ROMSO Cyprus Knowledge Base

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The Roman Civil War of the years 306-324 saw the unleashing of a long conflict lasting almost twenty years between numerous factions of suitors to the imperial throne (among hopes, cesaries and usurpers) in different parts of the Empire, at the end of which prevailed on all Constantine I. He had thus succeeded in reuniting imperial power in the hands of one monarch, after the period of the Tetrarch.

Historical context

In 293 Diocletian proceeded to a functional and territorial division of the entire empire in four parts, in order to facilitate military operations. He named as his cesare for the east Galerio and Maximian did the same with Constantine Cloro for the West. The empire was thus divided into four macro-areas:
to Diocletian were the Asian provinces and Egypt (capital: Nicomedia)
in Galerio the Balkan provinces (capital: Sirmio!
Maximian ruled over Italy and North Africa (capital: Mediolanum)
Costanzo Cloro relied on Spain, Gaul and Britain (capital: Augusta Treverorum)

The system proved to be effective for the stability of the empire and made it possible for the hopes to celebrate the vicennalia, i.e. the twenty years of reign, as it had not happened since the times of Antonino Pio. All the territory was redesigned from the administrative point of view, abolishing the regions inugustee with its division in "imperiali" and "senatorials". Twelve administrative circles were created (the "diocese", three for each of the tetrarchies), governed by vicars and in turn divided into 101 provinces.

It remained to test the mechanism of succession: on 1 May 305 Diocletian and Maximian abdicated (retiring the first to Split and the second in Lucania). The second tetrarchy predicted that their respective two cesaris became august (Galerio per l'oriente e Costanzo Cloro per l'occidente), providing them to appoint their designated successors (the new cesari): Galerio chose Massimino Daia and Costanzo Cloro chose Flavio Valerio Severo. It seems, however, that shortly after, Costanzo Cloro himself resigned to part of his territories (Italy and Africa) to the advantage of the same Galerio, who found himself having to manage two cesari: Massimino Daia, to which he had entrusted the East, and Flavio Valerio Severo, to which he remained Italy (and perhaps Africa), while keeping for himself the Illyrian.

Casus belli: the death of Costanzo Cloro

The following year, however, with the death of Costanzo Cloro (25 July 306), the system went into crisis: the illegitimate son of the deceased emperor, Constantine was proclaimed august by the troops competing with the legitimate heir, Severus. A few months later, Massenzio, the son of the old Massimiano Augustus, was acclaimed, thanks to the support of officers such as Marcelliano, Marcello and Luciano (not instead of Abellio, vicar of the praefectus Urbi, who was killed), by the pretorians, restoring the dynasty principle