Person

Diocletian

r. 284–305 CE · 3rd century

Diocletian was Roman emperor (r. 284–305 CE) who ended the third-century crisis. He created the Tetrarchy, a system of shared rule by two senior and two junior emperors, enlarged the army, reorganised the provinces and taxation, and issued an edict on maximum prices. His rule marks the start of the Dominate and of the last great persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire.

Diocletian
Image: Dosseman · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 6 profiles

Roman EmpireMilitary, Governance, DeclineAfrica ProconsularisGovernance, SummaryRoman EgyptMilitary, GovernanceLusitaniaGovernanceHispania TarraconensisGovernance, Decline, SummaryRoman BritainSocioeconomy, Governance

Mentioned in 15 state histories

Africa ProconsularisRoman CyrenaicaHispania TarraconensisMauretania TingitanaMauretania CaesariensisCarpiRoman NumidiaBlemmyesCarausian EmpireGallaeciaCarthaginiensisRepublic of San Marinoand 3 more

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Diocletian. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/diocletian
MLA
“Diocletian.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/diocletian. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Diocletian.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/diocletian.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Diocletian’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/diocletian (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻