Diocletian
Diocletian (Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus),originally named Diocles. Of obscure origins, born in Dalmatia perhaps in the early 240s ad, he rose to command the domestici (bodyguard) of the emperor Numerianus on the Persian campaign of 283–4. When Numerianus was killed by his praetorian prefect Aper, the army proclaimed Diocles Augustus at Nicomedia (20 November 284); he killed Aper. He campaigned (285) against Numerianus' brother Carinus, who was killed at Margus. A usurper Iulianus was also removed, and Diocletian was sole emperor. Visiting Italy, he proclaimed his comrade-in-arms Maximian as Caesar and sent him to suppress the Bacaudae (insurgent peasants in Gaul and northern Spain). Maximian was made Augustus (286) and spent the next years defending Gaul. Diocletian spent most of his reign on the Danube or in the east. In 287 he installed Tiridates III as king of Armenia and reorganized the Syrian frontier. He campaigned on the Raetian...
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