Conclusions: Domus Militaris

This chapter summarizes the arguments made in the book. Additionally, it suggests that Diocletian’s military background influenced his decision to abdicate, and it argues that Diocletian’s approach to dynasty accorded with his overall approach to governance. Diocletian was an innovator who ruled in an interventionist style, a shrewd problem-solver if sometimes overbold. The chapter then revisits and summarizes the ways in which dynastic norms returned in the wake of Diocletian’s abdication, both in terms of media and through major political actions. However, it is argued that the Tetrarchy was successful in securing relative stability, so long as the ‘brothers’ and friends Diocletian and Maximian remained at the helm. The succession in 305 was too novel for Diocletian’s specific vision to remain in place. Moreover, the relationship of Constantius and Galerius, or Maximian and Galerius, was unlike that of Diocletian and Maximian, and Tetrarchic concordia could not be preserved through the artificial replication of a prior friendship. However, this did not entail a return to the crises of the third century, for a remnant of the Tetrarchic dynasty would continue as the Constantinian dynasty.