v08_0502 - DIOCLETIAN Aurelianus

DIOCLETIAN

(20/11/284-1/05/305)

Augustus

Diocletian, born in 245 in Dalmatia (Split), is an Illyrian emperor. After having eliminated Aper, prefect of the praetorium, also father-in-law and assassin of Numérien, he put on the purple on November 20, 284. Fighting first against Carin, last son of Carus, he was beaten at Margus the following year. But Carin is assassinated and Diocletian alone remains august. He raised Maximian, a compatriot, to the rank of Caesar in November 285, then Augustus on April 1, 286. Diocletian had just created a new political regime, the dyarchy. Two emperors shared military and political power there, but Maximian remained subordinate to Diocletian. Diocletian places himself under the Jovian protection (of Jupiter) while Maximian is of Herculean essence (of Hercules). Diocletian spent the first ten years of his reign fighting in the East, while Maximian remained in the West. Diocletian is the first emperor of the Lower Empire, according to the expression of Gibbons, and the founder of the dominion.