The Diocese of Thrace

Thrace

Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...

was a diocese

Roman diocese

A Roman or civil diocese was one of the administrative divisions of the later Roman Empire, starting with the Tetrarchy. It formed the intermediate level of government, grouping several provinces and being in turn subordinated to a praetorian prefecture....

 of the later Roman Empire

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

, incorporating the provinces of the eastern Balkan Peninsula

Balkans

The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...

 (comprising territories in modern south-eastern Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

, central and eastern Bulgaria

Bulgaria

Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

, and
Greek

Western Thrace

Western Thrace or simply Thrace is a geographic and historical region of Greece, located between the Nestos and Evros rivers in the northeast of the country. Together with the regions of Macedonia and Epirus, it is often referred to informally as northern Greece...

 and Turkish Thrace

East Thrace

East Thrace or Eastern Thrace , also known as Turkish Thrace, is the part of the modern republic of Turkey that is geographically part of Europe, all in the eastern part of the historical region of Thrace; most of Turkey is in Anatolia, also known as Asia Minor. Turkish Thrace is also called...

). The diocese was established after the reforms of Diocletian

Diocletian

Diocletian |latinized]] upon his accession to Diocletian . c. 22 December 244  – 3 December 311), was a Roman Emperor from 284 to 305....

, and was subordinate to the Praetorian prefecture of the East

Praetorian prefecture of the East

The praetorian prefecture of the East or of Oriens was one of four large praetorian prefectures into which the Late Roman Empire was divided...

. It lasted until the Balkan peninsula was largely overrun by the Avars

Eurasian Avars

The Eurasian Avars or Ancient Avars were a highly organized nomadic confederacy of mixed origins. They were ruled by a khagan, who was surrounded by a tight-knit entourage of nomad warriors, an organization characteristic of Turko-Mongol groups...

 and Slavs in the 640s. Soon after, the old provincial system was replaced by the Thematic system.

The diocese included the provinces of Europa

Europa (Roman province)

Europa was a Roman province within the Diocese of Thrace. Established by Roman Emperor Diocletian in 314, the province's capital was Perinthus. The province largely corresponds to what is modern day European Turkey...

, Thracia

Thracia (Roman province)

Thracia was the name of a province of the Roman empire. It was established in AD 46, when the former Roman client state of Thrace was annexed by order of emperor Claudius ....

, Haemimontus, Rhodope

Rhodope (Roman province)

Rhodope was a late Roman and early Byzantine province, situated on the northern Aegean coast. A part of the Diocese of Thrace, it extended along the Rhodope Mountains range, covering parts of modern Western Thrace and south-western Bulgaria. The province was headed by a governor of the rank of...

, Moesia II

Moesia

Moesia was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans, along the south bank of the Danube River. It included territories of modern-day Southern Serbia , Northern Republic of Macedonia, Northern Bulgaria, Romanian Dobrudja, Southern Moldova, and Budjak .-History:In ancient...

 and Scythia

Scythia Minor

Scythia Minor, "Lesser Scythia" was in ancient times the region surrounded by the Danube at the north and west and the Black Sea at the east, corresponding to today's Dobruja, with a part in Romania and a part in Bulgaria....

.

List of known Vicarii Thraciarum

• Aelius Claudius Dulcitius (?-361)
• Capitolinus (361-363)
• Andronicus (ca. 366)
• Philoxenus (ca. 392)
• Solomon (?-582)