolished, thus extending Italy to the north up to the southern foot of the
Alps. Under Augustus, the peoples of today's
Aosta Valley and of the western and northern Alps were subjugated (so the western border of Roman Italy was moved to the
Varus river), and the Italian eastern border was brought to the
Arsia in
Istria. The city of
Emona (modern
Ljubljana, Slovenia) was the easternmost town of Italy.
Augustan organization At the beginning of the Roman Imperial era, Italy was a collection of territories with different political statuses. Some cities, called
municipia, had some independence from Rome, while others, the
coloniae, were founded by the Romans themselves. Around 7 BC,
Augustus divided Italy into eleven
regiones, as reported by
Pliny the Elder in his
Naturalis Historia: , The Victory Monument of the Alps,
La Turbie, France, marked the Augustan border between Italy and
Gaul. • Regio I
Latium et Campania • Regio II
Apulia et Calabria • Regio III
Lucania et Bruttium • Regio IV
Samnium • Regio V
Picenum • Regio VI
Umbria et Ager Gallicus • Regio VII
Etruria • Regio VIII
Aemilia • Regio IX
Liguria • Regio X
Venetia et Histria • Regio XI
Transpadana Italy was privileged by Augustus and his heirs, with the construction, among other public structures, of a dense network of
Roman roads. The Italian economy flourished: agriculture, handicraft and industry had noticeable growth, allowing the export of goods to the provinces. The Italian population may have grown as well: three censuses were ordered by Augustus, in his role as
Roman censor, in order to record the number of Roman citizens throughout the empire. The surviving totals were 4,063,000 in 28 BC, 4,233,000 in 8 BC, and 4,937,000 in AD 14, but it is still debated whether these counted all citizens, all adult male citizens, or citizens
sui iuris. Estimates for the population of mainland Italy, including Cisalpine Gaul, at the beginning of the 1st century range from 6,000,000 according to
Karl Julius Beloch in 1886, to 14,000,000 according to
Elio Lo Cascio in 2009.
Diocletianic and Constantinian reorganizations During the
Crisis of the Third Century, the Roman Empire was on the verge of disintegration under the combined pressures of invasions, military anarchy, civil wars, and hyperinflation. In 284, Emperor
Diocletian restored political stability. He carried out thorough administrative reforms to maintain order. He created the so-called
Tetrarchy whereby the empire was ruled by two senior emperors called
Augusti and two junior vice-emperors called
Caesars. He decreased the size of the
Roman provinces by doubling their number to reduce the power of the provincial governors. He grouped the provinces into several
dioceses (Latin: diocesis) and put them under the supervision of the Imperial
vicarius (vice, deputy), who was the head of the diocese. During the Crisis of the Third Century the importance of Rome declined because the city was far from the troubled frontiers. Diocletian and his colleagues usually resided in four Imperial seats. The Augusti, Diocletian and
Maximian, who were responsible for the East and West respectively, established themselves at
Nicomedia, in north-western
Anatolia (closer to the Persian frontier in the east) and
Milan, in northern Italy (closer to the European frontiers) respectively. The seats of the Caesars were
Augusta Treverorum (on the River
Rhine frontier) for
Constantius Chlorus and
Sirmium (on the River
Danube frontier) for
Galerius, who also resided at Thessalonica. Under Diocletian Italy became the
Dioecesis Italiciana. It included
Raetia. It was subdivided into the following provinces: •
Liguria (today's
Liguria and western
Piedmont) •
Transpadana (eastern Piedmont and
Lombardy(except
Provincia di Brescia)) •
Rhaetia (eastern Switzerland, western and central Austria, part of southern Germany, and part of northeastern Italy) •
Venetia et Histria (today's
Provincia di Brescia in
Lombardy,
Veneto,
Friuli-Venezia Giulia and
Trentino-Alto Adige and
Istria county) •
Aemilia (
Emilia-Romagna) •
Tuscia (
Etruria)
et Umbria (
Tuscany and
Umbria) •
Flaminia (
Picenum and the former
Ager Gallicus, in today's
Marche) •
Latium et Campania (the coastal parts of
Lazio and
Campania) •
Samnium (
Abruzzo,
Molise and
Irpinia) •
Apulia et Calabria (today's
Apulia) •
Lucania et Bruttium (
Basilicata and
Calabria) •
Sicilia (
Sicily and
Malta) •
Corsica et Sardinia Constantine subdivided the Empire into four
praetorian prefectures. The
Diocesis Italiciana became the
Praetorian prefecture of Italy (
praefectura praetoria Italiae), and was subdivided into two dioceses. It still included
Raetia. The two dioceses and their provinces were:
Diocesis Italia annonaria (Italy of the
annona - its inhabitants had the obligation to provide the court, the administration and the troops, first allocated in Milan and then in Ravenna, supplies, wine and timber) •
Alpes Cottiae (modern
Liguria and western part of
Piedmont) •
Liguria (western
Lombardy and eastern part of Piedmont) •
Venetia et Histria (
Istria [which is now part of
Croatia,
Slovenia and Italy],
Friuli-Venezia Giulia,
Trentino-Alto Adige,
Veneto and eastern and central Lombardy) •
Raetia I (eastern Switzerland and western Austria) •
Rhaetia II (central Austria, part of southern Germany, and part of northeastern Italy) •
Aemilia (the Emilia part of
Emilia-Romagna) •
Flaminia et Picenum Annonarium (
Romagna and northern
Marche)
Diocesis Italia suburbicaria (Italy "under the government of the
urbs", i.e. Rome) •
Tuscia (
Etruria)
et Umbria (
Tuscany,
Umbria and the northern part of coastal
Lazio) •
Picenum suburbicarium (
Piceno, in southern
Marche) •
Valeria Sabina (the modern
province of Rieti, other areas of Lazio and areas of
Umbria and
Abruzzo) •
Campania (central and southern coastal
Lazio and coastal
Campania except for the modern
province of Salerno) •
Samnium (
Abruzzo,
Molise and the mountain areas of modern Campania; i.e., the modern provinces of
Benevento and
Avellino and part of the
province of Caserta) •
Apulia et Calabria (today's
Apulia) •
Lucania et Bruttium (modern
Calabria,
Basilicata and the
province of Salerno in modern Campania) •
Sicilia (
Sicily and
Malta) •
Sardinia •
Corsica Late Antiquity In 330,
Constantine completed the rebuilding of Byzantium as
Constantinople. He established the Imperial court, a Senate, financial and judicial administrations, as well as the military structures. The new city, however, did not receive an urban prefect until 359 which raised it to the status of eastern capital. After the death of
Theodosius in 395 and the subsequent division of the Empire, Italy was home base of the
Western Roman Empire. As a result of Alaric's invasion in 402 the western seat was moved from
Mediolanum to
Ravenna.
Alaric, king of
Visigoths, sacked Rome itself in 410; something that had not happened for eight centuries.
Northern Italy was attacked by
Attila's
Huns in 452.
Rome was sacked in 455 again by the
Vandals under the command of
Genseric. (in yellow) stretched from the Danube river to North Africa. According to
Notitia Dignitatum, one of the very few surviving documents of Roman government updated to the 420s, Roman Italy was governed by a
praetorian prefect,
Prefectus praetorio Italiae (who also governed the
Diocese of Africa and the
Diocese of Pannonia), one
vicarius, and one
comes rei militaris. The regions of Italy were governed at the end of the fourth century by eight
consulares (
Venetiae et Histriae,
Aemiliae,
Liguriae,
Flaminiae et Piceni annonarii,
Tusciae et Umbriae,
Piceni suburbicarii,
Campaniae, and
Siciliae), two
correctores (
Apuliae et Calabriae and
Lucaniae et Bruttiorum) and seven
praesides (
Alpium Cottiarum,
Rhaetia Prima and
Secunda,
Samnii,
Valeriae,
Sardiniae, and
Corsicae). In the fifth century, with the Emperors controlled by their barbarian generals, the Western Imperial government maintained weak control over Italy itself, whose coasts were periodically under attack. In 476, with the abdication of
Romulus Augustulus, the Western Roman Empire had formally fallen unless one considers
Julius Nepos, the legitimate emperor recognized by Constantinople as the last. He was assassinated in 480 and may have been recognized by Odoacer. Italy remained under
Odoacer and his
Kingdom of Italy, and then under the
Ostrogothic Kingdom. in 535 AD The Germanic successor states under
Odoacer and
Theodoric the Great continued to use the Roman administrative apparatus, as well as being nominal subjects of the
Eastern emperor at
Constantinople. In 535
Roman Emperor Justinian invaded Italy which suffered twenty years of disastrous war. In August 554, Justinian issued a
Pragmatic sanction which maintained most of the organization of
Diocletian. The "Prefecture of Italy" thus survived, and was reestablished under Roman control in the course of
Justinian's
Gothic War. As a result of the Lombard invasion in 568, the
Byzantines lost most of Italy, except the territories of the
Exarchate of Ravenna – a corridor from Venice to Lazio via Perugia – and footholds in the south Naples and the toe and heel of the peninsula. With the
Longobards started the division of Italy, that lasted until 1861. == References ==