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preface
The last emperor of the half-century-long era of military emperors was Diocletian, who put an end to the chaotic era and brought peace and tranquility and stability to the Roman Empire. But later historians were less friendly to him: "Emperor Diocletian was the creator of crime and the designer of evil." He ruined everything, and people could not even stop him from reaching out his sinful hands to the gods. He was driven by greed and insecurity that plunged the world into chaos. ”
The end of the era of chaos
In 284 AD, at the age of 40, Diocletian ascended the throne until he abdicated at the age of 61, during which time he underwent a number of reforms. The most notable of these is the four emperors of the empire.
After replacing Carinus as the sole ruler of the empire, Diocletian began his own rule of tolerance in the fearful eyes of those around him. Not only did he not retaliate against Carinus' supporters, but he also put them in important state positions. In him, the brilliance of the former emperors seemed to reappear.
Diocletian believed that an emperor ruled over a vast empire that was overwhelmed. So in 285 AD, he made his former comrade Maximian a co-emperor, dividing the empire in two, ruling the eastern part of Rome himself and Maximian ruling the western part of the empire. Maximian was about five years younger than Diocletian, but he was also a battle-hardened soldier and had great military talent, and if he became Diocletian's opponent, he would not be underestimated, so that he could establish a partnership of trust between them.
In 286 AD, Diocletian gave Maximian the title of "Augustus" like himself; In 293 AD, he established Galerius and Constantius I as the "Caesar (vice-emperors)" of the East and West, and Diocletian established the "Four Emperors" in which the east and west were divided and ruled by a total of four emperors and deputy emperors.
In addition to stabilizing the political situation and improving the efficiency of border defense, this co-governance system also solves the worries of establishing successors. Because Diocletian did not have a biological son to inherit the throne, when he established the system of co-rule of the four emperors, he clearly stipulated that the two emperors should adopt their respective vice-emperors as adopted sons. That is, when the Zhengdi retired or died, the vice emperor automatically became the right emperor and appointed a new deputy emperor as the successor to the throne.
On the surface, the four emperors divided and ruled Rome, but in fact Diocletian was in a decisive position among the four emperors, and the other three always followed Diocletian's instructions to rule. Historians describe this phenomenon as "they looked up to Emperor Diocletian as if they were looking up to their father or the supreme deity."
In order to cooperate with the system of co-rule of the four emperors, Diocletian also reformed the administration of the empire. First, he redivided the provinces, dividing the entire empire into 12 administrative regions, and he reformed the bureaucracy and implemented the separation of civil and military attachés.
Roman politicians, in principle, were both military and administrative officials. Therefore, those who are now engaged in political activities as members of the Senate also accumulated experience in the battlefield when they were young. However, the warlord scuffles of the military emperor era made Diocletian realize that military operations and administrative governance must be specialized in order to be more efficient. In other words, by separating civilian and military attachés, military attachés would not be restricted by provinces and administrative regions and would be able to take military action quickly.
The division of the empire multiplied the number of soldiers and strengthened its military power. Of course, the financial burden will increase accordingly. So Diocletian adopted a policy of "tax reform." The tax system adopted by Diocletian was called "Capitatio-iugatio", that is, the poll tax and land tax that were previously levied separately were combined to collect taxes based on the comprehensive consideration of food production and productivity to achieve reasonable tax goals. In 297 AD, Diocletian conducted a census and land survey throughout the empire in order to introduce this tax system.
The tax reform was accompanied by a "price limit order" to combat inflation. During the time of the military emperor, Rome encountered all kinds of chaos, in which inflation was a mountain that weighed on the heads of the people.
There is more than one reason for inflation, among which the continuous depreciation of silver coins is indeed an important reason. In this era of military power, the emperor was forced to raise the salaries of his soldiers, but there was no additional source of income. So the emperor's countermeasure was to recast the silver coins, that is, to mix the existing silver coins with a mixture to reduce the silver content of each silver coin, thereby increasing the number of silver coins. But, of course, the value of the currency will decline over time. As a result of this repeated mixing of silver coin quality, prices rose without a ceiling, triggering unexpected inflation.
Diocletian initially implemented only monetary reform, but in view of the unstoppable inflation, he issued an edict in 301 AD setting maximum prices for various goods and services. This is called a "limit order".
The establishment of strong imperial power
Born in the province, Diocletian seemed to have no affection for the city of Rome and had only been to Rome once in his life. But even though the feelings of home and country were weak, Diocletian felt the need to find "common ground" to connect his people as "Romans."
In the chaos of the 3rd century AD, Rome underwent drastic changes. The court and army were full of frontier people, and almost none of them had the cultivation and habits of the Romans. The people who remained in the provinces no longer had the old longing for Rome. The shift of the political center to the east, where Diocletian was located, was one of the main reasons for the unevenness.
Antony's decree made Rome an "empire of the world", but at the cost of losing the "common ground" that bound the Romans together. For Diocletian, who wanted to build a powerful empire, it was difficult to bring the ranks when the hearts of the people were scattered. Because there is nothing common between people, the bond between people is weak, and patriotism will not arise.
As a result, Diocletian restored Rome's ancient belief in God, claiming to be the son of Jupiter, cultivating a common sense of faith among the people, while also focusing power and authority on the emperor. In the same way, Maximian claimed to be the son of the god Heracles, each of whom deified himself and established the obligation of the people to worship the Roman gods. Diocletian, the son of God, appeared at the ceremony dressed in a silk dress sewn with gold thread and jewel-encrusted shoes, asking his subjects to bow down in the Eastern way.
Prior to this, Roman emperors had always referred to themselves as "first citizens", which, unlike "kings", meant that the emperor was nothing more than a great commander with commanding power. In other words, although the name of the Roman emperor is at the top of the roster, in principle he is only a member of the citizens.
This principle changed subtly during the era of the Five Sage Emperors.
In the historical records of the Five Sages Emperor era, it can be seen that people called the emperor "Domine", and "Domine" means master. From an extreme point of view, the appellation reflects the relationship between the emperor and the people, from the relationship between the first citizen and the citizen to the relationship between master and slave. The change in title was not caused by the emperor ordering others to call him "Domine", but in the peaceful era of the Five Sage Emperors, the people faced the majesty of the emperor and naturally formed the title.
However, the authority of the emperor changed qualitatively at the end of the era of the military emperor, and perhaps Diocletian wanted to regain the lost emperor's authority as the son of God. This was a very big reform, because it meant that Rome had to abandon the principle that had been upheld since Augustus—republican Rome. Diocletian ordered others to call him "Domine," and his purpose was clear: to achieve an "absolute monarchy."
However, reforms aimed at strengthening imperial power and re-establishing patriotism encountered unexpected obstacles. In fact, the persecution of Christians that discredited Diocletian in history occurred during the Reformation. At that time, the emperor stipulated that the people were obliged to worship the Roman gods, which was unacceptable to monotheistic Christians. For the sake of religious beliefs, they had to disobey the emperor's will even if their lives were blocked.
The number of Roman Christians in this era was not that large. I'm afraid it's not even a tenth of the total population. However, the Roman army of this era also had Christian believers, so there were incidents of Christian soldiers fleeing the army one after another. Their escape was not motivated by humanitarianism that did not want to kill, but simply out of religious psychology of not wanting to be forced to pay homage to the Roman gods.
Don't get me wrong, Diocletian set the obligation to worship the gods of Rome, but it did not prohibit people from believing in Christianity. His original intention was that people could believe in Jesus or in the Roman gods. However, this will not work for Christians. Because Christianity is a monotheistic religion, it is against doctrine to worship the gods of other religions.
The attitude of Christians who prefer not to bend is a kind of "arrogance" in the eyes of Diocletian, who admits the Christian faith. Diocletian believed that in the process of reform to strengthen imperial power and cultivate patriotic feelings, the attitude of Christians formed a great obstacle to reform.
In 303 AD, Diocletian decreed the abolition of the church and the Bible in the empire, and ordered the arrest and imprisonment of Christian priests. In 304 AD, he also issued an ultimatum: "All people, whether priests or ordinary believers, who fail to worship the Roman gods without discrimination, will be sentenced to death." However, no matter how much persecution they suffered, Christians were determined not to worship the Roman gods. As a result, Diocletian issued a Christian prohibition.
Looking at the context of history, we will find that from Diocletian's position, because Christians did not obey the order to "worship the Roman gods" in any way, it was a helpless act to persecute them.
The perfect dying of a philosopher
Of the 77 emperors who appeared on the stage of Roman history, only one voluntarily abdicated, and he was Diocletian. Although Diocletian's road to reform was also bumpy, he largely cleaned up the chaos, established a new order, and was a great emperor. After completing his mission, he abdicated the throne in the form of abdication, a practice unique in Roman history.
In 305 AD, Diocletian abdicated in the 22nd year of his reign. He was 61 years old and had been turning red since two years earlier. Determined to retire, Diocletian made a surprising move, and he even persuaded another emperor, Maximian, to retire with him. Thus, on May 1, 305, the two Zheng Emperors of the East and the West retired at the same time, and their respective vice-emperors became the new Zheng Emperor.
Diocletian, who left the throne, spent the rest of his life quietly in his villa in Salona, on the Adriatic coast, on the opposite shore of the Italian peninsula. Diocletian is said to have died around 311 AD, and spent the six years after his retirement in a villa near his hometown.
During his time in seclusion, it was completely unknown what kind of life Diocletian lived, and he only appeared in public once. In November 308, he attended the meeting of the emperors at the fortress of Karlentom, a fortress on the Danube. After his retirement, new emperors and deputy emperors naturally emerged, but the struggle between them was fierce. As a result, calls for Diocletian's reinstatement to the throne at the Emperor's Council were high.
However, Diocletian rejected the offer. He said, "If you knew how hard I was taking care of the cabbage I grew in my garden, you wouldn't have asked me to reset it." From now on, he never appeared in public again. So much so that people don't know when he died.
Although Diocletian imposed reforms and had drastic policies such as the arbitrary suppression of Christianity, he was also an excellent emperor who opened the door to a new era for the Roman Empire.
Bibliography:
Lactantius, On the Death of the Persecutor
Eusebius, History of the Christian Church
Group Portrait of the Roman Emperor