The Dominate was the 'despotic' last of the two phases of government in the ancient Roman Empire between its establishment in 27 BC and the formal date of the collapse of the Western Empire in AD 476. King of Rome redirects here. ... See also Roman Republic (18th century) and Roman Republic (19th century). ... For other uses, see Roman Empire (disambiguation). ... The Principate is, according to its etymological derivation from the Latin word princeps, meaning chief or first, the political regime dominated by such a head of state and government. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Byzantine Empire (Greek: ) is the term conventionally used since the 19th century to describe the Greek-speaking Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered at its capital in Constantinople. ... Magistratus ordinarii (ordinary magistrates) and Magistratus extraordinarii (extraordinary magistrates) were two categories of officials who held political, military, and, in some cases, religious power in the Roman Republic. ... Consul (abbrev. ... // Definition According to Cicero, Praetor was a title which designated the consuls as the leaders of the armies of the state. ... Quaestors were elected officials of the Roman Republic who supervised the treasury and financial affairs of the state, its armies and its officers. ... See Roman Governor for the duties of a promagistrate as a governor of a province A promagistrate is a person who acts in and with the authority and capacity of a magistrate, but without holding a magisterial office. ... Aedile (Latin Aedilis, from aedes, aedis temple, building) was an office of the Roman Republic. ... Tribune (from the Latin: tribunus; Greek form tribounos) was a title shared by several elected magistracies and other governmental and/or (para)military offices of the Roman Republic and Empire. ... Censor was the title of two magistrates of high rank in the Roman Republic. ... A Roman governor was an official either elected or appointed to be the chief adminstator of Roman law throughout one or more of Ancient Romes many provinces. ... Magistratus ordinarii (ordinary magistrates) and Magistratus extraordinarii (extraordinary magistrates) were two categories of officials who held political, military, and, in some cases, religious power in the Roman Republic. ... The Master of the Horse was (and in some cases, is) a historical position of varying importance in several European nations. ... The Tribuni militum consulari potestate, or Consular Tribunes were tribunes elected with consular power during the Conflict of the Orders in the Roman Republic, starting in 444 BCE and then continuiously from 408 BCE to 394 BCE, and again from 391 BCE to 367 BCE. According the the histories of... Dictator was a political office of the Roman Republic. ... The term triumvirate is commonly used to describe an alliance between three equally powerful political or military leaders. ... Decemviri (singular decemvir) is a Latin term meaning Ten Men which designates any such commission in the Roman Republic (cf. ... Alternate meanings: see Pontifex (disambiguation) In Ancient Rome, the Pontifex Maximus was the high priest of the collegium of the Pontifices, the most august position in Roman religion, open only to a patrician, until 254 BC, when a plebeian first occupied this post. ... A legatus (often anglicized as legate) was equivalent to a modern general officer in the Roman army. ... Dux is Latin for leader (from the verb ducere, to lead) and could refer to anyone who commanded troops, such as tribal leaders. ... Officium (plural officia) is a Latin word with various meanings, including service, (sense of) duty, courtesy, ceremony and the likes. ... A prefect (from the Latin praefectus, perfect participle of praeficio, to make in front, i. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... The Vigintisexviri (sing. ... The lictor, derived from the Latin ligare (to bind), was a member of a special class of Roman civil servant, with special tasks of attending magistrates of the Roman Republic and Empire who held imperium. ... Magister militum (Master of the Soldiers) was a rank used in the later Roman Empire dating from the reign of Constantine. ... The Latin word imperator was a title originally roughly equivalent to commander during the period of the Roman Republic. ... The princeps senatus (plural principes senatus) was the leader of the Roman senate. ... Roman Emperor is the term historians use to refer to rulers of the Roman Empire, after the epoch conventionally named the Roman Republic. ... Augustus (plural augusti) is Latin for majestic or venerable. The feminine form is Augusta. ... Caesar (p. ... The Tetrarchs, a porphyry sculpture sacked from a Byzantine palace in 1204, Treasury of St. ... This is a tentative list of topics regarding political institutions of Ancient Rome. ... The Roman Senate (Latin, Senatus) was a deliberative body which was important in the government of both the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. ... The cursus honorum (Latin: succession of magistracies) was the sequential order of public offices held by aspiring politicians in both the Roman Republic and the early Empire. ... The Roman Republic (Latin: Res Publica Romanorum) vested formal governmental powers in four separate peoples assemblies — the Comitia Curiata, the Comitia Centuriata, the Comitia Tributa, and the Concilium Plebis. ... Collegiality is the relationship between colleagues. ... Roman Law is the legal system of ancient Rome. ... The toga was the characteristic garment of the Roman citizen. ... Imperium can, in a broad sense, be translated as power. ... For other uses, see Roman Empire (disambiguation). ... Centuries: 2nd century BC - 1st century BC - 1st century Decades: 70s BC 60s BC 50s BC 40s BC 30s BC - 20s BC - 10s BC 0s 10s 20s 30s Years: 32 BC 31 BC 30 BC 29 BC 28 BC 27 BC 26 BC 25 BC 24 BC 23 BC 22... Events August - The usurper Basiliscus is deposed and Zeno is restored as Eastern Roman Emperor. ...

The word is derived from the Latin dominus, meaning master or lord, as an owner versus his slave - this had been used sycophantically to address emperors from the Julian-Claudian (first) dynasty on, but not used by them as a style - Tiberius in particular is said to have reviled it openly. It became common under Diocletian, who is therefore a logical choice as the first ruler of 'early' dominate. Emperor Diocletian. ...

The first phase of Imperial government, known as the Principate, when the formalities of the constitutionally never abolished republic were still very much the 'politically correct' image, has also often been said to ended after the Third Century Crisis of 235-275, which concluded when Diocletian established himself as Emperor. Moving the notion of the Emperor away from the republican forms of the Empire's first three centuries, Diocletian introduced a novel system of joint rule by four, the tetrarchy, and he and his colleagues and his successors (in two imperial territories, east and west, not four) chose to stop using the title princeps, instead openly displaying the naked face of Imperial power and adopting a hellenistic style of government more influenced by the veneration of the Eastern potentates of ancient Egypt and Persia than by the heritage of civic collegiality amongst the governing class passed down from the days of the 'uncrowned' Roman Republic. The Principate is, according to its etymological derivation from the Latin word princeps, meaning chief or first, the political regime dominated by such a head of state and government. ... Crisis of the Third Century (also known as the Military Anarchy or the Imperial Crisis ) is a commonly applied name for the crumbling and near collapse of the Roman Empire between 235 and 284 caused by the three simultaneous crises of external invasion, internal civil war and economic collapse. ... Events Maximinus Thrax becomes Roman Emperor. ... Events Eutychian elected pope (probable date) September 25 - Marcus Claudius Tacitus appointed emperor by the senate Births Eusebius of Caesarea (approximate date) Saint George, soldier of the Roman Empire and later Christian martyr (or 280, approximate date). ... Emperor Diocletian. ... This is a list of Roman Emperors with the dates they ruled the Roman Empire. ... The Tetrarchs, a porphyry sculpture sacked from a Byzantine palace in 1204, Treasury of St. ... The term Persian Empire refers to a series of historical empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau. ... See also Roman Republic (18th century) and Roman Republic (19th century). ...

• Arguably, more crucial than the chosen title was the earlier adoption of a divine status as divus, originally a posthumous execeptional honour awarded by the senate, later granted to the living emperor (and some members of his dynasty), becoming an unwritten prerogative of the crown. The pagan state religion had always been linked with the political elite, e.g. from Julius Caesar on the strong man (Princeps since Augustus) has systematically been made Pontifex maximus (the most prestigious but non-professional religious office), but now the state started promoting, in time even imposing, official emperor cults, the legal basis for the persecution of monotheist Christians, so an insult to the 'god' became sacrilegeous.

• Another clear symptom of the upgrading of the imperial status was that he came to incarnate the notion (abstract under the uncrowned republic) of the majesty of Rome, so any crime against him would be punishable as what could be called high treason.

• Historians nowadays reject the interpretation of the transition from Principate to Dominate as a clear, easily definable break (cf. Late Antiquity). Rather, they now characterise it as a much more subtle, gradual transformation, in which Diocletian's reforms of the Imperial office, while significant, are but one point on a sliding scale. Nevertheless, the distinction between two primary phases of Imperial government in Rome remains an important and useful one.