The Diocese of the East, also called the Diocese of Oriens, (Latin: Dioecesis Orientis; Greek: Διοίκησις Ἑῴα) was a diocese of the later Roman Empire, incorporating the provinces of the western Middle East, between the Mediterranean Sea and Mesopotamia. During late Antiquity, it was one of the major commercial, agricultural, religious and intellectual areas of the empire, and its strategic location facing the Sassanid Empire and the nomadic tribes gave it exceptional military importance.
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👉 Diocese of the East in the context of Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes (/ˈænti.ɒk/ ; Ancient Greek: Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, romanized: Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou, pronounced [anti.ó.kʰeː.a]) was a Hellenistic Greek city founded by Seleucus I Nicator in 300 BC. One of the most important Greek cities of the Hellenistic period, it served as the capital of the Seleucid Empire and later as regional capital to both the Roman and Byzantine Empire. During the Crusades, Antioch served as the capital of the Principality of Antioch, one of four Crusader states that were founded in the Levant. Its inhabitants were known as Antiochenes. The remains of the ancient city of Antioch are mostly buried beneath alluvial deposits from the Orontes River. The modern city of Antakya, in Hatay Province of Turkey, lies in its place.
Antioch was founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, as one of the tetrapoleis of Seleucis of Syria. Seleucus encouraged Greeks from all over the Mediterranean to settle in the city. The city's location offered geographical, military, and economic benefits to its occupants; Antioch was heavily involved in the spice trade and lay within close reach of the Silk Road and the Royal Road. The city was the capital of the Seleucid Empire from 240 BC until 63 BC, when the Romans took control, making it the capital of the province of Syria and later of Coele Syria. During the late Hellenistic and Roman Principate periods, Antioch's population may have reached a peak of over 500,000 inhabitants (most generally estimate between 200,000 and 250,000), making the city the third largest in the Roman Empire after Rome and Alexandria and one of the most important cities in the eastern Mediterranean. From the early 4th century, Antioch was the seat of the comes Orientis, head of the Diocese of the East. The Romans provided the city with walls that encompassed almost 450 hectares (1,100 acres).
In this Dossier
- ⭐ Core Definition: Diocese of the East
- 👉 Diocese of the East in the context of Antioch
- Diocese of the East in the context of Bilad al-Sham
- Diocese of the East in the context of Mesopotamia (Roman province)
- Diocese of the East in the context of Diocese of Egypt
- Diocese of the East in the context of Syriac Catholic Church
- Diocese of the East in the context of Palaestina Secunda
- Diocese of the East in the context of Palaestina Salutaris
Diocese of the East in the context of Bilad al-Sham
Bilad al-Sham (Arabic: بِلَاد الشَّام, romanized: Bilād al-Shām), often referred to as Islamic Syria or simply Syria in English-language sources, was a province of the Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid, and Fatimid caliphates. It roughly corresponded with the Byzantine Diocese of the East, conquered by the Muslims in 634–647. Under the Umayyads (661–750), Bilad al-Sham was the metropolitan province of the Caliphate and different localities throughout the province served as the seats of the Umayyad caliphs and princes.
Bilad al-Sham was first organized into the four ajnad (military districts; singular jund) of Dimashq (Damascus), Hims (Homs), al-Urdunn (Jordan), and Filastin (Palestine), between 637 and 640 by Caliph Umar following the Muslim conquest. The jund of Qinnasrin was created out of the northern part of Hims by caliphs Mu'awiya I (r. 661–680) or Yazid I (r. 680–683). The Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia) was made an independent province from the Mesopotamian part of Qinnasrin by Caliph Abd al-Malik in 692. In 786, the jund of al-Awasim and al-Thughur were established from the northern frontier region of Qinnasrin by Caliph Harun al-Rashid. As centralized Abbasid rule over Bilad al-Sham collapsed in the 10th century, control over the region was divided by several potentates and the ajnad only represented nominal divisions. The Abbasids and the Egypt-based Fatimid Caliphate continued to officially recognize the province and its ajnad until the Crusader invasions of the coastal regions in 1099.
Diocese of the East in the context of Mesopotamia (Roman province)
Mesopotamia was the name of a Roman province, initially a short-lived creation of the Roman emperor Trajan in 116–117 and then re-established by Emperor Septimius Severus in c. 198. Control of the province was subsequently fought over between the Roman and the Sassanian empires until the Muslim conquests of the 7th century.
Diocese of the East in the context of Diocese of Egypt
The Diocese of Egypt (Latin: Dioecesis Aegypti; Greek: Διοίκησις Αἰγύπτου) was a diocese of the later Roman Empire (from 395 the Eastern Roman Empire), incorporating the provinces of Egypt and Cyrenaica. Its capital was at Alexandria, and its governor had the unique title of praefectus augustalis ("Augustal Prefect", of the rank vir spectabilis; previously the governor of the imperial 'crown domain' province Egypt) instead of the ordinary vicarius. The diocese was initially part of the Diocese of the East, but in ca. 380, it became a separate entity, which lasted until its territories were overrun by the Muslim conquest of Egypt in the 640s.
Diocese of the East in the context of Syriac Catholic Church
The Syriac Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic sui iuris (self-governing) particular church that is in full communion with the Holy See and with the entirety of the Catholic Church. Originating in the Levant, it uses the West Syriac Rite liturgy and has many practices and rites in common with the Syriac Orthodox Church. The Syriac language, a dialect of Aramaic, is the liturgical language used by the Church. There are about 160,000 Syriac Catholics, with the majority in Syria and Iraq, along with a smaller community in Lebanon and an overseas diaspora. It is one of the smaller Eastern Catholic churches based in the Middle East.
The Syriac Catholic Church traces its history and traditions to the Church of Antioch established by Saint Peter. The Diocese of the East under the Patriarch of Antioch included the western Middle East along the Mediterranean. The Church of Antioch was split following the Council of Chalcedon in 451 over disagreements on Christology, with the Syriac, Coptic, and Armenian churches becoming part of Oriental Orthodoxy after rejecting the outcome of the council. A decree of unity between the Syriac Orthodox Church and Rome was made at the Council of Florence in 1444 but it was quickly annulled by the Syriac hierarchy. After missionary work led to conversions to Catholicism among Syriac Christians in the 17th century, one of them, Andrew Akijan, was elected as the Syriac Patriarch of Antioch in 1662. After his death in 1677, rival Catholic and Orthodox Syriac patriarchs were elected between then and 1702. The current line of Syriac Catholic patriarchs of Antioch began in 1782, when Michael Jarweh declared himself in communion with the pope of Rome after being elected by the Syriac Orthodox Holy Synod.
Diocese of the East in the context of Palaestina Secunda
Palaestina Secunda or Palaestina II was a province of the Byzantine Empire from 390, until its conquest by the Muslim armies in 634–636. Palaestina Secunda, a part of the Diocese of the East, roughly comprised inland Galilee, the Jezreel (Yizrael) Valley, Bet Shean Valley, and the corresponding area of Transjordan (parts of the former Decapolis, with the southern territories of the Golan plateau and the bishopric of Pella south of the Yarmuk River), with its capital in Scythopolis (Bet Shean). The province experienced the rise of Christianity under the Byzantines, but was also a thriving center of Judaism, after the Jews had been driven out of Judea by the Romans as a result of their 1st- and 2nd-century revolts.
Diocese of the East in the context of Palaestina Salutaris
Palaestina Salutaris or Palaestina Tertia was a Late Roman and Byzantine province, which covered the area of the Negev, Sinai (except the north-western coast) and south-west of Transjordan, south of the Dead Sea. The province, a part of the Diocese of the East, was split from Arabia Petraea during the reforms of Diocletian in c. 300 CE - or, alternatively, was created around 357-358 by splitting away southern Palestine from the province of Syria Palaestina, with the remaining northern territory being named Palaestina Prima - and existed until the Muslim Arab conquests of the 7th century.