Diocletian
Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus (
c. 245â€
"c. 312), born
Diocles and known in English as
Diocletian,
[The name Diocletian is derived from the Greek dÃos kletos ("sky-called").] was
Roman Emperor from
November 20 284 to
May 1 305. Diocletian brought to an end the period popularly known to historians as the "
Crisis of the Third Century" (235–284). He established an
autocratic government and was responsible for laying the groundwork for the second phase of the
Roman Empire, which is known variously as the "
Dominate" (as opposed to the
Principate instituted by
Augustus), the "Tetrarchy", or simply the "Later Roman Empire". Diocletian's reforms helped ensure the survival of the Western Roman Empire for another two hundred years, and the survival of the Eastern Roman Empire (later the Byzantine Empire) for another thousand.
Early life and rise to power
|
Coin depicting Diocletian. |
An
Illyrian of low birth (from Dioclea, near
Salona), Diocles
[He was the first emperor (after Philip the Arab) with a certifiably Greek name: Dioclês. This is a name similar in form to Heracles (Hêras kléos, the "fame/glory of Hera"), with the stem for Zeus substituted for the stem for "Hera" (Diós kléos, the "fame/glory of Zeus"). This was Latinized to Diocletianus when Diocles became emperor.] rose through the ranks to the
consulship (
283). He was chosen by the
Roman army on
November 20 284 to replace
Numerian; Diocles marched against
Carinus, the lawful emperor, and, in Spring 285, defeated him at the
Battle of the Margus River, becoming sole ruler of the Roman Empire. He changed his name to
Diocletianus upon his accession.
Between 235 and 284 there had been some 20 to 25 successive emperors in a period of about 50 years - an average of a new emperor every two to three years. All but two of these emperors were either murdered or killed in battle.
Diocletian seemed at first to be following in the footsteps of his short-lived predecessors in the years between 284 and 298, as he fought a lengthy series of wars from one end of the Empire to the other, maintaining the extended boundaries of the frontiers and stamping out domestic uprisings. By 298, however, Diocletian had succeeded in repelling
Germanic intrusions from across the
Danube and
Rhine, had put a halt to
Persian invasions in
Syria and
Palestine, and had defeated his political foes.
Diocletian's reforms
His position secure, a remarkable feat after over fifty years of internal instability that nearly saw the collapse of the Roman Empire (what has become known as the
Crisis of the Third Century), Diocletian believed that going forward under the current system of Roman Imperial government was unsustainable. He initiated a number of reforms to prevent a return to the anarchy of previous generations and maintain the viability of the Empire. These included splitting the Empire into two in order to be more manageable, creating a new system of Imperial succession, ruling as an
autocrat and stripping away any remaining facade of
republicanism, and economic reforms aimed at the problem of
hyperinflation.
The
Roman Emperorship, had originally a constitutional monarchy backed by the military support. While it drew much of its legitimacy from a complex array of republican titles and practices, with the "Emperor" being the
Princeps ("First among equals", hence "Principate"), it drew most of its actual power from command over the legions and the
Praetorian Guard. This is reflected in the most important of all Imperial titles,
imperator (Supreme Commander), from which the word emperor itself is derived. These arrangements, while awkward at times and followed more closely by some emperors than others, worked for the first two centuries of the empire's existence. However, starting with the reign of
Septimius Severus, rulers began to strip away or simply ignore many of the republican conventions, and reigned more as dictators than constitutional monarchs. This process undermined the office's foundations and legitimacy. Diocletian recognized that the title had to be based on something more than simply military force, in order to be more recognized and stable. So he sought to build a new basis for imperial legitimacy in the state religion, with himself as semi-divine monarch and high priest. The old republican title of
Pontifex Maximus, would begin to take on a new importance.
Diocletian chose a new title for himself, calling himself
Dominus et deus, or "Lord and God" (hence "Dominate"). He would actually sit on a throne. He was not to be seen in public, and if an audience was required, he had elaborate ceremonies in which the visitor would be required to lie on the ground prostrate and never to look at the emperor, allowed perhaps to kiss the bottom of his robe. In this way he created a remote, mysterious, theocratic and autocratic office. It is likely that terms such as "Your Majesty" or "Your Excellency" originated during Diocletian's rule.
According to an analysis by
Edward Gibbon in his book
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Diocletian did not require such ritual out of vanity. This type of majesty regarding the emperor had existed since the rule of
Augustus. However, whereas Augustus disguised it, Diocletian simply displayed it.
Tetrarchy
Diocletian's experiences during his first nine years of running around the empire putting out fires brought him to the conclusion that the empire was simply too big for a single Emperor to rule—that it was not feasible to address
barbarian invasions along the Rhine and
Egyptian problems at the same time, along with the internal problems the empire was experiencing. His radical solution was to split the Empire in two, drawing a line straight down the middle of the map with the axis just east of Rome into eastern and western halves. While this division did not last in the short term, it did eventually become permanent.
The question of imperial succession had never been solved in the Roman system; there was no clear principle of succession, which often led to
civil wars. Earlier Emperors had preferred the system of
adoption, under which they would adopt a son and heir. The military did not like the system of adoption and preferred biological succession, with the emperor's son being the rightful heir. The
Senate believed they should have the right to elect a new emperor. Thus there were usually at least three, if not many more, rightful heirs of succession.
In order to solve the problem of succession, and to answer the question of who would be Emperor of the newly divided East and West, Diocletian created what has become known as the system of "
Tetrarchy", or "rule of four", whereby a senior emperor would rule in the East and another senior emperor would rule the West, and each would have a junior emperor. Among the many titles traditionally bestowed on Roman emperors, the most important was that of
Augustus and therefore only the two senior emperors took this title, with the junior emperors receiving the lesser title of
Caesar. Diocletian intended that when the senior emperor retired or died, the Caesar would take his place and choose a new junior emperor Caesar, thus solving the problem of succession.
By
292, Diocletian had the system in place and chose the Eastern Empire for himself and gave
Maximian the Western Empire. The imperial power was now divided between two people. The two men established separate capitals, neither of which was at Rome. The ancient capital was too far removed from the places where the empire's fate was decided by force of arms. While improving the ability of the two emperors to rule the empire, the division of power further marginalized the Senate, which remained in Rome. In
293, Diocletian and Maximian each appointed a Caesar (
Galerius and
Constantius, respectively), formally adopting them as their heirs. However, these were not merely successors - each was given authority over roughly a quarter of the Empire.
Considering that during the half-century preceding Diocletian's ascension the empire had been in a constant state of simmering civil war, it is remarkable that the Tetrarchy did not immediately fall apart due to the greed of any one of the four emperors. However, the opportunistic nature of Roman imperial politics soon brought about the disintegration of the Tetrarchy and the reinstitution of one-man rule. When in 305, Diocletian retired (and his western counterpart was persuaded to do the same), the two Caesars became the senior emperors as designed, but when it came time to choose new Caesars, the military and Senate intervened and brought forward their own candidates. In 306,
Constantine started a civil war in the west, which he won in 312, and took the eastern half by 324, thus ruling as a united Empire until his death in 337. However, by 395 the division occurred again and the two halves would never be reunited.
= Roman Empire under Diocletian
=
|
Map of the Roman empire, c. 395, showing the dioceses and the praetorian prefectures of Gaul, Italy, Illyricum and Oriens, roughly analogous to the four Tetrarchs' zones of influence after Diocletian's reforms. However, in 395, the western part of the Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum was attached to the Praetorian prefecture of Italy. This map shows only eastern part of Illyricum, though in the time of Tetrachy the Illyricum was not divided. |
| Diocesis | Territories |
|---|
| EAST |
| Oriens | Libya, Egypt, Palestine, Syria, and Cilicia |
| Pontus | Cappadocia, Armenia Minor, Galatia, Bithynia |
| Asia (Asiana) | Asia, Phrygia, Pisidia, Lycia, Lydia, Caria |
| Thrace Moesiae | Moesia Inferior, Thrace |
| Moesia | Moesia Superior, Dacia, Epirus, Macedonia, Thessaly,Achaea, Dardania |
| WEST |
| Africa | Africa Proconsularis, Byzacena, Tripolitana, Numidia, part ofMauretania |
| Hispania | Mauretania Tingitana, Baetica, Lusitania,Tarraconensis |
| Prov. Viennensis | Narbonensis, Aquitania, Viennensis, AlpesMaritimae |
| Gallia | Lugdunensis, Germania Superior, GermaniaInferior, Belgica |
| Britannia | Britannia, Caesariensis |
Italia annonaria
capital Mediolanum | Venetia et Histria, Aemilia et Liguria, Flaminia et Picenum, Raetia, Alpes Cottiae |
Italia suburbicaria
capital Rome | Tuscia et Umbria, Valeria, Campania et Samnium, Apulia et Calabria, Sicilia, Sardinia et Corsica |
| Pannonia | Pannonia Inferior, Pannonia Superior, Noricum,Dalmatia |
Economic reforms
Diocletian made economical reforms as well. When he ascended to the throne, the Roman economy had been long-since exhausted. The cost of supporting constant warfare, both external and internal, drove their economy into ruin. The fact that they had to support a very large conscript army seriously deprived their workforce of manpower. The empire extended over an area of land unprecedented in ancient times. The machinery of the empire that was used to support this vast presence was built on that of the old Republic. The machinery of that Republic had been built to rule a small city-state in the middle of Italy. The empire became too overextended for its economy to handle. In addition, plagues and pandemics were common, further straining the economy. This resulted in extreme
hyperinflation, and a severe devaluation of the coinage. This lead to wide-spread bartering.
In 290, Diocletian began a comprehensive reform of the coinage system to address this issue. At that time he introduced a higher-weight gold coin. Iin 294, he introduced the first pure silver coin in decades and the so-called
follis, a large bronze coin with added silver to provide intrinsic value. Several smaller fractions were also introduced. Further, in
301, Diocletian attempted to curb the rampant
inflation, and issued his
Edict on Maximum Prices. This edict fixed prices for over a thousand goods, fixed wages, and threatened the
death penalty to merchants who overcharged. The edict proved unsuccessful in curbing inflation, and was widely ignored. Diocletian increased tax collection and, correspondingly, the size of the Roman civil service.
Military reforms
Diocletian expanded the army from around 400,000 to over 450,000: About two-thirds of the army's strength was frontier forces (
limitanei or
ripenses); The remainder were in the mobile units that the Augusti and Caesares kept centrally located in their territories (
comitatenses). Since they were closer to the centers of power, and therefore more politically dangerous, the mobile troops were better paid than the frontier forces. This proved a cause for resentment and, later on, trouble.
The experience with the
vexillatio system led Diocletian to reduce the
legions of the field forces to about 1,000 men each, to assure greater
strategic and
tactical flexibility without the need for detachments. The legions of the frontier were kept at full strength (4,000-6,000 men). Auxiliary units in both mobile and frontier forces were usually 1,000 men each.
Also, under Diocletian the post of
Praetorian prefect was greatly reduced in power. Instead, each Augustus and Caesar had two major military commanders, a
Magister militum (commander of the infantry) and a
Magister Equitum (commander of the
cavalry). This not only divided military responsibilities, thus reducing political dangers, but it also acknowledged the increased importance of cavalry in the
Roman army.
Many of the military reforms started by Diocletian were continued by his successors and largely completed under Constantine, who abolished the Praetorian Guard, replacing it with a smaller, more controllable personal bodyguard (the
Scholae) of about 4,000 men.
Persecution of Christians
In 303, the last and greatest
persecution of Christians by the Roman Empire began.
In the earlier part of Diocletian's reign,
Galerius had been the instigator of such persecution. However, later Diocletian embraced the policy of persecution with unequivocal zeal, issuing his first "Edict against the Christians" (
February 24, 303).First Christian soldiers had to leave the army, later the Church's property was confiscated and Christian books were destroyed. After two fires in Diocletian's palace, he took harder measures against Christians: they had either to
apostatize or they were sentenced to death. This wave of persecution lasted intermittently until
313, with the issue of the
Edict of Milan by
Constantine I and
Licinius.
The persecution made such an impression on Christians that the Alexandrian church used the start of Diocletian's reign (284) as the
epoch for their
Era of Martyrs.Among the recorded martyrs, there are
Pope Marcellinus,
Philomena,
Sebastian,
Afra,
Lucy,
Erasmus of Formiae,
Florian,
George,
Agnes,
Cessianus, and others ending with
Peter of Alexandria (311).Another effect of the persecution was the escape of one Marinus the Dalmatian to
Mount Titano, forming what
eventually became the Republic of San Marino.
Retirement and death
|
Palace of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, around which the Croatian city of Split emerged |
In
305, at the age of 59, after almost dying from a sickness, Diocletian retired to his palace in
Dalmatia, near the administrative center of
Salona on the
Adriatic Sea, taking up his beloved hobby of growing
cabbages. When solicited at a later date to resume the honours which he had voluntarily resigned, his reply was, "Would but you could see the vegetables planted by my hands at Salona, you would then never think of urging such an attempt". He was one of the only Roman Emperors to voluntarily remove himself from office; most of the others either died of natural causes or were removed by force. According to Edward Gibbon, a report of at least doubtful nature has survived until the present that Diocletian ended up committing suicide.
Diocletian's Palace later became the seed of modern
Split,
Croatia.
Overall Diocletian's reforms â€" in particular those of the military, civil administration, and Roman bureaucracy â€" were sound and helped to extend the life of the empire for centuries longer.
A.H.M. Jones observes that "It is perhaps Diocletian's greatest achievement that he reigned twenty-one years and then
abdicated voluntarily, and spent the remaining years of his life in peaceful
retirement".
[Jones, A.H.M., The Later Roman Empire, 284-602: A Social, Economic and Administrative Survey, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, 1986, p. 40.] However, his Tetrarchy would prove a formula for civil war, as he witnessed before his death. Once he retired, the Tetrarch system collapsed upon itself, with a new, single strong ruler eventually emerging triumphant. The division of the empire into western and eastern halves, eventually led to a permanent split, with the eastern half becoming the Byzantine Empire. Although the western empire would last only another couple of centuries, the Byzantine Empire, partly through Diocletian's own reforms, would continue in various forms for another one-thousand years.
Although his reign and achievements have been largely overshadowed by Constantine's, they mark an important turning point in Roman history. Diocletian remains one of the more enigmatic and contradictory personalities of history: although he stripped away much of what had remained of the Republic, yet would end up in later life acting much as
Cincinnatus had, in giving up power for farming.
*Diocletian is the main character of the novel
Numerius, written by V. Martucci (2005)
Aranykoporsó ("Golden casket"), the novel of
Ferenc Móra (the
Hungarian writer of the early 20th century) is about the last years of Diocletian reign.
* Roger Rees,
Diocletian and the Tetrarchy, Edinburgh University Press, 2004. ISBN 0748616616
* Pat Southern,
The Roman Empire from Severus to Constantine, Routledge, 2001. ISBN 0415239443
*
Michael Rostovtzeff:
The social and economic history of the Roman Empire. Oxford 1966
*
Diocletian by Ralph W. Mathisen, University of South Carolina.
*
Diocletian from the Catholic Encyclopedia.
*
12 Byzantine Rulers, by Lars Brownworth. 15 minute audio lecture on Diocletian.
*
Diocletian Palace in Split*
Ruins of the Palace of the Emperor Diocletian at Spalato in Dalmatia, by Adam, Robert from the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections Center.
