1. Diocese of Pontus: Establishment – Provinces

The Diocese of Pontica (of the Pontos), one of the six dioceses of the prefecture of Oriens, was established in 314 and united economically the provinces of northern, central and eastern Asia Minor under the vicarius of the Pontos,¹ an official at the head of the provincial authorities and subject to the praetorian prefect. The mint was in Nicomedia of Bithynia. The region which became the jurisdiction of the vicarius of the Pontos from the mid-3^rd century until 293-305, included the wider Late Roman provinces of Bithynia and the Pontus, Cappadocia and Galatia. The vicarius had the same powers as had the agentes vices in the Late Roman provinces.² The authorities of the provinces were soon autorised to settle any issues that emerged, thus circumventing the vicarius, who finally came to be inactive titulars in the administrative hierarchy.³

The Diocese of Pontica reached as far as the northwestern end of the province of Bithynia, at the point where the Black Sea met the Sea of Marmara. To the north, it was washed by the Black Sea and to the south it bordered the two other dioceses of Asia Minor, the diocese of Asiana and the diocese of Oriens. To the east of the Diocese of Pontica there was Armenian land disputed by both the Byzantines and the Persians. The allied country of the Laz was to the northeast.

The early Byzantine provinces that in 314 formed the Diocese of Pontica were the Pontos Polemoniakos, Cappadocia, Helenopontos, Galatia, Paphlagonia, Bithynia and Armenia. An administrative reform was carried out in the provinces of Pontos during the three last decades of the 4^th century, according to which the single Cappadocia was divided into Cappadocia I and Cappadocia II in 371, while the single Galatia was divided into Galatia I and Galatia Salutaris in 398; the province of Honorias was established in Paphlagonian land in 398/399, while Armenia I and Armenia II were established in 387.

2. Diocese of Pontos: Cities and Communication

The metropolises of the provinces, seats of the local governors, the consularii and the ecclesiastical authorities, were at the same time the most important cities of the diocese: Caesarea, Tyana, Amaseia, Neokaisareia, Ankyra, Pessinus, Gangra, Nicomedia, Claudiopolis as well as Nicaea, Sebasteia and Melitene. The most important of them were Nicomedia with the mint, Ankyra, the key hub of Asia Minor and summer residence of the imperial family, and Amaseia, which dominated the military region of Dazimon. The inland provinces were sparsely inhabited, while in many cases the inhabitants enjoyed only the loose civil structure of the regions or the salta. In coastal provinces there were more significant cities, which increased in the course of time: Chalcedon, Herakleia Pontike, Amastris, Sinope, Amisos, Polemonion, Cerasous and Trebizond.

3. Roads and Communication

The roads connecting those cities with the capital of the empire as well as with the Asian and European lands of the prefecture of Oriens passed through Ankyra of Galatia. Both the main roads and the regional network to the east of Ankyra were directed south/southeast due to communication with the eastern border, while to the west they were directed north/northwest due to the connection with Nicomedia and Constantinople. According to William Ramsay, the entire road network of Asia Minor was transfered to the north in the late 4^th century, to meet the needs of the new administrative centres of the empire, Nicomedia in Diocletian’s years (284-305) and Constantinople from 337 onwards.⁴ In any case, the road network passed through the provinces that formed the Diocese of the Pontos and was used mainly by soldiers and traders. Furthermore, the northern harbours served the naval communication of the empire with the peninsula of Crimea and the bases of the imperial fleet.

4. Administrative Centres

It is most likely that the vicarius of the Pontos had his seat in Ankyra, the metropolis of the provinces of Galatia and Galatia I successively, and also seat of the magister militum per Orientem, where trials took place before the vicarius in Julian’s years (361-363). It seems that the prefect gradually deprived the vicarius of his judicial jurisdiction, from 361 onwards, and that the latter had to move to the metropolises of the provinces, since he was the economic supervisor.⁵ Probably the most eloquent example of the connection between the city of Ankyra and the diocese is the replacement of the vicarius of the Pontos with the comes of Galatia I, in 535. Nicomedia, the metropolis of Bithynia, was not a plausible base of the vicarius of the Pontos, although he supervised economy, the mail and justice. It should be noted that the mint was in Nicomedia, which was a dominating hub of the road network right from the beginning. However, from the 5^th century onwards, the economic responsibilities of the vicarius were undertaken by the governors of the provinces. Amaseia, the metropolis of Diospontos/Helenopontos, is assumed to have been the base of the vicarius of the Pontos, although the argument about this is not particularly convincing.⁶ No doubt that Amaseia was the base of the dux and the comes Utriusque Ponti et Utriusque Armeniae, from 390 and 472/473 respectively. It should be reminded that the vicarius had no military jurisdiction. Finally, it is only natural that the city of Caesarea, the metropolis of Cappadocia and base of the domus divinae of the prefecture of Oriens, and, subsequently, the comes domorum per Cappadociam, was not connected with the vicarius of the Pontos.

5. Administrative Changes

Justinian I (527-565) assigned the prefect with further economic jurisdiction and allowed the complete disengagement of the inhabitants of the provinces from the judicial jurisdiction of the vicarius. He appointed the prefect responsible for dealing with appeals and refugees, which was an already established status, since the subjects had the right to address their requests to the prefect when they could not approach the vicarius. The vicarius of the Pontos became the governor of the united Galatia in 535-548, with limited jurisdiction within the boundaries of the provinces.

In 535-548, the provinces of the Pontos were united in wider formations: the Pontos Polemoniakos and Helenopontos formed Helenopontos, while Galatia I along with Galatia Salutaris formed Galatia. According to a similar reform in 535-553, the provinces Cappadocia I and Cappadocia II formed Cappadocia, while Paphlagonia and Honorias formed a now wider Paphlagonia. In addition, the provinces Armenia I, II, III and IV were established in the lands of the former province of Armenia, in the Armenian territories detached from the Persians and in lands that formerly belonged to the Pontos Polemoniakos. Those reforms were not annulled. They were reconsidered by Maurice, in 591, when the empire gained additional Armenian territories. The provinces of Armenia underwent territorial changes to a limited extent and were renamed again,⁷ until they were replaced with the themes.

6. Abolishment of the Diocese of Pontos

Most Armenian lands fell in the hands of the Arabs in the second quarter of the 7^th century. During the third quarter of the 7^th century, the lands of the rest of the provinces of the Diocese of Pontica came under the themes of Opsikion and Armeniakon. In that period, the office of the prefect was abolished.