IMPERIUM ROMANUM

Provinces · The later western provinces

LW-21 Narbonensis Secunda

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 joined inland towns, cultivated districts, and routes towards the Alps and Rhône. Aix’s administrative role gave an older settlement renewed regional precedence. The jurisdiction was distinct from coastal and Rhône-centred districts assigned elsewhere; modern Provence cannot be substituted directly for its borders.

Urban bishops and local elites played growing roles during political transition. Burgundian, Ostrogothic, and Frankish interests affected southeastern Gaul in different periods. The province’s route-based importance continued even where its governmental affiliations changed, linking the later history of the region to both Italy and the Gallic interior.