Praetorian Prefecture - Authority and Powers of The Prefect

Authority and Powers of The Prefect

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-raging 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.