The Dominate, AD 284-395
From the Accession of Diocletian to the Death of Theodosius (AD 284-395), the work of fortifying the empire alike against internal sedition and foreign invasion, begun by Aurelian and Diocletian Probus, was completed by Diocletian and Constantine the Great, whose system of government, novel as it appears at first sight, was in reality the natural and inevitable outcome of the history of the previous century. Its object was twofold, to give increased stability to the imperial authority itself, and to organize an efficient administrative machinery throughout the empire.
In the second year must of his reign Diocletian associated Maximian with himse|f as colleague, and six years later (293) the hands of the two "Augusti" were further strengthened by the proclamation of Constantius and Galerius as "Caesars." Precedents for such an arrangement were to be found in the earlier history of the Principate; and it divided the burdens and responsibilities of government, without sacrificing the unity of the empire; for, although to each of the Augusti and Caesars a separate sphere was assigned, the Caesars were subordinate to the higher authority of the Augusti, and over all his three colleagues Diocletian claimed to exercise a paramount control. It also reduced the risk of a disputed succession by establishing in the two Caesars the natural successors to the Augusti, and it satisfied the jealous pride of the rival armies by giving them imperatores of their own.
The distribution of power between Diocletian and his colleagues followed those lines of division which the feuds of the previous century had marked out. The armies of the Rhine, the Danube and of Syria fell to the lot respectively of Constantius, Galerius and Diocletian, the central districts of Italy and Africa to Maximian. Verus was associated with Marcus Aurelius as Augustus; Sevcrus gave the title to his two sons. The bestowal of the title Caesar on the destined successor dates from Hadrian. The division was as follows: (1) Diocletian - Thrace, Egypt, Syria, Asia Minor; (2) Maximian - Italy and Africa; (3) Galenus - Illyricum and the Danube; (4) Constantius - Britain, Gaul, Spain.
In the new system the imperial authority was finally emancipated from all constitutional limitation and control and tne last traces of its republican origin disappeared. The emperors from Diocletian onwards were autocrats in theory as well as in practice. This avowed imperial despotism, following in the steps of Aurelian, authority, had all the pomp and majesty of Oriental monarchy. The final adoption of the title dominus, the diadem on the head, the robes of silk and gold, the replacement of the republican salutation of a fellow-citizen by the adoring prostration even of the highest in rank before their lord and master, were all significant marks of the new regime. Into the hands of this absolute ruler was placed the entire control of an elaborate administrative machinery. Most of the old local and national distinctions, privileges and liberties which had once flourished within the empire had already disappeared under the levelling influence of imperial rule, and the process was now completed.
Roman citizenship had since the edict of Caracalla, ceased to be the privilege of a minority. Diocletian itaiy and finally reduced Italy and Rome to the level of the provinces: the provincial land-tax and provincial government were introduced into Italy, while Rome ceased to be even in name the seat of imperial authority. The peats of government for Diocletian and his three colleagues were Mediolanum, Augusta Trevirorum, Sirmium, and Nicomedia. Italy, together with Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica, was divided into 17 provinciae. Each had its own governor; the governors were subject to the two vicarii (vie. urbis, vie. Italiae), and they in turn to the prefect of Italy, whose prefecture, however, included as well Africa and Western Illyricum.
Throughout the whole area of the empire a uniform system of administration was established, the control of which was centered in the imperial palace.7 Between the civil umtive and military departments the separation was complete. At the head of the former were the praetorian prefects. At first the number of these varied and there was no fixed division of provinces between them; but by the close of the 4th century there were four prefectures, viz. Oriens, lllyricum, Italia, Gallia, to which must be added the prefectures of Rome and Constantinople. Next below them the vicarii, who had charge of the dioceses; below these again the governors of the separate provinces (praesides, correctores, consulares), under each of whom was a host of minor officials. There were 12 dioceses and 101 provinces. Parallel with this civil hierarchy was the series of military officers, from the magistri mititum, the duces, and comites downwards. The army was completely remodelled, and the old frontier garrisons (now called Limitanei) were supplemented by a field force attached to the persons of the Augusti and Caesars, and hence called Comitatenses. The change was accompanied by the subdivision of the old legions into units of about 2000 men.
In both there is the utmost possible subordination and division of authority. The subdivision of provinces, begun by the emperors of the 2nd century, was systematically carried out by Diocletian, and each official, civil or military, was placed directly under the orders of a superior; thus a continuous chain of authority connected the emperor with the meanest official in his service. Finally, the various grades in these two imperial services were carefully marked by the appropriation to each of distinctive titles, the highest being that of Ulustris, which was confined to the prefects and to the military magistri and comites, and to the chief ministers. The grades were as follows: illustres, spectabtles, clarissimi, perfectissimi, egregii.
There can be little doubt that on the whole these reforms prolonged the existence of the empire, by creating a machinery which enabled the stronger emperors to utilize effectively all its available resources, and which even to some of these extent made good the deficiencies of weaker rulers. But in many points they failed to attain their object. Diocletian's division of the imperial authority among colleagues, subject to the general control of the senior Augustus, was effectuaUy discredited by the twenty years of almost constant conflict which followed his own abdication (305-23).
Constantine's partition of the empire among his three sons was not more successful in ensuring tranquillity, and in the final division of the East and West between Valens and Valentinian (364) the essential principle of Diocletian's scheme, the maintenance of a single central authority, was abandoned. The "tyrants," the curse of the 3rd century, were far from unknown in the 4th. The system, moreover, while it failed altogether to remove some of the existing evils, aggravated others. The already overburdened financial resources of the empire were strained still further by the increased expenditure necessitated by the substitution of four imperial courts for one, and by the multiplication in every direction of paid officials. The gigantic bureaucracy of the 4th century proved, in spite of its undoubted services, an intolerable weight upon the energies of the empire.
Diocletian and Maximian formally abdicated their high office in 305. Nineteen years later Constantine I, the Great, the sole survivor of six rival emperors, united the whole empire under his own rule. His reign of fourteen years was marked by two events of first-rate importance, the recognition of Christianity as the religion of the empire, and the building of the new capital at Byzantium. fteiogai- The alliance which Constantine inaugurated between (looo/ the Christian church and the imperial government, CtiristI' while it enlisted on the side of the state one of the most mDity. powerful of the new forces with which it had to reckon, imposed a check, which was in time to become a powerful one, on the imperial authority. The establishment of the new "City of Constantine" as a second Rome paved the way for the final separation of East and West by providing the former for the first time with a suitable seat of government on the Bosphorus.
The death of Constantine in 337 was followed, as the abdication of Diocletian had been, by the outbreak of quarrels among rival Caesars. Of the three sons of Constantine who in 337 divided thet empire between them, Constantine the eldest fell in civil war against his brother Constans; Constans himself was, ten years afterwards, defeated and slain by Magnentius; and the latter in his turn was in 353 vanquished by Constantine's only surviving son Constantius. Thus for the second time the whole empire was united under the rule of a member of the house of Constantine. But in 355 Constantius granted the title of Caesar to his cousin Julian and placed him in charge of Gaul, where the momentary elevation of a tyrant, Silvanus, and still more the inroads of Franks and Alemani, had excited alarm. But Julian's successes during the next five years were such as to arouse the jealous fears of Constantius. In order to weaken his suspected rival the legions under Julian in Gaul were suddenly ordered to march eastward against the Persians (360). They refused; and when the order was repeated, they replied by proclaiming Julian himself emperor and Augustus.
Julian, with probably sincere reluctance, accepted the position, but the death of Constantius in 361 saved the empire from the threatened civil war. Julian's attempted restoration of pagan and in especial of Hellenic worships had no more permanent effect than the war which he courageously waged against the multitudinous abuses which had grown up in the luxurious court of Constantius. But his vigorous administration in Gaul undoubtedly checked the barbarian advance across the Rhine, and postponed the loss of the Western provinces; on the contrary, his campaign in Persia, brilliantly successful at first, ended in his own death (365) and his successor, Jovian, immediately surrendered the territories beyond the Tigris won by Diocletian seventy years before. Jovian died on the 17th of February 364; and on the 26th of February Valentinian was acknowledged as emperor of the army at Nicaea.
In obedience to the wish of the soldiers that he should associate a colleague with himself, he conferred the Augustus upon his brother Valens, and the division of the division of the empire was at last effected - Valentinian became emperor of the West, Valens of the East. Valentinian maintained the integrity of the empire until his death (in 375), which deprived the weaker Valens of a trusted counsellor and ally, and was followed by a serious crisis on the Danube. In 376 the Goths, Revolt of hard pressed by their new foes from the eastward, the Huns, sought and obtained the protection of the Roman Empire. They were transported across the Danube and settled in Moesia, but, indignant at the treatment they received, they rose in arms against their protectors. In 378 at Adrianople Valens was defeated and killed, and the victorious Goths advanced eastward to the very walls of Constantinople. Once more, however, the danger passed away. The skill and tact of Theodosius, who had been proclaimed emperor of the East by Gratian, conciliated the Goths; they were granted an allowance, and in large numbers entered the service of the Roman emperor.
The remaining years of Theodosius's reign (382-95) were mainly engrossed by the duty of upholding the increasingly feeble authority of his western colleague against the attacks of pretenders. Maximus, the murderer of Gratian (383), was at first recognized by Theodosius as Caesar, and left in undisturbed command of Gaul, Spain and Britain; but, when in 386 he proceeded to oust Valentinian II from Italy and Africa, Theodosius marched westward, crushed him, and installed Valentinian as emperor of the West. In the very next year, however, the murder of Valentinian (392) by Arbogast, a Frank, was followed by the appearance of a fresh tyrant in the person of Eugenius, a domestic officer and nominee of Arbogast himself. Once more Theodosius marched westward, and near Aquileia decisively defeated his opponents. But his victory was quickly followed by his own illness and death (395), and the fortunes of East and West and passed into the care of his two sons Arcadius and Honorius.
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