 Diocletian and Constantine both were autocratic rulers that began to transform the Roman

empire from its classical structure into a new entity in response to internal and external
pressures.
 The second Punic War was the only time before the 3rd century AD that there were major
external threats to the Roman Empire. However, in the 3rd century the empire was beset by
both external and internal threats of both a military and economic nature. In the East the
Persians were in the process of reconquering the Roman East, while in the West the Germanic
barbarians invaded the empire.
 In the 250s, the Franks invaded the empire. Two emperors were killed in two years by the goths
and Persians respectively. This led to a period of intense instability as emperors came and went,
with 20 dying violent deaths.
 Within the Roman empire there was no one way of determining imperial succession. This was
used during the period of the Augustine emperors. Military commanders tended to favor
biological succession, and the Senate tried to stick its noise in occasionally.
 The Roman Army during the 3rd century was doubled in size from 300,000 to 600,000. This was
accomplished by increasing taxes and minting more money.
 The increase in taxes and debasement of the currency led to hyperinflation and essentially made
the empire a barter economy. Finally, the government demanded that they be paid in kind
instead of their money.
 Diocletian on becoming emperor fought everyone and by 298AD had stabilized the internal and
external situation. However, he also sought to reorganize the empire so that it would be better
prepared to face crises in the future.
 As part of his program to overhaul the empire, Diocletian demanded that he addressed as
people’s lord and god, and established a whole new set of rituals around this change. He also
decided to change the way that the succession of the empire worked, splitting the empire in two
and setting up two emperors and two ceasers in a new power structure (the Tetrarchy). The
ceasers became emperors after the old one died.
 Diocletian became the emperor of the Eastern portion of the empire and centered his power in
the village of Byzantium, while in the western half of the Roman empire, Rome remained the
center of authority.
 Diocletian retired along with his co-emperor, but soon after his death there were six emperors
proclaimed and no longer any ceasers. One of these was Constantine.
 Constantine conquered both the Western and Eastern portions of the empire and ruled it all
until his death, when the empire was divided up into quarters for his sons. After Constantine
there was never again a single ruler of the Roman Empire.
 Diocletian tried to fix the economic situation through both trying to fix prices and raise taxes.
Constantine began to re-introduce silver coinage that moved Rome away from a barter
economy and allowed the economy to recover.
 Both emperors militarized society and attempted to put it onto a permanent war footing so that
they would be able to respond to any future threats. This also meant that all families involved in
the military continued to send their children into the army.
 Diocletian conducted a census throughout the empire and used it to establish taxes and prevent
the abandonment of land by those who worked it.