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Diocletian: the story on HearLore | HearLore
Diocletian
In the year 284, an army gathered on a hill outside Nicomedia to choose their new leader. The soldiers had just discovered that Emperor Numerian was dead inside his closed coach, and they needed someone to take charge immediately. A cavalry commander named Diocles stood before them and accepted the purple imperial vestments. He raised his sword to the light of the sun and swore an oath disclaiming responsibility for Numerian's death. This moment marked the end of his humble life as the son of a scribe or freedman in Dalmatia. His original name was Gaius Valerius Diocles, derived from Dioclea, the name of his mother and her supposed place of birth. Before this day, he served under Aurelian and Probus, rising through the ranks of the military early in his career. By 282, Emperor Carus made him commander of the Protectores domestici, the elite cavalry force directly attached to the Imperial household. This post earned him the honor of a consulship in 283. When Numerian died, his staff reported inflammation of the eyes after leaving Emesa. The army smelled an odor emanating from the coach when it reached Bithynia. They opened its curtains and found Numerian dead. Both Eutropius and Aurelius Victor describe Numerian's death as an assassination. Diocles drew his sword and killed Aper, Numerian's father-in-law who had concealed the truth. Soon after, he changed his name to the more Latinate Diocletianus.
The Tetrarchy System
On the 1st of March 293 at Milan, Maximian gave Flavius Constantius the office of Caesar. The same day, in either Philippopolis or Sirmium, Diocletian did the same for Galerius Maximianus. This arrangement is called the Tetrarchy, from a Greek term meaning rulership by four. The Tetrarchs were more or less sovereign in their own lands, and they traveled with their own imperial courts, administrators, secretaries, and armies. They were joined by blood and marriage; Diocletian and Maximian now styled themselves as brothers, and formally adopted Galerius and Constantius as sons. These relationships implied a line of succession. Galerius and Constantius would become Augusti after the departure of Diocletian and Maximian. Maximian's son Maxentius and Constantius's son Constantine would then become caesares. In preparation for their future roles, Constantine and Maxentius were taken to Diocletian's court in Nicomedia. Each tetrarch ruled over a quarter-division of the empire. Diocletian reigned in the Eastern Empire, and Maximian reigned in the Western Empire. The system collapsed after his abdication due to competing dynastic claims of Maxentius and Constantine.
Who was Diocletian and what was his original name?
Diocletian was a Roman emperor who reigned from 284 to 305. His original name was Gaius Valerius Diocles, derived from Dioclea, the name of his mother and her supposed place of birth.
When did Diocletian establish the Tetrarchy system?
On the 1st of March 293 at Milan, Diocletian established the Tetrarchy by appointing Maximian as Augustus and Galerius as Caesar alongside Flavius Constantius. This arrangement created rulership by four where each tetrarch ruled over a quarter-division of the empire.
What military campaigns did Diocletian lead between 285 and 299?
Diocletian defeated the Sarmatians and Carpi during several campaigns between 285 and 299 while also fighting the Alamanni in 288 and usurpers in Egypt between 297 and 298. He secured the entire length of the Danube with forts, bridgeheads, highways, and walled towns and sent fifteen or more legions to patrol the region.
Why did Diocletian order the destruction of Christian scriptures on the 23rd of February 303?
Diocletian ordered the destruction of Christian scriptures because a fire destroyed part of the Imperial palace and Galerius convinced him that Christians were conspirators who had plotted with the palace eunuchs. The edict prohibited Christians from assembling for worship and ordered the execution of those found guilty until at least the 24th of April 303.
When did Diocletian abdicate his title as Roman emperor?
On the 1st of May 305, Diocletian called an assembly of generals and representatives from distant legions where he voluntarily abdicated his title before a statue of Jupiter. He retired to Dalmatia and moved into the expansive Diocletian's Palace located by the small town of Spalatum on the shores of the Adriatic Sea.
Diocletian defeated the Sarmatians and Carpi during several campaigns between 285 and 299. He also fought the Alamanni in 288 and usurpers in Egypt between 297 and 298. Galerius, aided by Diocletian, campaigned successfully against Persia, the empire's traditional enemy, and in 299, he sacked their capital, Ctesiphon. Diocletian led the subsequent negotiations and achieved a lasting and favorable peace. The defense came at a heavy cost but was a significant achievement in an area difficult to defend. By the end of his reign, Diocletian had secured the entire length of the Danube, provided it with forts, bridgeheads, highways, and walled towns, and sent fifteen or more legions to patrol the region. An inscription at Sexaginta Prista on the Lower Danube extolled restored tranquility to the region. In 294, Narseh declared war on Rome in 295 or 296. He moved south into Roman Mesopotamia in 297, where he inflicted a severe defeat on Galerius. Galerius continued down the Tigris, and took the Persian capital Ctesiphon before returning to Roman territory along the Euphrates. At the conclusion of the peace, Tiridates regained both his throne and the entirety of his ancestral claim.
Administrative Reforms
Diocletian separated and enlarged the empire's civil and military services and reorganized the empire's provincial divisions, establishing the largest and most bureaucratic government in the history of the empire. He established new administrative centers in Nicomedia, Mediolanum, Sirmium, and Trevorum, closer to the empire's frontiers than the traditional capital at Rome. To avoid local usurpations, Diocletian doubled the number of provinces from fifty to almost one hundred. The provinces were grouped into twelve dioceses, each governed by an appointed official called a vicarius. Some of the provincial divisions required revision, and were modified either soon after 293 or early in the fourth century. Rome herself was not under the authority of the praetorian prefect, as she was to be administered by a city prefect of senatorial rank. The dissemination of imperial law to the provinces was facilitated by Diocletian's reform of the Empire's provincial structure. There are around 1,200 rescripts in his name still surviving, and these probably represent only a small portion of the total issue. Under the governance of jurists Gregorius, Aurelius Arcadius Charisius, and Hermogenianus, the imperial government began issuing official books of precedent.
Economic Crisis And Taxation
From at least 297 on, imperial taxation was standardized, made more equitable, and levied at generally higher rates. Not all of Diocletian's plans were successful: the Edict on Maximum Prices (301), his attempt to curb inflation via price controls, was counterproductive and quickly ignored. In 296, Diocletian issued an edict reforming census procedures. This edict introduced a general five-year census for the whole empire, replacing prior censuses that had operated at different speeds throughout the empire. The new censuses would keep fluctuating values of currency in check. Requisition became tax. He introduced an extensive new tax system based on heads and land with one iugerum equal to approximately 0.65 acres. Cities provided animals, money, and manpower in proportion to its capita, and grain in proportion to its iuga. Most taxes were due each year on the 1st of September, and levied from individual landowners by decuriones. These decurions were responsible for paying from their own pocket what they failed to collect. Lactantius criticized Diocletian for an excessive increase in troop sizes, declaring that there began to be fewer men who paid taxes than there were who received wages.
Persecution Of Christians
On the 23rd of February 303, Diocletian ordered that the newly built church at Nicomedia be razed. He demanded that its scriptures be burned, and seized its precious stores for the treasury. The next day, Diocletian's first Edict against the Christians was published. The edict ordered the destruction of Christian scriptures and places of worship across the empire, and prohibited Christians from assembling for worship. Before the end of February, a fire destroyed part of the Imperial palace. Galerius convinced Diocletian that the culprits were Christians, conspirators who had plotted with the eunuchs of the palace. Executions followed anyway, and the palace eunuchs Dorotheus and Gorgonius were executed. One individual, Peter Cubicularius, was stripped, raised high, and scourged. Salt and vinegar were poured in his wounds, and he was slowly boiled over an open flame. The executions continued until at least the 24th of April 303, when six individuals, including the bishop Anthimus, were decapitated. A second fire occurred sixteen days after the first. Galerius left the city for Rome, declaring Nicomedia unsafe. Galerius rescinded the edict in 311, announcing that the persecution had failed to bring Christians back to traditional religion.
Voluntary Abdication
On the 1st of May 305, Diocletian called an assembly of his generals, traditional companion troops, and representatives from distant legions. They met at the same hill, out of Nicomedia, where Diocletian had been proclaimed emperor. In front of a statue of Jupiter, his patron deity, Diocletian addressed the crowd. With tears in his eyes, he told them of his weakness, his need for rest, and his will to resign. He declared that he needed to pass the duty of empire on to someone stronger. He thus became the first Roman emperor to voluntarily abdicate his title. Most in the crowd believed that Constantine and Maxentius would be granted the title of Caesar. It was not to be: Severus II and Maximinus II were declared caesares. Diocletian retired to his homeland, Dalmatia. He moved into the expansive Diocletian's Palace, a heavily fortified compound located by the small town of Spalatum on the shores of the Adriatic Sea. The palace is preserved in great part to this day and forms the historic core of Split, modern-day Croatia. When people begged Diocletian to return to the throne, he replied, If you could see the cabbages I have planted here with my own hands, you surely would never have thought to request this.