The military started hiring barbarians because they were cheaper to employ. Except barbarians are not trustworthy. They lost many battles and were overrun by the Persians on the Danube River. The emperor was the captured. People started caring less and less about politics. The rich stayed out

Diocletian, a Roman general who was the son of a slave, was proclaimed emperor by his troops in 284 A.D. Diocletian realized that one man could no longer govern the empire. To bring back order, he separated the provinces into smaller units. Each unit had its own government and army. He appointed a soldier named Maximian to be co-emperor and two deputies to succeed them. Maximian ruled the western part of the empire (the poor Latin people), and Diocletian ruled the eastern (the rich Greek people) part. Diocletian's reforms temporarily stopped the empire's collapse. He secured the boundaries, doubled the army, increased the taxes, stopped inflation increased the prestige of emperor, and restored the old Gods.

Christians suffered severe persecution during the 200's since they would only worship one God. Many Romans blamed them for causing the evils of the time by having offended the traditional Roman gods. In 303, Diocletian forbade Christian worship. In 305 he “tended his garden” until he died. The problems that Diocletian left behind include the heavy taxes that were needed to pay for the larger army and government, the price controls that caused more inflation, Christianity’s growth, and bad succession.

Constantine I was named emperor of Rome's western provinces in 306. Diocletian's system of shared rule and succession quickly broke down as several men struggled for

Some topics in this essay:
, God Romans, AD Diocletian, Roman Empire, Constantine Licinius, Praetorian Guard, Danube River, Pope Leo, Romulus Augustulus, River Romans, roman empire, west roman empire, constantine defeated, east roman, lost battles, traditional roman, economic crisis, west roman, sacked rome, constantine licinius, east roman empire,