Hello, all, and welcome back to The Moral Vision of Jesus Christ. To the uninitiated: this is an ongoing and eventually exhaustive study of the canonical Gospels of Jesus Christ. If you'd like to start over from the beginning, you can follow this link.
Last we met, we ended Matthew Chapter 5 and began a study-within-a-study regarding the Roman Emperor Constantine and his conversion to "Christianity."* Today we will begin Matthew Chapter 6 and continue with the second part of our study-within-a-study. As per usual, we have no time to prattle on. Let's get started with our reading.
Matthew 6:1 through 6:2
1“[But] take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.
2 When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
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Koine Vocabulary
As has become out custom, let's start off by looking at some of the Greek terms behind today's reading. Today, we'll look at five new vocabulary words or phrases, as well as two words we've already seen before.
The first bit of language we'll look at today is "to perform," which is translated and conjugated from the ancient "poieó." "Poieó" has a whole slew of alternative translations, including "to make," "to create," "to consider," "to do," "to act," or "to practice." This word is possibly derived from an even more ancient Proto-Indo-European word meaning "pile, stow, or gather."
The second phrase of interest here is "righteous deeds," which we get from the Greek "dikaiosynēn." We've been over this word briefly before, but, to reiterate, "dikaiosynēn" can alternatively be translated as "justice" or "fulfillment of the law." Given those alternative translations, we may well understand that, in these verses, Jesus was specifically referring to adherence to the Mosaic Law, not just "righteous deeds, generally." Since he spent much of Chapter 5 re-writing or negating portions of the Mosaic Law, we can also infer that Jesus is now referring specifically to his own new version of said law. We should note that some manuscripts have "dikaiosynēn" replaced with another word, "eleemosunēn," which is more particularly in reference to almsgiving.
The next phrasing we should look at is "in order that people may see them." The original Greek reads closer to "in front of men in order to be seen by them." The key words here, "to be seen," come from the Greek "theaomai," which, after some conjugation, can alternatively be translated as "to be noticed," "to be viewed," "to be contemplated," "to be reviewed," or "to be observed."
We learned the word "misthos" last time, but, to review, we get "recompense" from "misthos," which basically means "reward" or "pay."**
Moving into Matthew 6:2, we will take note that the first phrase, "when you give alms," comes from "oun hotan poiēs," which doesn't specifically denote "giving alms" but, in fact, means "when you do it," or perhaps "when you perform them." It seems to be translated here as "when you give alms" because of the assumption that Jesus was talking about alms in Matthew 6:1.
The last word we need to check out is "hypocrites," which, as you may know, is one of Jesus' favorite words in the Gospel According to Matthew. (He says it thirteen times!) We arrive at "hypocrites" from the familiar "hupokrités," which can alternatively be translated as "pretender" or "stage actor." It is interesting to remember here that Greeks did not revere actors the way some do in modern society. Stage actors were, in fact, looked down on in Greek society as inherently dishonest and untrustworthy, so it makes sense that "hypocrite" could have come out of a word that also meant "actor."
Part II: The Rise and Retirement of Diocletian
How did the Empire avoid absolute collapse at that time? It did so by the efforts of one man: a certain Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus Augustus, or, as we call him today, Emperor Diocletian. Just as historians agree that the Empire was on the verge of collapse in the late Third Century, so too do they generally agree that the reform efforts of Emperor Diocletian extended the life of the Empire by another century and a half.
Let's take a wide aperture look at Diocletian's reign as Emperor. Remember that Diocletian represents a critical stepping-stone on the path to the reign of Emperor Constantine, and that we are interested in Constantine's reign because it sets off the official "Christianization" of the western world. That being the case, we are most interested here in the late Third Century governmental reforms of Diocletian which led to the accession of Constantine in the early Fourth Century. Today, we'll work to understand the following: Diocletian's accession, Diocletian's policy reforms, including his persecution of contemporary Christians and the formation of the Tetrarchy and, last but not least, Diocletian's perhaps early retirement to, of all things, prideful cabbage farming.
1. The Accession of Diocletian
Before we can get to Diocletian, we need to kill off the three men that preceded him. We'll get the blood flowing immediately here; in 283 AD, one of the seemingly endless stream of Emperors of the Third Century, Emperor Carus, died by lightning-strike. (One down. That was easy.) Emperor Carus had been Emperor for a contentious ten or eleven months, and, in his place, he left behind two sons, Carinus and Numerian, who would rule briefly as co-Emperors. Carinus, who had been involved in frontier defense in Gaul, made his way straight to Rome upon his father's death. Numerian was in the east at the time, fighting the Sasanian Empire, and only slowly began to make his way back toward Rome. Numerian was reported to have come down with some kind of illness, an "inflammation of the eyes," during his trip back to Rome. Before he and his entourage got back to Italy, Numerian died. Some say his death was an assassination, while some assume that his mystery illness overcame him. (That's two down.)
In the wake of Numerian's death, his generals and tribunes spontaneously hailed a man with the Greek name Diocles as their new Emperor, near a town called Nicomedia, now in modern Turkey. (It is important to remember that Imperial power was entirely derived from the military during this era, such that the military had become the de facto Emperor-makers.) At that time, Diocles had been serving as the leader of the "protectores domestici," an elite cavalry force that travelled with the Emperor. He accepted the purple robes from the soldiers, signifying his accession to the throne, and took on the more Latin name "Diocletian."
One of Diocletian's first moves as Emperor was to appoint himself and a man named Bassus as consuls.*** This appointment was a clear statement of rejection to Diocletian's co-Emperor Carinus, and showed that Diocletian didn't intend to serve as a "second-in-command" to anyone. It was immediately apparent that a civil war would ensue. Carinus' forces departed eastward from Italy, meeting Diocletian's westward moving forces in Moesia - in present-day Serbia - for an ultimate battle. During the course of said battle, Carinus' forces rebelled against him and killed him, subsequently hailing Diocletian as sole Emperor. (That's three dead Emperors, as promised.)
Then in complete command of the eastern and western halves of the Empire, Diocletian headed for Italy.
2. Policies, Persecutions, and Wars Under Diocletian
The problems of the Third Century were no doubt clear to Diocletian, and he appears to have wasted no time in addressing them. He immediately rallied the legions against the barbarian threats at the frontiers. Upon defeating Carinus, while en route to Italy, Diocletian waged war on the Germanic tribes known as the Quadi and the Marcomanni. After having spent a short amount of time in Italy, Diocletian headed back east to wage further war against the Sarmatians in the Balkans. Repelling the barbarians at every frontier became a policy keystone for Diocletian, and the increased border security was a boon for the Empire, which, as we have discussed, had languished under constant barbarian incursions over the previous century.
On his way out of Italy, Diocletian took the first step toward creating the Tetrarchy (the "Rule by Four Emperors") by elevating an associate of his known as Maximian to the office of "Caesar," or, effectively, "second-in-command." Diocletian could see that the Empire was in tumult everywhere, from Egypt to the Near-East to the Danube Frontier and everywhere else. Because of the sprawling size of the Empire, it would be impossible for one man to effectively rule it in its entirety. It would be far easier for two capable men to split the responsibilities of Emperor in half and rule together. The concept of co-ruling Emperors was not new to the Romans; many Emperors prior to Diocletian had seen the need to share or delegate some of their power in order to adequately perform their duties.
Diocletian had a keen sense for the religious sentimentality of the Roman people, and shrewdly elevated himself and Maximian to the status of Emperors "ordained by the gods." In some writings from the period, the two men are, in fact, hailed as gods themselves. While the other Emperors of the Third Century had been made powerful by their legions, Diocletian and Maximian billed themselves as having been made powerful by none other than the Roman pantheon. By making themselves nearly divine in the eyes of the Romans, the two Emperors reduced the risk of their being supplanted by actions of the army.
Diocletian headed east to wage various wars, leaving Maximian in charge of the western half of the Empire. When a successful Roman military commander on the Saxon Shore named Carausius began calling himself the Third Emperor, Diocletian sought to consolidate Imperial power by elevating Maximian to the office of "Augustus," which made Maximian Diocletian's equal, as opposed to his "second-in-command." History is somewhat vague about how Diocletian decided on Maximian's promotion. Some think that Maximian, in fact, unilaterally promoted himself, and that Diocletian grudgingly accepted the situation in order to avoid civil war. Others feel that Maximian was promoted in order to pre-empt his striking a deal with the rebellious Carausius against Diocletian. Either way, on April 1, 286 AD, Maximian became co-Augustus.
Maximian faltered in his campaign against Carausius, and, eventually, Diocletian transferred command of that particular war to one Flavius Constantius, a man with significant military experience. Constantius was successful against Carausius, who died in late 292 or early 293. Soon after, Maximian elevated Constantius to the office of "Caesar," or "second-in-command to an Augustus." Around the same time, Diocletian promoted a man named Galerius to the same position under himself. The promotion of Galerius marked the official formation of what is known as the Tetrarchy, or the "Rule of Four Emperors," with Diocletian and Maximian playing the roles of "senior Emperors" and Constantius and Galerius playing the parts of "junior Emperors."
The formation of the Tetrarchy marks the end of The Crisis of the Third Century. With four capable and cooperating Emperors presiding, Rome was suddenly able to wage simultaneous wars on nearly all of its borders, repelling more decisively than ever the barbarian armies that had been encroaching on it. The Tetrarchy lifted Rome out of her economic tailspin by re-securing valuable trade-routes and by centralizing government power.
One significant facet of this centralization of power was the famous Edict on Maximum Prices. The Edict was meant to be an exhaustive list of goods sold and traded throughout the Empire, along with a maximum price for which said goods could be sold. Setting a cap on prices was meant to reign in the runaway inflation that had occurred during The Crisis. The Edict was only marginally successful, if at all, but stands out as a prime example of the kinds of lofty attempts at intensive bureaucratic reform the Tetrarchy was willing to undertake. Diocletian's Tetrarchy also did much to reform the tax system of the Empire, and instituted a world-class postal system by which the government could communicate at unprecedented speed. Though only a percentage of the reforms of the time can be considered successful, they were enough to have Romans everywhere remarking regularly that they lived in "a world restored."
In addition to military campaigns and government and economic reforms, The Tetrarchy is famous for its persecution of contemporary Christianity. Around 300 AD, according to some estimates, approximately ten-percent of the Empire had converted to Christianity, which was enjoying success particularly in urban settings. In 299, in Antioch, Diocletian and Galerius took part in a ritual sacrificial divination ceremony. During the ceremony, the haruspices told the two Emperors that they could not divine the future because there were "Christians in the Imperial household." Spooked, Diocletian and Galerius immediately ordered all members of the Imperial household to perform pagan sacrifices to purify the upper echelons of government. They also demanded that all members of the military throughout the Empire be required to perform similar sacrifices. Since Christians were averse to performing pagan rituals, this was an easy way to find and purge them from positions of responsibility.
Galerius is said to have seen political expediency in persecution of Christians, since the Christians represented a liberalizing force for change in an Empire whose subjects were often very conservative. By Galerius' urging, and that of the Oracle of Apollo, Diocletian became convinced that a universal persecution of Christianity was necessary. In 303 AD, Diocletian issued the Edict Against the Christians, and slaughter ensued. Churches across the eastern half of the Empire were razed. Clergy were tortured and executed publicly. Holy texts were burned by the thousands. Universal sacrifices were demanded so that Christians could be rooted out and selected for abuse. This period of unfathomable bloodshed was known as The Great Persecution. It marked the strongest anti-Christian movement of any government to date, and lasted until 311 when the Edict Against the Christians was rescinded by Galerius.
History shows that The Great Persecution was ultimately unsuccessful. Roman citizens failed to get behind the persecution the way Galerius thought they would, and the martyrdom of so many Christians seemed only to embolden the larger Christian population, whose ranks continued to swell. Because of The Great Persecution, Diocletian's name is synonymous with "evil" to Christians, even today. Let's remember, however, that to historians, Diocletian's name is still synonymous with "Empire-saving reform."
3. Cabbage Farm!
After forming the Tetrarchy, reversing The Crisis of the Third Century, initiating The Great Persecution, and engaging in intermittent war with barbarian tribes, Diocletian became ill in 304 AD. For months, he was forced to stay inside his palace in Nicomedia. His absence in public caused speculation that he had died. He reappeared in public in March of 305 looking thin and sickly. A decision among the Emperors was reached at that time that the Augusti should step down, ceding their power to their Caesars. Thus, in May of 305, Maximian and Diocletian stepped down, becoming the first Roman Emperors in history to leave office voluntarily. Galerius and Constantius were elevated as the new Augusti, with Valerius Severus and Maximinus Daia eventually being appointed as replacement Caesars, forming the "Second Tetrarchy." All of this was engineered by a perhaps power-hungry Galerius, who stunned everyone by not appointing Constantius' son Constantine and his own son-in-law Maxentius as Caesars.
After his teary-eyed retirement, Diocletian moved back to his homeland of Dalmatia. History recalls him spending his later years tending to a garden where he grew cabbages of which he was quite proud. When people begged Diocletian to return to the throne in the middle of his retirement, he is said to have replied "if you could show the cabbage that I planted with my own hands to your emperor, he definitely wouldn't dare suggest that I replace the peace and happiness of this place with the storms of a never-satisfied greed."
World class cabbages, indeed. It sounds as though The Great Persecutor was allowed an enviable retirement.
One final thing to note here about the original Greek is that "reward" in Matt 6:2 comes from the same word as "recompense" in 6:1, that being "misthos."
What Jesus Meant, and Other Notes
Apart from the apparent translational ambiguity of the terms "righteous deeds" and "when you give alms," the meaning of these verses is hard to miss: Jesus is telling his followers that to do right simply so that one may be recognized as doing right is not, in fact, doing right at all. He implies that right action should be done in pursuit of a greater reward than human recognition, and that one misses out on that reward when one makes a show of their right action.
It is difficult to read these passages without thinking of any number of modern wealthy "philanthropists" who give away fractions of their fortunes to charitable causes while, at the same time, advertising their donation to the whole world. Their efforts are not truly aimed at improving the world or helping the needy, but are transparently designed to augment their own public standing. It is a matter of personal branding or, often, of politics, to them. According to Jesus, people like this are hypocrites, and their "righteous deeds" are worthless. Incidentally, I would tend to agree.
These verses honestly can't bear much more interpretation than that.
These verses honestly can't bear much more interpretation than that.
One last thing we will mention before returning to Third Century Rome: today's verses are not paralleled anywhere else in the canonical Gospels. Recall that we have been looking for verses that fulfill the "criterion of multiple attestation" in order to ascertain what Jesus is most likely to have actually said during his Galilean Ministry. Being that today's verses are not "multiply attested" in the canonical Gospels, it becomes marginally less likely that he actually spoke them.
In the next sixteen verses, we will see Jesus make points about prayer and fasting that are similar to his point here about almsgiving. It is consequential, then, that the Gospel of Thomas contains a concise teaching of Jesus about "prayer, fasting, and almsgiving" as well. Since Thomas has a similar - albeit not identical - teaching, we can still say that today's verses are "multiply attested" to some degree, although not canonically, and not as often as others.
The relevant text in Thomas is as follows, from verse 14:
Jesus said to them, "If you fast, you will give rise to sin for yourselves; and if you pray, you will be condemned; and if you give alms, you will do harm to your spirits. When you go into any land and walk about in the districts, if they receive you, eat what they will set before you, and heal the sick among them.
And that's it for our regularly scheduled gospel program. Now, back to Rome.
The Emperor Constantine: Champion of Christendom?
Part II: The Rise and Retirement of Diocletian
Recall that, in Part I of this study, we took a broad look at some of the catastrophes that were besetting the Roman Empire in the Third Century AD. Plagues, civil wars, wars with barbarians, and unprecedented economic woes created what we described as a "perfect storm" of instability for the Empire. The office of Emperor was changing hands so rapidly that Roman citizens hardly knew, from day to day, who to call "Augustus." Historians agree that, in the late Third Century, the Roman Empire was teetering on the edge of absolute collapse.
Let's take a wide aperture look at Diocletian's reign as Emperor. Remember that Diocletian represents a critical stepping-stone on the path to the reign of Emperor Constantine, and that we are interested in Constantine's reign because it sets off the official "Christianization" of the western world. That being the case, we are most interested here in the late Third Century governmental reforms of Diocletian which led to the accession of Constantine in the early Fourth Century. Today, we'll work to understand the following: Diocletian's accession, Diocletian's policy reforms, including his persecution of contemporary Christians and the formation of the Tetrarchy and, last but not least, Diocletian's perhaps early retirement to, of all things, prideful cabbage farming.
1. The Accession of Diocletian
Before we can get to Diocletian, we need to kill off the three men that preceded him. We'll get the blood flowing immediately here; in 283 AD, one of the seemingly endless stream of Emperors of the Third Century, Emperor Carus, died by lightning-strike. (One down. That was easy.) Emperor Carus had been Emperor for a contentious ten or eleven months, and, in his place, he left behind two sons, Carinus and Numerian, who would rule briefly as co-Emperors. Carinus, who had been involved in frontier defense in Gaul, made his way straight to Rome upon his father's death. Numerian was in the east at the time, fighting the Sasanian Empire, and only slowly began to make his way back toward Rome. Numerian was reported to have come down with some kind of illness, an "inflammation of the eyes," during his trip back to Rome. Before he and his entourage got back to Italy, Numerian died. Some say his death was an assassination, while some assume that his mystery illness overcame him. (That's two down.)
In the wake of Numerian's death, his generals and tribunes spontaneously hailed a man with the Greek name Diocles as their new Emperor, near a town called Nicomedia, now in modern Turkey. (It is important to remember that Imperial power was entirely derived from the military during this era, such that the military had become the de facto Emperor-makers.) At that time, Diocles had been serving as the leader of the "protectores domestici," an elite cavalry force that travelled with the Emperor. He accepted the purple robes from the soldiers, signifying his accession to the throne, and took on the more Latin name "Diocletian."
One of Diocletian's first moves as Emperor was to appoint himself and a man named Bassus as consuls.*** This appointment was a clear statement of rejection to Diocletian's co-Emperor Carinus, and showed that Diocletian didn't intend to serve as a "second-in-command" to anyone. It was immediately apparent that a civil war would ensue. Carinus' forces departed eastward from Italy, meeting Diocletian's westward moving forces in Moesia - in present-day Serbia - for an ultimate battle. During the course of said battle, Carinus' forces rebelled against him and killed him, subsequently hailing Diocletian as sole Emperor. (That's three dead Emperors, as promised.)
Then in complete command of the eastern and western halves of the Empire, Diocletian headed for Italy.
2. Policies, Persecutions, and Wars Under Diocletian
The problems of the Third Century were no doubt clear to Diocletian, and he appears to have wasted no time in addressing them. He immediately rallied the legions against the barbarian threats at the frontiers. Upon defeating Carinus, while en route to Italy, Diocletian waged war on the Germanic tribes known as the Quadi and the Marcomanni. After having spent a short amount of time in Italy, Diocletian headed back east to wage further war against the Sarmatians in the Balkans. Repelling the barbarians at every frontier became a policy keystone for Diocletian, and the increased border security was a boon for the Empire, which, as we have discussed, had languished under constant barbarian incursions over the previous century.
On his way out of Italy, Diocletian took the first step toward creating the Tetrarchy (the "Rule by Four Emperors") by elevating an associate of his known as Maximian to the office of "Caesar," or, effectively, "second-in-command." Diocletian could see that the Empire was in tumult everywhere, from Egypt to the Near-East to the Danube Frontier and everywhere else. Because of the sprawling size of the Empire, it would be impossible for one man to effectively rule it in its entirety. It would be far easier for two capable men to split the responsibilities of Emperor in half and rule together. The concept of co-ruling Emperors was not new to the Romans; many Emperors prior to Diocletian had seen the need to share or delegate some of their power in order to adequately perform their duties.
Diocletian had a keen sense for the religious sentimentality of the Roman people, and shrewdly elevated himself and Maximian to the status of Emperors "ordained by the gods." In some writings from the period, the two men are, in fact, hailed as gods themselves. While the other Emperors of the Third Century had been made powerful by their legions, Diocletian and Maximian billed themselves as having been made powerful by none other than the Roman pantheon. By making themselves nearly divine in the eyes of the Romans, the two Emperors reduced the risk of their being supplanted by actions of the army.
Diocletian headed east to wage various wars, leaving Maximian in charge of the western half of the Empire. When a successful Roman military commander on the Saxon Shore named Carausius began calling himself the Third Emperor, Diocletian sought to consolidate Imperial power by elevating Maximian to the office of "Augustus," which made Maximian Diocletian's equal, as opposed to his "second-in-command." History is somewhat vague about how Diocletian decided on Maximian's promotion. Some think that Maximian, in fact, unilaterally promoted himself, and that Diocletian grudgingly accepted the situation in order to avoid civil war. Others feel that Maximian was promoted in order to pre-empt his striking a deal with the rebellious Carausius against Diocletian. Either way, on April 1, 286 AD, Maximian became co-Augustus.
Maximian faltered in his campaign against Carausius, and, eventually, Diocletian transferred command of that particular war to one Flavius Constantius, a man with significant military experience. Constantius was successful against Carausius, who died in late 292 or early 293. Soon after, Maximian elevated Constantius to the office of "Caesar," or "second-in-command to an Augustus." Around the same time, Diocletian promoted a man named Galerius to the same position under himself. The promotion of Galerius marked the official formation of what is known as the Tetrarchy, or the "Rule of Four Emperors," with Diocletian and Maximian playing the roles of "senior Emperors" and Constantius and Galerius playing the parts of "junior Emperors."
The formation of the Tetrarchy marks the end of The Crisis of the Third Century. With four capable and cooperating Emperors presiding, Rome was suddenly able to wage simultaneous wars on nearly all of its borders, repelling more decisively than ever the barbarian armies that had been encroaching on it. The Tetrarchy lifted Rome out of her economic tailspin by re-securing valuable trade-routes and by centralizing government power.
One significant facet of this centralization of power was the famous Edict on Maximum Prices. The Edict was meant to be an exhaustive list of goods sold and traded throughout the Empire, along with a maximum price for which said goods could be sold. Setting a cap on prices was meant to reign in the runaway inflation that had occurred during The Crisis. The Edict was only marginally successful, if at all, but stands out as a prime example of the kinds of lofty attempts at intensive bureaucratic reform the Tetrarchy was willing to undertake. Diocletian's Tetrarchy also did much to reform the tax system of the Empire, and instituted a world-class postal system by which the government could communicate at unprecedented speed. Though only a percentage of the reforms of the time can be considered successful, they were enough to have Romans everywhere remarking regularly that they lived in "a world restored."
In addition to military campaigns and government and economic reforms, The Tetrarchy is famous for its persecution of contemporary Christianity. Around 300 AD, according to some estimates, approximately ten-percent of the Empire had converted to Christianity, which was enjoying success particularly in urban settings. In 299, in Antioch, Diocletian and Galerius took part in a ritual sacrificial divination ceremony. During the ceremony, the haruspices told the two Emperors that they could not divine the future because there were "Christians in the Imperial household." Spooked, Diocletian and Galerius immediately ordered all members of the Imperial household to perform pagan sacrifices to purify the upper echelons of government. They also demanded that all members of the military throughout the Empire be required to perform similar sacrifices. Since Christians were averse to performing pagan rituals, this was an easy way to find and purge them from positions of responsibility.
Galerius is said to have seen political expediency in persecution of Christians, since the Christians represented a liberalizing force for change in an Empire whose subjects were often very conservative. By Galerius' urging, and that of the Oracle of Apollo, Diocletian became convinced that a universal persecution of Christianity was necessary. In 303 AD, Diocletian issued the Edict Against the Christians, and slaughter ensued. Churches across the eastern half of the Empire were razed. Clergy were tortured and executed publicly. Holy texts were burned by the thousands. Universal sacrifices were demanded so that Christians could be rooted out and selected for abuse. This period of unfathomable bloodshed was known as The Great Persecution. It marked the strongest anti-Christian movement of any government to date, and lasted until 311 when the Edict Against the Christians was rescinded by Galerius.
History shows that The Great Persecution was ultimately unsuccessful. Roman citizens failed to get behind the persecution the way Galerius thought they would, and the martyrdom of so many Christians seemed only to embolden the larger Christian population, whose ranks continued to swell. Because of The Great Persecution, Diocletian's name is synonymous with "evil" to Christians, even today. Let's remember, however, that to historians, Diocletian's name is still synonymous with "Empire-saving reform."
3. Cabbage Farm!
After forming the Tetrarchy, reversing The Crisis of the Third Century, initiating The Great Persecution, and engaging in intermittent war with barbarian tribes, Diocletian became ill in 304 AD. For months, he was forced to stay inside his palace in Nicomedia. His absence in public caused speculation that he had died. He reappeared in public in March of 305 looking thin and sickly. A decision among the Emperors was reached at that time that the Augusti should step down, ceding their power to their Caesars. Thus, in May of 305, Maximian and Diocletian stepped down, becoming the first Roman Emperors in history to leave office voluntarily. Galerius and Constantius were elevated as the new Augusti, with Valerius Severus and Maximinus Daia eventually being appointed as replacement Caesars, forming the "Second Tetrarchy." All of this was engineered by a perhaps power-hungry Galerius, who stunned everyone by not appointing Constantius' son Constantine and his own son-in-law Maxentius as Caesars.
After his teary-eyed retirement, Diocletian moved back to his homeland of Dalmatia. History recalls him spending his later years tending to a garden where he grew cabbages of which he was quite proud. When people begged Diocletian to return to the throne in the middle of his retirement, he is said to have replied "if you could show the cabbage that I planted with my own hands to your emperor, he definitely wouldn't dare suggest that I replace the peace and happiness of this place with the storms of a never-satisfied greed."
World class cabbages, indeed. It sounds as though The Great Persecutor was allowed an enviable retirement.
Conclusions
When the Second Tetrarchy assumed power, civil war followed almost immediately. We're going to save the details of that civil war, including those of the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, for next time. For now, consider what we've learned thus far: the Roman Empire nearly collapsed during what is known as The Crisis of the Third Century under the weight of economic calamity, constant attacks by foreign peoples, frequent plagues, and vicious civil wars. The Emperor Diocletian came to power in the late Third Century and created the Tetrarchy, a governing system also known as the "Rule of Four." Through the Tetrarchy, Diocletian administered sweeping economic, bureaucratic, and military reforms that are credited to this day as having saved the Roman Empire from what would have otherwise been imminent collapse. Eventually, Diocletian waned in his personal strength, and was forced into retirement, leading to the formation of the Second Tetrarchy.
As we mentioned, the Second Tetrarchy will unravel almost immediately into civil war between competing claimants to what were now numerous thrones. At the end of that civil war, only one claimant will remain: the first "Christian" Emperor, Constantine. I hope you will join us next time when we will investigate Constantine's perhaps half-hearted conversion to the Christian faith and his military triumph over all competitors. These are literally among the very most important events in all of world history. It's going to be great!
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And that will do it for today. Thank you so much for reading and sharing this writing. I can't wait to see you next time. Happy studies!
Love
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* I say "Christianity" in quotes here because it is clear from Constantine's actions as Emperor that he was not a true Christian, but rather one of the first in an ever multiplying line of false "Christians." We will talk more about that later.
** "Recompense" seems like a fun word. See if you can toss that into your regular vocabulary this week. "Boss, I need a raise. The recompense you've afforded me is not paying the bills." I don't think I've ever heard someone use that word in the wild.
*** Remember that the consuls were like presidents or prime ministers. There were almost always two of them, and they usually only ruled for one year. Roman year dating was based on the consuls of a given year; one would say "I was born in the year of Brutus and Vulso," rather than "I was born in 178 BC."
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* I say "Christianity" in quotes here because it is clear from Constantine's actions as Emperor that he was not a true Christian, but rather one of the first in an ever multiplying line of false "Christians." We will talk more about that later.
** "Recompense" seems like a fun word. See if you can toss that into your regular vocabulary this week. "Boss, I need a raise. The recompense you've afforded me is not paying the bills." I don't think I've ever heard someone use that word in the wild.
*** Remember that the consuls were like presidents or prime ministers. There were almost always two of them, and they usually only ruled for one year. Roman year dating was based on the consuls of a given year; one would say "I was born in the year of Brutus and Vulso," rather than "I was born in 178 BC."
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To read what came prior to this, click here.
