Analyze the Late Roman Empire through Diocletian (r. 284-305 CE) and Constantine the Great (r. 306-337 CE) — Tetrarchy, bureaucratic expansion, the Edict of Milan 313 CE, and the founding of Constantinople 330 CE — per Peter Brown's Late Antiquity framework
Exercise
Difficulty 2
~3 min
hist.g6.s.ex_06
Short Answer
Prompt
Name the 4 roles in Diocletian's Tetrarchy AND explain in one sentence why he created this system.
How it's presented
mode
text
Answer criteria
type
rubric scored
rubric
4 roles: Augustus East + Augustus West + Caesar East + Caesar West. Reason: to manage the empire's vast scale + provide succession + respond to multiple frontier threats simultaneously
Hints
- The Tetrarchy means 'rule of four.'
- Diocletian inherited the third-century crisis.
Misconceptions to watch
- Confusing Augustus and Caesar in Tetrarchic vs Republican senses
Used in lessons