The Tetrarchy
The tetrarchy at war
Power-sharing
3rd Century Crisis
Constantine
Succession
British Empire 286-96
Administrative and economic reforms
8 years of peace in 21 years of war - most opponents are Roman as a result of continuing internal conflict
Yet for citizens this period probably seemed more peaceful - conflict was highly regional
The tetrarchy = rule of 4
All of the men are seasoned generals
Edict of Milan in 313
Saint of the Orthodox Church - neutral sources hard to find though there are a lot of sources available, biographer owes his career to Constantine
Founded Constantinople
Pours massive resources in to church building and infrastructure
Reunifies Roman empire
Debate as to how far Constantine really subscribed to Christianity
May have kept this deliberately ambiguous
Use each other's titles and successes, shown to be cooperative
Religion and beliefs
Diocletian's solutions to the third century crisis
Persecution
Manicheans persecuted first - fear that it would humanise Persians, foreign reliigon
New military defences and better offensives
Power sharing by chosen candidates - not arising by chance
Raise imperial dignity - elevate status of emperor from civilian or soldier emperor
Diocletian's solutions help to show what the thought the problems were
Redistribution of administrative loading so that civil servants etc. can better carry out their jobs
Reform of coinage and tighter taxation - reformed repeatedly
Legislation of belief continues
Mostly win
New defensive lines constructed that are designed to be held - expansion halted to an extent - too much infrastructure to go beyond it
Larger army, new formations and weaponry
Campaigns are often shared though there are zones of responsibility - can cross to work together though it is rare all 4 meet
Seem more successful than 3rd century as they have consistent operational military machinery to rely on
Probably 2x size from c.200 to c.300
More mobile auxiliaries - deploy large amounts of force in rapid fashion e.g. comitantenses that follow emperors around
Allows a more flexible and powerful response
Have seen plural rule before - men ruling with sons - works better when all are seasoned generals
Choose each other - someone they trust and who is competent
When senior emperors resign they are supposed to be replaced by their junior colleagues e.g. 305 when Diocletian and Maxinium step down and are replaced by juniors
Doesn't work very well - Maxinium attempts coups, Diocletian has to be summoned out of retirement to mediate
Family links set up
But emperors not related by blood - supposed to not affect succession - doesn't work
Constantine succeeded by tetrarchy - but 3 sons and 1 nephew
Dynastic succession returns quite quickly
Incorporation of rivals
Not stable
People swapped out, admitted often
Yet capable of accommodating a certain amount of opposition
E.g. in Britain - allowed to rebel because not worth opposing him
Only tends to be for a short time - often removed, Constantine is the exception
Maxentius, Maxinian's son - anomaly
Takes over in Rome after Constantine was made Cesaer and he wasn't
What is unusual is the extent to which he is accpeeted in Rome - starts fighting usurpers of his own
Heart of empire ocucpied for 5/6 years before anyone does anything about it - empire can continue without it
Carausius and his successors
Similar to events of Gallic empire
Instead of submitting to arrest he rebels
Recognized by mainland emperors but not college
Represented himself that way e.g. coinage - no evidence that Diocletian or Maximian ever recognised him - but failure to take action may represent a de facto acceptance for the time being
Murdered by army, successor driven out by Constantinus
Imperial image management e.g. arch at Thessaloniki
One reason they are represented so traditionally
Provinces are divided into 12 - decrease in power for individual governors but increases flexibility of small scale responses. One of the most wide-reaching reforms
More contact between provinces and the centre
Coinage reformed repeatedly - don't work very well
Silver coinage continues to lose value and inflation continues
Set up more mints for increased access to coinage
Overhaul tax system - esp done by Diocletian, new survey of who should pay tax and how much - updated more frequently
Also more frequent census for similar reasons
Opening of Senate to all provinces - can be drawn from much wider area - previously just Rome, thought role of the Senate is not very large at this point
Engagement of other provinces is significant however
Deeply contentious
Infamous for persecutions in their own lifetimes - lots written by persecuted Christians, leads to issues with sources
Want God's favour - Christians are an obstacle
Not a consistent or continuous policy
Ended by 311
Inconsistency suggests they are attempting to placate Fates or Gods - when success stops they have to resume again
More to it than standard persecution narrative from older Christian narratives
In Aurelian's footsteps?
He was a more aggressive campaigner
Reestablished defensive fortifications
Diocletian lived through his rule - be familiar with his policies
Troops to mobile reserve
Coinage reform
Was he an innovator or did he recognise working strategies
At least lives long enough to see it carried out
None of the arrangements of emperors last more than 5 years
10 emperors are usurpers
4 are recognised for a short time
2 wars between tetrarchs - Constantine and Licinius
But no deaths at the hands of the armies
Tendency toward long-term rule
Benefits from long-term rule nature of tetrarchy
Did with Licinius - kills him after, last standing to profit but both did it and persecution had ended
Gets involved in doctrinal disputes - takes different sides
Places emperor in control of debate
Embraces church as an organisation within the empire and places himself at the head
Free of intervention of senate - long -term consequences
Never rules by himself but is senior emperor for a long time
Succession problem solved?
3 sons succeed him and succession remains sort of stable and dynastic
Continues coinage and army reforms
Usually successful on campaigns
Gets benefit of a literate, trained empire-wide organisation
Ends division within empire
Portrayed in conflicting ways - sacrificing with the gods, God as saviour of battle
Summary
Constantine succeeds to Diocletian's success
Maintains what is working
Abandons what isn't
Did Constantine have a master plan?
Saving of the empire was a joint enterprise
Massive change - 2 men in control for most of the century
"It is difficult and perhaps misleading to assess what impact the creation of the tetrarchy had at the time. "
Important and far-reaching reform of the taxation system led to revolts in Egypt - most of the tetrarchy seemed to have lost control over most of the province
Probably stemmed from the need to stabilise coinage and prices and to regulate the collection of taxes
Leads to Edict of Maximal Prices in 301 - possibly just in East and Diocletian's provinces, maybe not beyond
Blames state of the economy on people charging unfair prices
Doesn't work very well but it was attempted - the emperors saw it was their problem
Many Christians described the persecution of Diocletian's later years as a random outburst yet the signs of it coming were present - convenient narrative
Persecution across the empire varied considerably
Does there appear to be such a radical change and stabilization because the preceding period was so badly documented in comparison?
Not organised enough to prevent the political and military convulsion that followed after Diocletian's retirement and before Constantine's acession