Established by Diocletian, the Tetrarchy was a system of four co-rulers comprising two senior Augusti and two junior Caesars, created when Diocletian and Maximian adopted their sons-in-law Galerius and Constantius Chlorus and elevated them to the rank of Caesar. The arrangement was intended to bring stability and orderly succession to the Roman Empire. Instead, it collapsed into civil war involving multiple competing factions, the turmoil of which shaped the early life of Constantine.
Also known as: Tetrarchy
What each episode says
Episode 2 (1 mention)
Diocletian and Maximian adopted their respective sons-in-law Galerius and Constantius Chlorus, raising them to the rank of Caesar to create a four-man ruling system. Brownworth notes the system is called the tetrarchy (four rulers), though he says the name is somewhat imprecise since it comprised two senior Augusti and two junior Caesars.
“This system is sometimes called the tetrarchy, or four rulers, though that name is a bit”
Episode 3 (2 mentions)
Diocletian's system of four co-rulers — two senior Augusti and two junior Caesars — intended to usher in an age of peace and prosperity. Instead, Brownworth says, it degenerated into full-blown civil war with up to four sides at once. Constantine was born into this confusing world.
“He was born into the confusing world of Diocletian's Tetrarchy, a single empire with four legitimate”
“His solution, not surprisingly, was a new official tetrarchy.”
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