Week 1 Flashcards
(155 cards)
1
Q
What does Cameron call the fourth century?
A
“the century of constantine”
2
Q
What is the period from Diocletian sometimes called?
A
the Dominate
3
Q
What was the third century crisis characterised by? (Cameron)
A
“a constant and rapid turnover of emperors between AD 235 and 284, by near-continuous warfare, internal and external, combined with the total collapse of the silver currency and the state’s recourse to exactions in kind”
4
Q
Did Diocletian resolve the third century crisis? (Diocletian)
A
“This dire situation was brought under at least partial control by Diocletian, whose reforming measures were then continued by Constantine (AD 306-37), thus laying the foundation for the recovery of the fourth century”
5
Q
What are some of the other terms which have been used for the third century?
A
“‘The third-century crisis’, ‘the age of transition’, ‘the age of the soldier-emperors’, ‘the age of anarchy’, ‘the military monarchy’ whatever one likes to call it”
6
Q
What started the third century crisis? (Cameron)
A
“the murder of Alexander Severus in AD 235”
7
Q
When is the third century crisis seen as ending?
A
284 AD
8
Q
How long did most emperors last during the crisis? (Cameron)
A
“most lasted only a few months and met a violent end, often at the hands of their own troops or in the course of another coup”
9
Q
What else did the crisis lead to? (Cameron)
A
“the second symptom of crisis, constant warfare, which furnished an even greater role for the army, or armies, than they had already played under the Severans”
10
Q
What is it a mistake to think of barbarians as doing during the third century? (Cameron)
A
“It is a mistake to think in apocalyptic terms of waves of thousand upon thousand of barbarians descending on the empire, for the actual numbers on any one occasion were quite small. “
11
Q
Did external threats cause internal instability? (Cameron)
A
“It was not so much that external military threats caused internal instability (though they certainly contributed), but rather that they fell on an empire which was already highly unstable”
12
Q
What was the army like before Diocletian took over? (Cameron)
A
“the army necessarily increased in size, and thus in its demands on resources, and in contrast to the peaceful conditions of the early empire when soldiers were on the whole kept well away from the inner provinces, they were now to be found everywhere, in towns and in the countryside, and by no means always under control”
13
Q
What broke down under the strain of the increased army during teh crisis? (Cameron)
A
“Not surprisingly in such circumstances, the military pay and supply system broke down under the strain”
14
Q
How was the army usually paid? (Cameron)
A
“The army had been paid mainly in silver denarii, out of the tax revenues collected in the same coin”
15
Q
What had happened to the silver content of the denarii? (Cameron)
A
“The silver content of the denarius had already been reduced as far back as the reign of Nero, but from Marcus Aurelius on it was further and further debased, while the soldiers’ pay was increased as part of the attempt to keep the army strong and under control”
16
Q
What had happened to the denari by the 260s? (Cameron)
A
“The process was carried to such lengths that by the 260s the denarius had almost lost its silver content altogether, being made virtually entirely of base metal.”
17
Q
What was always the main drain on taxes?
A
The army
18
Q
What had to be done to make up for the inability to pay soldiers?
A
Pay them in kind
19
Q
Was the practice of the annona new?
A
No, but during the crisis the scale was
20
Q
How were emperors made? (Cameron)
A
“Rather than owing their elevation to the Senate, therefore, emperors in this period were often raised to the purple on the field, surrounded by their troops”
21
Q
Was there a drastic change during the third century according to Cameron?
A
“the mid-third century did not see a dramatic crisis so much as a steady continuation of processes already begun, which in turn led to the measures later taken by Diocletian and Constantine that are usually identified with the establishment of the late Roman system”
22
Q
Why did E. R. Dodds call the third century an age of sprituality?
A
“the ‘age of spirituality’ (as late antiquity has been called) grew out of the insecurity experienced in the third century, or, in other words, that people turned to religion, and perhaps especially to Christianity, in their attempts to find meaning, or to escape from their present woes”
23
Q
Why should we take the reigns of Diocletian and Constantine together according to Cameron?
A
“Though there were of course striking differences between them, which are vividly reflected in the surviving source material, we should also attempt to take a broad view, and to see their reigns as marking, when taken together, a fifty-year period of recovery and consolidation after the fifty-year ‘age of anarchy’, in Rostovtzeffs phrase.”
24
Q
How does Cameron charaacterise the reforms of Diocletian?
A
“the mid-third century looks less like a time of ‘crisis’ from which the empire was dragged by the efforts of a strong and even a totalitarian emperor (Diocletian is often termed an ‘oriental despot’ because of his adoption of elaborate court ceremony in the Persian style), and more like a temporary phase in a developing and evolving imperial system”
25
What happened between 284 and 337 AD? (Cameron)
"the disturbed situation which held in the mid-third century came under control and the empire passed through a phase of recovery, consolidation and major social and administrative change"
26
When did Diocletian become sole emperor and how? (Cameron)
285 AD, by defeating Emperor Carinus in battle
27
What was Diocletian's answer to resolving the high turnover of emperors? (Cameron)
"Diocletian's answer lay in the establishment in AD 293 of a system of power-sharing known as the tetrarchy (rule of four), by which there would be two Augusti and two Caesars, the latter destined in due course to succeed"
28
What does tetrarchy mean?
rule of four
29
When was the Tetrarchy established?
293 AD
30
What did Maximian become in 285 AD?
Caesar
31
When did Maximian become augustus?
286 AD
32
What might have influenced Diocletians decision to make Maximian augustus and not just caesar?
Carausius claiming the purple in 286 AD
33
Which half of the empire did Maximian rule as caesar?
west
34
which half of the empire did diocletian rule alongside maximian?
east
35
Who was constantius caesar to?
Maximian
36
Who was Galerius caesar to?
Doicletian
37
What gave the tetrarchy legitimacy? (Cameron)
"The propaganda, and the religious aura claimed for the tetrarchy, no doubt helped to impress their subjects, and to reassure Diocletian and his colleagues themselves, but it was in fact military, and by extension political, success which conferred legitimacy. "
38
Despite its challenges, what did the tetrarchy succeed in doing? (Cameron)
"it did ultimately succeed in providing a period of stability lasting nearly twenty years - long enough for some far-reaching changes to be introduced"
39
What was one of Diocletian's first priority?
"One of Diocletian's first priorities was military: not only had the army to be brought under central control and made into a force capable of defending the security of the empire, but it also had to be reliably supplied"
40
How have Diocletian's military reforms typically been seen? (Cameron)
" The literary sources attribute to Diocletian the most fundamental changes that the Roman military system had experienced since the days of Augustus"
41
Why is it doubted that Diocletian's reforms were such a chenge from previous emperor's practice? (Cameron)
"The way had already been prepared by earlier emperors, including Marcus Aurelius, Septimius Severus (AD 193 211) and Caracalla (AD 211-17)"
42
What changes to the military had happened under the rules of emperors such as Septimius Severus and Marcus Aurellius? (Cameron)
"During their reigns army pay was doubled, donatives to the soldiers institutionalised, the army itself enlarged and openings for military men in the administration greatly increased. More units had certainly also been raised in the course of the third century"
43
What does Cameron say Diocletians reforms may have amounted?
"Diocletian did perhaps increase numbers (new units were certainly created), but may not have done very much more in general than recognize and regularize the status quo"
44
What did Diocletian do to the legions in the army? (Cameron)
"Diocletian created new legions on a considerable scale, giving them names such as Iovia, Herculia, Diocletiana and Maximiana, while others had already come into being during the third century."
45
Other than soldiers, what else did Diocletian do? (Cameron)
"All agree that Diocletian strengthened the frontiers, building forts, strengthening natural barriers and establishing military roads from Britain in the west to the so-called Strata Diocletiana in the east"
46
What happened due to the collapse of the silver coins? (Cameron)
"With the collapse of the silver coinage, used for the payment of taxes and the soldiers wages, the army had to be paid and supplied partly in requisitions in kind through the annona militaris and the capitus (a fodder ration)."
47
What would the system of pay and supply for the army have been like according to Cameron?
"If such a system worked at all, it was bound to be unreliable, clumsy and extremely burdensome on local populations, who never knew what was going to be demanded from them or when. Since perishable goods could not be carried far because of the extreme slowness of land transport, there were also formidable problems of supply. "
48
How did Diocletian determine what each area paid for the upkeep of the army? (Cameron)
"The whole was to be assessed by a regular census, organized by five-year periods, known as indictions, from AD 287 onwards"
49
What were indictions?
A regular five year census of what was produced locally and in what quantities, implemented from 287 AD
50
What did Diocletian seek to achieve with his economic reforms for military pay? (Cameron)
"By these means, Diocletian sought to establish for the empire something like a regular budget, and some check was placed on the ad hoc requisitions which had become such a burden during the third century. The system aimed at providing what the troops needed on a regular and reliable basis"
51
What did Diocletian achieve with his military reforms? (Cameron)
"By his administrative reforms, Diocletian also laid the foundations of the late Roman bureaucratic system, whose object was to achieve tighter governmental control of all aspects of running the empire - fiscal, legal and administrative"
52
What was the first step of Diocletian's administrative reforms? (Cameron)
"First, provincial government was reorganized; military and civil commands were separated, and each province henceforth had both a military commander (dux) and a civil governor."
53
What did Diocletian do to the provinces? (Cameron)
"The provinces themselves were reduced in size and greatly enlarged in number"
54
Why did Diocletian reform the structure of the provinces according to Lactantius?
"to ensure that terror was universal, Diocletian cut the provinces into fragments"
55
Despite the claim of Lactantius that Diocletian wanted to extend terror, what was the actual reason for his provinvial reforms? (Cameron)
"In fact the aim was to secure greater efficiency by shortening the chain of communications and command, and in so doing to reduce the power of individual governors."
56
How many preatorian prefects were there? (Cameron)
"The praetorian prefects varied in number but for much of the fourth century there were three, four after AD 395"
57
What role did the preatorian prefect play under Diocletian? (Cameron)
"Under Diocletian the prefect was effectively the emperors second-in-command, with military, financial, legislative and administrative responsibility"
58
What responsibility did the Praetorian prefect lose under Constantine?
Military powers
59
Who did control of the army pass to under Constantine? (Cameron)
"from Constantine's reign the military side was put under magistri militum (Masters of the Soldiers), who had command of the army and to whom the duces (military commanders in the provinces) were answerable"
60
How was Roma and Constantinople different regarding beauracracy? (Cameron)
"Rome and, later, Constantinople too, were outside the system, being governed by prefects of their own (praefecti urbis, prefects of the city)."
61
What is Diocletian credited with turning the empire into? (Camreon)
"Diocletian is credited with transforming the Roman empire into a kind of 'oriental despotism' by importing court ceremonial and titles from Sasanian Persia"
62
What is Diocletian the first emperor to demand apparently? (Cameron)
"Fourth-century writers state that he was the first emperor to demand homage in the form of adoratio (prostration), and that he wore gorgeous clothes and lived in oriental seclusion"
63
What did everything to do with the emperor come to be referred to as?
"everything to do with the emperor was referred to as 'sacred' or 'divine'
64
Was the style of rule Diocletian adopted unique to him? (Cameron)
"Diocletian's immediate predecessors, especially Aurelian, had taken further steps in this direction, and his alleged innovations should be regarded rather as marking the culmination and recognition of an existing trend. "
65
What happened under Diocletian that contributed to the decline of Rome as an imperial centre?
The establishment of multiple capitals
66
Where was Diocletian's capital?
Nicomedia
67
Where was Galerius' capital?
Thessalonica
68
how did emperors spend a lot of their time? (Cameron)
"In practice, emperors in this period commonly spent their time moving from one residence to another"
69
What did the decline of Rome allow Diocletian to do first? (Cameron)
"First, it greatly weakened the hold of Roman tradition on government and administration and in a sense freed Diocletian and his colleagues and successors to introduce innovations"
70
What did Eusebius say Diocletian did in February 303 AD? (Cameron)
"Eusebius says, Diocletian issued an edict ordering that churches should be destroyed and Christian Scriptures burnt; Christians holding public office were to be stripped of their rank and imperial freedmen who did not recant were to be reduced to slavery"
71
How was the persecution carried out in the west? (Cameron)
"Maximian and Constantius Chlorus in the west evidently showed little enthusiasm for the policy"
72
How was the persecution carried out in the east? (Cameron)
"in the east many bishops and clergy were imprisoned and tortured or mutilated, and the bishop of Nicomedia and others were beheaded"
73
When did the persecution end and toleration declared? (Cameron)
"it was called off by Galerius in AD 311, and toleration declared for all religions by Constantine and Licinius in the so called 'Edict of Milan' in AD 313"
74
What did Diocletian and Maximian do to give religious legitimacy to their rule? (Cameron)
"Diocletian's and Maximian's adoption of the styles Jovius and Herculius was part of a heavy emphasis on moral and religious sanctions for their rule"
75
What god did Diocletian associate himself with?
Jovius
76
Who did Maximian associate himself with?
Herculius
77
What was a sign of offence to the gods taken as? (Cameron)
"any sign of offence to the gods, as symbolically demonstrated by the failed divination, was interpreted as extremely dangerous for the future security of the empire"
78
In what way did the adoption christianity be Constantine reflect the association of Diocletian and maximian with pagan gods? (Cameron)
"Exactly the same thinking in reverse lay behind Constantine's adoption of Christianity; he presented himself as duty-bound by God to ensure correct worship throughout the empire"
79
What sort of government did Diocletian adopt? (Cameron)
"The style of government adopted by Diocletian and the tetrarchy was undoubtedly severe and authoritarian, at least in theory"
80
What was Diocletian's motivation for increasing the power of the state? (Cameron)
"the motivation was something more immediate than social repression, namely the paramount need to ensure tax revenue and production in the face of actual governmental weakness"
81
What were the tetrarch's qualifications for office? (Rees)
"We have noted that whatever their other strengths or weaknesses, the Tetrarchs’ essential qualifications for office were military "
82
What were all the tetrarch's origins? (Rees)
Soldiers from the Balkans
83
Was a distinguished military career new for the tetrarchs? (Rees)
"A distinguished military reputation had long been a strong card in seeking imperial office, with men such as Augustus, Vespasian and Trajan excellent examples"
84
What happened in 260 AD to the emperor? (rees)
"In 260 Rome suffered one of her bleakest defeats when the emperor Valerian was taken in battle against Shapur I; Shapur kept Valerian in humiliating captivity until his death"
85
What was the most notably military success for the tetrarchy? (Rees)
"The Tetrarchy enjoyed many military successes. The most conspicuous was the hard won victory over the Persian Narses in 298"
86
What did Diocletian do in 297 AD after Galerius was defeated in Syria by the Persians? (Rees)
"A tradition
built up among later writers that Diocletian shamed Galerius for this
defeat by making him walk in front of his carriage"
87
What did Galerius build after he defeat the Persian Narses in 298 AD to mark his victory? (Rees)
"The best evidence for the imperial reaction to the victory
is Galerius’ arch at Thessalonica. Thessalonica was Galerius’ base for
several years from 299"
88
What does the victory arch at Thessalonic show? (Rees)
"A particularly well preserved example shows Galerius on horseback
in the thick of battle, trampling Persians underfoot"
89
What did Constantius do immediately after being made Caesar in 293 AD? (Rees)
"On his appointment in 293 Constantius
forced Carausius back to Britain from his holdings in mainland Europe.
Constantius then quickly crushed rebels in the Low Countries before, in
296, Britain was recovered"
90
How did the conflict between Galerius and the Persians come to an end in 298 AD?
"By the spring of 298, Galerius had captured Ctesiphon,
deep in the Tigris valley. Narses sued for peace, and the treaty which
followed established further territorial gains for Rome around the
upper Tigris"
91
What is the Notitia Dignitatum? (Rees)
"It is an
illustrated list of high civilian and military officials detailing in each
case responsibilities and subordinates"
92
What does the Notitia Dignitatum show? (Rees)
" The evidence of the Notitia
Dignitatum reveals that by the early fifth century there were more, new
units, and that while there were still forces on the frontiers, other units
had different responsibilities"
93
What does Lactantius say about Diocletian's military reforms?
" Lactantius criticises Diocletian for increasing the number of troops
in the army (II 6 7.2), even implying that the growth was fourfold.
Although this is clearly a huge exaggeration, numbers did increase. "
94
Where was one source of troop recruitment for Diocletian? (Rees)
"Auxiliary units seem also to have been recruited from barbarian
populations by Diocletian"
95
What did Diocletian build to support his increased army size?
Forts and arms factories
96
What approach to defence did Diocletian adopt?
Edward Luttwak "model, known by the shorthand
descriptor ‘defence in depth’, replaced the early imperial frontier
strategy of a fixed line providing preclusive defence"
97
What does Lactantius say happened to the empire in 293 AD? (Rees)
" Lactantius says the
empire was divided four ways"
98
What is the Verona List? (rees)
"The Verona List is a seventh-century
manuscript which catalogues the Roman provinces of late antiquity "
99
What does the Verona List say Diocletian did to the provinces? (Rees)
" Without extending the limits of empire, the List establishes that
Diocletian almost doubled the number of provinces."
100
How many diocese were the created by Diocletian, as shown in the Verona List? (rees)
" The Verona List also provides excellent evidence for the innovative
tier of organisation known as dioceses - under Diocletian, the empire
was divided into twelve dioceses, each consisting of several provinces "
101
What new position was created to head the newly created Diocese? (Rees)
" A new position was created to head each diocese - the
vicarius, as can be seen in the Notitia Dignitatum"
102
What was Constantius to Maximian before being made his Caesar?
His preatorian prefect
103
Who was the vicarius answerable to? (rees)
" A vicarius was acting on behalf of a praetorian prefect. A praetorian
prefect was an emperor’s deputy."
104
If Constantius was Maximian's preatorian prefect, what does this mean for the qualifications for caesar?
Could be both military and administrative
105
What do Diocletians administrative reforms mark the beginning of?
A split between the military and civilian roles of government - perhaps to reduce the chances of a successful challenge to his rule
106
Other than Rome losing its significance in affirming a new emperor, what else did it lose under Diocletian? (Rees)
"So in the extensive administrative changes across
the empire, Rome did not just lose its emperor in person: the city lost its
tax exemptions; the reassuring legal privileges that imperial presence
conveyed; and its army."
107
In what way does the archaelogical record show that the tetrarchy did not neglect rome entirely? (Rees)
"several prestige buildings were put up there
before Maxentius’ usurpation (Curran 2000): the Arch of Diocletian
(known also as the Novus Arcus, fragments of which are now in the
Boboli Gardens at Florence); the Senate House, ruined by fire in 283,
and rebuilt as visible today, by Diocletian and Maximian (II 39); the
magnificent Baths of Diocletian"
108
How did the tetrarchs rule together if they were constantly separated and on the move? (Rees)
" The answer seems to have lain in letters. No letters from one Tetrarch
to another survive, but from incidental details in literary sources, it
is apparent that letters were a standard means of overcoming the
problems inherent in geographical separation"
109
Which tetrarchy did not persecute Christians after being told to by Diocletian?
Constantius
110
What does Constantius's reaction to the order to persecute show? (Rees)
"Either
way, Constantius’ reaction suggests that imperial colleagues were able to
exercise considerable discretion on receipt of such orders and edicts.
There was, then, a recognised command structure and communications
infrastructure; but at the same time, with few checks on this system,
absolute compliance could hardly be enforced. "
111
What did Diocletian's fiscal policy involve and what was it? (Rees)
" Diocletian’s innovative fiscal policy is characterised by indiction and
census (Hendy 1972). (Indiction is a published schedule of budgetary
requirements to be raised in a given period by tax; in effect it announces
how much tax the state will demand in the period.) "
112
What was the significance of coin production? (Rees)
" The ability to control coin production was an essential aspect of
imperial power, as the issues of usurpers such as Amandus, Carausius "
113
What could coins do for the emperor? (Rees)
"It was recognised that coins had propaganda and economic value,
and Diocletian seems to have been energetic and imaginative in his
organisation of mints and coins."
114
What was Diocletian's first attempt at coin reform? (Rees)
" Distinctive interventions in monetary affairs began relatively soon
after Diocletian’s accession, and continued intermittently throughout
his reign. In 286 a high-grade aureus (gold coin) was introduced."
115
When was the Decree of Maximal Prices issued and by who?
301 AD, by Diocletian
116
What did the Decree of Maximal Prices say? (Rees)
"The preambl is followed by a list of itemised commodities and
services, organised by categories; against each item there appears an
appropriate measure or unit, and a price. This price is the maximum
that can be charged (or paid) for that commodity or service; the
preamble makes it explicitly clear that these prices were maximal and
not absolute, so that in times of plenty a lower price could be charged. "
117
Although it was not unique in declaring maximal prices, what is unique about the decree of 301? (Rees)
" It is acknowledged that the sheer scale
of this attempted check on market forces was unprecedented."
118
How did Diocletian justify his Edict of Maximal Prices? (rees)
how he had “crushed the burning havoc caused in the past by barbarian nations by slaughtering those people.”
119
What does Persicus Maximus mean, the title all four emperors took after Galerius defeated and subdued the Persians in 298 AD?
great victor over the Persians
120
What do contemporaries attribute to Diocletian regarding ceremonial? (Rees)
"Aurelius Victor (II 1 39.2-4), Eutropius
(II 2 9.26), Ammianus Marcellinus (II 7. 15.5.18) and also Jerome
(
121
What was adventus? (Rees)
Arrival - "Adventus evolved into a highly stylised eye-catching theatre, with
all ranks of society fulfilling their appropriate role in the display.
As we have seen (Chapter 2.2), Tetrarchic government was essentially
itinerant, so throughout the empire the ceremony of adventus would be
enacted regularly. "
122
What does the Arras Medallion show?
" The medallion dates to
296 or 297 and commemorates in a triumphalist tone the reconquest of
Britain by Constantius’ army. The highly economical scene is set at a
time after the military victory; Constantius on horseback approaches
the city of London; the personification of the city greets him from a kneeling position
"
123
What was it like to be in the presence of a tetrarch, as shown by a panegyric of 291? (Rees)
" to be with a Tetrarch is to be in the presence of a
higher being. If the panegyrical orators sometimes seem reluctant
baldly to identify their emperors as gods, in their armoury of
exaggerated conceits they are very comfortable to imply such status "
124
Who did Diocletian and Maximian mint of their coins after 285? (Rees)
" From the beginning of his reign, dedications of Diocletian’s coinage
were predominantly to Jupiter; from 285 Hercules appeared regularly
too, and on occasion the two together (R.I.C. 5.2). From his accession in
285, Maximian minted coins dedicated to Hercules, Jupiter and the two
together."
125
What precedent was there for emperors associating with gods before Diocletian? (Rees)
" Aurelian’s close association with the cult of Sol Invictus would
have stood as a recent precedent. "
126
What did the caesars do to allign themselves with their respective augusts?
Galerius took the signum 'Jovius', Constantius 'Hurculius'
127
What was the fundamental function of the signa? (Rees)
"The fundamental function of the signa was clearly to claim
for the emperors some divine agency, relating Diocletian and Maximian
to Jupiter and Hercules respectively. "
128
What is the relationship between Hercules and Jupiter that may have been intended to reflect the relationship between Diocletian and Maximian? (Rees)
"One intended function of the imperial signa
might have been to delineate the relationship between Diocletian and
Maximian; as Hercules’ father, Jupiter enjoyed clear superiority. "
129
What was a common image on coins under the tetrarchy? (Rees)
"The simplicity of
a sacrifice scene, with little more than an altar or tripod required, made
it very suitable for the iconic representation needed in the restricted
canvas of coin imagery. In addition to the common legend types such
as CONSERVATOR JUPITER (‘Jupiter fellow-saviour’) or HERCULES
INVICTUS (‘Unconquered Hercules’), the emperors at sacrifice was
a common religious type in Tetrarchic coins."
130
What does Lactantius say is the litmus test for proper religious belief?
Sacrifice
131
What does a law of 302 AD do to the Manicha"eans? (Rees)
"This text is a legal rescript, outlawing the Manichaean
belief in the Roman empire; it is directed initially at that faith’s leaders,
although provision is made for their followers too."
132
What is the difference between persecution of Manichaeans and the Christians? (Rees)
"Perhaps then there is an important difference between
the Tetrarchic actions against the Manichaeans and the Christians; both
were legal actions, but while the former criminalised a complete lifestyle
attitude, the latter was (at least at certain stages of the persecution)
specifically concerned with the act of sacrifice. A follower of Mani
would fall foul of the law even if they sacrificed incense; a Christian
making pagan sacrifice would compromise their standing in the church
community, but they would satisfy the state."
133
What precedent is there for the great persecution? (Rees)
"Recent analyses of Decius (emperor
249-51) have concluded that his intention was not to crush Chris
tianity, but to appease the gods through the traditional means of
sacrifice at a time when the empire was stricken in various ways. Those
who performed sacrifice before a magistrate received a certificate to
prove it, and were free to go. Valerian, another emperor (253-60) whose
propaganda emphasised his role as a restorer of traditions, launched
a broader attack against the Christians: his act to outlaw Christian
assembly and his call to Christians to return to traditional religion
suggest that Christianity was now understood by the state as ‘un-
Roman."
134
What did the persecution edict of 303 AD state must happen to Christians? (Rees)
"The text does not survive, but from the
narrative accounts it is reasonably secure that it ordered the razing of
churches, the burning of Christian scripture (cf II 32 and above 2),
the loss of judicial rights for defiant Christians, the loss of relevant
rights for Christians in high office, and the enslavement of any defiant
Christians serving in the imperial household "
135
What was the way in which christian belief was determined? (Rees)
" It
seems likely that pagan sacrifice was used to establish an individuals
faith in the relevant rulings, but the broader ambition of the measures - apparently, to dismantle the workings of the church - make this edict
reminiscent of Valerian s assault on Christianity."
135
What occurred a few months after Diocletian issued the first edict of persecution? (Rees)
" A second edict was announced later in 303 (II 8 8.2.5, 6.8-9) which
ordered the imprisonment of clergy "
136
What Does the issuing of a second persecution edict suggest? (Rees)
" the publication of a second edict, however, suggests either that
Diocletian was not aware that the terms of the first edict were being
applied, or, more credibly, that although he knew the edict was being
applied, he felt it was not achieving all his wishes as quickly as he
wanted. The short time lag also suggests that the imperial adminis
tration was functioning very efficiently "
137
What happened in 304 AD regarding persecution? (Rees)
" In early 304 the fourth Persecution Edict was published, ordering the
whole community to sacrifice"
138
What did the fourth edict of persecution extend the persecution beyond? (Rees)
"until this point, the main objects of the
persecution had been Christians in the army, and the texts, fabric and
leaders of the church, but now it seems entire communities, one by one,
were required to perform sacrifice before magistrates or other office
holders. "
139
How did the roman monarchy typically operate? (Rees)
" Typically too the monarchy was patriarchal and dynastic,
with sons (natural or adopted) inheriting power from their fathers. And
so, periods of Roman imperial history tend to be seen in terms of ruling
families or ‘houses’, such as the Julio-Claudians, Flavians, and Severans. "
140
Did Diocletian have any sons?
No, but he couldve adopted
141
What relation were the augusti of the tetrarchy to their caesars?
They were father in laws
142
What was the key to portraying collegiate unity?
propaganda
143
When were Constantius and Galerius made caesar and the tetrarchy began?
293 AD
144
What shows that marriage was still an important part of the imperial college?
augusti being father in laws
145
What is the other constitutional innovation credited to diocletian?
"Another short-lived constitutional innovation of Diocletian’s was the
retirement of the Augusti in 305. He is praised for it in some sources
(e.g. II 1 39.48; 2 9.28). An orator in 307 speaks of the retirement as a
plan agreed by the Augusti (II 15 9.2); later, another orator commends
Diocletian’s commitment to the plan"
146
How does Rees characterise Diocletians succession reforms?
"As a constitutional experiment, it flopped; and if it was
designed as an attempt to prevent crises of succession, it was a disaster."
147
How did Diocletian assert his legitimacy?
"There
were many means by which Diocletian’s legitimacy would have been
impressed on the empire: these include his success in battles, his self
presentation through ceremonial, and his reputation as a judge and
administrator (Chapters 1-4). All these factors could be interpreted as
signs of the favour of the gods, a useful claim in an attempt to assert
legitimacy."
148
What did the dyarchy do in response to Carausius claiming himself emperor? (Rees)
"The Dyarchs5 response
was to prepare a fleet and attack, but the expedition failed (Nixon and
Rodgers 1994: 106-8); a treaty was signed, and Carausius advertised
the peace on a coin dated to 290-2 "
149
Did the dyarchs intend to heed the peace made with carausius? (Rees)
" But if a peace was concluded, the Dyarchs seem not to have intended
to observe it for long; no evidence suggests that Carausius5 assertion
of a united government of three emperors was reciprocated, and the
panegyrics to Maximian in 289 and 291 make no attempt to
accommodate Carausius "
150
What was the defeat of Allectus recognised by the dyarchy with? (rees)
"the defeat of Allectus was
celebrated with the assumption by all four Tetrarchs of the victory title
Brittanicus maximus and the issue of triumphal medallions"
151
How had carausius acted in becoming emperor in Britain? (Rees)
" Carausius had in many ways behaved like a Roman emperor: he
had led an army, minted coins, constructed buildings, and proclaimed
himself consul (Casey 1994: 58); further, he had been sensitive to the
collegiality of the government. "
152
When did carausius declare himself emperor in britian?
286 AD
153
How does Rees summarise imperial legitimacy?
"Thus legitimacy was not so much a statement of facts as an argument"
154
