page_title: Praetorian prefecture
section_title: Authority and powers of the prefect
hierarchical_section_title: Praetorian prefecture / Authority and powers of the prefect
caption_attribution_description: Emblem of the praefectus praetorio per illyricum, according to Notitia Dignitatum
context_page_description: The praetorian prefecture was the largest administrative division of the late Roman Empire, above the mid-level dioceses and the low-level provinces. Praetorian prefectures originated in the reign of Constantine I, reaching their more or less final form in the last third of the 4th century and surviving until the 7th century, when the reforms of Heraclius diminished the prefecture's power, and the Muslim conquests forced the East Roman Empire to adopt the new theme system. Elements of the prefecture's administrative apparatus however are documented to have survived in the Byzantine Empire until the first half of the 9th century.
context_section_description: Originally, the praetorian prefects were drawn from the equestrian class. Constantine's reforms entailed the reservation of this office for members of the senatorial class, and its prestige and authority were raised to the highest level, so that contemporary writers refer to it as the "supreme office". In the divided Empire, the two senior prefects were those of the East and of Italy, residing in the courts of the two emperors and acting effectively as their first ministers, while the prefects of Illyricum and Gaul held a more junior position.
  The prefects held wide-ranging control over most aspects of the administrative machinery of their provinces, and only the magister officiorum rivalled them in power. The prefects fulfilled the roles of supreme administrative and juridical official, already present from the time of Septimius Severus, and that of chief financial official, responsible for the state budget. In their capacity as judges, they had the right to pass judgment instead of the emperor (vice sacra), and, unlike lower governors, their decision could not be appealed.
  Their departments were divided in two major categories: the schola excerptorum, which supervised administrative and judicial affairs, and the scriniarii, overseeing the financial sector.
caption: The insignia of the praetorian prefect of Illyricum, as depicted in the Notitia Dignitatum: the ivory inkwell and pen case (theca), the codicil of appointment to the office on a blue cloth-covered table, and the state carriage.[15]
exif: {}