| Britannia Inferior |
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Note: the name Britannia Inferior is something of a misnomer, as its literal translation is Lower Britain, though it is located in Northern England. This coming from a fact that Romans named locations according to their proximity to the town of Rome itself. Therefore, Britannia that was further from Rome was called Inferior. ESTABLISHMENT During the reign of Commodus , the defenses along the norther 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.Sheppare Frere, ''Britannia: a history of Roman Britain'', Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1967, p.169 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 ''Cambridge'', p.8, 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.''Ibid'' 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 , Mazima Caesariensis and Flavia Caesariensis .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. 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.''Ibid'' REFERENCES |
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