Const. Scenario

In 293 AD, The Roman Empire had been divided into four, two Emperors each with his own Junior collegue, or Caesar. The man behind this new order was Diocletian (Diokles) shown below.

He was based in the east at Nicomedia, whilst the other Emperor w 252d33c as based at Milan and his name was Maximian.

Shown above is a monument that depicts the two Emperors with their arms around their Caesars.

Unfortunately, the relationships between them were rarely cordial.

The Caesar of the west was Constantius Chlorus (the pale) based in Augusta Treverorum

The Caesar of the east was Galerius  based at Sirmium.

So, the Roman Empire looked like this during the era of the Tetrarchy

After Diocletian’s death, LICINIUS (above) became Emperor of the eastern Tetrarchy.

MAXENTIUS (above) was the son of Maximian, he wanted to be Emperor but was not chosen and so rebelled and took the throne himself.

CONSTANTINE

Constantine was declared Emperor by his troops in 306AD in Eburaca and then invaded Gaul, then defeated Maxentius outside Rome, ruled the western tetrachy, building a colossal statue to himself in Rome

However, Licinius remained emperor of the eastern Tetrarchy and so Constantine moved against him, first taking Pannonia, then all the east.

Then in oreder to emphasise his presence in the east and to make a new model Rome as a Christian empire, he built a New Rome (above) based on the eastern Thracian peninsula.

The main focus of the new city was his Forum, with a column that originally had a golden statue of himself with holy relics inside it.

Ivory leaf from the Lampadii diptych. The consul and his family open the games in the Hippodrome in Constantinople, ca. 355 A.D.

SHAPUR II

Shapur II has the record for the longest reign in the history of Iran, 70 years, out of which he ruled personally for 54 years. The first 16 years of his life, the power in the country was in hands of Shapur’s mother and her husband Vahram. In 325, maybe the honour the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Persian empire, Shapur was crowned as the ruler of the empire. He is probably the greatest military genius Iran had seen since Arashk I, founder of Parthian empire. In few short years, Shapur defeated all of the minor kingdoms that had dared declare independence in his minority. He expanded his empire from Punjab in northern India to the north of Caucasus, and from western borders of present day China to the edge of Syria. Shapur also limited the power of priests and forced them to yield their semi-independence status in favour of central governments authority. In short, Shapur II started the Golden Era of Persian dynasty, an era that lasted for surprisingly long time, with inevitable lapses here and there.

Shapur II died in 379, leaving a powerful empire to his half-brother Ardeshir II (son of Vahram of Kushan) and his son Shapur III, none of which deserved their great status. Ardeshir III, and old man who was raised as “the half-brother” of the emperor failed to fill the shoes of his mighty brother, and Shapur III was too much of a melancholy character to achieve anything. Luckily for the empire, the affects of glorious reign of Shapur II provided a great pattern for the administrators of the country, and prevented the empire from falling apart. Vahram IV (388-399), although not as mellow as his father, still failed to achieve anything important in the country, but managed to keep the empire together and ready for his son, Yazdgerd I.

TIRIDATES

In the conflict between Rome and the Parthians, who had become masters of Persia, Armenia remained neutral and autonomous whenever possible. When the Persians overthrew the Parthians in the 3rd century AD, they seized Armenia, but the Arsacid (Parthian) king Tiridates III (238-314), with the aid of Roman Emperor Diocletian, liberated the country. In 303 Tiridates was converted to Christianity.  Armenia is considered the oldest Christian state, since Tiridates established  Christianity as the state religion some 20 years before the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire.