Diocletian

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Diocletian
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Early Life

• Full name Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus
• Born c. 22 December 244  3 December 311(Age 66)
• On the Dalmatian Coast (present day Solin,
  Croatia)
• Illyrian family low social status

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Rise To Power

• He began working his way through the military
  ranks
• Duke of Moesia protected border and proved his
  value as a soldier
• 282-Carus was pronounced emperor
• Diocletian was promoted to commander of the
  cavalry arm of the imperial bodyguard
• 283-granted honor of consulate by Carus

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Rise To Power continued

• 284- Carus dies while on campaign against the
  Persians
• Empire left to his two sons, Numerian and Carinus
• Numerian mysteriously dies of natural causes-
  Diocletian proclaimed emperor
• 285-Battle of Margus- Carinuss men kill him
  giving Diocletian complete power over the empire

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Early Rule

• most immediate concerns were to bring the
  mutinous and increasingly barbarized Roman armies
  back under control and to make the frontiers once
  again secure from invasion
• His long-term goals were to restore effective
  government and economic prosperity to the empire
  and believed stern measures were necessary to
  accomplish these goals
• Divided the 50 providences into 100 and created a
  system of people to rule them
• 285- He named Maximian co-emperor and his
  Augustan son in order to provide a successor in
  case of his death
• He fought many wars with many different barbarian
  tribes including, the Sarmations and took the
  name Sarmaticus Maximus upon defeating them in in
  289
• He and Maximian met in Milan (selection of
  location over Rome, displayed imperial view that
  center of Rome was wherever the leaders were) in
  291 to discuss the state of the empire

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Tetrarchy

• Diocletians daughter (Valeria) husband Galerius
  named his Caesar and given control of Egypt,
  Syria, Palestine, and the whole eastern border
• Maximians daughters husband Constantius was
  named his Caesar and given Gaul and Britain to
  rule
• This alliance was called the tetrarch from the
  greek for rule by four
• Diocletian and Maximian considered each other
  brothers and Galerius and Constantius as their
  sons
• He created an order to secession every Augusti
  would select a Caesar to secede them (there was
  no system before and with the frequent
  assignations of the time there were many issues
  over emperor secession)

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Wars/Campaigns

• Sarmation and Danubian tribes (285-300)
• Alamanni (288)
• Usurpers in Egypt (297-98)
• Sassanid Persia (299)- Diocletian and Rome
  reached a lasting and favorable peace with this
  traditional enemy
• 302-ordered that the leading followers of Mani be
  burnt alive along with their scriptures
• Killed and enslaved Manicheans

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Reforms

• large increase in the number of bureaucrats at
  the government's command
• greater number of governors (praesides) ruling
  over smaller regions and smaller populations
• under the new system vicarii and governors were
  responsible for justice and taxation, and a new
  class of duces ("dukes"), acting independently of
  the civil service, had military command
• The sharp increase in the number of edicts and
  rescripts produced under Diocletian's rule has
  been read as evidence of a thorough going effort
  to realign the whole empire on terms dictated by
  the imperial center
• Diocletian's reign marks the end of the classical
  period of Roman law. Diocletian's system of
  rescripts shows an adherence to classical
  tradition, but Constantine's law was full of
  Greek and eastern influences

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Reforms continued

• The army expanded to about 580,000 men from a 285
  strength of 390,000 men. The growth was smaller
  in the East, which only expanded from 250,000 men
  to 310,000 men, most of whom manned the Persian
  frontier. The navy's forces increased from
  approximately 45,000 to approx 60,000
• Compulsory Service- occupations so important to
  Romes function (bakers, farmers,soldiers,ect.)
  that Diocletian made those who held them stick to
  it for life
• Diocletian introduced an extensive new tax system
  based on heads (capita) and land (iuga) and tied
  to a new, regular census of the empire's
  population and wealth
• Inflation was a major issue during Diocletian
  Rome, the lack of gold and silver coinage made it
  impossible for a standard currency to be
  established
• Diocletian released numerous edicts in attempt to
  fix the system, but his lack of understanding of
  basic supply and demand laws prevented these
  attempts from succeeding
• Fortunately these edicts were quickly destroyed
  or edited
• The Diocletianic Persecutions (30311), was the
  empire's last, largest, and bloodiest official
  persecution of Christianity (Diocletian believe
  in Olympiad gods)

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Legacy

• Diocletian left the imperial office on May 1,
  305, and became the first Roman emperor to
  voluntarily abdicate the position
• Diocletian's reforms fundamentally changed the
  structure of Roman imperial government and helped
  stabilize the empire economically and militarily
  for nearly 100 years, those systems that were
  once near the brink of collapse during
  Diocletians childhood
• He lived out his retirement in peace in his
  famous Dalmatian coast palace
• He rejected opportunity to return in 308
• His tetrarch system fell and led to civil war
  quickly after his and Maximians departure and
  there was civil war till 324 when Constantine
  came to power
• Bureaucratic and military growth, constant
  campaigning, and construction projects increased
  the state's expenditures, and necessitated a
  major tax reform. From at least 297 on, imperial
  taxation was standardized, made more equitable,
  and levied at generally higher rates.

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Sources

• http//www.roman-emperors.org/dioclet.htm
• Diocletian and the Roman Recovery by Stephen
  Williams
• http//library.thinkquest.org/26907/emperors/diocl
  etian.htm