[Born in Dalmatia, A.D. 245. Died A.D. 313. Aged 68.]
At first a simple soldier, he rose by his own merit to the rank of
Captain of the Palace Guard, an office which he held until the death of
Numerianus, when he was declared his successor. He associated Maximianus
with him in the empire, and appointed Constantius Chlorus and Galerius,
Cæsars. At the instigation of Galerius he barbarously persecuted the
Christians. In A.D. 305, he resigned the empire in consequence of
growing infirmities, and withdrew to Salona, where he cultivated his own
garden and lived in philosophical retirement. Whilst he held power, he
thought less of the freedom and dignity of Rome, than of maintaining the
power of the sovereign, and of securing a regular succession. His
cruelty to the Christians has caused his reign to be described as “The
Age of Martyrs.”
[From the marble in the Capitoline Museum.]