Phoenice Libanensis
Phoenice Libanensis (
Phoenice Libanensis Φοινίκη Λιβανησία | |||||||||||||
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Province of the Muslim conquest of Syria | 635 | ||||||||||||
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Today part of | Syria Lebanon |
Toponymy
Agapius of Hierapolis used the term “wilderness of Phoenicia” to refer to the steppe between Emesa and Palmyra, in the former province of Lebanese Phoenicia. During the Crusades, William of Tyre and Jacques of Vitry mention Lebanese Phoenicia in its Graeco-Roman borders and limits, undoubtedly based on the administrative and ecclesiastical geographies still known in the Roman Empire.[1][2] William of Tyre goes on to call Damascus the “metropolis of Little Syria, otherwise called Lebanese Phoenicia”.
Under the Ottoman Empire, the former province of the Lebanese Phoenicia was present only in titles used by local Rûm Christians of the Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East. In the list of episcopal titles, for instance, the Archbishops of Emesa, Baalbek, and Palmyra are “exarchos over the whole of Lebanese Phoenicia”.[3][4]
History
Phoenice I and Phoenice Libanensis
The province of Augusta Libanensis, mentioned in the
Edicts of Justinian the Great
Due to mass administrative reforms and edicts directed at Phoenice Libanensis with the goal of preventing further pro-Sassanid raids and invasions, the province was now ruled by two ducēs during the reign of Justinian I.[9][10]
In the edict dating from c.535–539 of
These reforms were due to the devastating raids that were led by the
Palmyra was the last place Justinian fortified in his enormous building program all over the empire, largely for military reasons, other reasons for such building program in the region may have to do with biblical references, as Malalas refers to the biblical association of Palmyra with Solomon, the Old Testament king whom Justinian claimed to have surpassed in the building of Hagia Sophia. In the mid-530s Justinian initiated a wide-ranging program of administrative reforms in the eastern provinces, which included Phoenicia Libanensis.[12]
Edict 4
The "Edict 4" was issued in May 536 towards Phoenice Libanensis. The edict's main concern was: the assertion of the power of the civil governor over the military and his elevation from
Procopius tells the story of the Strata dispute between al-Harith and Mundir, which served as Persia's pretext for the outbreak of the second Persian war with Byzantium. This account documents the Ghassanids' involvement with Phoenicia, as according to Procopius the Strata was south of Palmyra. In such an important border dispute it was al-Harith the archphylarch, not the lesser phylarchs of Phoenicia, that was involved, showing the archphylarch's transprovincial jurisdiction. Here it was al-Harith, not the dukes, who was the defender of the Roman limes, confirming the view that it was to the Ghassanids (and not the dukes) that the defense of the oriental limes sector from Palmyra to Ayla was primarily left. In his account of the Ghassanids' buildings, the Islamic author Hamza states, in his Arabic chronicle, that there was a Ghassanid presence in Tadmur (Palmyra). This seems confirmed by the explanation of Justinian's edict on Phoenicia. With Palmyra being the seat of one of the two dukes of this province.[12]
Lakhmid raids
The supreme phylarch al-Harith appears everywhere in Oriens defending Byzantine interests. After three years of the
Byzantine-Sassanian War and its aftermath
During the frequent
Regions
The Lebanese Phoenicia was between
Military
Dux Foenicis | |
---|---|
Active | 4th century-6th century |
Country | Roman empire |
The
Unit | Location |
---|---|
Equites Mauri Illyriciani | Otthara |
Equites scutarii Illyriciani | Euhari |
Equites promoti indigenae | Saltatha |
Equites Dalmati Illyriciani | Latavi |
Equites promoti indigenae | Avatha |
Equites promoti indigenae | Nazala |
Equites sagittarii indigenae | Abina |
Equites sagittarii indigenae | Casawa |
Equites sagittarii indigenae | Calamona |
Equites Saraceni indigenae | Betproclis |
Equites Saraceni | Thelsee |
Equites sagittarii indigenae | Adatha |
Praefectus legionis primae Illyriciorum | Palmira |
Praefectus legionis tertiae Gallicae | Danaba |
Units from a lesser register include:
Unit | Location |
---|---|
Ala prima Damascena | Monte Iovis |
Ala nova Diocletiana | Veriaraca |
Ala prima Francorum | Cunna |
Ala prima Alamannorum | Neia |
Ala prima Saxonum | Verofabula |
Ala prima Foenicum | Rene |
Ala secunda Salutis | Arefa |
Cohors tertia Herculia | Veranoca |
Cohors quinta pacta Alamannorum | Onevatha |
Cohors prima Iulia lectorum | Vale Alba |
Cohors secunda Aegyptiorum | Valle Diocletiana |
Cohors prima Orientalis | Thama |
Ecclesiastical administration
The ecclesiastical administration paralleled the political, but with some differences. When the province was divided c. 394,
This situation, "conforming to the letter of the twelfth canon of the
It's presumed that Julian of Emesa was considered as the patron saint of Phoenice Libanensis. The Notitia Antiochena, composed about 570, lists eleven bishoprics of Phoenicia Libanensis under the metropolitan of Damascus, among which it lists the “bishopric of Euhara” and the “bishopric of the Saracens.”[27]
See also
Notes
- ^ It's unknown if the province kept its name after the Byzantine reconquest.
- ^ Vitalien Laurent suggested the month of February 453[22]
References
- ^ William of Tyre, Histoire des Croisades, available from [1]
- ^ Jacques of Vitry, Histoire des Croisades, Available from: [2]
- ^ Charon, C., 1907. La hiérarchie melkite du patriarcat d'Antioche, in: Échos d'Orient, tome 10, n°65, pp.223–230. Doi: [3]
- ^ Rustum, A., 1988. Kanisat Madinat Allah Antakia el Ouzma [The Church of the City of God, Great Antioch], Volume I, Éditions de la Librairie Saint-Paul, Beirut, Lebanon, p. 61-62
- ^ Eißfeldt 1941, pp. 368–369.
- ^ Notitia Dignitatum, in partibus Orientis, I
- ^ a b Eißfeldt 1941, p. 369.
- ^ Blankinship 1994, pp. 47–48, 240.
- ^ a b c Julien Aliquot, p. 126.
- ^ Trombley, Frank. "The Operational Methods of the Late Roman Army in the Persian War of 572–591".
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: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - ISSN 0003-097X.
- ^ a b c Shahîd, Irfan (1995). Byzantium and the Arabs in the Sixth Century, Volume 1, Part 1, Political and Military History. Dumbarton Oaks. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University.
- ISBN 9781473828650.
- )
- ^ Giftopoulou, Sofia (2005). "Diocese of Oriens (Byzantium)". Encyclopaedia of the Hellenic World, Asia Minor. Foundation of the Hellenic World. Archived from the original on 10 June 2015. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
- ^ Rustum, A., 1988. Kanisat Madinat Allah Antakia el Ouzma [The Church of the City of God, Great Antioch], Volume I, Éditions de la Librairie Saint-Paul, Beirut, Lebanon, p 399.
- ^ Brown, J. P.; Gatier, P.-L. (2017-05-12). "Otthara: a Pleiades place resource". Pleiades: a gazetteer of past places. DARMC, R. Talbert, R. Warner, Jeffrey Becker, Sean Gillies, Tom Elliott. Retrieved 2022-11-12.
- ISBN 978-2-35159-464-3, retrieved 2022-11-12
- ^ Byzantium and the Arabs in the sixth century, Irfan Shahîd, p. 358.
- ^ ND
- ^ ND
- ^ Vitalien Laurent, Le corpus des sceaux de l'empire byzantin, t. 5 : L'Église, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, 1965, p. 380.
- ^ Julien Aliquot, p. 122.
- ^ Siméon Vailhé, p. 142.
- ^ Julien Aliquot, p. 126.
- ^ Julien Aliquot, p. 127.
- ^ Shahîd, Irfan (1995). Byzantium and the Arabs in the Sixth Century, Volume 1, Part 2, Ecclesiastical History. Dumbarton Oaks. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University.
Sources
- Julien Aliquot, Culte des saints et rivalités civiques en Phénicie à l'époque protobyzantine, from Des dieux civiques aux saints patrons, Read online
- ISBN 978-0-7914-1827-7.
- Eißfeldt, Otto (1941). "Phoiniker (Phoinike)". Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft. Vol. Band XX, Halbband 39, Philon–Pignus. pp. 350–379.