Vicaires et proconsuls d'Asie du IVe au VIe siècle. Notes sur l'administration du diocèse asianique au Bas-Empire

From the establishment of the office of Vicarius under the Tetrarchy until its abolition in A.D. 535, the administration of the diocese of Asia was divided between proconsul and vicar. The purpose of this article is not to examine the entire history either of the vicariate of Asiana, or of the proconsulate of Asia, but to clarify the varying relationship between these two authorities. Four sections follow the development over time: i. Proconsular province and vicariate: the delimitation of two equivalent authorities. ii.An inventory of inscriptions for vicars of Asia, from the mid 4th to the early 5th century. iii: Proconsul and vicar: Stephanus and Isidore, iv. Comments on the status of the vicar of Asia, from the reign ofTheodosius II to its abolition under Justinian. Sections i and iv are based principally on legal and narrative sources, from the 4th and 6th centuries respectively. Sections ii and iii, however, are based on epigraphic sources, from Phrygia and Lydia for the vicars, and from Ephesus for the proconsuls. Sections iii and iv suggest a new interpretation of imperfectly understood aspects of the vicariate: firstly, two inscriptions from Ephesus show the office of proconsul and vicar combined, in an experimental arrangement of about 410; secondly, the abolition of the vicariate in 535 is shown not to be—as often assumed - the termination of an already moribund office, but a real administrative innovation.