Galerius and the Will of Diocletian
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GALERIUS AND THE WILL OF DIOCLETIAN Between Diocletian and Constantine, there was Galerius. Galerius and the Will of Diocletian offers a fresh study of this critical period in the transfor- mation of the Roman world. Using the political and personal relationship between the great emperor Diocletian and Galerius, his junior colleague and successor, the book comes to some quite different conclusions about the nature of Diocletian’s regime than previously accepted. Drawing from a variety of sources – literary, visual, archaeological; papyri, inscriptions and coins – the author studies the nature of Diocletian’s imperial strategy, his wars, his religious views and his abdication. The author also examines Galerius’ endeavour to take control of Diocletian’s empire, his failures and successes, against the backdrop of Constantine’s remorseless drive to power. The work is built from the premise that the “Tetrarchy”, which Diocletian is often thought to have crafted as a revolutionary alternative to unstable military monarchy, is a creation of modern scholarship and does not actually emerge from the ancient sources. Instead, Leadbetter argues that Diocletian was seeking to craft a dynasty along more traditional lines, using adoption (as had so many of his predecessors) as a tool of statecraft. Galerius, however, did not prove equal to his inheritance, which was ultimately usurped by the more astute and ruthless Constantine. The first comprehensive study of the Emperor Galerius, this book offers an innovative analysis of his reign as both Caesar and Augustus, using his changing relationship with Diocletian as the principal key to unlock the complex imperial politics of the period. Bill Leadbetter, School of Education, Edith Cowan University, Australia. ROMAN IMPERIAL BIOGRAPHIES Also available from Routledge: JULIUS CAESAR: THE COLOSSUS OF ROME, Richard A. Billows CONSTANTINE AND THE CHRISTIAN EMPIRE, Charles M. Odahl NERVA AND THE ROMAN SUCCESSION CRISIS OF AD96–99, John D. Grainger YEAR OF THE FOUR EMPERORS, Kenneth Wellesley AURELIAN AND THE THIRD CENTURY, Alaric Watson SEPTIMUS SERVERUS, Anthony R. Birley TIBERIUS THE POLITICIAN, Barbara Levick VESPASIAN, Barbara Levick AUGUSTUS, Pat Southern DOMITIAN, Pat Southern TRAJAN, Julian Bennett HADRIAN, Antony R. Birley DIOCLETIAN AND THE ROMAN RECOVERY, Stephen Williams AGRIPPINA, Anthony A. Barrett THE AGE OF JUSTINIAN, J.A.S. Evans THEODOSIUS, Gerard Friell and Stephen Williams CALIGULA, Anthony A. Barrett CLAUDIUS, Barbara Levick MARCUS AURELIUS, Antony R. Birley NERO, Miriam T. Griffin GALERIUS AND THE WILL OF DIOCLETIAN Bill Leadbetter ~ 1 Routledge ~ ~ Taylor &Francis Group NEW YORK LONDON FOR MAIA OPTIMA PUELLA First published 2009 Reprinted 2011 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 711Third7Ave nue , New York, NY 1001 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2009 Bill Leadbetter Typeset in Garamond by Taylor & Francis All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Leadbetter, Bill. Galerius and the will of Diocletian/Bill Leadbetter. p. cm. “Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada”–T.p. verso. Includes bibliographical references. 1. Galerius, Emperor of Rome, ca. 260-313. 2. Emperors– Rome–Biography. 3. Emperors–Succession–Rome. 4. Diocletian, Emperor of Rome, 245-313–Influence. 5. Diocletian, Emperor of Rome, 245-313–Political and social views. 6. Constantine I, Emperor of Rome, d. 337 7. Imperialism–History–To 1500. 8. Rome–Politics and government–284-476. 9. Rome–History–Empire, 284-476. 10. Rome–History, Military–30 B.C.-476 A.D. I. Title. DG314.L43 2009 9370.08092–dc22 [B] 2009031764 ISBN10: 0-415-40488-6 (HB) ISBN13: 978-0-415-40488-4 (HB) CONTENTS Acknowledgements viii Abbreviations x Introduction 1 1. Dynasts and oligarchs 26 2. Iovius and Herculius 48 3. Augustus and Caesar 81 4. Galerius and Diocletian 114 5. Constantius Augustus 156 6. The Iovii and Herculii 170 7. Galerius Augustus 216 Appendix: Stemma of the Iovii and Herculii 252 Bibliography 253 Index 272 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Humans gestate for thirty nine weeks. This book has taken somewhat longer. Its origins lie in an undergraduate seminar class that I took in 1978 at Macquarie University. Entitled “Rome under the Tetrarchs”, it was led by Ted Nixon, at that stage beginning to make inroads into his long, and now seminal study of late Latin panegyric. It was then, and at Ted’s suggestion, that I began to work on Galerius. That interest led to my 1994 Macquarie doctoral dissertation on Galerius, and thence to this work. At every stage, Ted’s help, criticism, advice and counsel has been invaluable. He has been both mentor (in the best sense of the word) and staunch friend. I was also fortunate to be an undergraduate at a particular time in Macquarie’s history. Edwin Judge taught me to look for what was actually in the evidence rather than impose a view upon it. The argument that this book adopts was formed in partial response to long reflection upon his lectures on the Augustan principate. Margaret Beattie taught me to be an acute critic of my own work; to read it carefully, and have it read, before seeking to rule the line of completion. I owe debts of different kinds to other friends and former Mac- quarie colleagues, in particular Lea Beness, David Clarke, Geoffrey Cowling, Alan Dearn, Tom Hillard, Sam Lieu and Alanna Nobbs. Over the years, I have been fortunate in receiving support, advice, offprints and enjoyable conversation from scholars working in the field. I owe particular debts to Timothy Barnes, Alan Bowman, Peter Brennan, Simon Corcoran, Brian Croke, Hal Drake, Philip Esler, Walter Goffart, Jill Harries, Robert Hohlfelder, Mark Humphreys, John Matthews, Fergus Millar, Tom Parker, Roger Rees, Steven Sidebotham, Alan Walmsley, Bryan Ward-Perkins, Everett Wheeler and Greg Woolf. In Perth, I have received some financial support from Edith Cowan Uni- versity that allowed important visits to Thessaloniki in 1999 and 2007, as well as the leave that promoted the peaceful composition of some of the work in the congenial cylinder that is the Sackler Library. While in Greece, I enjoyed the facilities of the Australian Archaeological Institute in Athens, and access to the Library of the German Archaeological Institute through the good offices of its then director, Hermann Kienast. While in Oxford, I have viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS been fortunate to have had the support of Wolfson College. I have also enjoyed the company, the friendship and the professionalism of Western Australian colleagues, most particularly Peter Bedford, Alex Jensen and David Kennedy. I would also like to acknowledge the enthusiastic support of Mihailo Milinkovic, Mr Bora Dimitrijevic, Director of the National Museum of Zajecar, and Maja Zivic. Every scholar with whom I have spoken, corre- sponded and exchanged offprints about Galerius has contributed, no matter how indirectly, to this work. Its faults, infelicities and imperfections, how- ever, remain my doing. I first learned Ancient History at the feet of Mr Richard Rowling at Barker College in 1974 and 1975. His enthusiasm for his subject and his love for learning have provided me with a profound model for my profes- sional life. My debt to him is incalculable. I continued to learn and teach Ancient History with the loving support of my late parents, Archelias Victor Leadbetter and Ruby Isobel Leadbetter. I wish they could have seen this book. I owe great thanks to Catherine Arends, who travelled with me when she could, bore my absences when she could not, provided me with decisive encouragement to finish and gave me my greatest treasure. My partner, Margo, has been an enthusiastic source of support, and hap- pily tolerated my lonely affair with the computer in my study. I owe her a great debt for her patience, her wisdom, her fortitude, her beauty and her love. My daughter Maia looked at me as I worked on this not long ago, and her eyes grew wide as she saw the number of words on the page. Even so, this work is for her. ix ABBREVIATIONS Abbreviations for the names of journals are those customarily used in similar works and can be found listed in any edition of L’année philologique. Other abbreviations used in the text and notes of this book but not otherwise customary are as follows: ANRW H. Temporini (ed.) (1972–) Aufstieg und Niedergang der Romischen Welt, Stuttgart CAH XII S.A. Cook, F.E. Adcock, M.P. Charlesworth and N.H. Baynes (eds) (1939) The Cambridge Ancient History, Vol. XII, 1st edn, Cambridge CE T.D. Barnes (1981) Constantine and Eusebius, Cambridge, MA Chron Min T. Mommsen (ed.) (1892) Chronica Minora, Monumenta Germaniae Historicae: Auctores Antiquissimi, Vols IX, XI, XIII, Berlin CIL Corpus lnscriptionum Latinarum, Berlin, 1863ff. CLRE R.S. Bagnall, Alan Cameron, Seth R. Schwartz and K.I. Worp (1987) Consuls of the Later Roman Empire, Atlanta CJ “Codex Iustinianus”, in S.P. Scott (1932) Corpus Iuris Civilis, Vols 12–17, Cincinnati C.Th C. Pharr (1951) The Theodosian Code and Novels and the Sirmondian Constitutions: A Translation with Commentary, Glossary and Bibliography, Princeton FGH C. Müller (1848–51) Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum, Frankfurt-am-Main ILS H. Dessau (1892) Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae, 5 vols, Berlin Jakoby Fr Gr. Hist. F. Jacoby (1923–) Die Fragmente der greichischen Historiker, Berlin and London NE T.D. Barnes (1982) The New Empire of Diocletian and Constantine, Cambridge, MA x ABBREVIATIONS AND MAIN SOURCES PLRE I A.H.M.