Pannonia Superior was a Roman province created from the division of Pannonia in 103 AD, its capital in Carnuntum. It overlapped in territory with modern-day Hungary, Croatia, Austria, Slovakia, and Slovenia.

History

It was as governor of the province that Septimius Severus made his bid for the Roman Imperial throne in April 193 CE. In 308 Emperor Diocletian chaired a historic meeting with his co-emperors Maximian and Galerius in Carnuntum, to solve the rising tensions within the Tetrarchy. Diocletian and Maximian were both present on 11 November 308, to see Galerius appoint Licinius to be Augustus in place of Valerius Severus, who had died at the hands of Maxentius. Galerius ordered Maximian, who had attempted to return to power after his own retirement, to step down permanently. At Carnuntum people begged Diocletian to return to the throne, to resolve the conflicts that had arisen through Constantine the Great's rise to power and Maxentius' usurpation. Diocletian's reply: "If you could show the cabbage that I planted with my own hands to your emperor, he definitely wouldn't dare suggest that I replace the peace and happiness of this place with the storms of a never-satisfied greed."

Cities

Some of the important cities in Upper Pannonia were:

Later usage

The northern part of the 8th-century Frankish March of Pannonia was also called Upper Pannonia. The name can be found even much later in a similar, but wider, meaning. E.g. Otto von Freising (Chron. 6, 15) uses it to refer to Austria (i.e. Austria proper) in the 12th century.

List of Roman governors

Sources