Diocletian

If you would like to read a digital offprint of this article, please message one of us.

In his De Caesaribus, the historian Aurelius Victor drew a comparison between the emperor Diocletian and the Republican general and consul Marius: two ambitious individuals from humble backgrounds who had dressed in an excessively extravagant and arrogant fashion. That comparison used an allusion to a fragment of Sallust (Maurenbrecher 2.62 = Ramsey 2.51) to sharpen its point. This article shows that the conventional interpretation of the fragment (as a reference to the battle of Sucro) is unlikely and that it instead relates to Marius' dress at his triumph over Jugurtha: it logically belongs to Sallust's monograph, not his Histories (for which it is too early in date). Though at first sight there appears to be no place for it in the Jugurtha, it is argued that there are strong reasons to think that the work is not complete, but is in fact missing its closing portion. Transmission, testimonia, and literary features combine to suggest that it is a mutilated text. The article concludes that the fragment belongs to the lost end of the Jugurtha and suggests an outline of what that ending might have contained. That was where Victor found it and exploited it to draw a pointed comparison between emperor and general.

The subject of this analysis shall be the earliest history of the medieval principality of Dioclea. It originates from a sclavinia created at the south-eastern part of then roman province Dalmatia, where a new province Praevalitana was formed during the reign of Diocletian (284–305). The centre of the sclavinia consists of remains of the antic town Doclea after which the principality itself was named, while an array of the fortified roman cities that survived the migration period is located along the shore it gravitates to. The core of indigenous people remained in itssouthern neighbourhood, the territory which Slovenian colonisation has touched at a lower scale and the Byzantium quickly regained its control over that area. This is the reason why Dioclea, being the southernmost Dalmatian principality, has been the one the most exposed to the Byzantine influence especially since the early 9th century, when Theme of Dyrrhachium was founded. Roman population sustained its presence the longest in the mountainous areas and in agers of the Roman cities. Development of the Slovenian principality and embracing of the culture-enhancing attainments was significantly enabled by the
symbiosis of the Slovenian and Roman population, primarily in the areas of the said agers. Dioclea also felt the influence of the Bulgarian invasion to the hinterland of Dyrrhachium, which resulted in Dioclea’s being imprisoned in a triangle between Byzantium, Bulgaria and Serbia. Its future political position shall depend on the power ratio of these three countries. During the reign of Vasilije I (867–886), Byzantium has experienced a growth severely experienced in the basin of the Adriatic Sea, so the Dalmatian Slovenians become subject to its supreme authority. As can be concluded, over the course of 9th century, the Byzantium authority over Dioclea was much more prominent and immediate as compared to other Dalmatian principalities. ****** Предметом анализа является древнейшее прошлое средневекового княжества Дукля. Первоначально это была склавиния, возникшая в юго-восточной части ранней римской провинции Далмации, где в правление Диоклетиана (284–305 гг.) была сформирована новая провинция Превалис. В центре склавинии находились руины античного города Доклеи (Doclea), от которого она и получила свое название, а вдоль побережья, к которому она тяготела, протянулся ряд укрепленных романских городов, переживших Великое переселение народов. К югу от Дукли, на территории, которую славянская колонизация захватила в меньшей степени, сохранилось ядро автохтонного населения, над которым Византия рано вернула контроль. Поэтому Дукля как самое южное славянское княжество Далмации была больше других подвержена византийскому влиянию, особенно с начала IX в., когда была основана фема Диррахий. Романское население дольше всего сохранялось в горных пределах и на агерах римских городов. Для развития славянского княжества и восприятия цивилизационных трендов большое значение имел симбиоз славянского и романского населения, особенно в зонах упомянутых агеров. Болгарское продвижение в хинтерланд Диррахия почувствовалось и в Дукле, которая, таким образом, оказалась в треугольнике между Византией, Болгарией и Сербией. Ее политическое положение в будущем будет зависеть от соотношения сил между ними. В правление Василия I (867–886 гг.) Византия сильнее осуществляла свое присутствие, что было сильно ощутимо и в бассейне Адриатического моря, и далматинские славяне оказались под ее верховной властью. Можно заключить, что в течение IX в. византийская власть над Дуклей была более непосредственно выражена, чем в случае с остальными славянскими княжествами Далмации.