It is doubtful that Diocletian's system ever worked very efficiently. Twentieth-century governments, with many more officials and technological advantages, are never able to enforce their will as well as they wish. But the demands of the imperial government had a great impact on the ordinary subject. Brutal measures were taken to ensure that farmers and workers in essential occupations stayed where they belonged; town councillors were held strictly accountable for the taxes of their localities; new officials were created to supervise provincial governors. Those in authority gained dramatic powers over those subject to them. Diocletian set the tone for a century in which landlords were permitted by law to chain their tenants, and governors to flog mayors.
The Great Persecution of the Christians, the most famous of Diocletian's policies, is a good example of the thinking and the techniques of his regime, and the limits of its success. The superhuman scope of the task they had set themselves made the Tetrarchs insistent on absolute obedience. They were, after all, the instruments of divine order, servants of the Roman gods who had made the Roman people great once and who would do so again if properly worshipped. The Christians, who denied the emperors' ultimate authority and scorned the traditional gods were thus dangerous dissidents: they were violators of "the ancient laws and public discipline of the Romans," people who broke the "peace with the gods" that was the true foundation of imperial prosperity. In 303 Galerius Caesar, Diocletian's imperial associate in the eastern provinces, convinced the senior emperor to move systematically against the Christians. The first imperial orders merely mandated the destruction of church buildings and Christian books, and deprived Christians of standing in the law courts. Over the next few years, Galerius issued progressively harsher edicts until in 306 he required that everyone should sacrifice to the gods. Names were checked against the tax roles by officials to catch evaders, who were subject to torture and execution.
The imperial orders were carried out -- in some places with enthusiasm -- but the goal of forcing Christians back into the ancestral religion was not achieved. Many Christians went through the motions of obediance to avoid punishment; others, willing martyrs, helped stiffen resistance among their fellows. Among pagans, even within the imperial court, the whole policy became increasingly unpopular. The turbulence of persecution was one more burden laid by a harsh government on a long-suffering population. In this respect, as in others, the government of the Tetrarchs could muster impressive force and determination, but there were limits to its effective power. Persecution was being abandoned for purely political reasons even before the advent of Constantine as the first Christian emperor.
Copyright (C) 1996, Steven Muhlberger. This file may be copied on the condition that the entire contents, including this copyright notice, remain intact.
