Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 3694028, member: 19463&quot;]That is an interesting theory.&nbsp; As I see it, what killed the Tetrarchy was Maximianus&#039; not being fully willing to retire with Diocletian and introducing the concept that there could be more than four Tetrarchs.&nbsp; Rome needed more than one ruler to administer the huge Empire but what they got was a group of contestants more interested in dealing with each other than with the external enemies of Rome.&nbsp; Obviously Galerius did not consider his co-Augustus Constantius I to be his equal or he would have accepted Constantine rather than forcing his man into the position.&nbsp; Constantius did not accept Galerius as being the most August of the Augusti and thought he should have a 50% share in the appointing of the new Caesars.&nbsp; Maxentius thought being the son of an original Augustus made him the obvious heir of his father but his father was not willing to stand aside in deference to his son or anyone else.&nbsp; No system of government can survive without some understanding of the orderly transfer of power.&nbsp; Rome rarely had a good grasp on this concept after the time of Commodus.&nbsp; If Galerius had lived would the Empire have reverted to a single ruler, continued with the four man system or fragmented into multiple sections cooperating only as much as each could enforce (more or less what we got anyway until Constantine unified the mess and killed the wrong son returning the mess to where it was when he appeared on the scene). </p><p><br /></p><p>Septimius Severus could have improved Rome by having only one child.&nbsp; Constantine made the same mistake.&nbsp; Sharing is an uncommon skill among the powerful.&nbsp; In the toon below, substitute &#039;Tetrarchs&#039; for &#039;Animals&#039;.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://www.lusakatimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/auth.animalfarm.gif" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in