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Rome. Imperial
Fora from the South |
Emperor Augustus
as Jupiter |
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Rome. Imperial
Fora from the South |
Emperor Augustus
as Jupiter |
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PRECURSORS of THE ROMAN REPUBLIC |
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Emperor
Maximian offers Incense to the Goddess Diana |
Incense-offering, 3rd cent. |
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ROMAN
EMPERORS
of the FIRST
TWO CENTURIES
AFTER
CHRIST
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THE CLAUDIAN DYNASTY |
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(1) [Timeline]
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(2) [Timeline] TIBERIUS 14-37 Punishes criticism of government: encourages informants to denounce “traitors”. Initiates “police state” and reign of terror. |
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(3) [Timeline] CALIGULA 37-41 Demands that a statue of himself be erected in the Temple in Jerusalem and accorded divine honors: dies before the project is carried out. |
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(4) [Timeline] CLAUDIUS 41-54 “Since the Jews constantly made disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus, he expelled them from Rome. . .” |
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“He utterly abolished the cruel and inhuman religion of the Druids among the Gauls, which under Augustus had merely been prohibited to Roman citizens; on the other hand he even attempted to transfer the Eleusinian rites from Attica to Rome, and had the temple of Venus Erycina in Sicily, which had fallen to ruin through age, restored at the expense of the treasury of the Roman people.” Seutonius, Claudius, 25. |
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(5) [Timeline] NERO 54-68 “ ...
Punishment
was inflicted on the Christians, a class of men given to a new and
mischievious superstition... ” |
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Tacitus, Annals xv. 44. But
all human efforts, all the lavish gifts of the emperor, and the
propitiations of the gods did not banish the sinister belief that the
conflagration was the result of an order. Consequently, to get rid of the
report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on
a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace.
Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty
during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius
Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition thus checked for the moment,
again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even
in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world
find their centre and become popular. |
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THE FLAVIANDYNASTY |
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(6) [Timeline]
VESPASIAN 69-79 Begins subjugation of rebellious Judea. |
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(7) [Timeline]
TITUS
- 79-81 Completes subjugation of Judea. Destroys Temple in Jerusalem |
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(8) [Timeline]
DOMITIAN
81-96 Demanded the titles and honor of a god |
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Suetonius, Domitian 12.17. Besides other taxes, that on the Jews was levied with the utmost rigor, and those were prosecuted who without publicly acknowledging that faith yet lived as Jews, as well as those who concealed their origin and did not pay the tribute levied upon their people. |
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κἀν τῷ αὐτῷ ἔτει ἄλλους τε πολλοὺς καὶ τὸν Φλάουιον <τὸν> Κλήμεντα ὑπατεύοντα, καίπερ ἀνεψιὸν ὄντα καὶ γυναῖκα καὶ αὐτὴν συγγενῆ ἑαυτοῦ Φλαουίαν Δομιτίλλαν ἔχοντα, 67.14.2 κατέσφαξεν ὁ Δομιτιανός. ἐπηνέχθη δὲ ἀμφοῖν ἔγκλημα ἀθεότητος, ὑφ' ἧς καὶ ἄλλοι ἐς τὰ τῶνἸουδαίων ἤθη ἐξοκέλλοντες πολλοὶ κατεδικάσθησαν, καὶ οἱ μὲν ἀπέθανον, οἱ δὲ τῶν γοῦν οὐσιῶν ἐστερήθησαν· 67.14.3 ἡ δὲ Δομιτίλλα ὑπερωρίσθη μόνον ἐς Πανδατερίαν. |
Cassius Dio 14 … “And the same year Domitian slew, along with many others, Flavius Clemens the consul, although he was a cousin and had as his wife Flavia Domitilla, who was also a relative of the emperor's. The charge brought against them both was that of atheism, a charge on which many others who drifted into Jewish ways were condemned. Some of these were put to death, and the rest were at least deprived of their property. Domitilla was merely banished to Pandateria.” |
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THE
ANTONINES |
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(9) [Timeline]
NERVA
96-98 Dio Cassius says Nerva forbade accusations of maiestas
(treason) |
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(10) [Timeline]
TRAJAN
98-117 Pliny correspondence: Christians to be executed if obstinate, freed if recant. Not to be sought out |
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(11) [Timeline]
HADRIAN
117-138 Christians are to be executed if won't recant; but false informants to be dealt with harshly. |
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Ἀδριανοῦ ὑπὲρ Χριστιανῶν ἐπιστολή. |
Epistle of {H}Adrian on Behalf of the Christians. |
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Μινουκίῳ Φουνδανῷ. 68.6Ἐπιστολὴν ἐδεξάμην γραφεῖσάν μοι ἀπὸ Σερηνίου Γρανιανοῦ, λαμπροτάτου ἀνδρός, ὅντινα σὺ διεδέξω. 68.7 οὐ δοκεῖ οὖν μοι τὸ πρᾶγμα ἀζήτητον καταλιπεῖν, ἵνα μήτε οἱ ἄνθρωποι ταράττωνται καὶ τοῖς συκοφάνταις χορηγία κακουργίας παρασχεθῇ. |
I have received the letter addressed to me by your predecessor Serenius Granianus, a most illustrious man; and this communication I am unwilling to pass over in silence, lest innocent persons be disturbed, and occasion be given to the informers for practising villany. |
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68.10 εἴ τις οὖν κατηγορεῖ καὶ δείκνυσί τι παρὰ τοὺς νόμους πράττοντας, οὕτως διόριζε κατὰ τὴν δύναμιν τοῦ ἁμαρτήματος· ὡς μὰ τὸνἩρακλέα, εἴ τις συκοφαντίας χάριν τοῦτο προτείνοι, διαλάμβανε ὑπὲρ τῆς δεινότητος, καὶ φρόντιζε ὅπως ἂν ἐκδικήσειας. |
If,
therefore, any one makes the accusation, and furnishes proof that the said
men do anything contrary to the laws, you shall adjudge punishments in
proportion to the offences. And this, by Hercules; you shall give special
heed to, that if any man shall, through mere calumny, bring an accusation
against any of these persons, you shall award to him more severe
punishments in proportion to his wickedness |
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(12) [Timeline]
ANTONINUS
PIUS
138-161
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(13)
MARCUS
AURELIUS
161-180 |
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Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus (A.D. 284-305) put an end to the disastrous phase of Roman history known as the “Military Anarchy” or the “Imperial Crisis” (235-284). He established an obvious military despotism and was responsible for laying the groundwork for the second phase of the Roman Empire, which is known variously as the “Dominate,” the “Tetrarchy,” the “Later Roman Empire,” or the “Byzantine Empire.” His reforms ensured the continuity of the Roman Empire in the east for more than a thousand years. [Ralph W. Mathisen, http://www.roman-emperors.org/dioclet.htm ]
(245–313), Roman Emperor from 284 to 305. Diocles, who was born of humble parents at Salona in Dalmatia, took up a military career, serving with distinction under Probus and Aurelian. On 17 Sept. 284, on the murder of Numerian, the army proclaimed him Emperor at Chalcedon. He was defeated in the ensuing hostilities against Carinus, Numerian’s joint-Emperor; but as Carinus was promptly slain by his own officers, Diocletian (as he now chose to call himself) became undisputed master.
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Endowed with immense energy, great gifts of organization, and a mind dominated by logic, he made it his main purpose to stabilize and reform the Empire. To this end,[:]
[1] he created an
absolute monarchy, centring all power in himself as the semi-Divine ruler,
and making his palace the domus divina
and his own person sacred;
[2] and henceforth the Senate was to be permanently in a subordinate position.
[3] In 286 he
associated Maximian in the government as co-Augustus, taking the Eastern Empire
for himself and giving Maximian the West.
In 293 he turned the ‘imperial college’ into a tetrarchy by the
creation of two ‘Caesars’, Constantius Chlorus and Galerius.
[4] He further divided the Empire into twelve dioceses, each consisting of several provinces, which, from the 4th cent., formed the basis of the territorial organization of the Church.
...[T]he economy, was in an especially sorry state. The coinage had become so debased as to be virtually worthless. Diocletian’s attempt to reissue good gold and silver coins failed because there simply was not enough gold and silver available to restore confidence in the currency. A “Maximum Price Edict” issued in 301, intended to curb inflation, served only to drive goods onto the black market. Diocletian finally accepted the ruin of the money economy and revised the tax system so that it was based on payments in kind . The soldiers too came to be paid in kind.
In order to assure the long term survival of the empire, Diocletian identified certain occupations which he felt would have to be performed. These were known as the “compulsory services.” They included such occupations as
soldiers,
bakers,
members of
town councils,
and tenant farmers.
These functions became hereditary, and those engaging in them were inhibited from changing their careers. The repetitious nature of these laws, however, suggests that they were not widely obeyed. Diocletian also expanded the policy of third-century emperors of restricting the entry of senators into high-ranking governmental posts, especially military ones.
Diocletian attempted to use the state religion as a unifying element. Encouraged by the Caesar Galerius, Diocletian in 303 issued a series of four increasingly harsh decrees designed to compel Christians to take part in the imperial cult, the traditional means by which allegiance was pledged to the empire. This began the so-called “Great Persecution.”
With this strong organization, the Empire was consolidated and somewhat extended. Diocletian also introduced far-reaching military, administrative, fiscal, and economic reforms, including the celebrated Edict on Maximum Prices (‘De pretiis return venalium’) of 301. On 1 May 305 he formally abdicated at Nicomedia, compelling his reluctant colleague Maximian to take the same step. He lived his last years in retirement at his large palace at Spalato (Split).
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For the greater part of his reign the Christians seem to have enjoyed the tranquillity which had been theirs since the Rescript of Gallienus (260; Euseb. VII.13). Only the Manichees were repressed, by an edict of c.298 (dated 31 March but without the year), as a sect lately originating in Persia.
It was in 303 that the Great Persecution broke out.
[1.] An edict issued at Nicomedia on 23 Feb. enjoined the demolition of churches and the burning of Christian books. Some incidents which followed (fires in the palace at Nicomedia, reports of unrest at Melitene and in Syria) led to further edicts.
[2-3.] The next two were directed solely against the clergy.
[2] sacred books confiscated,
[3] clergy imprisoned and forced to sacrifice by torture.
The punishment inflicted for resistance was imprisonment, torture, and, in some cases, death.
[4.] A fourth edict issued early in 304 enjoined sacrifice to the gods on all subjects.
The persecution brought a considerable number of martyrs. Its severity varied in different parts of the Empire acc. to the changing fortunes of the Imperial rulers in the next decade. Its final collapse was due to Constantine’s defeat of Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge on 28 Oct. 312 and the ‘Edict of Milan’ early in the next year.
Good discussion in C. Anc. H. 12 (1939), esp. chs. 9 (by H. Mattingly), 10, and 11 (by W. Ensslin); and, for the Persecution, ch. 19 (by N. H. Baynes). W. Ensslin, Zur Ostpolitik des Kaisers Diokletian, Sb. (Bayr.), 1942, Heft 1; W. Seston, Dioclétien et la tétrarchie. 1. Guerres et réformes, 284–300 (Bibliothèque des Écoles Françaises d’Athènes et de Rome, 162; 1946); S. Williams, Diocletian and the Roman Recovery (1985); B. Rémy, Dioclétien et la tetrarchie (Que sais-je? 1998). T. D. Barnes, The New Empire of Diocletian and Constantine (Cambridge, Mass., and London, 1982), passim. A. H. M. Jones, The Later Roman Empire 284–602 (3 vols., Oxford, 1964), 1, pp. 37–76, with refs. in 3, pp. 2–10. W. Ensslin in PW, Zweite Reihe, 7 (1948), cols. 2419–95, s.v. ‘Valerius (142) Diocletianus’ W. Seston in RAC 3 (1957), cols. 1036–53,
PW A. Pauly, Real-Encyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft, ed. G. Wissowa and others (1893 ff.).
RAC Reallexikon fur Antike and Christentum, ed. T. Klauser, E. Dassmann, and others (Stuttgart, 1950 ff.).
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An Illyrian of humble birth, he rose in the army and in 293 was appointed by *Diocletian as his co-adjutor (‘Caesar’) in the E.; on Diocletian’s abdication in 305 he succeeded him as Augustus. According to Christian writers his influence had inspired the persecution initiated in 303. Unable to enforce his dominance in the W., and suffering from an illness gloatingly described by Lactantius (De Mortibus Persecutorum, 33), he finally issued an edict of toleration in 311 ( He died soon afterwards.
EDICT
OF TOLERATION
by GALERIUS-
311
A.D.
from Lactantius, De Mort. Pers. ch. 34, 35. Opera, ed. O. F. Fritzsche, II, P. 273. (Bibl. Patt. Ecc. Lat. XI, Leipzig, 1844.)
| (Ch. 34.) AMONG other arrangements which we are always accustomed to make for the prosperity and welfare of the republic, we had desired formerly to bring all things into harmony with the ancient laws and public order of the Romans, and to provide that even the Christians who had left the religion of their fathers should come back to reason ; | Inter caetera quae pro Reipublicae semper commodis atque utilitate disponimus, nos quidem volueramus antehac, juxta leges veteres et publicam disciplinam, Romanorum cuncta corrigere, atque id providere, ut etiam Christiani, qui parentum suorum reliquerant sectam, ad bonas mentes redirent. |
| since, indeed, the Christians themselves, for some reason, had followed such a caprice and had fallen into such a folly that they would not obey the institutes of antiquity, which perchance their own ancestors had first established; but at their own will and pleasure, they would thus make laws unto themselves which they should observe and would collect various peoples in diverse places in congregations. | Siquidem eadem ratione tanta eosdem Christianos voluntas invasisset, et tanta stultitia occupasset, ut non illa veterum instituta sequerentur, quae forsitan primum parentes eorumdem constituerant: sed pro arbitrio suo, atque ut hisdem erat libitum, ita sibimet leges facerent, quas observarent, et per diversa varios populos congregarent. |
| Finally when our law had been promulgated to the effect that they should conform to the institutes of antiquity, many were subdued by the fear of danger, many even suffered death. And yet since most of them persevered in their determination, and we saw that they neither paid the reverence and awe due to the gods nor worshipped the God of the Christians, | Denique cum ejusmodi nostra jussio extitisset, ut ad [Col.0249B] veterum se instituta conferrent, multi periculo subjugati, multi etiam deturbati sunt; atque cum plurimi in proposito perseverarent, ac videremus nec diis eosdem cultum ac religionem debitam exhibere, nec christianorum Deum observare, |
| in view of our most mild clemency and the constant habit by which we are accustomed to grant indulgence to all, we thought that we ought to grant our most prompt indulgence also to these, so that they may again be Christians and may hold their conventicles, provided they do nothing contrary to good order. But we shall tell the magistrates in another letter what they ought to do. | contemplatione mitissimae nostrae clementiae intuentes et consuetudinem sempiternam, qua [Col.0250A] solemus cunctis hominibus veniam indulgere, promptissimam in his quoque indulgentiam nostram credidimus porrigendam; ut denuo sint Christiani, et conventicula sua componant, ita ut ne quid contra disciplinam agant. Alia autem epistola judicibus significaturi sumus, quid debent observare. |
| Wherefore, for this our indulgence, they ought to pray to their God for our safety, for that of the republic, and for their own, that the republic may continue uninjured on every side, and that they may be able to live securely in their homes. | Unde juxta hanc indulgentiam nostram debebunt Deum suum orare pro salute nostra, et Reipublicae, ac sua, ut undiqueversum Respublica perstet incolumis, et securi vivere in sedibus suis possint. |
| (c.35)This edict is published at Nicomedia on the day before the Kalends of May, in our eighth consulship and the second of Maximinus. | Hoc edictum proponitur Nicomediae pridie Kalendas Maias, ipso octies, et Maximino iterum Consulibus. |
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79.5
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THEODORIC (c.455–526), King of the Ostrogoths from 475, and ruler of Italy from 493. He spent his early years as a hostage at Constantinople, and subsequently, as leader of his people in the Balkans, was at times allied with the E. Empire and at times at war with it. In 487 he was commissioned by the Emp. Zeno to overthrow the usurper Odoacer who [having deposed the last Western Emperor, the child Romulus in 476.]was then ruling in Italy. Theodoric defeated and killed Odoacer, and ruled Italy until his death, paying only lip-service to his imperial overlords in Constantinople. His rule gave Italy a period of prolonged peace. Although he and his people were Arians in a country that was solidly Catholic, he pursued a policy of toleration of the religious and cultural traditions of his Roman subjects, allowing the Catholic Church to retain all its churches, property, and privileges. In his capital, Ravenna, and in other towns with Gothic settlers, two rival hierarchies, Arian and Catholic, coexisted. Such a policy was in marked contrast to the intolerance of religious dissent in contemporary Byzantium or in some other Arian kingdoms.
The chief source for his life is Jordanes, Getica (ed.ed. *Mommsen, MGH, Auctores Antiquissimi, 5 (pars 1; 1882), pp. 53–138) and for his rule in Italy, *Cassiodorus, Variae (ed. id., ibid. 12 (1884) and by Å. J. Fridh, CCSL 96 (1973), pp. 1–499; Eng. tr. by S. J. B. Barnish (Translated Texts for Historians, 12; Liverpool, 1992)). Studies by M. Brion (Paris, 1935) and W. Ensslin (Munich [1947]). Good modern account of his life and rule by H. Wolfram, Geschichte der Goten (Munich, 1979; 2nd edn., 1980), esp. pp. 326–411; rev. Eng. tr. (Berkeley, Calif., and London [1988]), pp. 261–332. J. Moorhead, Theodoric in Italy (Oxford, 1992). P. Heather, ‘Theodoric, king of the Goths’, Early Medieval Europe, 4 (1995), pp. 145–73. For his churches in Ravenna, see F. W. Deichmann, Ravenna: Hauptstadt des spätantiken Abendlandes (2 vols. in 3 parts + plans, Wiesbaden, 1969–76); for his mausoleum, R. Heidenreich and H. Johannes, Das Grabmal Theodorichs zu Ravenna (ibid., 1971).
This Webpage was created for a workshop held at Saint Andrew's Abbey, Valyermo, California in 1990
| 395 | PARTITION - WESTERN EMPIRE |
| 393-423 |
Honorius
406-407 Marcus 407 Gratian 407-411 Constantine III 409/10-411 Constans II 409-411 Maximus 409-410, 414-415 Priscus Attalus 411-413 Jovinus 412-413 Sebastianus 421 Constantius III 423-425 Johannes |
| 425-455 | Valentinian III |
| 455 | Petronius Maximus |
| 455-456 | Avitus |
| 457-461 | Majorian |
| 461-465 | Libius Severus |
| 467-472 |
Anthemius
468 Arvandus 470 Romanus |
| 472 | Olybrius |
| 473-474 | Glycerius |
| 474-475 | Julius Nepos |
| 475-476 | Romulus Augustulus |
| 395 | PARTITION - EASTERN EMPIRE |
| Dynasty of Theodosius | |
| 395-408 | Arcadius |
| 408-450 | Theodosius II |
| 450-457 | Marcian (m. Pulcheria, gnddghtr Theod I) |
457-474 |
Dynasty of Leo |
| 474 | Leo II |
| 474-491 | Zeno
475-476 Basiliscus 484-488 Leontius |
| 491-518 | Anastasius |
| Dynasty of Justinian | |
| 518-527 | Justin |
| 527-565 | Justinian I |
| 565-578 | Justin II |
| 578-582 | Tiberius II (I) Constantine |
| 582-602 | Maurice |
| 602-610 | Phocas |
| Dynasty of Heraclius | |
| 610-641 | Heraclius |
| 641 | Heraclonas |
| 641-668 |
Constans II
646-647 Gregory 649-653 Olympius 669 Mezezius |
| 668-685 | Constantine IV |
| 685-695 | Justinian II (banished) |
| 695-698 | Leontius |
| 698-705 | Tiberius III(II) |
| 705-711 | Justinian II (restored) |
711-713 |
Bardanes |
| 713-716 | Anastasius II |
| 716-717 | Theodosius III |
| Isaurian Dynasty | |
| 717-741 | Leo III |
| 741-775 |
Constantine V Copronymus
742-743 Artabasdus |
| 775-780 | Leo IV |
| 780-797 | Constantine VI |
| 797-802 | Irene |
| 802-811 | Nicephorus I |
| 811 | Strauracius |
| 811-813 | Michael I |
| 813-820 | Leo V |
820-829 |
Phrygian Dynasty
Michael II 821-823 Thomas |
| 829-842 | Theophilus |
| 842-867 | Michael III |
| Macedonian Dynasty | |
| 867-886 | Basil I
869-879 Constantine |
| 887-912 | Leo VI |
| 912-913 | Alexander |
| 913-959 | Constantine VII Porphygenitus |
| 920-944 | Romanus I Lecapenus
921-931Christopher 924-945Stephen |
| 959-963 | Romanus II |
| 963-969 | Nicephorus II Phocas |
| 969-976 | John I Tzimiskes |
| 976-1025 | Basil II |
| 1025-1028 | Constantine VIII (IX) alone |
| 1028-1034 | Romanus III Argyrus |
| 1034-1041 | Michael IV the Paphlagonian |
| 1041-1042 | Michael V Calaphates |
| 1042 | Zoe and Theodora |
| 1042-1055 | Constantine IX Monomchus |
| 1055-1056 | Theodora alone |
| 1056-1057 | Michael VI Stratioticus |
| Prelude to Comnenian Dynasty | |
| 1057-1059 | Isaac I Comnenos |
| 1059-1067 | Constantine X (1X) Ducas |
| 1068-1071 | Romanus IV Diogenes |
| 1071-1078 | Michael VII Ducas |
| 1078-1081 | Nicephorus III Botaniates
Nicephorus Bryennius Nicephorus Basilacius 1080-1081 Nicephorus Melissenus |
| Dynasty of the Comneni | |
| 1081-1118 | Alexius I Comnenus |
| 1118-1143 | John II Comenus |
| 1143-1180 | Manuel I |
| 1180-1183 | Alexius II |
| 1183-1185 | Andronicus I |
| 1183-1191 | Isaac, Emperor of Cyprus |
| Dynasty of the Angeli | |
| 1185-1195 | Isaac II |
| 1195-1203 | Alexius III |
| 1203-1204 | Isaac II (restored) with Alexius IV |
| 1204 | Alexius V Ducas Murtzuphlus |
| Lascarid Dynasty in Nicaea | |
| 1204-1222 | Theodore I Lascaris |
| 1222-1254 | John III Ducas Vatatzes |
| 1254-1258 | Theodore II Lascaris |
| 1258-1261 | John IV Lascaris |
| Dynasty of the Palaeologi | |
| 1259-1282 | Michael VIII Paleologus |
| 1282-1328 | Andronicus II |
| 1328-1341 | Andronicus III |
| 1341-1391 | John V
1347-1354 John VICantancuzenus |
| 1376-1379 | Andronicus IV |
| 1379-1391 | John V (restored) |
| 1390 | John VII |
| 1391-1425 | Manuel II |
| 1425-1448 | John VIII |
| 1449-1453 | Constantine XI (XIII) Dragases |
