Emperor Diocletian

In 284, the emperor Diocletian sent out a message(order). To make the empire easier to govern, he divided it into two parts, the west side and the east side. He controlled the wealthier part which was the eastern part. And for the western he appointed a co-emperor to rule that part of the province. Diocletian tried to increase the prestige of the emperor by surrounding himself with elaborate ceremonies. He was wearing purple robes with gold decoration and a crown full of jewels. Anyone who cam close to the throne had to kneel down and kiss the emperor's robe. Diocletian also took steps to end the empire's economic decay. To cool down the inflation, the rapid rise of prices, he fixed prices for goods and services. Also farmers were forced to remain on the land. In the city, sons were required to follow their fathers occupation. The rules were meant to ensure steady production of food and other goods.
Do you think it was smart of Diocletian to divide the province into two parts?

I got my info from the World History Book.

In my opinion i think that it was a good and bad idea because of the followings:
The bad sides of what he did was that he made his armies weaker because they would have to be seperated so that the two provinces coulod have protection. Also the eastern side would not give a lot of wealth to the western side which made it harder for the western romans to sustain their life.
On the other hand it was good because people would not be ruled by only one ruler there would be one in the eastern side and one on the western side which could of prevented curruption in the goverment!

nice post!

I think it was a bad idea because i think that that was one of the main reasons the empire began to decline. Also if he prefered the east because it was wealthier he was going to invert on it more, that is one of the reasons the west was the first part of the empire to go down.