Diocletian and the Roman Recovery (Roman Imperial Biographies) 1st Edition by Stephen Williams (PDF)

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First published in 1997. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐Because Paul’s Greek meter in Ephesians 1:10 focuses on Diocletian as the cause of Constantine and Constantine as the cause of Roman Catholicism (long story why, I did Youtube and now vimeo videos on it, ggs11 channel nickname brainout) — in December 2010 I suddenly had to get into post-Commodus Roman history. WHY was Paul focusing his TIME meter on that period? I didn’t know.No excuse for me not being interested in that period of Roman history, but I wasn’t. So I didn’t know basics like who was Emperor post-Commodus (other than Constantine, who interested me not at all), nor about the Crisis of the Third Century, etc. This, despite having an original 1776 Gibbon, and the 1876 edition, AND Gibbon on 3.5″ floppies (so you know how long I’ve had them) AND abridged Mommsen AND Cary, etc. for lo 20 years+. And, the Military Encyclopedia by Dupuy and Dupuy. To make my wilfull ignorance worse, I HEARD about SPQR for over 30 years from my pastor exegeting Ephesians. Yikes. End Confession.Big mistake. Now corrected, by surfing and surfing Google Books for the scholarship reading and reading and reading the books I have, and also getting this book by Williams, plus Bill Leadbetter’s “Galerius and the Will of Diocletian”, happily available on Kindle for rent or purchase.What does Williams bring to the table, since so much (mostly not in English) has been written on Diocletian, both in the past, and now?1. Williams is big-picture. He weaves together all the megatrends leading up to Diocletian, with a focus on the psychological impact the tumultous Crisis of the Third Century had on ‘making’ Diocletian.2. Williams avoids the pedantic trap of getting all wound up with the ongoing scholarly debates over the facts, personalities, and who-did-what-when, and instead just presents an overview.3. His overview is extremely incisive and insightful.4. Writing flow and focus on the psychological impact of the period on pagans and Christians alike, is tight, easy to follow and understand.In short, if you want ONE book to read on Diocletian and his times — and you should, because doggone near everything about the Catholic Church is ‘imported’ from Diocletian — pick this book. Then you can get into the windy tomes of the classic authors, for you will have the big picture, with all the right pieces to analyze in more detail. (There’s another book printed in 1876, “The Persecution of Diocletian” by Arthur James Mason (available here at Amazon or Google Books), which is also helpful, but less so.)Williams’ Chapters 12 and 13 help you see the reason for the Great Persecution of 303. As you might expect, there are always two sides to the story, and unfortunately my fellow Christians of the third and fourth century were a scurrilious lot, never above lying — and of course THEIR version of the story is mainly what survives. So you have to look elsewhere for a balanced picture. Williams provides that balance. So on the one hand, the pagans themselves were tiring of a too-superficial relationship to ‘the gods’, so gradually came to seek a ‘universal’ God idea above the centuries of warring, capricious ‘gods’. Even the philosophers got religious that way. On the other hand, some of this ‘universal’ move (really, toward the henotes of Plato’s Philebus), was more pragmatically designed to compete with the in-your-face, hate-the-establishment apostate ‘Christianity’ (not much different from its counterparts today), where everyone else was somehow an untermensch.The Christians, for their part, were also coalescing, the centuries of schismatic warring gradually giving way to a very eclectic ROMAN STYLE (Diocletian-style) ecclesiastical expression. Williams thinks that ecclesiasm got underway in 200, but if you also buy Robert Lee Williams’ “Bishop Lists” (no relation to Stephen, book is also here at Amazon, a gripping read, surprising for a doctoral thesis) — you’ll see that it was more a product of the 250’s, aftermath of the Severans and persecution.THAT is why Paul’s meter wryly says (direct trans from the Greek), ‘to result in the Filling-Up-of-Times Dispensation; to sum up under One Head, All (trial) matters in Christ; all (trial) matters in heaven, and [all matters] on earth, via Him;’ That last “Him” is syllable=AD 283, advent of Diocletian. Now I know why, from the pagan end: they were COALESCING. I didn’t know that, before. (To see why from the Christian end, get the Robert Lee Williams Bishop Lists Book. Caution: neither Williams advocates anything about Bible or Paul. I’m drawing those conclusions from their books.)The rest, as they say, is history. Everything Diocletian crafted was adopted lock stock and barrel, right down to the terms, costuming, colors, and ceremonies — by Constantine and the then-emergent, Catholic Church. The word ‘catholic’ wasn’t used until the Severans, see the Robert Lee Williams ‘Bishop Lists’ book for that story. Stephen and Robert are not related, so far as I know.Stephen Williams explains that parallel in his penultimate chapter, ‘Constantine’s Completion’. Suggest you get both Williams’ books, to see import; or, at least see my review of Robert Williams’ ‘Bishop Lists’, here in Amazon, maybe to save time. Truly, so much of modern Western history derives from this changeover; and especially, Roman Catholic dogmas, institutions, and .. ahem, persecutions.Now, there are many points of contention about this period, still debated by scholars. When did Constantius and Galerius marry the Augusti daughters? Was Valeria Maximila really Diocletian’s DAUGHTER’s child? Why did Diocletian abdicate.. was it illness, part of a longstanding plan, or illness which occurred when he planned to retire anyway? And how strong was he, at that point? When did he really die? Was Galerius really as anti-Christian as painted, or was it more Diocletian? Did Galerius force Diocles to sponsor the persecutions, and then retire? Not to mention, the conflicting stories among the pagan or Christian writers of that distant time, re Maxentius, Maximinian, the marriage of Licinius and Constantia, Constantine’s sister, and the aftermath of wars between the two new Augusti. Most perplexing still, is the account of what happened to Galerius’ widow, Diocles’ daughter, after Galerius died in 311. WHEN was the START of the ’15 months’ in Lactantius? Gibbon wondered about it, and so too everyone since.Stephen Williams navigates between the contentions, comes up with his own conclusions, provides good footnotes to show why. Leadbetter’s ‘Galerius and the Will of Diocletian’, available here in Amazon, complains that Williams’ book is not ‘satisfactory’. I couldn’t disagree more. Leadbetter’s book reads like dissertation draft notes; he contradicts himself after presenting strawmen ‘scholars’ who he seeks to refute; read five pages of his writing, and you have to walk away from his book in frustration. Frankly, Leadbetter makes many unfounded assumptions which trail off into nowhere land, never presents a comprehensive picture of the time. But Williams DOES create a comprehensive sensible picture from the same data. Sure, you can quibble about some of the details, but you know where he gets them. That IS satisfactory.My quibbles are date corrections about when ecumenism got off the ground (should be the 250’s), when Diocletian died (should be AD 316, see my Appendix II of my Ephesians1REPARSED.doc or htm, or its pdf version Eph1DecreeSyllables.pdf, all from brainout.net); also, Williams’ book has annoying end notes, rather than the more convenient, footnotes; so you must flip pages back and forth to read. Footnotes are far easier on the reader. These are all minor complaints; sure wish my complaints about my own stuff, were so minor. :)And I sure wish Williams’ book were on Kindle. It’s worth reading, over and over, because his big-picture approach helps you realize that we learn nothing from history, so are condemned to repeat it. This period is indicative of a recurring trend in history, and its lessons go unlearnt.So yessiree, I’d heartily recommend Williams’ book. Worth several times the price. I’ll seek other stuff he’s written, as a result!

⭐A nice biography of a Roman emperor probably most people don’t know about. Most people are most probably familiar with Caesar, Marcus Aurelius or Nero but probably not Diocletian. But that doesn’t mean he is not just as important as the well known emperors. Diocletian probably contributed just as much as Julius Caesar because of his restoration of the Roman empire after the collapse of the third century of internecine civil wars.Not only were his military accomplishments prodigious in restoring Roman territory from barbarian invasions and restoring lost territory lost to Persia and various usurpers like Carausius (Britain & Gaul) but Diocletian also contributed to a better organized Roman government, bureaucracy and a relatively stable economy. He was more than just a solider. A true politician and master of administration. Diocletian’s model of having a yearly financial budget of estimated needed items for the state is the basis of governmental budgets still used in effect today almost 1800 years later. To reinforce his yearly budget, he would also implement a five year census to make sure all people, animals and land were accounted for accordingly with the budget. Diocletian’s innovation of the units capita & iuga were innovative workarounds in obtaining taxes for the State of not just acquiring money but necessary items of supply from every citizen of the Roman empire in case they couldn’t pay in the Roman currency of denari. Diocletian was unable to stabilize the currency with a stable silver coin, which only Constantine could accomplish after him with the gold Solidus but Diocletian’s innovative way of doling out annona (units of measure of army supplies) to his troops in lieu of currency payments was a testament to his ingenious way of solving problems. That is the essence of Diocletian as an emperor, he was a problem solver and not a complainer.Diocletian shows this in separating the divisions of authority between military and government administration so as to prevent further usurpation from military generals. He also professionalized the government bureaucracy as making all the government jobs open to the most able and not just open to the senatorial class. This helped to create an equestrian class of bureaucracy to make the centralized state more efficient.Diocletian’s military genius also shows in fortifying the frontier using a new system of key stronghold citadels all along the frontier sidled on both sides of key rivers like the Rhine and Danube fortified with local troops (limtanei) to take the brunt of frontier attacks while being reinforced by mobile auxiliary troops stationed all along the frontier. This military improvement furthered the life of the Western Roman Empire another 150 years.It goes more to Diocletian’s remarkable talents that his tetrarchy failed after his retirement. Without a talented beneficent dictator at the helm, the whole system collapsed not unlike how the English returned to monarchy after the demise of Cromwell. We can also learn from his failures for use today. Unfortunately, the failure of his price edicts to curb inflation only succeeded in creating a second black market of real market inflated prices is a lesson we can use today that price controls don’t work! Unfortunately, Diocletian’s necessary high taxation to keep the empire afloat got rid of the Roman middle class business owner and polarized the economy in super rich landowners and poor peasants bound by law and debt to feudal estates. This created the feudal system in the Western half of the empire that would continue through the dark ages till the beginning of the Renaissance.The anomie of persecuting Christians only happened toward the end of his reign. Diocletian’s dilatory response to the Christian problem succeeded in doing nothing and they were only a scapegoat because of the high inflationary bad economy. You can see this in present politics of scapegoating immigrants in the USA because of economic woes suffered by the native people. This persecution was probably more due to the influence of Galerius than Diocletian’s own personal dislike of Christians.In summary, a biography of a great Roman Emperor who has never got his due and should be in the annals of celebrity along the likes of Caesar & Pompey. It is a testament to that fact that this is the only book in English on Diocletian.

⭐Diocletian has always been one of the most fascinating of emperors. Finally dropping the centuries old pretence of being primus inter pares, he strengthened the position of emperors by turning into a king in all but name, ruling by divine right. This was undoubtedly more a matter of political expediency to put an end to decades of civil war and near collapse than something he genuinely believed; he himself after his 21 years at the helm undoubtedly saw through all the vanity of power and chose to retire into a life of pastoral bliss. In the years afterwards when the civil strife between rival emperors began to reappear, his former co-emperor Maximian attempted to get him to return. In response he is said to have remarked, “If Maximian could see for himself these beautiful cabbages which I have grown with my own hands, he would not ask me to exchange this true happiness for the illusory promises of pomp and power”.Stephen Williams’ analysis of the life and times of Diocletian is masterful. Whether he is discussing military structure and reforms, political structure and reforms, government and the nature of emperorship, finance and economics or the religious persecutions, he always does so with an expert eye and insightful analysis. This is a book suitable for both serious students of history and, because it is so well written, the general reader too – it could easily fit into the “popular history” genre.

⭐Most enjoyable read of this important but complicated period of Roman History. Well recommended.

⭐Fascinating and comprehensive read. Thoroughly recommend.

⭐Diocletian is largely a stranger to English Language academia, many of the principal studies of his reign, the tetrarchy and his economic policies have largely been in French and German works. This makes Stephen Williams work, highly welcome. William’s displays a solid control of the source material, overcoming the bias of the primary sources (Lactantius and Eusebius are both hostile) as well as good knowledge of archaeological evidence, inscriptions and numismatics.The book is more than a narrow biography and is as much about Diocletian the man as it is about his time period. Although it is a brief work, the content is placed in five superbly structured parts. These blend an insightful narrative history with some genuinely excellent thematic chapters, in particular Williams’ discussion of military policy (loosely derived from Luttwak but well supported by good use of archaeological study), economic policy and also religious policy are well thought out with sound arguments. These chapters in particular would be very useful to anyone writing an essay on the Later Roman Empire (the appendicles are also very useful for academics).Many arguments presented in the book provide real food for thought, Williams drives his reader towards some interesting conclusions, as well as reappraising the nature of the tetrarchy as a more collegiate system than arbitrarily territorial. Likewise he places Diocletian’s rule in a more Roman mould, rather than seeing his rule as a product of Oriental Despotism he sees how it fits into the Roman respect for the law. Identifying, perhaps that the principal difference between Augustus’ rule at the start of the Empire differed from Diocletian’s rule more in the fact that whilst Augustus subtly held monarchical power Diocletian made this power explicit. Equally Williams makes a persuasive argument for acknowledging Constantine’s debt to Diocletian, in the same way that much modern scholarship seeks to acknowledge Alexander the Great’s debt to Philip II.The tone of the work is considered, Williams is unlike some historians seeking to provide a rose tinted view of their subjects. He recognised Diocletian as a forceful character who stabilised the empire, but who was unable to make his reforms outlast himself and who made at least two significant mistakes (His edict on maximum prices and his persecution of the Christians). Williams comparison of Diocletian with Oliver Cromwell is very apt. For its size (230 pages) it is a very accomplished work.

⭐Todos aquellos a los que nos gusta la historia de Roma sabemos dos cosas: primero que Diocleciano es uno de los emperadores decisivos por la profundidad de las reformas que hizo y que permitieron al imperio romano pervivir otros dos siglos más; y segundo, que son pocas las monografías que hay disponibles sobre este Augusto romano.Por estos motivos, todo aquel que quiera saber más de Diocleciano y la historia de su gobierno, debe comprar este libro. Es ineludible.

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