Question

Why did Diocletian divide the empire into two sections?
a. The Senate did not want him to have too much power.
b. He thought that dividing the empire would make it easier to rule.
c. He wanted to give the Christian minority a region of their own.
d. Laws for one part of the empire did not work well in the other part.

Answer 1

The answer is A.  After the glorious reign of the Pax Romana where great emperors such as Marcus Aurelius, Hadrian and Trajan, Rome began to decline as it was no large an empire to rule. He concentrated his efforts on the eastern half of Rome and named a young officer Maximian emperor of the West.  Diocletian established his capital in Nicomedia located near Byzantium.  Later on, the Eastern Empire flourished by the Western Empire soon deteriorated.  Several barbarian tribes invaded the Western Roman Empire and eventually it collapsed in 455 A.D.

Answer 2

Answer: B. He thought that dividing the empire would make it easier to rule.

Diocletian was responsible for ending the Crisis of the Third Century. He divided the empire, and made himself the emperor of the Eastern Empire, while Maximian reigned in the Western Empire. He eventually appointed another two "junior" emperors. By dividing power in this way, he hoped the empire would be easier to manage. He also established the largest and most bureaucratic of Roman governments.