m the invasions of the barbarians, and succumbed to
the too common fate of assassination in August 282.

Carus, who was elected in his place, maintained the reputation of the
Roman arms in the East; but his supposed death by lightning, by
delivering the sceptre into the hands of his sons Carinus and Numerian
(December 25, 283), once more placed the Roman world at the mercy of
profligacy and licentiousness. A year later, the election of the Emperor
Diocletian (September 17, 284) founded a new era in the history and
fortunes of the empire.

It was the artful policy of Diocletian to destroy the last vestiges of
the ancient constitution. Dividing his unwieldly power among three other
associates--Maximian, a rough, brutal soldier, who ranked as Augustus;
and Galerius and Constantius, who bore the inferior titles of Caesar--the
emperor removed the centre of government by gradual steps from Rome.
Diocletian and Maximian held their courts in the provinces, and the
authority of the senators was destroyed by spoliation and death.

_VI.--Reign of the Six Emperors_

For twenty-one years Diocletian held sway, establishing, with the
assistance of his associates, the might of the Roman arms in Britain,
Africa, Egypt, and Persia; and then, on May 1, 305, in a spacious plain
in the neighborhood of Nicomedia, divested himself of the purple and
abdicated the throne. On the same day at Milan, Maximian reluctantly
made his resignation of the imperial dignity.

According to the rules of the new constitution, Constantius and Galerius
assumed the title of Augustus, and nominated Maximin and Severus as
Caesars. The elaborate machinery devised by Diocletian at once broke
down. Galerius, who was supported by Severus, intrigued for the
possession of the whole Roman world. Constantine, the son of
Constantius, on account of his popularity with the army and the people,
excited his suspicion, and only the flight of Constantine saved him from
death. He made his way to Gaul, and, after taking part in a campaign
with his father against the Caledonians, received the title of Augustus
in the imperial palace at York on the death of Constantius.

Civil war once more raged. Maxentius, the son of Maximian, was declared
Emperor of Rome, and, with the assistance of his father, who broke from
his retirement, defended his title against Severus, who was taken
prisoner at Ravenna and executed at Rome in February 307. Galerius, who
had raised Licinius to fi