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'''Diocletian''' was Emperor of [[Rome]] from A.D. 284-305. He attempted to destroy the [[Christian]] faith by burning the scriptures.  He also forbade worship and arrested clergy as well as insisting on sacrifices to the cult of the Emperor. He [[martyr|martyred]] hundreds of Christians from [[Europe]] to [[North Africa]].<ref>http://www.amerisearch.net/index.php?date=2004-05-01&view=View</ref>

'''Diocletian''' was Emperor of [[Rome]] from A.D. 284-305. He attempted to destroy the [[Christian]] faith by burning the scriptures.  He also forbade worship and arrested clergy as well as insisting on sacrifices to the cult of the Emperor. He [[martyr|martyred]] hundreds of Christians from [[Europe]] to [[North Africa]].<ref>http://www.amerisearch.net/index.php?date=2004-05-01&view=View</ref>

Diocletian attempted to save the Roman empire by dividing it into eastern and western regions, with [[Nicomedia]] as the capital of the East and Rome as the capital of the West.  He established the "tetrarchy", or division of power among four rulers in 293 A.D.  The tetrarchy included two primary rulers, each with the title "Augustus", who ruled over the eastern and western empires, and two "Caesars" who served under the Augusti.  He imposed economic and class regulations; for example, Diocletian required farmers to stay with their land and workers to stay on the job for the rest of their lives.  He did this to prevent people from leaving their work to avoid taxation. Diocletian also imposed wage and price controls to halt [[inflation]].  This type of economic control almost always fails to produce adequate results, but is still attempted by modern heads of state such as the [[Franklin Roosevelt]] during World War II and even President [[Richard Nixon]] in the early 1970s.

Diocletian attempted to save the Roman empire by dividing it into eastern and western regions, with [[Nicomedia]] as the capital of the East and Rome as the capital of the West.  He established the "tetrarchy", or division of power among four rulers in 293 A.D.  The tetrarchy included two primary rulers, each with the title "Augustus", who ruled over the eastern and western empires, and two "Caesars" who served under the Augusti.  He imposed economic and class regulations; for example, Diocletian required farmers to stay with their land and workers to stay on the job for the rest of their lives.  He did this to prevent people from leaving their work to avoid taxation. Diocletian also imposed wage and price controls to halt [[inflation]].  This type of economic control almost always fails to produce adequate results, but is still attempted by modern heads of state such as the [[Franklin Roosevelt]] during World War II and even President [[Richard Nixon]] in the early 1970s.

Diocletian also attempted to suppress Christianity by ordering Christians to worship him and brutally persecuting them when they did not.  He was the last emperor to do this.

Diocletian persecuted Christianity by ordering Christians to worship him and brutally persecuting them when they did not.  It was the last of the great persecutions before his successor would ultimately legalize the Christian religion.

Diocletian abdicated due to a [[stomach]] illness in A.D. 305.  He lived long enough to see that the system that he set up for orderly succession had failed as open warfare broke out soon after he gave up power.

Diocletian abdicated due to a [[stomach]] illness in A.D. 305.  He lived long enough to see that the system that he set up for orderly succession had failed as open warfare broke out soon after he gave up power.