Diocletian (284-304) and his successor Constantine (r. 313-337), both Illyrican peasants who rose through the ranks of the army, changed the imperial system to the point of reshaping the Roman state and society. Borders had hardly been rebuilt when Diocletian rose to the Purple; Germanic and Sassanid threats persisted, while commerce and agricultural declined, resulting in military requisitioning and onerous supply shortages. This precarious condition was made worse by the coinage’s ever-decreasing silver content, which resulted in inflation. Diocletian’s first act after ascending to the throne was to guarantee that he did not follow in the footsteps of past military emperors. He withdrew to a distant palace in Nicomedia (Asia Minor), renouncing the traditional Principate idea of imperial primus inter pares and senatorial partnership in governing in favor of a remote, semi-deified ruler.
Diocletian then made a number of steps to resurrect the Roman Empire: 1) Due to continual military threats from both the East and the West, he split the empire in two. Maximian was named co-emperor of Italy, Gaul, North Africa, and Iberia, with Milan serving as the effective capital. All else, including the Balkans, was reserved for Diocletian, who controlled from Nicomedia. 2) Concerned about succession, he and Maximian, both titled Augustus, adopted trusted generals as sons and named them Caesars, who acted as deputies and would take the throne upon the death of an Augustus. The Tetrarchate was the name given to this arrangement. 3) The administrative divisions were reformed, with the 50 existing provinces subdivided into 100 and grouped into 13 intermediate dioceses. These were managed by a centrally appointed bureaucracy tasked with overseeing the behavior of local decurions. The bureaucracy established a link between the outlying districts and Rome proper, limiting the power of potential rebels while enhancing efficiency. The empire has transformed into a bureaucratic state. 4) Given the strength of the army, defending long boundaries became extremely difficult. It was increased by Diocletian from 300,000 to 600,000 people. To find soldiers, he ordered that soldiers’ sons join their dads in the army. This decree established a caste, which provided a ready supply of troops but also widening socioeconomic disparities in Roman society. Conscription was also implemented over the empire. Most troops from the 300s were from the Balkans, barbarian peoples who had recently entered Roman borders, because many coastal and older Roman provinces were exempt from the draft. 5) Beginning in the Severi years, debasement of the coinage (decreasing its silver content) led out-of-control inflation. The state was having increasing difficulty paying its debts, soldiers, and obtaining fresh money. Diocletian issued a new bimetallic currency, consisting of a good gold coin and a heavier silver coin, to combat inflation and increase taxes. He also instituted a new land tax based on a survey of the empire’s agricultural lands. The goal was to make taxes more equitable and bearable so that the government could forecast available and needed revenues for the coming year and create a budget that was entirely funded by taxes. Peasants were unable to meet their tax burden and fled their debts by fleeing to the city, squeezing urban surroundings for food, causing problems when the exchange rate between gold and silver coins was inaccurate, causing bad money to drive out the good. In the year 302, Diocletian introduced new policies. It was illegal for the peasant to leave his plot of land. Though remaining free in other ways, this paved the way for peasant enslavement and laid the groundwork for the establishment of manorial systems. Furthermore, taxes were now paid in kind, in the form of commodities that the government could use. Finally, price and wage controls were imposed across the empire in the goal of preventing inflation and ensuring commoners’ livelihoods. To ensure the receipt of tax revenues, provincial urban business classes, known as decurions, were obliged to serve as tax collectors for the rest of their lives. Diocletian’s later development of state workshops, whose slave and conscript workers produced armaments and clothing for the army and bureaucracy, allowing the state to bypass market dynamics.
In 304, Diocletian and Maximian retired, and their deputies became embroiled in a feud.
At the Battle of Milvian Bridge, Constantine overcame his main competitor, Maxentius (312).
He shared authority with Licinius in the East as Augustus of the West until 324, when he overcame Licinius and assumed sole control of the Empire.
Diocletian’s reforms were continued by Constantine.
The imperial court ceremony was made even more restricted and rigid.
The senate was reduced to the role of Rome’s city council, while the central government’s bureaucracy was expanded.
The army’s masters, known as magistri militum, ensured imperial control of the military forces.
These were enlarged to 900,000 soldiers, with a growing Germanized field army and marginally Romanized barbarian forces stationed as federates around the borders (foederati).
There are now 117 provinces and 14 dioceses, all of which are administered by four civilian praetorian prefectures.
For the first time, the military and civil administrations were separated.
The Crown Council of Constantine acted as a cabinet.
Constantine prevented decurions from joining the civil bureaucracy in order to avoid paying taxes, and made them a hereditary class.
In two respects, Constantine outdid Diocletian.
A) Building on the ruins of Byzantium on the Bosphorus, Constantine constructed a new imperial capital for the East, extending previous monarchs’ eastern proclivities.
Constantinople was built over a six-year period, commencing in 325.
Constantine drew wealthy senatorial families to the city, formed a senate, and instituted a corn handout to entice the poor.
B) Constantinople was to be a different type of Roman city: Christian.
Constantine had a vision that he took as Christian inspiration just before the Fight of Milvian Bridge, and he went on to win the battle.
He became a great benefactor of Christianity and the Church after that.
Unlike Diocletian’s harsh persecutions of Christians, Constantine’s Edict of Milan (313) legalized Christianity as a corporate organization.
Despite not making Christianity the national religion, the Emperor took many steps to promote it: 1) He constructed several imposing cathedrals in the empire’s major towns, including St. Peter’s Basilica. 2) He gave the church huge agricultural areas, the proceeds of which were used to fund church expansion. 3) Because the church was recognized for its generosity, Constantine granted it access to imperial grain reserves, allowing it to distribute the grain. 4) The Church was granted the right to accept bequests, and bequests of land to the corporate church soon made it the largest landowner in the Western world. 5) In order to elevate bishops’ status, Constantine granted them the right to establish civil courts to which the entire populace may appeal. 6) Decurions were allowed to join the clergy in order to avoid their responsibilities. 7) Sunday was designated as a state holiday. By the 330s, when Constantine robbed pagan temples of their agricultural land and precious metals, Christianity had transformed from a small, persecuted community to a vital part of the Roman state, thanks to these actions and the emperor’s courtship of converts and apologetic stance. He also outlawed sacrifice, which was at the heart of pagan ceremonies. In 337, Constantine died and was baptized on his deathbed.
Commentary
Given prior trends and the Empire’s perceived demands, Diocletian and Constantine carried the change in Roman state and society to a natural conclusion. Emperors became isolated, orientalized leaders by intent. There was no longer any pretense of equality between the Senate and the House of Representatives, which was stripped of its governing, consultative, and fiscal powers. On paper, political and social hierarchies were made considerably more rigid. Along with demonstrating the effect of long residence in Eastern sections of the Empire on the Emperors’ political views, it’s probable that this was done to elevate the emperorswho may have felt insecure as Balkans or half-Germansabove the level of being assassinated.
What was Diocletian’s solution to inflation?
The citizens of the ancient Roman Empire distrusted paper money and refused to accept anything other than gold or silver coin as payment. As a result, the rulers were prevented from expanding the money supply through the discreet approach of printing more currency.
However, the Roman emperors soon devised a clever technique. They then proceeded to summon the realm’s coins, ostensibly for repairs. They then lowered the silver content of the money without changing its original face value by different techniques, such as filing off small pieces of the coins or adding cheaper alloys. This devaluation allowed them to increase the number of silver coins in circulation in Rome. Nero initiated the practice, which was accelerated by his successors. The denarius (standard silver coin) had been reduced to one-tenth of its former worth by Diocletian’s rule.
As a result, prices across the enormous Roman empire skyrocketed. The public, as has been the case throughout history, was outraged and accused merchants and speculators of creating the price increase. The only solution, it was widely believed, was for the government to impose strict maximum price regulations.
As a result, Emperor Diocletian, a “friend of the people,” issued his famous Edict in 301 A.D., which established maximum pay for all jobs and set ceiling prices on all commodities. Here are a few examples: 100 denarii for crushed beans; 60 denarii for uncrushed beans; 100 denarii for dry kidney beans Veterinary, 6 den. per animal for hoof clipping. Veterinary, 20 den. per animal for bleeding heads. Writer, 25 den. per 100 lines for excellent writing. Writer, 20 den. per 100 lines for second-quality writing.
The proclamation of Diocletian, which introduced the Edict, is strikingly similar to modern exhortations:
We must put a stop to the endless and frenzied avarice that hastens to its own wealth without regard for humanity. This avarice, which has no regard for the general good, is devouring the wealth of those who are in desperate need. We, the protectors of humanity, have agreed that justice should act as arbiter, so that the solution that mankind itself could not provide may be applied to the common good of everyone through the remedies of our wisdom.
Immoderate pricing are so common in the markets that plentiful supply have no effect on the unbridled desire for profit. Men whose only goal is to profit, to stifle universal prosperity, men who, individually, are awash in vast fortunes that might totally satisfy entire nations, want to seize smaller fortunes and pursue destructive percentages. Concern for humanity as a whole leads us to believe that such men’s avarice should be limited. Profiteers are extorting prices from items, robbing soldiers of their bonuses and salaries in a single transaction.
As a result, we have mandated that a maximum be created, so that avarice may be curbed by the boundaries of our statute whenever the violence of high pricing arises anyplace. Anyone who violates this statute will face the death sentence in order to ensure proper enforcement. The same penalty will be imposed on anybody who, in their desire to buy, colludes with the seller’s greed to violate the law. He who believes he must withdraw his goods from the general market as a result of this legislation is also subject to the death penalty.
We appeal to everyone’s devotion so that a law enacted for the general welfare can be followed with care and obedience.
Diocletian was the one who could force people to trade at the ceiling prices. Despite this, the absolute monarch of the civilized world, an experienced general in command of a vast secret police force, was forced to submit. After a brief period, almost nothing was offered for sale, and all commodities were in low supply.
The price-fixing Edict had to be repealed by Diocletian. When the government stopped diluting the money supply in 307 A.D., prices finally stabilized.
What did Diocletian and Constantine do?
Both Diocletian and Constantine reformed the Roman Empire. Diocletian divided the empire in half, ruling in the east and appointing a co-emperor to reign in the west. Constantine relocated the empire’s capital to modern-day Turkey, renaming it Constantinople.
How did Diocletian and Constantine reform Rome?
Diocletian and Constantine instituted economic and social reforms that included a new administrative structure, a rigid economic and social system, and a new state religion. To make it easier to rule, they split the empire into prefectures. Constantine built a new capital city himself.
What modifications did Diocletian and Constantine make to the empire in order to keep it stable?
Diocletian established a new administrative system known as the tetrarchy (rule by four) and expanded the number of provinces. He also established a program requiring Romans to worship the emperor and state gods, as well as a minimum wage. The Roman senate was robbed of power by Constantine, who gave the emperor unrivaled power.
What steps did Emperor Diocletian take to address the issues?
What steps did Diocletian take to address Rome’s problems? To make administration easier, a co-emperor (Maximian) was appointed and the empire was divided in two.
How did Emperor Diocletian try to keep prices under control?
Because if politicians in Congress who advocate tighter price restrictions on energy expenses in California and other Western states ignore the Department of Energy’s recent report on the subject, summer will get longer and hotter for many Americans living west of the Rockies.
Price caps, which, let’s not forget, are what got California into this issue in the first place, will not ease the energy situation, according to the report. In fact, they’ll almost certainly make things worse.
According to the report, a $150 “hard cap” on electricity rates, such as the one proposed by California Governor Gray Davis, would make power production far more expensive, causing some businesses to close. This might result in the state losing up to 3,600 megawatts of generating capability. That’s enough electricity to keep the lights on in over 300,000 houses.
And the most popular alternative price-fixing strategy, a “Cost-Plus-$25” proposal, would prevent the state from adding “just” 1,300 megawatts to its capacity. Even if reasonable people disagree on how to tackle California’s crisis, no one would argue for a reduction in capacity.
According to the report, price limitations “could double the number of rolling blackouts from 113 to 235 hours, putting 1.575 million families in the dark.”
From ancient Egypt to the present, the book illustrates the unqualified failure of pricing restrictions. Consider what happened when the Pharaohs attempted to regulate the wheat supply in the name of preventing famine. Control gave way to direction, and direction gave way to complete government ownership over time. Farmers, unable to make a profit, produced less and less wheat until, surprise, hunger struck. The economy failed, workers fled the cities, and the Pharaohs’ reign came to an end around 3000 B.C.
Hammurabi’s contribution to the world is that he wrote the world’s first official written legal codes. But the extensive wage and price regulations he included in that initial law are his legacy to the Babylonian kingdom. They damaged the economy to the point where the empire came crashing down.
After prior price restrictions failed, the Roman emperor Diocletian implemented wage and price controls in an attempt to correct the market.
The Roman government acquired corn in the fourth century B.C. and resold it at a low set price when there was a scarcity. It went much further in 58 B.C., granting free wheat to all citizens. Farmers were flocking to Rome in droves because they could live and eat without having to labor. By Julius Ceasar’s reign, one out of every three Romans was receiving government wheat.
The government attempted to correct the situation by issuing more currency. But that only added to the problem of increasing inflation. Diocletian instituted wage and price regulations, and anyone who disobeyed them or kept commodities from the market was sentenced to death.
“People broughtprovisions no longer to market since they could not obtain a reasonableprice for them,” according to one historian, “and this aggravated the shortage so badly that…the rule itself was thrown aside.” Soon after, Diocletian was deposed and forced to abdicate the throne after only four years on the throne.
Then there was Bengal, a former British colony. The government established price controls after its rice crop failed in 1770. The subsequent starvation killed one-third of the population. Bengal faced famine again nearly a century later. This time, the government promoted rice speculation. Merchants bought rice overseas, transported it back to Bengal, sold it for a profit, and the famine was averted.
Americans, too, have succumbed to the allure of price controls. From the time of the Continental Army, when price controls nearly brought the American Revolution to a halt, through the 1970s, when President Nixon tried to combat creeping inflation with wage and price freezes, American consumers have borne the brunt of these failed policies.
Will Congress pay attention to the Department of Energy and the lessons of history? Or will we have to learn this lesson the hard way once more?
What was Constantine’s contribution to the economy?
Following the economic upheaval caused by the 3rd century AD inflationary crisis, Emperor Constantine resolved to alter the monetary system to restore stability. In AD 310, he began issuing a new gold coin known as the solidus, whose name, which was taken from the Latin word solid, represented the emperor’s aim to stabilize the currency. The weight of the solidus was established at 4.55g in AD 312, reflecting a 15% decrease in value over the Diocletian aurelus. It was used until the 10th century across the Byzantine Empire, and its weight remained constant. Through the capture of war plunder from his enemy Licinius, the confiscation of gold from pagan temples, and the imposition of new gold-paying taxes, Constantine assured that there was enough money to issue the solidus. Throughout the 4th and 5th centuries, the solidus was the foundation of the new Roman monetary system.
What changes did Diocletian make in Rome?
- Diocletian established the largest and most bureaucratic government in the empire’s history by separating and enlarging the empire’s civil and military institutions and reorganizing the empire’s regional divisions.
- His military reforms bolstered the army and reestablished imperial command over the generals.
What achievements did Diocletian have?
He devised a short-lived system of power sharing amongst four rulers, two augusti and two caesars, and instituted enduring administrative, military, and financial changes (the tetrarchy).
What impact did Diocletian and Constantine’s reforms have on the Roman Empire?
set out to re-establish order, dividing the empire into eastern and western sections, He kept complete control of the wealthy eastern section of the country for himself. Took attempts to halt the deterioration of the economy, In an attempt to recreate old Roman traditions, he slowed inflation and led the last persecution of Christians.