From Principate to Dominate in the Late Roman Empire, 284–395

Diocletian and Constantine pulled Roman government out of its extended crisis by increasing the emperors’ authority, reorganizing the empire’s defense, restricting workers’ freedom, and changing the tax system to try to increase revenues. The two emperors firmly believed they had to win back divine favor to ensure their people’s safety.

Diocletian and Constantine believed that they could solve the empire’s problems by becoming more autocratic. They transformed their appearance as rulers to make their power seem awesome beyond compare, taking ideas from the self-presentation of their most powerful rivals, the rulers of the Persian Empire. Diocletian and Constantine hoped that their assertion of supremacy would keep their empire united; in the long run, however, it proved impossible to preserve Roman imperial territory on the scale once ruled by Augustus.