Pagus

Approximate pagi in Burgundy, 9th century

In ancient Rome, the Latin word pagus (plural pagi) was an administrative term designating a rural subdivision of a tribal territory, which included individual farms, villages (vici), and strongholds (oppida) serving as refuges,[1][2][3] as well as an early medieval geographical term. From the reign of Diocletian (284–305 AD) onwards, the pagus referred to the smallest administrative unit of a province.[4] These geographical units were used to describe territories in the Merovingian and Carolingian periods, without any political or administrative meaning.

  1. ^ Galsterer, Hartmut (2006). "Pagus". Brill's New Pauly. doi:10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e903730.
  2. ^ Hornblower, Simon; Spawforth, Antony; Eidinow, Esther (2012). The Oxford Classical Dictionary. Oxford University Press. p. 1062. ISBN 978-0-19-954556-8.
  3. ^ Hirt, Alfred M. (2012), "Pagus", The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, Willey-Blackwell, doi:10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah06236, ISBN 978-1-4443-3838-6
  4. ^ Nicholson, Oliver (2018). The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity. Oxford University Press. s.v. pagus and pagarch. ISBN 978-0-19-866277-8.