Byzacena

Provincia Byzacena ἐπαρχία Βυζακινῆς
Province of the Byzantine Empire
c. 293–698
Map of Roman Africa and Egypt; Byzacena shown in top right.
Capital	Hadrumetum
Historical era	Antiquity
• Division by Diocletian	c. 293
• Arab-Byzantine Wars	698
Preceded by Succeeded by Roman Empire Rashidun Caliphate
Today part of	Tunisia

Byzacena (or Byzacium) (Ancient Greek: Βυζάκιον, Byzakion)^[1] was a Late Roman province in the central part of Roman North Africa, which is now roughly Tunisia, split off from Africa Proconsularis.

History[]

At the end of the 3rd century AD, the Roman emperor Diocletian divided the great Roman province of Africa Proconsularis into three smaller provinces: Zeugitana in the north, still governed by a proconsul and referred to as Proconsularis; Byzacena to its adjacent south, and Tripolitania to its adjacent south, roughly corresponding to southeast Tunisia and northwest Libya. Byzacena corresponded roughly to eastern Tunisia or the modern Tunisian region of Sahel.

Hadrumetum (modern Sousse) became the capital of the newly made province, whose governor had the rank of consularis. At this period the Metropolitan Archbishopric of Byzacena was, after the great metropolis Carthage, the most important city in Roman (North) Africa west of Egypt and its Patriarch of Alexandria.

Episcopal sees[]

Ancient episcopal sees of Byzacena listed in the Annuario Pontificio as titular sees:^[2]

See also[]

• List of Catholic dioceses in Tunisia
• List of Catholic dioceses (structured view)
• List of Catholic titular sees

References[]

Sources and external links[]

• GCatholic - Tunisia
• Map of the Roman state according to the Compilation notitia dignitatum
• Place-names^{[permanent dead link]} in the Compilation notitia dignitatum