The term provincia referred to a field of responsibility, rather than a geographical administrative area. For example, the judicial responsibility of the urban praetor, who was a chief justice, was called provincia. The term often applied to military responsibility and was used to refer to the areas of military responsibility assigned to the consuls to deal with rebellions or threats of invasions; in other words, the area where imperium was exercised. It was in the Late Republic that the term provincia also referred to an administrative area outside Italy. When provinces in the modern sense of the word were established, they were originally the areas where the promagistrates exercised their military power. These governors performed judicial roles in arbitrating disputes between Romans and locals and between the local themselves. They gave the final pronouncements in cases where the laws of the locals did not apply or when there was an appeal. The foundation of this was the governor's ability to enforce his rulings through his military power. In theory, the Senate was meant to supervise the governors, but the distance of many provinces from Rome made this impracticable.