Diocletian

Names:

• 22 December 245: Diocles 
• 20 November 284: Imperator Caesar, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus Augustus 
• 1 April 286: Imperator Caesar Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus Augustus Iovius 
• 1 May 305: resigned
• 3 December 313: natural death

Successor of: Numerianus

Relatives:

• mother: Dioclea
• married to: Prisca
• children: Galeria Valeria (in 293 married to Galerius)

Early career:

• 245 Born in Dalmatia (near Salonae?)
• Military service in Moesia
• 283 Consul suffectus (?)

Main deeds:

• 284 Proclaimed as emperor by the troops after the death of Numerianus, son of Carus
• 285 Consul suffectus II; battle of the Margus; dead of Carinus; Diocletianus is recognized by the Senate; visit to Rome; war against the Sarmatians; accepts the titles Germanicus Maximus and Sarmaticus Maximus; Diocletianus appoints Maximianus as his caesar
• 286 Maximianus made co-ruler; Diocletian accepts the title Iovius
• 287 Consul III (with Maximianus); intervention in Armenia; Maximianus fights against the Germanic tribes; Diocletian accepts the title Germanicus Maximus II and III
• 288 Launches an attack on the Germanic tribes, from Raetia; meeting with Maximianus; accepts the title Germanicus Maximus IV
• 289 War against the Sarmatians; accepts the title Sarmaticus Maximus II 
• 290 Consul IV (with Maximianus III)
• 290/291 Meeting with Maximianus in Milan
• 292 Maximianus fights against the Alamans
• 293 Consul V (with Maximianus IV); First Tetrarchy: Galerius and Constantius I Chlorus proclaimed caesares; Diocletian's daughter Galeria Valeria marries to Galerius; all four men accept the title Germanicus Maximus, Diocletian for the fifth time; in the Sasanian Empire, Bahram II dies, and is succeeded by Bahram III, and Narseh
• 294 War against the Sarmatians; accepts the title Sarmaticus Maximus III; Decennalia
• 295 Marriage edict; Galerius fight against the Persians (?); Diocletian accepts the title Persicus Maximus
• 296 Consul VI (with Constantius II); Diocletian fights against the Carpi; accepts the title Carpicus Maximus and adds Britannicus Maximus after Constantius has reconquered Britain; the Sasanian king Narseh occupies Armenia; insurrection of Domitius Domitianus in Egypt
• 297 Death of Domitianus; he is succeeded by Aurelius Achilleus
• 297-298 Diocletian suppresses the rising in Egypt; sack of Alexandria
• 298 Galerius defeats Narseh; end of the Persian war; treaty of Nisibis (Rome gains territory east of the Tigris); Galerius and Diocletian accepts the titles Armeniacus Maximus, Medicus Maximus, Adiabenicus Maximus, and Persicus Maximus II
• 299 Consul VII (with Maximianus VI); Diocletian in Syria
• 300 Accepts, after Galerius' successes along the Danube, the title Sarmaticus Maximus IV
• 301 Monetary reform; edict on Maximum Prizes; accepts, after Constantius' successes along the Rhine, the title Germanicus Maximus VI
• 302 Edict against the Manichaeans (?)
• 303 Consul VIII (with Maximianus VII); in the Sasanian Empire, Narseh dies and is succeeded by Hormizd II; brief insurrection of Eugenius in Seleucia; edict against the Christians; Vicennalia in Rome; joint triumph with Maximianus
• 304 Consul IX (with Maximianus VIII)
• 305 Diocletian and Maximianus resign; Second Tetrarchy: they are succeeded by Galerius and Constantius I Chlorus, who appoint as caesares Maximinus Daia and Severus II
• Diocletian settles in Spalato and keeps out of politics; only in 308, as consul X (with Galerius VII), he joins a conference at Carnuntum. He dies in 313.

Contemporary events:

• 301 Gregory the Illuminator converts the Armenians
• 305 Death of Porphyry

Buildings:

New legions: I Iovia; I Martia; I Maximiana; I Noricorum; I Pontica; II Flavia Constantia; II Herculia; III Diocletiana; III Herculia; IIII Parthica; V Iovia; V Parthica; VI Herculia; VI Parthica

Succeeded by: Galerius