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[[Image:Diocletian.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Diocletian]]

[[Image:Diocletian.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Diocletian]]

'''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.  He insisted on pagan sacrifices. 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 Augustuses.  He imposed economic regulations, some of which seem silly today.  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.  For an empire that embraced [[slavery]], this probably seemed like normal regulations.  Diocletian also imposed wage and price controls to halt [[inflation]].  That economic regulation, which almost always fails, is still attempted by modern rulers, such as the United States President 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 Augustuses.  He imposed economic regulations, some of which seem silly today.  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.  For an empire that embraced [[slavery]], this probably seemed like normal regulations.  Diocletian also imposed wage and price controls to halt [[inflation]].  That economic regulation, which almost always fails, is still attempted by modern rulers, such as the United States President during World War II and even President [[Richard Nixon]] in the early 1970s.