Diocletian and the Roman Recovery

New York, New York, U.S.A.: Routledge Kegan & Paul, 1985. Hard Back. Near Fine/Near Fine. 6 1/2" X 9 1/2. 264 Pages Indexe. Blue boards with gold spine lettering. There is light evidence of moisture exposure to the ack inside of dust jacket and barely noticeable wrinkling to the last four pages of indexing. There is one very small blue stain at the top of the back endpaper. No other defects noted to this otherwise As New book. Interior text pages are faultless. During the third century the Roman empire almost foundered in prolonged convulsions of barbarian invasions, incessant civil wars and worsening economic crisis. It was saved by the drastic and heroic efforts of a generation of Balkan soldier-emperors, of whom the dominant figure was Diocletian. A superb organizer and innovator, he ended the anarchy by the novel experiment of fourfold sharing of imperial power, the Tetrarchy, which succeeded in crushing every revolt and stabilising the frontiers. During twenty years his unflagging energies wrought the most far-reaching reforms since Augustus, bringing order out of chaos by harnessing every important area of life-military, administrative, fiscal, economic, social, religious - to serve the strategic needs of the State. There were failures, such as his attempt to halt inflation by price laws, and his great persecution of Christianity, but his overall construction proved remarkably sound. The result was not the restoration of the old Roman order, but a new one: autocratic, centralized and regimented, a fortress empire designed for indefinite siege, which was to survive as the later Byzantine state. Although this period has been widely studied, Stephen Williams' book is the first biography of Diocletian in English. It combines the historical narrative of his remarkable reign and those of his fellow-emperors, with a chapter-by-chapter study of each of the great problems he faced, the interlocking solutions he evolved to meet them, and the longer term results. It is both a portrait of one of Rome's greatest and most original rulers, and a political study in the emergence of Absolutism. Contents in Five Parts; Crisis, Emergence, The New Order, Triumphs and Defeats, and Aftermath. Plus porologue, Four Appendices, Bibliography, and References.