ABSTRACT
Unlike the emperor Decius who, in the mid-third century, seems to have thought that an empire-wide expression of piety towards the gods in the form of sacrifices was an urgent priority in putting the Roman world right, Diocletian and his colleagues initially directed most of their energies towards stabilising the frontiers, re-organising the imperial tax system and suppressing internal revolts. This is not to say that they neglected their religious responsibilities. Indeed they harnessed the gods to enhance the solidarity and prestige of the Tetrarchy by presenting the two senior emperors as the earthly deputies of Jupiter and the two junior emperors as those of Hercules (3.1).
