66-1 Diocletian

Diocletian

284 – 305 AD

Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus was born to a poor family in Dalmatia (ILLYRICUM) during the mid-3rd century AD. Diocletian entered military service where he displayed a talent for leadership prompting his career to advance. By 284 AD, Diocletian became a member of the legions under the Emperor Carus and continued to advance in the ranks reaching the position of the prestigious commander of the elite protectores domestici upon the succession of the Emperor Numerian. It was through this position that the won the trust and loyalty of the legions in the imperial army stationed near Nicomedia. When Numerian died under very suspicious circumstances, the soldiers turned to Diocletian demanding vengeance. It is said that many years before, a druidess had once predicted that Diocletian would one day become emperor. However, she also warned that first he would have to slay the boar (aper). Whether this tale is true or not, it is impossible to say with such a distance in time. Nevertheless, the assassin of Numerian was Prefect of the Guard Arrius Aper who was brought before Diocletian, pronounced guilty and executed. According to tradition, once the prophesy was fulfilled (slaying of the “boar”) Diocletian was proclaimed Emperor by the troops.

Diocletian thus began on the road to solidify his claim to the throne. He crossed over the Bosporus in order to confront Numerian’s brother, Carinus. Victory came swiftly 285 AD, and Diocletian emerged as the sole ruler of the entire Roman Empire.

From the outset, Diocletian set about reorganizing the state. He worked over the next several years to bring his vision of a new order to fruition. Diocletian named his old friend, the reliable Maximianus, to be first his Caesar junior partner and then raised him to the rank of Augustus (co-emperor) in 286 AD. Maximianus aided Diocletian in all matters, and the next six years were spent in repairing the frontiers, the state and above all the honor of the Roman Empire, which had been badly damaged by the chaos that dominated the previous 60 years.