This volume presents the proceedings of a 2021 international conference devoted to the praetorian prefecture in Late Antiquity. The conference was linked to the multi-year PPRET project (‘The Praetorian Prefects of the Late Roman Empire: An Elite Facing Crisis’) led by Pierfrancesco Porena and Olivier Huck. As editors, they have carefully assembled a multilingual volume offering the most recent and much needed scholarship on the role of the Praetorian Prefect in the later Roman Empire. The fifteen contributions are grouped thematically around the evolution, status, official responsibilities and cultural positioning of praetorian prefects between the fourth and sixth centuries.

The first part opens with the excellent analysis of Porena. which convincingly demonstrates that right from the reign of Constantine I onwards the office of the praetorian prefect should be understood as a regional office embedded in the empire’s administrative structures. This perspective deliberately departs from the traditional view of the office as a kind of ‘ministerial’ post attached to individual Augusti and Caesares in the early decades of the fourth century, supposedly becoming a more territorial office later in the fourth century. As the subsequent contributions in this first part — focusing on the specific prefectures of Italia, Africa, the Gauls and Illyricum — make clear, the imperial bureaucracy in theory took the form of a tightly ordered pyramid, but in practice its hierarchy was much more flexible. The praetorian prefect thus emerges as a nodal figure whose authority depended on a delicate balance between proximity to the emperor and interaction with lower-ranking officials. Dominic Moreau’s carefully structured analysis of the prefecture of Illyricum demonstrates how this office gradually became integrated into the overall imperial administrative organisation and developed into a crucial link between the western and eastern parts of the empire. Marie Roux’s study further underscores the prefect’s prominent role by tracing the constant interplay between the central imperial level and local elites: decisions taken at court shaped local dynamics, while local pressures and interests fed back into central policy through the mediation of the prefect. Several contributions in this section also provide meticulously compiled prosopographical lists of praetorian prefects, which not only support these interpretative essays but will be an important reference tool for future research on the evolution of the late Roman administrative elite.

The second part of the volume focuses on the position of the praetorian prefects within what one might call the collegium of praetorian prefects, and on the formal and informal sphere in which their activities took place. Several contributions pay particular attention to their decision-making autonomy in normative ordinances and administrative practices. For instance, as discussed by Federico Pergami, with regard to appellate jurisdiction, it becomes clear that praetorian prefects occupied a central position in the late Roman bureaucracy and frequently acted as judges of second instance reviewing the decisions of lower officials. Notably, in examining the involvement of prefects in the issuing of edicts in the Eastern prefecture up to the age of Justinian in the sixth century, Silvia Schiamo shows that praetorian prefects did not merely implement imperial legislation, but could also introduce innovations and issue original regulations.

The final part of the volume asks whether, and in what ways, the social background and religious identities of praetorian prefects shaped their career paths and the exercise of their office within the larger late antique bureaucratic system. Career trajectories varied considerably. While some prefects came from the top elite families of the empire, others rose from relatively modest bureaucratic positions such as notarii or officials at court. As the contribution by Rita Lizzi Testa investigates, in the case of several praetorian prefects of the Western half of the empire religious affiliation does not appear to have been a decisive factor in appointments in the first half of the fourth century, except in isolated cases. Of course, as noted by Avshalom Laniado, we must also recognise that ancient sources do not always disclose the religious affiliations of officials, possibly because this information was not directly relevant to their specific administrative roles. As is to be expected, large-scale political, socio-economic or religious developments are also visible in these long-term analyses of the praetorian prefect as they affected both the office and its holders. By the end of the fourth century, for instance, the religious profile of prefects increasingly reflected the Christianisation of the imperial elite. The final two contributions of this part of the volume both examine On the Magistracies of the Roman People by John Lydus, a sixth-century official in the praetorian prefecture under Emperor Justinian (527–565). Because Lydus served within the prefecture for decades, his account offers a rare insider’s perspective. He presents the prefecture as the central administrative office of the empire and describes its historical development, internal hierarchy and bureaucratic culture. Lydus observes an increasing loss of power on the part of the praetorian prefects, especially due to the growing importance of fiscal administration, which elevated other officials to more influential positions. While research on late antique bureaucracy often relies on sources such as legislation and bureaucratic documents like the Notitia Dignitatum, it is precisely in Lydus’ work that we also gain a valuable insight into the way in which he, as someone with first-hand experience, reflects on himself and his role.

Overall, this is an excellent volume bringing together a group of specialists in late antique administration, who collectively offer a study that clarifies many questions regarding the functioning of praetorian prefects in the later Roman Empire. Detailed analyses of the careers of individual praetorian prefects are combined with broader discussions that situate the office within an increasingly complex web of late antique officials. While it is well known that the praetorian prefect evolved into a key figure within late antique administrative structures, this book reveals a perhaps surprising degree of autonomy and flexibility (the latter possibly also depending on the individual character of the praetorian prefects) that in practice granted them an extraordinary level of power and influence, one that modern scholarship has yet to fully acknowledge. This volume will help us to do so.