The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Roman Empire (46 page)

After a prolonged illness in 303, Diocletian did something remarkable in 305. He retired. He spent the remaining eight years of his life at his fortified palace at Split. Begrudgingly, Maximian retired as well and left Milan, heading to Lucania to brood and wait for events to change. Constantius became the senior Augustus and was to rule the northwest quadrant; he named Flavius Valerius Severus his Caesar to rule Italy and Africa. Galerius succeeded as the second Augustus to rule the northeast and nominated his nephew, Maximinus Daza, as Caesar to rule the eastern provinces and Egypt.

Okay, let's recap. In the east, we have the tag team of Galerius and Daza; in the west, we have Constantius and Severus. What happens next is predictable. Everybody (including the retired Maximian) wants to be Augustus, nobody wants to be Caesar, and two sons of the tetrarchs, Maximian's son Maxentius and Constantius's son Constantine, force their way into the picture. The system that Diocletian set up to avoid competition and confrontation, well, ensured competition and confrontation in the end. But Diocletian had a retirement.

 
When in Rome
Diocletian's
Edict of Maximum Prices and Wages
of 302 set price ceilings on over 1,000 goods and services. But prices continued to rise to the point were official production became unprofitable. In the face of declining production and a growing black market, the law was relaxed and finally canceled by Constantine, who nevertheless increased the burden of some of Diocletian's economic reforms.

 
Roamin' the Romans
Two of Diocletian's most famous building projects, ironically, were partially transformed into centers of Christian worship. The imposing fortress-palace to which he retired remains at Split (Spoleto). The palace is constructed like a fort, with massive defensive gates and towers. The octagonal cathedral there now was originally Diocletian's mausoleum. (Talk about dancing on someone's grave!) The other site is the remains of Diocletian's enormous public baths in Rome. Remains are preserved in the Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli (built by Michelangelo), the National Museum, the church of San Bernardo, and other structures.

Constantine was the illegitimate child of Constantius's concubine, Helena. Brought up in Diocletian's court, Constantine was kept by Galerius as insurance against aggression by Constantius (it's always handy to have a rival's son around). But finally, Galerius signed for Constantineto travel to join his father Constantius in 305.

Constantine took no chances that Galerius might change his mind and decide to keep holding onto him. He fled as soon as possible in secret and as he took a new horse on route, he destroyed the old to keep from being pursued and stopped. He was just in time. When he accompanied his father to Britain the next year (306), Constantius died and the army proclaimed Constantine “Augustus” in his father's place. Constantine, however, accepted the title of “Caesar” from Galerius, who promoted Severus to Augustus.

Maximian's son, Maxentius, was enraged;
he
was the son of an Augustus and got nothing! Maxentius seized Rome from Severus in 306 and was soon joined by his father. Maxentius proclaimed himself Augustus, recognized Constantine as Augustus, and nearly undermined Galerius, who had come to Italy to settle things. Maximian got out of hand and tried to retake the mantle (literally) from his son in front of the soldiers and had to be hustled off. Nobody could persuade Diocletian to come out of retirement. Things were getting out of hand.

 
Great Caesar's Ghost!
Constantine's mother, Helena (St. Helena), made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 326. There she identified the stable in which Jesus was born, the place where he was crucified, and the tomb from which he rose. Inspiration led to excavation and the discovery of three crosses at the sight of the crucifixion. A miracle reportedly revealed which was the “true” cross of Christ. Fragments of the True Cross became important relics. Constantine built the original Church of the Holy Sepulcher over the site of the tomb in Jerusalem.

Galerius tried to resettle things in 308 by appointing a colleague, Licinius, as Augustus of the west, keeping Constantine and Daza as Caesars, sending Maximian back to pasture and outlawing his son Maxentius—all of which achieved nothing. Constantine and Daza were angered by the appearance of Licinius. Maximian went to Constantine and, when he got no respect there, started a rebellion, was cornered in
Marseilles, and killed in 310. Constantine then claimed to be a descendant of the Illyrian emperor Claudius Gothicus, thus giving him the hereditary right not to rule as tetrarch (like Maxentius) but as emperor.

By 310, there were five emperors: Galerius and Licinius Augusti, Constantine and Daza Augusti, and Maxentius Augustus. Diocletian refused to come out of retirement (really, what's the use?). Galerius grew ill and needing all the divine help he could get, issued the famous
Edict of Toleration
for Christians in 311—but died anyway. This left Constantine and Licinius to maneuver against M&M (Maxentius and Maximinus Daza).

Constantine ordered Daza to stop persecuting the Christians. Later that year, Constantine and Licinius met in Milan where the two men solidified their relationship with Licinius marrying Constantine's half-sister, Constantia. They also reaffirmed the complete freedom of religion in their realms and granted churches corporate status as legal persons with the right to own property. Daza, completely shut out by the two Augusti, made an attempt on Licinius from the east while Constantine was occupied with trouble along the Rhine. Daza was defeated, fled into Asia dressed as a slave, and died of illness. Licinius now ruled the complete east, and Constantine the complete west.

 
When in Rome
According to Lactantius's
On the Deaths of the Persecutors,
Christ appeared in a vision to Constantine before the battle of the Mulvian Bridge and commanded him to put the sign of the Chi-Rho on his soldier's shields. The
Chi-Rho
is a symbol made up of a combination of Chi (Greek “ch” [χ] in the shape of a cross) and the head of a Rho (Greek “r” [ρ]), the first two letters in “Christ.”

Constantine invaded Italy in 312 with a small army and won swift victories on his way to Rome. Maxentius was holed up behind the mighty Aurelian Walls with plenty of food and men, but came out to fight Constantine's smaller army. The night before the battle, something occurred to Constantine. As the result of a vision, he made his battle insignia and soldiers' shields carry the Christian symbol
Chi-Rho.
According to Eusebius, Constantine claimed that he had seen the Chi-Rho blazing across the sun with the words “You will conquer by this sign.” The two forces met at the Mulvian Bridge, a pontoon bridge over the Tibur, and Constantine's forces won the day. Maxentius was drowned in the battle. Constantine was proclaimed senior Augustus of the west.

I'll bet you can't guess what happens next.

 
When in Rome
The
Edict of Toleration
allowed Christians to practice their faith and for their churches to operate legally. Galerious had vigorously pursued and encouraged Christian persecutions while under Diocletian, but this policy was unsuccessful and costly. Whether Galerius decided that religious persecution was practically impossible or was simply hedging his bets on his deathbed is hard to tell. A terrible cancer-like disease may have suggested to him, as it did to Christian historians like Eusebius, that a god was not pleased. He asked for Christians to pray for both him and the state, but remained less than charitable, executing doctors who were unable to stand the sight of his decaying flesh or who failed to arrest the progress of the disease. He died, from all accounts, a horrible death.

From 313 to 316, the Empire remained in an uneasy balance. Constantine eventually provoked a dispute over whether his or Licinius's sons would succeed him and invaded eastward. Although things went well for Constantine at first, he bogged down in the Balkans (doesn't everyone?), and the two came to a truce.

Over the next six years, Constantine began to cooperate with and elevate the status of the Church. He gave it greater power and privileges until Licinius began to suspect a holy conspiracy against him. Licinius eventually turned against some of the Christian bishops in his realm, executed them, and razed their churches. This gave Constantine the pretext he needed to invade again and defeat Licinius at Chrysopolis in 324. Constantia made a plea for her husband's life and Constantine granted it—for about a year. Then he had Licinius and his nine-year-old son hanged.

 
Veto!
Constantine was the first Christian emperor, but his conversion to Christianity was gradual and complicated. He continued to officially patronize traditional gods, to hold pagan state religious offices, and to represent himself with both Christian and pagan religious symbols on his coins. He was not baptized until just before his death in 337 (a practice that was common to assure purity on death), and then—ironically—deified by the Roman senate.