CHAPTER XIII The reign of Diocletian and his three associates, Maximian, Galerius, and Constantius-General re-establishment of order and tranquillity-The Persian war, victory, and triumph-The new form of administration-Abdication and retirement of Diocletian and Maximian AR and char Diocletian, [17 Nov. S the reign of Diocletian was more illustrious than that Elevation of any of his predecessors, so was his birth more abject acter of and obscure. The strong claims of merit and of vio- A.D. 285 lence had frequently superseded the ideal prerogatives of nobility; 2841 but a distinct line of separation was hitherto preserved between the free and the servile part of mankind. The parents of Diocletian had been slaves in the house of Anulinus, a Roman senator; nor was he himself distinguished by any other name than that which he derived from a small town in Dalmatia, from whence his mother deduced her origin. It is, however, probable, that his father obtained the freedom of the family, and that he soon acquired an office of scribe, which was commonly exercised by persons of his condition. Favourable oracles, or rather the consciousness of superior merit, prompted his aspiring son to pursue the profession of arms and the hopes of fortune; and it would be extremely curious to observe the gradation of arts and accidents which enabled him in the end 1 Eutrop. ix. 19. Victor in Epitom. [39, 1]. The town seems to have been properly Doclia, from the small tribe of Illyrians (see Cellarius, Geograph. Antiqua, tom. i. p. 393); and the original name of the fortunate slave was prob ably Docles; he first lengthened it to the Grecian harmony of Diocles, and at length to the Roman majesty of Diocletianus. He likewise assumed the Patrician name of Valerius, and it is usually given him by Aurelius Victor. [But see the doubts of Seeck, Geschichte des Untergangs der antiken Welt, i. 405. On Docles see the monograph "On the Roman Town of Doclea in Montenegro" (in Archæologia, 55, p. 33 sqq.) by Munro, Anderson, Milne, and Haverfield, 1896.] 2See Dacier on the sixth satire of the second book of Horace. Cornel. Nepos, in Vit. Eumen. c. 1. His clem 3 to fulfil those oracles, and to display that merit to the world. Diocletian was successively promoted to the government of Mæsia, the honours of the consulship, and the important command of the guards of the palace. He distinguished his abilities in the Persian war; and, after the death of Numerian, the slave, by the confession and judgment of his rivals, was declared the most worthy of the Imperial throne. The malice of religious zeal, whilst it arraigns the savage fierceness of his colleague Maximian, has affected to cast suspicions on the personal courage of the Emperor Diocletian. It would not be easy to persuade us of the cowardice of a soldier of fortune, who acquired and preserved the esteem of the legions, as well as the favour of so many warlike princes. Yet even calumny is sagacious enough to discover and to attack the most vulnerable part. The valour of Diocletian was never found inadequate to his duty, or to the occasion; but he appears not to have possessed the daring and generous spirit of a hero, who courts danger and fame, disdains artifice, and boldly challenges the allegiance of his equals. His abilities were useful rather than splendid; a vigorous mind, improved by the experience and study of mankind, dexterity and application in business; a judicious mixture of liberality and economy, of mildness and rigour; profound dissimulation under the disguise of military frankness; steadiness to pursue his ends; flexibility to vary his means; and above all the great art of submitting his own passions, as well as those of others, to the interest of his ambition, and of colouring his ambition with the most specious pretences of justice and public utility. Like Augustus, Diocletian may be considered as the founder of a new empire. Like the adopted son of Cæsar, he was distinguished as a statesman rather than a warrior; nor did either of those princes employ force, whenever their purpose could be effected by policy. The victory of Diocletian was remarkable for its singular ency and mildness. A people accustomed to applaud the clemency of the conqueror, if the usual punishments of death, exile and confis victory Lactantius (or whoever was the author of the little treatise De Mortibus Persecutorum [see Appendix 1]) accuses Diocletian of timidity in two places, c. 7, 8. In chap. 9, he says of him, "erat in omni tumultu meticulosus et animi disjectus". [It is usual to express this fact by saying that the Principate or " Dyarchy" founded by Augustus was transformed by Diocletian into an absolute Monarchy.] cation were inflicted with any degree of temper and equity, beheld with the most pleasing astonishment a civil war, the flames of which were extinguished in the field of battle. Diocletian received into his confidence Aristobulus, the principal minister of the house of Carus, respected the lives, the fortunes, and the dignity of his adversaries, and even continued in their respective stations the greater number of the servants of Carinus.5 It is not improbable that motives of prudence might assist the humanity of the artful Dalmatian; of these servants many had purchased his favour by secret treachery; in others, he esteemed their grateful fidelity to an unfortunate master. The discerning judgment of Aurelian, of Probus, and of Carus, had filled the several departments of the state and army with officers of approved merit, whose removal would have injured the public service, without promoting the interest of the successor. Such a conduct, however, displayed to the Roman world the fairest prospect of the new reign, and the emperor affected to confirm. this favourable prepossession by declaring that, among all the virtues of his predecessors, he was the most ambitious of imitating the humane philosophy of Marcus Antoninus." tion and of Maxim A.D. 286, The first considerable action of his reign seemed to evince Associa his sincerity as well as his moderation. After the example of character Marcus, he gave himself a colleague in the person of Maximian, ian, on whom he bestowed at first the title of Cæsar, and afterwards that of Augustus. But the motives of his conduct, as well as 256 Augus the object of his choice, were of a very different nature from those of his admired predecessor. By investing a luxurious youth with the honours of the purple, Marcus had discharged a In this encomium, Aurelius Victor [Cæs. 39, 5] seems to convey a just, though indirect, censure of the cruelty of Constantius. It appears from the Fasti, that Aristobulus remained præfect of the city, and that he ended with Diocletian the consulship which he had commenced with Carinus. Aurelius Victor [Cæs. 39] styles Diocletian, "Parentem potius quam Dominum". See Hist. August. p. 30 [iv. 19]. 7 The question of the time when Maximian received the honours of Cæsar and Augustus has divided modern critics, and given occasion to a great deal of learned wrangling. I have followed M. de Tillemont (Histoire des Empereurs, tom. iv. p. 500-505), who has weighed the several reasons and difficulties with his scrupulous accuracy. [The question has been discussed by Mommsen (Abhandlungen of the Berlin Academy for 1860), who concludes that Maximian was named Cæsar, with tribunician power, soon after 17th Sept., 285, and became Augustus with full imperial powers 1st April, 286. But Seeck (op. cit., 416, 418) refers his elevation as Cæsar to 1st April, 285, and his elevation as Augustus to the beginning of 286. That the two elevations were distinct in time is stated by Eutropius, ix, 20, 3 and 22, 1; cp. C.I.L. viii. 10227.] [285 Cæsar. tus] |