Page "Diocletian" Paragraph 46

Diocletian entered the city of Rome in the early winter of 303.

On 20 November, he celebrated, with Maximian, the twentieth anniversary of his reign ( vicennalia ), the tenth anniversary of the Tetrarchy ( decennalia ), and a triumph for the war with Persia.

Diocletian soon grew impatient with the city, as the Romans acted towards him with what Edward Gibbon, following Lactantius, calls " licentious familiarity ".

The Roman people did not give enough deference to his supreme authority ; it expected him to act the part of an aristocratic ruler, not a monarchic one.

On 20 December 303, Diocletian cut short his stay in Rome and left for the north.

He did not even perform the ceremonies investing him with his ninth consulate ; he did them in Ravenna on 1 January 304 instead.

There are suggestions in the Panegyrici Latini and Lactantius ' account that Diocletian arranged plans for his and Maximian's future retirement of power in Rome.

Maximian, according to these accounts, swore to uphold Diocletian's plan in a ceremony in the Temple of Jupiter.