Page:The history of medieval Europe.djvu/106

 70 THE HISTORY OF MEDIEVAL EUROPE Lollianus or Mavortius, who was still higher up than he in the governmental hierarchy. Firmicus states that he had formerly "resisted with unbending confidence and firmness" factious and wicked and avaricious men "who by the terror of lawsuits seemed formidable to the unfortunate"; and that "with liberal mind, despising forensic gains, to men in trouble ... I displayed a pure and faithful defense in the courts of law." But by this upright conduct he had incurred much enmity and danger, and he is glad at last to retire from this hard world, where Socrates and Plato suffered while Alcibiades and Sulla prospered, and from the sordid atmosphere of law courts and forum, in order to spend his leisure with the divine men of old of Egypt and Babylon and to purify his spirit by contemplation of the everlasting stars and of the supreme God who works through them. During the civil strife and barbarian inroads of the third century the Empire for a time fell into anarchy, but before Diocletian's the century was over, the imperial government Lv<fthe° seemed more strongly established than ever. Empire This was largely due to the reorganization effected by Diocletian (284-305 a.d.). He increased the power of the emperor, making him an absolute ruler in every respect, whom his courtiers and subjects were to treat as a god and whose court was characterized by most elab- orate ceremonial and etiquette. His predecessor Aurelian had already closely associated the cult of the emperor with the worship of the Unconquered Sun, whose earthly repre- sentative the emperor now asserted himself to be. Diocle- tian also endeavored to establish a regular and unbroken succession to the throne, in order to avoid civil strife. Further, he divided the Empire into many more provinces than before, greatly increased the number of governors and officials, to all of whom high-sounding titles were given, put the army under leaders separate from the provincial gov- ernors, and established an elaborate system of espionage over all his subordinates. He also tried to regulate economic conditions and issued an edict to keep prices down. From this time forth, indeed, the imperial government itself took