Diocletian

In the Roman Empire there were many historical figures who held a position of great importance in their time. An example of them was Diocletian , a man who is remembered for his many actions against those who professed Christianity , a religion that he saw as a real danger against his empire.

What did

Diocletian was one of the Roman Emperors who maintained a brilliant military career which led him to become the first commander of the imperial guard , later he became consul and finally managed to occupy the position of Emperor in Rome. It was a character who was smart enough to achieve successfully defend the borders and its work, managed to organize again the whole empire , dividing at the same time on two, the East and the West , thus establishing one tetrarquía as the mainpolitical system of the region.

Diocletian Biography

Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletian was born in the city of Dioclea , a place near Salona in the year 245 . His family was quite humble and from a very young age he began his life in the military field . Of his parents only Diocles is known , who was his father , who served, according to history , as a scribe to Senator Anulinus. Not much information is available about his life in the early years.

Death

After falling ill and spending several years in this condition, he decided in 305 to put aside all political life and moved to the palace he had built on the Adriatic coast. He died in Spalato , a place of retirement in the year 316 .

Government system

He was named as emperor in the year 284 AD During his first year in office, he had their hands on the Control of the Roman Empire of East and was responsible for conducting several campaigns against Darling, who was in charge of the Western Roman Empire. After he was appointed as emperor, he focused on ending the intrigues. He created a divided system of government that bore good fruit and in this way was able to stabilize and then unite the entire empire .

He managed to obtain a large number of victories and consolidated power by also creating many laws that significantly improved the administration of his empire. After several years of government, he felt threatened by Christianity and for this reason, he established the cult of Jupiter as an obligatory act and dedicated himself to persecuting Christians .

Persecution of Diocletian

Feeling pressured and thinking that Christians could interfere in his empire, he decided to persecute them and this was known as the Great Persecution . He ordered his men to cut out the tongue of Deacon Roman of Antioch and then sent him to prison to later execute him. He forbade Christians to work as civil servants and they could not work in the army either .

He ordered the Nicomedia church to be destroyed and demanded that all scriptures be burned . In addition, everything that was of value in the church became part of the imperial treasury . On February 24, 303, he promulgated his ” edict against Christians “ in which he prohibited them from meeting in order to celebrate liturgical acts . Despite this, the Christians managed to escape the punishments and with the passage of time, new martyrs were emerging, making Christianity take more strength .

Reforms

There were several reforms created by Diocletian, these are mentioned below.

• Political reform : its main objective was to bring peace to the empire , achieve stability and improve justice . With his reform, he was able to regulate and centralize all political authority and imposed a system of values. It made the figure of the Emperor become a transcendental authority who was above the others.
• Administrative reform : it destroyed the idea that government was a cooperative work and instead established a totally autocratic structure . He established separate departments for tasks and from this, he also created different types of positions which were filled by trained men. He kept several legal advisers within his government and even appointed finance ministers. The bureaucrats increased as did the taxes. It also reduced the power of the governors and limited their ability to oppose the elites.
• Law reform : he continued taking charge of all legal matters and for this he appointed the prefects of the praetorium who helped him regulate chores. Books on jurisprudence began to be published and the Gregorian and Hermogenian Code were created. After reforming the provinces, the governors came to be called judges and were responsible for making decisions.
• Army reform: his military reforms focused on avoiding the concentration of troops in a single command in order to avoid uprisings . Many troops were sent to the provinces and he separated the political power from the military. It also established that soldiers were chosen by hereditary office. This also caused public spending to increase what it paid for with taxes .
• Economic reform : there were several reforms. The first of them was the tax one in which a new tax system was established that was based on two taxes, one for land and the other for animals and people. The currency reform imposed a five-currency system.

Physical characteristics

The characteristics of your description physics are based on the sculptures that were made on the date on which a man is shown with curly hair and short , with beard , eyes large and nose well shaped .

Personality

Diocletian’s personality was quite dominant and at the same time he used to contradict himself. He was very hard on the rebels and was against the Christian religion so he had no problem in persecuting them.

Importance

As a Roman emperor for more than 20 years, Diocletian was a very important character in his time because he was able to bring great stability , security and efficient government to the Roman State after almost half a century in which only chaos had reigned. He managed to put an end to the so-called Crisis of the III Century and with this he was able to restore Rome to its ancient splendor , made a large number of reforms that are common in modern societies even today and, in addition, founded the most beautiful city in the world : Split .

Acknowledgments

There is no data on recognitions that have been delivered to Diocletian. However, today the remains of Diocletian’s palace are still valid and are a tourist attraction for many. A series of medieval fortifications , Gothic palaces and mansions that reflect the Baroque and Renaissance style .

Diocletian’s works

Among his main works are the following:

• He appointed Maximian as his co-emperor and gave him the title of Augustus.
• He named two Caesars: Galerius and Constantius .
• He led several military campaigns against the Alemanni and the usurpers of Egypt.
• It elaborated an important fiscal reform to maintain the constant military campaigns.
• He founded the tetrarchy , a system of government among four which also consisted of four emperors who had power over their regions and who also had their own administrators, secretaries and armies.

Phrases

There are no data on recognized phrases that have been mentioned by Diocletian.

Presence in popular culture

At present, little is known about Diocletian. However, he is still remembered as one of the most important Roman Emperors thanks to all his contributions to the empire which at the same time managed to keep the empire standing.

Curiosities

Some curiosities of Diocletian are mentioned below:

• He managed to create a Palace in Split which is still present in the city and an important city has been built on it.
• The cellars of this palace are located below the city.
• His military career began when he was young and participated in different campaigns on the Danube Border.
• He avenged the death of Lucius Cesonio Baso and was later appointed as emperor by the army of Asia Minor .