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Diocletian
Diocletian: emperor of the Roman world (r. 284-305).
Names:
- 22 December 245: Diocles
- 20 November 284: Imperator Caesar, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus Augustus
- 1 April 286: Imperator Caesar Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus Augustus Iovius
- 1 May 305: resigned
- 3 December 313: natural death
co-emperor of Maximianus; ruled in the east
Successor of: Numerianus
Relatives:
- mother: Dioclea
- married to: Prisca
- children: Galeria Valeria (in 293 married to Galerius)
Early career
Main deeds
- 284 Proclaimed as emperor by the troops after the death of Numerianus, son of Carus
- 285 Consul suffectus II; battle of the Margus; dead of Carinus; Diocletianus is recognized by the Senate; visit to Rome; war against the Sarmatians; accepts the titles Germanicus Maximus and Sarmaticus Maximus; Diocletianus appoints Maximianus as his caesar
- 286 Maximianus made co-ruler; Diocletian accepts the title Iovius
- 287 Consul III (with Maximianus); intervention in Armenia; Maximianus fights against the Germanic tribes; Diocletian accepts the title Germanicus Maximus II and III
- 288 Launches an attack on the Germanic tribes, from Raetia; meeting with Maximianus; accepts the title Germanicus Maximus IV
- 289 War against the Sarmatians; accepts the title Sarmaticus Maximus II
- 290 Consul IV (with Maximianus III)
- 290/291 Meeting with Maximianus in Milan
- 292 Maximianus fights against the Alamans
- 293 Consul V (with Maximianus IV); First Tetrarchy: Galerius and Constantius I Chlorus proclaimed caesares; Diocletian's daughter Galeria Valeria marries to Galerius; all four men accept the title Germanicus Maximus, Diocletian for the fifth time; in the Sasanian Empire, Bahram II dies, and is succeeded by Bahram III, and Narseh
- 294 War against the Sarmatians; accepts the title Sarmaticus Maximus III; Decennalia
- 295 Marriage edict; Galerius fight against the Persians (?); Diocletian accepts the title Persicus Maximus
- 296 Consul VI (with Constantius II); Diocletian fights against the Carpi; accepts the title Carpicus Maximus and adds Britannicus Maximus after Constantius has reconquered Britain; the Sasanian king Narseh occupies Armenia; insurrection of Domitius Domitianus in Egypt
- 297 Death of Domitianus; he is succeeded by Aurelius Achilleus
- 297-298 Diocletian suppresses the rising in Egypt; sack of Alexandria
- 298 Galerius defeats Narseh; end of the Persian war; treaty of Nisibis (Rome gains territory east of the Tigris); Galerius and Diocletian accepts the titles Armeniacus Maximus, Medicus Maximus, Adiabenicus Maximus, and Persicus Maximus II
- 299 Consul VII (with Maximianus VI); Diocletian in Syria
- 300 Accepts, after Galerius' successes along the Danube, the title Sarmaticus Maximus IV
- 301 Monetary reform; edict on Maximum Prizes; accepts, after Constantius' successes along the Rhine, the title Germanicus Maximus VI
- 302 Edict against the Manichaeans (?)
- 303 Consul VIII (with Maximianus VII); in the Sasanian Empire, Narseh dies and is succeeded by Hormizd II; brief insurrection of Eugenius in Seleucia; edict against the Christians; Vicennalia in Rome; joint triumph with Maximianus
- 304 Consul IX (with Maximianus VIII)
- 305 Diocletian and Maximianus resign; Second Tetrarchy: they are succeeded by Galerius and Constantius I Chlorus, who appoint as caesares Maximinus Daia and Severus II
- Diocletian settles in Spalatum and keeps out of politics; only in 308, as consul X (with Galerius VII), he joins a conference at Carnuntum. He dies in 313.
Contemporary events
- 301 Gregory the Illuminator converts the Armenians
- 305 Death of Porphyry
Buildings
Baths of Diocletian (Rome); Spalato
New legions: I Iovia; I Martia; I Maximiana; I Noricorum; I Pontica; II Flavia Constantia; II Herculia; III Diocletiana; III Herculia; IIII Parthica; V Iovia; V Parthica; VI Herculia; VI Parthica
Succeeded by: Galerius