It was the story of Curius Dentatus repeated after five
centuries.
Severe with their soldiers, these emperors reestablished discipline in
the army, and then order in the empire. But a change had become
necessary. A single man was no longer adequate to the government and
defence of this immense territory; and so from this time each emperor
took from among his relatives or his friends two or three
collaborators, each charged with a part of the empire. Usually their
title was that of Caesar, but sometimes there were two equal emperors,
and both had the title of Augustus. When the emperor died, one of the
Caesars succeeded him; it was no longer possible for the army to create
emperors. The provinces were too great, and Diocletian divided them.
The praetorians of Rome being dangerous, Diocletian replaced them with
two legions. The Occident was in ruins and depopulated and hence the
Orient had become the important part of the empire; Diocletian,
therefore, abandoned Rome and established his capital at Nicomedia in
Asia Minor.[169] Constantine did more and founded a new Rome in the
East--Constantinople.
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