* 286 – Emperor Diocletian elevates his general Maximian to co-emperor with the rank of Augustus and gives him control over the Western regions of the Roman Empire.

In his Easter table the year 532 AD was equated with the regnal year 248 of Emperor Diocletian.

Palace of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, around which the Croatian city of Split ( city ) | Split emerged.

Dalmatia was the birthplace of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, who, upon retirement from Emperor in AD 305, built a large palace near Salona, out of which the city of Split later developed.

Diocletian (; c. 22 December 244 – 3 December 311 ), was a Roman Emperor from 284 to 305.

Born to a family of low status in the Roman province of Dalmatia, Diocletian rose through the ranks of the military to become cavalry commander to the Emperor Carus.

After the deaths of Carus and his son Numerian on campaign in Persia, Diocletian was proclaimed Emperor.

Diocletian publicly humiliated Galerius, forcing him to walk for a mile at the head of the Imperial caravan, still clad in the purple robes of the Emperor.

In addition to his administrative and legal impact on history, the Emperor Diocletian is considered to be the founder of the city of Split in modern-day Croatia.

* Ruins of the Palace of the Emperor Diocletian at Spalatro in Dalmatia By Robert Adam, 1764.

* 244 – Diocletian, Roman Emperor ( d. 311 )

The Principate ( 27 BC-284 AD ) period was succeeded by what is known as the Dominate ( 284 AD-527 AD ), during which Emperor Diocletian tried to put the Empire on a more formal footing.

* 303 – Diocletian, Roman Emperor, publishes his edict that begins the persecution of Christians in his portion of the Empire.

* 303 – Roman Emperor Diocletian orders the destruction of the Christian church in Nicomedia, beginning eight years of Diocletianic Persecution.

The Emperor Diocletian is said to have made Florentia the seat of a bishopric around the beginning of the 4th century AD, but this seems improbable as Diocletian was a notable persecutor of Christians.

When the governing of the Empire became too cumbersome for a single Emperor, the empire was divided by the emperor Diocletian into the Western and Eastern empires.

Similarly, in an edict of the Emperor Diocletian from AD 303, which set maximum prices of goods and services, the price of saddles, halters, and bridles are enumerated, as well as the price of a veterinarian for " cutting the hair and hoof of each animal.

As part of his reorganization of the empire in 300 AD, the Emperor Diocletian separated the administration of Crete from Cyrenaica and in the latter formed the new provinces of " Upper Libya " and " Lower Libya ", using the term Libya for the first time as an administrative designation.

At the request of Roman Emperor Diocletian, he became an official professor of rhetoric in Nicomedia, the voyage from Africa described in his poem Hodoeporicum.

The Emperor Diocletian ( r. 284 – 305 ) split the empire into separately administered eastern and western halves in 286 ; however, the empire was not considered divided by its inhabitants or rulers, as legal and administrative promulgations in one division were considered valid in the other.

* 305 – Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman Emperor.

* 304 – Roman Emperor Diocletian orders the beheading of the 14-year-old Pancras of Rome.

* 308 – At Carnuntum, Emperor emeritus Diocletian confers with Galerius, Augustus of the East, and Maximianus, the recently returned former Augustus of the West, in an attempt to restore order to the Roman Empire.

* 475 – Byzantine Emperor Basiliscus issues a circular letter ( Enkyklikon ) to the bishops of his empire, supporting the Monophysite christological position.

* 1713 – With no living male heirs, Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, issues the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 to ensure that Habsburg lands and the Austrian throne would be inherited by his daughter, Maria Theresa of Austria ( not actually born until 1717 ).

* 356 – Emperor Constantius II issues a decree closing all pagan temples in the Roman Empire.

* 1521 – The Diet of Worms ends when Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, issues the Edict of Worms, declaring Martin Luther an outlaw.

* 996 – Emperor Otto III issues a deed to Gottschalk, Bishop of Freising, which is the oldest known document using the name Ostarrîchi ( Austria in Old High German ).

Other immediate issues were that in Constantinople, the Patriarch Photius had been ejected and Stephen, the son of Emperor Basil I, had taken the office.

* 638: Emperor Taizong ( 627-649 ) issues an edict of universal toleration of religions ; Nestorian Christians build a church in Chang ' an.

* December 20 – Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria issues a decree, Es ist Mein Wille, which leads to the demolition of the city walls of Vienna, allowing the construction of the Ringstraße.

* March 6 – Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor issues the Edict of Restitution, ordering all Catholic properties lost to Protestantism since 1552 are to be restored.

* May 25 – The Diet of Worms ends when Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor issues the Edict of Worms, declaring Martin Luther an outlaw.

* April 7 – Emperor Justinian I issues the Codex Justinianus ( Code of Civil Laws ), reformulating Roman law in an effort to control his unruly people ( see 532 ).

Although the monastery is generous in donations, Emperor Xuanzong issues a decree abolishing their treasury on the grounds that their banking practices were fraudulent, collects their riches, and distributes the wealth to various other Buddhist monasteries, Daoist abbeys, and to repair statues, halls, and bridges in the city.

* Emperor Taizong of Tang issues a decree throughout China that increases the punishment for men who deliberately inflict injuries upon themselves ( most commonly breaking their own legs ) in order to avoid military conscription.

* Emperor Temmu of Japan issues a decree forbidding the Japanese-style cap of ranks and garments, and changing them into Chinese ones.

* May 8 – The Japanese Emperor issues a decree to distribute the tax-rice for peasants in poverty, as well as a decree regulating of fishing and hunting, ordering a halt to eating the flesh of cattle, horses, dogs, monkeys or barn-yard fowls.

* February 19 – Emperor Constantius II issues a decree closing all pagan temples in the Roman Empire and ordering the banishment once again of the anti-Arian patriarch of Alexandria, Athanasius.

* March 22 – The Kangxi Emperor of the Qing Dynasty issues the Edict of Toleration recognizing all the Roman Catholic Church, not just the Jesuits, and legalizing missions and their conversion of Chinese people.

* The Hongwu Emperor of the Chinese Ming Dynasty issues a decree ordering every country magistrate in the empire to open a Confucian school of learning.

* November 1 – Emperor Otto III issues a deed to Gottschalk, Bishop of Freising, which is the oldest known document using the name Ostarrîchi ( Austria in Old High German ).

* Emperor Diocletian issues four edicts aimed at destroying Christianity ; churches are to be dismantled, clergymen arrested, and their followers forced to sacrifice to pagan gods on pain of death.

* May 5 – Emperor Galerius declares on his deathbed religious freedom and issues his Edict of Toleration, ending persecution of Christians in the Eastern part of the Roman Empire.

* Emperor Constantine the Great issues an edict prohibiting the punishment of slaves by crucifixion and facial branding.

* Emperor Valentinian III issues an imperial edict against Manichaeism.

Allied intentions on issues of utmost importance to the Japanese, including whether Hirohito was to be regarded as one of those who had " misled the people of Japan " or even a war criminal, or alternatively whether the Emperor might potentially become part of a " peacefully inclined and responsible government " were thus left unstated.