Emperors of Rome | Aurelian, Diocletian, and the Tetrarchy (Lecture 33)

Lecture 33: The Roman Empire in 268 appeared to be on its last legs, battered from without, divided within. The Roman era seemed to be over. But within a few years a series of militarily aggressive and highly competent general-emperors had turned the situation around. They forged a modified Roman emperorship, far more despotic and oppressive than the Augustan Principate, but one that carried Roman history forward two more centuries. In particular we look at Aurelian, who restored the integrity of the empire and solidified the authority of the emperor; and Diocletian, whose Tetrarchy promised to secure the frontiers and resolve the succession problem that had plagued Rome’s emperor’s for so long.

Essential Reading:
HA, Claudius, Aurelian, Diocletian.
Zosimus, New History, book 1.41–73.
Watson, Aurelian and the Third Century, pp. 39–208.
Williams, Diocletian and the Roman Recovery.

Supplementary Reading:
DIR, “Claudius II,” “Aurelian,” “Diocletian.”
Stoneman, Palmyra and Its Empire.
MacMullen, Roman Government’s Response to Crisis.