Diocletian (284 - 305CE)

Diocletian (20 November 284 - 1 May 305CE). Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus Augustus was proclaimed emperor upon the deaths of Emperor Carus and his son, Numerian, in 284. Diocletian defeated Carinus, Carus' other son, in the Battle of the Margus. He appointed Maximian as Augustus and Galerius and Constantius as Caesars to complete his tetrarchy, or rule of four. He initiated a number of economic reforms including that of taxation and coinage, but failed in curbing inflation. Diocletianic Persecution was the last and largest official persecution of Christianity, and was quite bloody. His reign stabilized the empire economically and militarily. He abdicated due to ill health on May 1, 305, and became the only Roman emperor to voluntarily abdicate the purple. He saw his work torn apart by his successors, but refused to return to the throne. He died on December 3, 311.