ABSTRACT
The abdications of Diocletian and Maximian ended their formal tenure of power, but not their influence over events. Diocletian was determined and disciplined in his desire to make his abdication work and leave the empire in the hands of successors whom he had selected, promoted and trained for the task. By contrast, Maximian chafed at his retirement, perhaps resentful that the reward for his loyalty and service had not been promotion but relegation. There was also an unresolved dynastic problem. When Severus had been nominated as Constantius' Caesar, he had also been adopted into the Flavian/Herculian branch of the dynasty. When that occurred, he joined a large family: his bastard brother Constantine, and the six legitimate children of Constantius and Theodora. The challenge for both Constantius and Galerius was to sort through this clutter of imperial aspirants, including Galerius' own bastard, Candidianus, as well as his new son, Maximinus. It was precisely this challenge which they not only failed to meet, but actually declined to address. The source of that refusal lay in the relationship between Constantius and Galerius. Athough Diocletian had selected both of these men, neither of them had selected each another. That led to a quite different personal and political relationship between the new rulers of the empire from that which had pertained between Diocletian and Maximian. All of the sources — both laudatory and hostile — concur on the remarkable unity between Diocletian and Maximian. That quality was entirely lacking in the new imperial dynamic. While there is no substantive evidence of real hostility between the two new Augusti, there was certainly none of the warmth or depth of trust which had existed between their respective fathers.
