Roman provinces

The province incorporated into the Empire was determined by an appropriate act (lex provinciae) of its situation. The same separately regulated the situation of individual Roman cities included in the province. Some of them were provided only by the army, others did not pay taxes and had their own judiciary. Unregulated matters were supplemented with the edicts of the governor.

The main task of the province was to keep Rome, or rather the Roman people, which was most often manifested in the so-called grain tribute. But the residents were also required to provide other personal benefits. As it can be assumed, collecting the above-mentioned taxes was quite a lucrative activity, especially since the authorities themselves often allowed for some, which does not mean small, abuses. To prevent this from happening, in 149 BCE under Lex Calpurnia a tribunal was established for the acceptance of bribes by officials (queationes perpetuae de rebus repetundis).

The word provincia meant a certain range of powers of attorney that had been transferred to him.

The period of the republic

Roman Senate decided about the allocation of powers of attorney in the scope of provinciae, and only by drawing lots. The provincial government was received for a year, but the Senate could also give prorogatio imperii. There was also an allocation of provinces without the draw procedure (extra sortem), but this custom was very rarely used.
The province was initially headed by praetors. Their number depended on the number of provinces. In 227 BCE their number was increased to 4, and in 197 BCE, as a result of the incorporation of two Spanish provinces, it was increased to 6. In special cases, i.e. in the event of war, it was decided to entrust the conduct of provincial affairs to one of consuls. After 146 BCE, as a result of the new provinces, i.e. Africa and Macedonia, it was decided to slightly modernize the provincial allocation system, introducing the institution of extending the governorship of the so-called prorogatio imperii.
The governor also administered justice with the help of a council (consilium) composed of representatives of Roman citizens living in the province. There was no appeal instance against the governor’s verdict.

In the provinces, governors were accompanied by legatii, having some military and parliamentary powers. Their number was variable and dependent on the needs of a given province. The financial affairs of the province were handled by the quaestor. A large group in the viceroy’s surroundings was, however, a group of freeloaders, euphemistically called “companions” (contubernales) and “friends” (comites), who were recruited from representatives of young aristocratic families.
The first, more important ordering of matters related to the governorship falls only during the rule of the dictator Sulla. Sulla has opted for the rule that only former consuls (proconsuls) and former praetors (proclaimers)can become governors. Immediately after leaving office, they obtained prorogatio imperii and went to the province assigned to them. In the original assumptions, the governor’s term was one year, but over time it was decided to extend this period, usually up to 3 years, so that the custom would soon become a binding practice.

Empire period

Following the assumption of imperial dignity by Octavian Augustus, the Roman provinces were divided into two types:

• imperial provinces – provinces whose nominal governor (in the rank of proconsul) on behalf of the senate and the Roman people was the emperor himself. In practice, the administration of the imperial provinces was exercised by legates freely appointed and dismissed by the emperor. These provinces were the most often the borders of the Roman Empire, and legions under the direct authority of the emperor were stationed on them.
• Senate provinces – these provinces were owned by the Roman people and were far from Limes and therefore not endangered – therefore, no legions were stationed there, which was to limit the possibility of the Senate taking power away from the emperor. Only Senate had the power to appoint governors (proconsul).

Roman provinces
In 14 CE, the senate provinces (provincia populi Romani) were: Achaea Africa Asia Creta et Cyrene Cyprus Gallia Narbonensis Hispania Baetica Macedonia Pontus et Bithynia Sicilia	The imperial provinces (provintiae Caesaris) were at different times: Aegyptus Alpes Cottiae Alpes Maritimae Alpes Poenninae Cilicia Dalmatia Galatia Gallia Aquitania Gallia Belgica Gallia Lugdunensis Germania Inferior Germania Superior Hispania Tarraconensis Lusitania Moesia Noricum Pannonia Raetia Corsica et Sardinia Syria

The formation of the province

Chronologically the first province is Sicily, followed by