Читать книгу Why Rome Fell - Michael Arnheim - Страница 65

To solve this problem, Diocletian hit upon the novel expedient of the tetrarchy (not a term ever used by Diocletian), or four emperors sharing power, as illustrated in the famous more than life-size sculpture now in the Piazza San Marco in Venice, showing the four emperors in a group hug. The first step towards the tetrarchy was Diocletian’s appointment of his comrade in arms Maximian as his junior partner in 285, with Diocletian as “Augustus” and Maximian as “Caesar.” To cement the power relationship, Maximian added Diocletian’s family name, Valerius, to his own. The next step, in the following year, was to promote Maximian to share the title of Augustus with Diocletian, after which Diocletian took the name “Jovius” (associating him with the chief god, Jupiter) and Maximian became “Herculius,” linking him with the semi-divine mythical hero, Hercules. In 293, the foursome was completed with the appointment of Constantius and Galerius as Caesars. Though each of the four emperors had his own base of operations, which kept changing as the need arose, the empire was not divided but remained a unitary state. The tetrarchy worked as a temporary expedient in the face of several security threats, but it broke down after Diocletian’s abdication and peaceful retirement, itself a remarkable achievement, in 305.