IMPERIUM ROMANUM

Provinces · The later western provinces

LW-17 Aquitania Prima

The empire around 400 CE. The broad colours represent prefectural groupings, while…
The empire around 400 CE. The broad colours represent prefectural groupings, while regional names, major cities, and symbols for selected state industries show the larger administrative and logistical setting. These groupings contained many individual provinces; a region labelled on this map is not necessarily one province.

The province’s orientation was more inland than that of Bordeaux-centred Aquitania Secunda. Agricultural districts, towns, roads, and routes towards the Loire supported a network of local administrations and markets. Bourges provided the leading civil and ecclesiastical centre without monopolizing regional life.

Fifth-century competition among imperial and successor powers placed the province within a changing political frontier. Visigothic and then Frankish authority affected local institutions, property, and military obligations. Older civic territories and bishoprics helped preserve regional coherence. Aquitania Prima therefore represents a distinct late landscape rather than simply the northern half of a timeless Aquitania.