Michael Arnheim - Why Rome Fell

In her very thoroughly researched study on The Roman Empire from Severus to Constantine (2015), Patricia Southern quotes my 1972 book as showing “…that senators still governed provinces as praesides and consulares well into the fourth century.” (Southern, p. 245.) The words are not mine but Patricia Southern’s, based on the Fasti (lists of office-holders), in an appendix to my book. Were there senatorial provincial governors “well into the fourth century”? Yes, but, as can be more clearly seen from Statistical Table I in my 1972 book, on “ The Social Origins of Western Praesides (284–337) , there were no praesides of senatorial origin in the West under Diocletian and the tetrarchy, but nine under Constantine, with fifteen being of non-senatorial origin. As for consulares , this was a title specially created by Constantine for provincial governors of senatorial rank. Statistical Table II in my 1972 book shows forty-nine of senatorial origin as against four of non-senatorial origin. Similarly, there were no vicars of senatorial origin under Diocletian and the tetrarchy but six under Constantine (Statistical Table III). Likewise, none of Diocletian’s praetorian prefects were of senatorial origin though one of Maxentius’s was and six under Constantine as against three known to be of non-senatorial origin. (Arnheim 1972, p. 216 ff.)

In sum, therefore, Diocletian practically eliminated men of senatorial origin from all positions of importance, but Constantine reversed this policy. (See Chapter 3.)

A much less well-known aspect of Diocletian’s anti-aristocratic policy was his use of eunuchs, some of whom, according to Lactantius’s attack on him, held powerful positions. (Lactantius, De Mort. Pers . 15.) From the time of Constantius II (r. 337–361) onward, the position of praepositus sacri cubiculi (provost of the sacred bedchamber), usually translated as “grand chamberlain,” was regularly held by a eunuch. Though technically a servant in the imperial palace, the holder of this position in practice controlled access to the emperor, giving him tremendous power, and he headed up a bevy of junior cubicularii . It is possible that this important post was already held by a eunuch in the time of Diocletian, but there certainly were some eunuchs in his household, including some Christians, three of whom, namely Dorotheus and Petrus, cubicularii , and Gorgonius, an army officer, were executed during the Great Persecution.

Though sometimes attributed to deliberate aping of the Persian court on the part of Diocletian’s junior colleague and successor, Galerius, the use of eunuchs as chamberlains made perfect sense as a counterweight to the established elites. Keith Hopkins’s summary of the situation is probably only a slight exaggeration: “[T]he authority exercised by eunuchs not only by-passed the aristocracy but also served to supervise them.” (K. Hopkins 1963, p. 74.)

Of servile and often foreign origin, eunuchs owed their position entirely to imperial favor; and their services and lives could be terminated at a moment’s notice. However, with Diocletian, the long saga of the eunuch chamberlains was only just beginning. (See Chapters 4and 5.)

Diocletian’s accession in 284 marked both the culmination of several longstanding trends and also the introduction of some major new policies. His thoroughgoing reform of provincial administration secured the borders and tightened up the imperial bureaucracy. His concern with the army is also reflected in two very different policies. His persecution of Christianity was evidently a reaction to Christian reluctance to serve in the military. And his Edict of Maximum Prices of 301 was issued in response to soldiers’ complaints about inflationary prices, though pegging the price of a live male lion or a pound of purple silk at 150,000 denarii probably did little to assist the average soldier.

Augustus had managed to hold the loyalty of the senatorial aristocracy by reserving provincial governorships to the membership of this order. This privilege was diluted by later emperors, who increasingly used senatorial status purely as a ploy, introducing outsiders into the Senate only to appoint them to governorships. Then, in the third century, emperors cut the Gordian knot (no pun intended) by bypassing the Senate and appointing non-senators to governorships directly. This trend was completed by Diocletian, who finally eliminated men of senatorial origin from practically all positions of importance.

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