Laterculus Veronensis

Description

The document comprises a list of the names of all the provinces of the empire (c. 100 in total), organised according to the twelve newly created regional groupings called dioceses. Although the dioceses are presented in a single list, they are not ordered in a single geographical sequence but rather in two separate eastern and western groups, the eastern group (Oriens, Pontica, Asiana, Thraciae, Moesiae, Pannoniae) preceding the western (Britanniae, Galliae, Viennensis, Italiae, Hispaniae, Africa). The split is apparent from the discontinuity midway in the list between the dioceses of Pannoniae and Britanniae. The eastern half of the list circles the Mediterranean neatly anticlockwise from south to north or, in continental terms, from Africa, through Asia, to Europe. The arrangement of the western half is less tidy, though it is approximately anticlockwise from north to south, or from Europe to Africa.

The barbarian peoples listed may in some instance have lived outside of the provincial structure of the empire, but they are all clearly regarded as living within the empire. Even in the cases of those barbarians clearly living within provinces, however, the Laterculus suggests that a meaningful distinction was drawn between "civilized" and "uncivilized" areas.

Date

Theodor Mommsen had dated the provincial situation in the list to 297, but later research changed the estimate to 314–324 for the Eastern Half and 303–314 for the Western Half of the Roman empire. The most recent work by Timothy Barnes and Constantin Zuckerman concludes that the entire document belongs to a single moment, c. 314, the eastern and western parts corresponding to the respective spheres of responsibility of the emperors Licinius and Constantine during the period between Licinius' defeat of Maximinus Daza in 313 and his own defeat in his first civil war with Constantine in 316–317.

Text

The text on the left is the original Latin, divided into lines beginning with capital letters. The original text uses the interpunct (·) to separate entries and is mostly unicase. The text on the right is an English translation. Latin original :Incipit eiusdem nomina prouinciarum omnium.

:Diocensis Orientis habet prouincias numero XVIII

:Diocensis Pontica habet prouincias numero VII

:Diocensis Asiana habet prouincias numero VIIII

:Diocensis Tracoae habet prouincias numero VI

:Diocensis Misiarum habet prouincias numero XI

:Diocensis Pannoniarum habet prouincias numero VII

:Diocensis Brittaniarum habet prouincias numero VI

:Diocensis Galliarum habet prouincias numero VIII

:Diocensis Biennensis habet prouincias numero VII

:Diocensis Italiciana habet prouincias numero XVI

:Diocensis Hispaniarum habet prouincias numero VI

:Diocensis Africae habet prouincias numero VII

:Felix saeculum.

:Gentes barbarae, quae pullulauerunt sub imperatoribus

:Item gentes, quae in Mauretaniae sunt

:Nomina ciuitatum, trans Renum fluuium quae sunt

:Istae omnes ciuitates trans Renum in formulam Belgicae primae redactae. Trans castellum Montiacesenam LXXX leugas trans Renum Romani possederunt. Istae ciuitates sub Gallieno imperatore a barbaris occupatae sunt. Leuga una habet mille quingentos passus. Explicit. English translation :Here begins the names of all the provinces.

:The diocese of the East has 18 provinces [only 17 listed]:

:The diocese of Pontus has 7 provinces:

:The diocese of Asia has 9 provinces:

:The diocese of Thrace has 6 provinces:

:The diocese of the Moesias has 11 provinces:

:The diocese of the Pannonias has 7 provinces:

:The diocese of the Britains has 6 provinces [only 4 listed]:

:The diocese of the Gauls has 8 provinces:

:The diocese of Viennensis has 7 provinces:

:The Italian diocese has 16 provinces [only 8 listed]:

:The diocese of the Spains has 6 provinces:

:The diocese of Africa has 7 provinces:

:A happy age.

:Barbarian peoples who grew under the dominion of the emperors:

::?Frisiavi

::?

::?Venedi

::?

::?Nabataeans

:The peoples that are in Mauretania:

::?Astures/?Turdetani

:The names of cities that are across the river Rhine: ::[city] of the Usipetes ::[city] of the Tubantes ::[city] of the ?Tencteri ::[city] of the ?Novantae ::[city] of the Chasuarii :All these cities across the Rhine were received into the rule of Belgica Prima. Across from the fortress of Mogontiacum, the Romans possessed 80 leagues beyond the Rhine. These cities were occupied by barbarians under the emperor Gallienus. One league has one thousand five hundred paces i.e., 1.5 [Roman miles]. Explicit.

Notes

References

• \

References

1. Verona, Biblioteca Capitolare, MS II (2), at fol. 255 recto, line 14-fol. 256 recto, line 19; E. A. Lowe, ''Codices Latini Antiquiores'' 4 (Oxford, 1947), p. 21, No 477
2. The text is drawn from {{harvnb. Seeck. 1876. Barnes. 1982
3. The provincial names are from {{harvnb. Barnes. 1982. Seeck. 1876
4. The discrepancy between the promised 16 and the listed 8 is the largest in the existing copy of the ''Laterculus''. {{harvnb. Barnes. 1982. Campania]], [[Sicilia (Roman province). Sicilia]] and [[Sardinia (Roman province). Sardinia]].
5. {{harvnb. Barnes. 1982
6. The translation of this line is from {{harvnb. Arce. 2018. Liccardo. 2024. la. lapullulauerunt as "have spread".
7. Müllenhoff suggested a people named for the river [[Flevum]] (Latin ''Fleuus fluuius'').
8. It is unlikely that ''Indii'' refers to [[India]]ns. It was corrected to ''Vinidi'' by Müllenhoff, while {{harvnb. Hartmann. 2008
9. The name is corrupted. Müllenhoff suggested it should read ''Bosoritae''; Riese suggested ''Bostritae''. See Kroll 1933 and {{harvnb. Hartmann. 2008
10. According to {{harvnb. Hartmann. 2008
11. The translation of this line is from {{harvnb. Shaw. 1986
12. {{harvnb. Kerneis. 1999
13. This emendation is suggested by {{harvnb. Kerneis. 1999
14. The translation of this sentence is from {{harvnb. Liccardo. 2024