History
The prefecture was established after the death of Constantine I in 337, when the empire was split up among his sons and Constantine II received the rule of the western provinces, with a praetorian prefect as his chief aide. The prefecture comprised not only Gaul but also Upper and Lower Germany, Roman Britain, Spain and Mauretania Tingitana in Africa. Its territory overlapped considerably with that once controlled by the short-lived Gallic Empire in the 260s.
After the permanent partition of the Empire in 395 into spheres of control, the prefecture of Gaul continued to belong to Western Roman Empire. Augusta Treverorum (present-day Trier in Germany) served as the prefecture's seat until 407 (or, according to other estimates, in 395), when it was transferred to Arelate (Arles).
The prefecture continued to function until 477, when the last areas under its control were seized by the Visigoths after the abolition of the Western imperial government of Ravenna in the previous year.
In 510, the Ostrogoth king Theodoric the Great re-established the prefecture in the small part of Gaul (the Provence) that he had just conquered, with capital again at Arelate. This prefecture lasted until the area was conquered by the Franks in 536, while the Ostrogoths were occupied by the East Roman invasion of Italy.
Read more about this topic: Praetorian Prefecture Of Gaul
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The history of modern art is also the history of the progressive loss of art’s audience. Art has increasingly become the concern of the artist and the bafflement of the public.”
—Henry Geldzahler (1935–1994)
“Most events recorded in history are more remarkable than important, like eclipses of the sun and moon, by which all are attracted, but whose effects no one takes the trouble to calculate.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“This is the greatest week in the history of the world since the Creation, because as a result of what happened in this week, the world is bigger, infinitely.”
—Richard M. Nixon (1913–1995)