Raised to the rank of Caesar under Diocletian's Tetrarchy in 293, Galerius rose to become the dominant eastern Augustus following Diocletian's retirement, though his reign was marked by overreach and failure. His attempt to tax the city of Rome inflamed public hatred, and his campaign against the usurper Maxentius collapsed when his troops accepted bribes. He died in agony from a severe illness, but not before issuing an edict suspending the persecution of Christians and requesting their prayers on his behalf—a reversal he did not live to see answered.
Also known as: Gaius Galerius Valerius Maximianus
What each episode says
Episode 2 (1 mention)
Son-in-law of Diocletian, raised to the rank of Caesar as part of the Tetrarchy established in 293. Brownworth mentions him as one of the two caesars appointed to complete the four-man ruling structure, and notes that after Diocletian's retirement Galerius was among the successors who fell to fighting.
“son-in-laws, Galerius and Constantius Cloris, and raised them to the rank of Caesar, junior”
Episode 3 (14 mentions)
The eastern Augustus who despised Constantius Chlorus and dominated the early Tetrarchy. He incited Roman hatred by trying to tax the city of Rome itself, and his attempts to crush Maxentius failed when his army succumbed to bribes. By the end he was hopelessly obese and dying from a horrendous cancer; in agony, he suspended all persecutions of Christians and ordered churches built and prayers said on his behalf, but did not survive to hear them.
Related