Notitia Dignitatum

  • The Notitia Dignitatum, also known as the Notitia Imperii, is a unique Roman Document listing all the Civil and Military Posts in the Eastern and Western Roman Empire.
  • Its full Title is the ‘Notitia Dignitatum, Utriusque Imperii Orientis Scilicet Et Occidentis’.

Description

  • The Notitia appears to have been written after the Reign of Theodosius I (379-395 CE), although there are no dates in the text.
  • In Latin it means the ‘List of Offices’ and the document includes both Civil and Military Posts in each Province and their location in the Eastern and Western Empires.

Source

  • The original, known as the Codex Spirensis, is lost, but this listing is based on a copy of it made in 1542 CE.
  • All copies are derived from the Codex Spirensis, which once resided in the Speyer Cathedral library in Speyer, Germany.
  • Speyer was Roman Noviomagus or Civitas Nemetum founded as a fort in 10 BCE.
  • Eight Holy Roman Emperors or Kings of Germany are buried in Speyer Cathedral.
  • The Codex Spirensis is now lost, but included many other documents from the Roman Period.

Copies

  • One copy made in 1542 is held in the Bavarian State Library, Munich.
  • Another copy made earlier in 1436 is held in the Bodleian Library, Oxford.

Links

 

Speyer Cathedral, Speyer, Germany

400 CE
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