Transcript Diocletian, Constantine and the End of the Roman Empire

Diocletian, Constantine and
the End of the Roman Empire
Capitoline Museums
Palazzo dei Conservatori Museum: Courtyard
Colossal statue of Constantine: head
Marble, cm 260 (= 8’ 6”)
inv. MC0757
313-324 AD
Sources for the End of the
th
Roman Empire: 4 -5th c.
Apologists
Proponents of paganism
Christian fathers
4th-6th c. law codes (Justinian, 528-534)
Archaeological evidence fragmentary and
unrevealing: graffiti disappears, coins focus
on the emperors
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Diocletian, 284-305

Divides empire into two: tetrarchy
Diocletian (Augustus), Galerius (Caesar): East
Maximian (Augustus), Constantius (Caesar): West

Able administrator
Rome not caput mundi (“head of world”)
Retires, along with Maximian
Caesars succeed
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Impact of Diocletian’s rule
All sovereignty  emperor
Titles: Imperator, Caesar, Augustus;
tribunicia potestas; Dominus noster (“our
Lord”)
“Adore the purple”
Asian court
Jovius (Diocletian) & Herculius (Maximian)
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Impact of Diocletian’s rule
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Division of empire
Prefectures: Gaul, Italy, Illyricum, Oriens.
Governed by praetorian prefect
12 dioceses (3/prefecture). Governed by vicars
120 provinces (10/diocese)
Equestrian bureaucracy oversaw arsenals,
taxes, mail, spying, palace, largess, imperial
landholdings

Impact of Diocletian’s rule
Separation: military from civilian authority
Army doubled in size; under duces (“dukes”)
Taxes reorganized; payment “in kind”
Price edict
Extortion, bribery, espionage undermined integrity
of empire
Emphasis on mos maiorum (“ancestral tradition”)
Persecution of Christians in 303

Constantine, 306-337
Son of Caesar Constantius, acclaimed as emperor
by troops in 306
By 310, five Augusti; by 312, down to two:
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Constantine vs. Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge
XP (chi-rho) vision in the sky
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By 324, entire empire under Constantine
Persecutions of Christians ceased
Strengthened the military, government
Founded Constantinople in 324 at Byzantium
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Constantine, 306-337
Constantinople – “city of Constantine” –
resembled Rome
Rome becomes a minor city
Constantine embraced Christianity but remained
pagan (pontifex maximus; worship of sun god =
syncretism)
Restored empire’s prestige, peace, dynasty, and
was baptized on deathbed
Transformed Rome to a Christian state
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Decline and fall
Rome sacked by Alaric, Goths in 410; last pagan
emperor Romulus Augustulus 476
Why did Roman civilization end?
Natural causes
Social causes
Economic causes
Political causes
Military causes
Moral causes
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