Italy: Icon of Diocletian (244-312), 51st Roman emperor, from the book Icones imperatorvm romanorvm (Icons of Roman Emperors), Antwerp, c. 1645

Diocletian (244-312) was born as Diocles to a family of low status from Dalmatia. He rose through the ranks of the military to become a cavalry commander under Emperor Carus, and after the deaths of Carus and his son Numerian in 284, Diocletian was proclaimed emperor, defeating Carus' other surviving son Carinus to sanctify his claim.

Diocletian's rule would stabilise the Roman Empire after the Crisis of the Third Century, and he made fellow officer Maximian co-emperor in 286 to help rule. He further appointed Galerius and Constantius as junior co-emperors in 293, establishing a tetrarchy (rule of four) which saw the quarter-division of the empire. He defeated many threats to Rome and secured the empire's borders. He sacked Ctesiphon, capital of the Sassanid Empire, before negotiating a lasting peace arrangement.

Diocletian's rule saw the establishment of the largest and most bureaucratic government in the empire's history, as well as overseeing the Docletianic Persecution (303-311), the largest and bloodiest official persecution of Christianity in the empire's history. He eventually abdicated in 305 after falling sick, becoming the first emperor to voluntarily abdicate his throne, living the rest of his years in his private palace on the Dalmatian coast.

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