A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

1014 DIOCLETIANUS.
of the sovereign with a sort of sacred and mysterious grandeur.
Passing over the military skill of Diocletian, we
can scarcely refuse to acknowledge that the man
who formed the scheme of reconstructing a great
empire, and executed his plan within so brief a
space of time, must have combined a bold and
capacious intellect with singular prudence and
practical dexterity. That his plans were such as
a profound statesman would approve may fairly be
questioned, for it needed but little knowledge of
human nature to foresee, that'the ingenious but
complicated machine would never work with
smoothness after the regulating hand of the
inventor was withdrawn; and, accordingly, his
death was the signal for a succession of furious
struggles among the rival Caesars and Augusti,
which did not terminate until the whole empire
was reunited under Constantine. Still the great
social change was accomplished; a new order of
things was introduced which determined the relation between the sovereign and the. subject, until
the final downfall of the Roman sway, upon principles not before recognized in the Western world,
and which to this day exercise no small influence
upon the political condition of Europe.
One of the worst effects, in the first instance, of
the revolution, was the vast increase of the public
expenditure, caused by the necessity of supporting
two imperial and two vice-regal courts upon a
scale of oriental splendour, and by the magnificent
edifices reared by the vanity or policy of the
different rulers for the embellishment of their
capitals or favourite residences. The amount of
revenue required could be raised only by increased
taxation, and we find that all classes of the community complained bitterly of the merciless exactions to which they were exposed. Yet, on the
whole, Diocletian was by no means indifferent to
the comfort and prosperity of his people. Various
monopolies were abolished, trade was encouraged,
a disposition was manifested to advance merit and
to repress corruption in every department. The
views entertained upon subjects connected with
political economy are well illustrated by the singular
edict lately discovered at Stratoniceia, by Colonel
Leake, fixing the wages of labourers and artizans,
together with the maximum price, throughout the
world, of all the necessaries and commodities of
life. It is not possible to avoid being struck by the
change wrought upon the general aspect of public
affairs during the years, not many in number, which
elapsed between the accession and abdication of
Diocletian. He found the empire weak and shattered, threatened with immediate dissolution, from
intestine discord and external violence. He left it
strong and compact, at peace within, and triumphant abroad, stretching from the Tigris to the Nile,
from the shores of Holland to the Euxine.
By far the worst feature of this reign was the
terrible persecution of the Christians. The conduct of the prince upon this occasion is the more
remarkable, because we are at first sight unable to
detect any motive which could have induced him
to permit such atrocities, and one of the most
marked features in his character was his earnest
avoidance of harsh measures. The history of the
affair seems briefly this: The pagans of the old
school had formed a close alliance with the sceptical philosophers, and both perceived that the
time was now arrived for a desperate struggle

DIODORUS.
which must finally establish or destroy their sipremacy. This faction found an organ in the
relentless Galerius, stimulated partly by his own
passions, but especially by the fanaticism of his
mother, who was notorious for her devotion to
some of the wildest and most revolting rites of
Eastern superstition. As the health of Diocletian
declined, his mind sunk in some degree under the
pressure of disease, while the influence of his
associate Augustus became every day more strong.
At length, after repeated and most urgent representations, Galerius succeeded in extorting from
his colleague-for even the most hostile accounts
admit that the consent of Diocletian was given
with the greatest reluctance-the first edict which,
although stern and tyrannical in its ordinances,
positively forbad all personal violence. But when
the proclamation was torn down by an indignant
believer, and when this act of contumacy was
followed by a conflagration in the palace, occurring
under the most suspicious circumstances, and
unhesitatingly ascribed by Galerius to the Christians, the emperor considered that the grand principle for which he had been so strenuously contending, the supreme majesty and inviolability of
the royal person, was openly assailed, and thus
was persuaded without further resistance to give
his assent to those sanguinary decrees which for
years deluged the world with innocent blood.
It is not improbable that the intellects of Diocletian were seriously affected, and that his malady
may have amounted to absolute insanity. (Aurel.
Victor. de Caes. 39, Epit. 39; Eutrop. ix. 13, &c.;
Zonar. xii. 31.) [W. R.]
COIN OF DIOCLETIANUS.
DIO'CORUS or DIO'SCORUS (Atof'copos or
Atdo'eopos), a commentator on the orations of Demosthenes. (Ulpian, ad Dem. Phil. iv. init.) [L. S.]
DIODO'RUS (Atomcopos), historical. 1. A
commander of Amphipolis in the reign of king Perseus of Macedonia. When the report of the king's
defeat at Pella reached Amphipolis, and Diodorus
feared lest the 2000 Thracians who were stationed
as garrison at Amphipolis should revolt and plunder the place, he induced them by a cunning
stratagem to leave the town and go to Emathia,
where they might obtain rich plunder. After they
had left the town, and crossed the river Strymon,
he closed the gates, and Perseus soon after took
refuge there. (Liv. xliv. 44.)
2. The tutor of Demetrius. When Demetrius
was kept in captivity at Rome, Diodorus came to
him from Syria, and persuaded him that he would
be received with open arms by the people of Syria
if he would but escape and make his appearance
among them. Demetrius readily listened to him,
and sent him to Syria to prepare everything and
to explore the disposition of the people. (Polyb.
xxxi. 20, 21.) [L. S.]
DIODO'RUS (Ato5wcpos),literary. 1. Of ADRAMYTTIUM, a rhetorician and Academic philosopher.
He lived at the time of Mithridates, under whom