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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 1835314, member: 19463&quot;]A question remains when a ruler of great power abdicates on his own volition whether the new ruler has power over him.&nbsp; Diocletian was no problem since he went to his retirement villa and had no contact with the state machine.&nbsp; Maximianus was not a voluntary retiree but told his time had come by Diocletian.&nbsp; When he tried to come back he was more of a usurper than an honored statesman.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Modern states, at least the civilized ones, don&#039;t provide good comparisons.&nbsp; In the US, Teddy Roosevelt decided not to run for President again and passed the job to Taft.&nbsp; When he decided to return (as a &#039;Bull Moose&#039;) he split the Republican vote and insured the election of the Democrat Wilson.&nbsp; Romans of the period used swords rather than ballots.&nbsp; We will never know how the army would have responded to Diocletian returning or Galerius treating him in the smallest way as less than the power that he had been or still was.&nbsp; Maximianus had always been Diocletian&#039;s loyal right hand but never really his full equal.&nbsp; The situation was made worse by Maximianus having a son with his own ambitions while Diocletian had only a daughter who was married to Galerius.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>All this is why I say you can&#039;t collect just Diocletian.&nbsp; His coins and history are too tied to a quite a few other rulers.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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