Division of the Roman empire; Diocletian and the Tetrarchy

Historical Context Note

Litencyc Editors (Independent Scholar - Europe)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.1.2: Ancient Roman Writing and Culture (Republic and Empire), -750-476.
Vol. editors: Eleni Bozia (University of Florida), Anca Dan (École Practique de Hautes Études PSL), Martine Diepenbroek (University of Johannesburg), William John Dominik (University of Otago), Giacomo Fedeli (University of Exeter), Victoria Fendel (University of Oxford), Thomas Habinek (University of Southern California), Emily Kneebone (University of Nottingham), Elodie Paillard (University of Sydney), Sophia Papaioannou (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens), Guendalina Daniela Maria Taietti (University of Liverpool), Jula Wildberger (American University of Paris)

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Politics

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Date of occurrence 293

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Ancient Rome (Republic & Empire) (Location)

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Although previous emperors had divided the Empire into eastern and western halves, Diocletian Antonianus split the administration of the Empire into four separate sections, a system known as the Tetrarchy.

Diocletian ruled the eastern Empire and installed Maximian as his co-emperor in the west. Subordinate to these two “Augusti”, or senior emperors, were two “Caesars”, Galerius Maximianus in the east and Julius Constantius in the west. The Caesars were officially adopted by their emperors, in order to establish them as the legitimate heirs to power and thus discourage conspiracies by outsiders to usurp the Augusti.

The Tetrarchy worked well for as long as Diocletian remained in power. In 305 he decided it was time for him and Maximian to retire in order that the Caesars should take over as Augusti, nominate their own Caesars, and...

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184 words

Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "Division of the Roman empire; Diocletian and the Tetrarchy". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 16 November 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1626, accessed 09 June 2026.]

Division of the Roman empire; Diocletian and the Tetrarchy

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