Why were proconsular appointments so staggered under the Principate?

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The terms of the Augustan Settlement of 27 BC, where Augustus and the Senate defined respective powers, set a delay of five years from Consulship to receiving a Senatorial Province, so at least half of this gap was by law. The Senatorial provinces were, as a rule, staid and peaceful provinces as well, and had little or no military forces.

The point underlying all of this was to put an end to the Republican mode of using provincial wealth and provincial armies as a lever to contend for ultimate power. An up-and-coming Consul who fancied himself in opposition to Augustus or the Emperor would wait years to see even the most boring province, if any. If you played ball, though, a talented fellow might get appointed by Augustus to a nice command with some legions. So the mode under the Principate was to encourage the leading lights of the Senate to work within the system rather than plot how to overturn it.

An additional wrinkle is that while all Senatorial provinces were ruled by a man named Proconsul, a majority of these officials were of Praetorian rank and served for several years in a row. So the pool for a job after becoming Consul was considerably reduced.

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