What are two things Diodetian did to slow the decline of the empire?
He did not try to slow the decline of the empire as such. He
tired to prevent the reoccurrence of the political fragmentation
that had been caused by a string of usurpers who were hailed as
emperors by their legions and tried to become rulers of their
areas. He also tired to make the defence of the vast borders of the
empire, which had overstretched the army, more efficient.
Realising that one man could not control the empire on his own,
he shared power. He created the tetrarchy (rule by four) which was
a 2+2 system of government He appointed Maximian as co-emperor and
put him in charge of the western area. Maximian set up an imperial
court in Milan. Diocletian took charge of the east and set up his
court in Nicodemia (northwest Turkey). The then created two junior
emperors (he called them Caesars) to help him and Maximian who were
then titled Augustus (senior emperor). The Caesars were given a
portion of the areas of the two augusti which was troubled by
barbarian attacks. One of them was given Gaul and the task of
defending the sensitive Rhine frontier which was under continuous
attack by the Franks and Alemanni. The other was given the Balkan
peninsula to guard the Danube frontier which also often came under
attack.
Diocletian's rule was autocratic. He put the empire under tight
control by creating a large bureaucracy which took much of local
administration away from traditional local administrators on his
behalf.
