The diocese was established during the reforms of
Diocletian who reigned from 284 to 305. It is attested early in the reign of
Constantine I in the Verona List which has been dated to around 314. In 402 an annual provincial assembly, the
Concilium septem provinciarum, was established in
Arles. In 407, the
Vandals and their allies invaded Gaul, devastating the region until they departed for the Iberian peninsula in 409. The
Visigoths were brought in as
foederati to aid the Romans against them, and in 418 emperor
Honorius allowed them to settle in
Aquitania around
Toulouse. Although nominally Roman subjects, the Goths were practically independent, a fact which was formally recognized by the Western Empire in 475, just one year before its end. In 462
Ricimer ceded them also the province of Narbonensis Prima, while the Goths proceeded to occupy the remaining provinces east of the
Rhone in 477. Henceforth, the lands that had comprised the diocese of the Seven Provinces became part of the
Visigothic Kingdom. Aquitania was soon lost to the
Franks, with only the southern coastal strip (
Septimania) retained by the Goths. == See also ==