Did Diocletian overhaul the Roman army? (original) (raw)

It is usually difficult to identify the watershed that marks the demise of an old system and the birth of a new one, but AD 284 has become an iconic example. In that year, the accession of Diocletian ushered in a new style of Roman government in which the emperor’s official title, hitherto Princeps (‘first citizen’) or, more formally, Imperator Caesar (‘Caesar the commander’), became instead Dominus Noster (‘our Master’). In conjunction with this change of attitude, scholars have sought to identify changes in policy, and it is common to attribute the beginnings of a new style of Roman army to the reforming zeal of Diocletian. But was he really a reformer, or did he merely strive to restore a broken system? Was he really an innovator, or did he simply take the old system to its logical conclusion? (Illustrated by Angel Garcia Pinto.)