110-129 Hadrian, Walls, Circumcision & Beards

During this 20 year period the Roman Emperor Trajan (pictured) died in AD 117 and was succeeded by his distant cousin Hadrian who had been Governor of Syria.

Trajan was involved in the Armenian and Assyrian Wars in 113, then in 115 he conquered Mesopotamia, sailing down the Tigris River to the Persian Gulf.

In AD 115, too, the Jews of the Diaspora revolted in Egypt; and in 117, the year of Trajan's death, the Armenian king involved Assyria.

When Hadrian became emperor, he had been Governor of Syria and immediately caused trouble by banning circumcision among the Jews and making plans to rebuild Jerusalem as a Roman colony. A lot of Roman families had left Judea after the first Jewish Revolt of 66, so his plan was not well received.

In 122 Hadrian arrived in England after the annihilation of the 9th legion by Picts, and his famous wall was finished in 129.

Hadrian also brought home from Syria the custom of wearing a beard, and to keep in his good graces all Roman men followed suit including the Bishop of Rome, Sixtus I, whose name sounds a lot like the Greek word for "shaved".

290-309 Diocletian Splits Empire into West & East

In this 20 year period  the Roman Emperor Diocletian (pictured) appointed Maximian as co-emperor, but the threats from all parts of the empire were such that in 293 he appointed the Germans Constantius (married to Maximian's daughter) to rule the west and Galerius (married to Diocletian's daughter) to rule the east - though the boundaries were fluid, each man helping the other.

In 293 the Persian throne had been seized by a new king who drove the Romans out of Armenia - Galerius in 298 defeated the Persians and wanted to advance further, but Diocletian checked him, negotiating a stronger Roman position with the Persians, giving the Romans full control of Armenia and northern Mesopotamia.

By late 290s, peace restored to the Empire, enabling Diocletian to pay attention to administrative affairs - particularly the murder of emperors by soldiers. He proclaimed that emperors were ordained by the gods to rules, and introduced an elaborate ceremonial intended to mark the emperor as being superior to normal human beings, requiring prostration before the emperor by commoners and kneeling and kissing the hem of the robe by higher ranks. He also created rules for imperial appearances whereby emperors were not allowed to act like normal human beings.

He also reformed the structure of provincial government, by increasing the number of provinces by dividing them into smaller units, and then each province into twelve dioceses. He also stripped the governors of command over the armies. He also initiated a capitation system of taxation, requiring regular censuses (which later lea to extensive legislation prohibiting peasants from leaving the land under which they had been entered into the census).

Then he attempted a policy of social uniformity by imposing upon everyone the observance of Roman traditions. Hence the Great Persecution of the Christians.

He outlawed marriage with close female relatives (a Roman custom that had not been applied to non-Romans); and banned the Manichaean religion (founded in 240 by Mani, a resident of Persian controlled Mesopotamia, inspired by Gnosticism and Zoroastrianism, by which believers gained salvation through him - very similar to Christianity).

Starting with his own household, he threatened to dismiss anyone who refused to act like a Roman, and in 303 prohibited Christian religious assemblies, demolished churches and burnt liturgical books, arresting church leaders who refused to act like a Roman. These measures were pursued with determination in the east, especially Africa, but less so in the west where few Christians.

In 303 Diocletian abdicated - persuading Maximian to do likewise - giving power to Constantius in the west and Galerius in the east who appointed their own co-rulers.

Galerius appointed his nephew Maximinus as co-ruler, and urged Constantius to appoint Severus, a general, as his co-ruler in the west, but within a year, in 306, Constantius died, precipitating his son, Constantine, to pronounce himself Emperor of the West, but acting as senior emperor Galerius coerced him to be Severus' co-ruler and so Severus became Emperor of the West.

Constantine acquiesced for the moment and distinguished himself by establishing his authority over Britain, Gaul and Spain and in his new capacity as co-ruler rescinded his father's edicts against the Christians and became their savior.

Meanwhile Maximian's son, Maxentius, followed Constantine's lead and took advantage of dissent in Rome to have himself declared as Emperor in 306.

Galerius refused him recognition and ordered Severus to remove him by force, but faced with Maximian suddenly re-claiming the emperorship from his son, Maxentius, Severus was forced to abdicate and was eventually killed.

Galerius finally invaded Italy in 307, wanting the re-instatement of Severus, but was defeated and had to withdraw.

Then Maxentius argued with his father about who was the rightful emperor.

In the meantime, Constantine remained neutral as the co-ruler of the west - despite the fact that he had married Maxentius' sister and was therefore involved in the family struggle whether he liked it or not.

When the army sided with Maxentius, Maximian fled to Constantine's court in the west.