Diocletian: Emperor of Rome
He was the only Roman Emperor to abdicate his throne voluntarily, but this might have been a mistake
Diocletian was one of the more effective later Roman Emperors and also had the distinction of being the only Emperor to abdicate his throne voluntarily.
Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus was born in Dalmatia, probably in 245, of obscure parentage. He had a career in the army under Emperors Aurelian, Probus and Carus, and was on campaign with Carus in Mesopotamia in 283 when the latter died suddenly. Legend has it that his tent was struck by lightning, but this could be taken as meaning that he was murdered by mutineers.
Carus had two sons, Carinus and Numerian, the latter of whom was on campaign with him while Carinus remained at home. Numerian was murdered in the summer of 284, but his assassins had no idea what to do next and pretended that their victim was still alive but suffering from an eye infection that prevented him from appearing in public. Eventually the stench from the rotting corpse became too powerful to ignore and the senior officers realised that they had to choose a compromise candidate for Emperor to set against Carinus.
The choice fell upon a mid-ranking officer called Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocles who took the name Diocletianus…