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This article uses the public and private correspondence of the prefect Antoine-Marie Roederer to reveal the vicissitudes of prefectural life in a newly created department far from Paris. The career of Roederer fils in Italy is representative of the problems facing imperial prefects: distance from Paris bringing impotence; the inertia of the local administration when faced with orders from Paris; lack of connection with the realities of the population under French administration. Only Napoleon’s fall could bring about Roederer fils’ return to Paris, despite his success in his Département.