Province

Province (Lat. provincia), a territory acquired by the Romans beyond the limits of Italy, and governed by a Roman Prætor (q.v.) or propraetor, or by a proconsul (see CONSUL). The senate decided which provinces were to be prætorian and which consular. As a rule the provinces were unmercifully plundered by the governors and the tax-collectors (publicani). Under Augustus there were twelve imperial provinces, requiring military occupation, and under the emperor's immediate control, and ten senatorial provinces, entrusted to senatorial management (see ROME). The provinces of France (q.v.) were superseded at the Revolution by the departments. The great governmental divisions of India, Canada, and other countries are often entitled provinces. The sphere of duty of an Archbishop (q.v.) is his province, usually consisting of several dioceses. The monastic orders are or were distributed in provinces of varying area; the provincial, in its monastic reference, is the superior of all the houses and all the members of a monastic order within any particular province. See GENERAL, MONACHISM.