conventus, us
In the Roman provinces, the term referred to the meetings of the provincials in places appointed by the praetor or the proconsul of the province for the purpose of administering justice. In order to facilitate the procedure, the province was divided into districts or circuits called conventus, forum or jurisdictio. The Roman citizens living in a province under the jurisdiction of the proconsul, and accordingly had to settle any business at a conventus had to appear there.

Synekdemos of Hierokles
A geographical text book composed a little before 535 by Hierokles the Grammarian. It constitutes a list of 64 provinces and 923 (originally 935) cities of the Empire, being the most important source for the administrative and political geography of the Byzantine Empire prior to the Arab raids. It is assumed to have been based on state documents, and presents the political, administrative, and, to an extent, the ecclesiastical geography from mid-5th c. However, it contains additions from the age of Justinian I, while some of its evidence is still under discussion. Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos used it as a major source, along with Stephen of Byzantium, for the composition of the work “De thematibus”. This most important work of Hierokles was published by G. Parthey (Hieroclis Synecdemus, Berlin, 1866), and A. Burckhardt (Hieroclis Synecdemus, Leipzig, 1893). The last and most authoritative edition is E. Honigmann (ed.), Le Synekdèmos d'Hiéroklès et l'opuscule géographique de Georges de Chypre (Brussels 1939).