“Are you sure my father will not be so tempted?” Constantine asked.
“Constantius and I were comradesinarms, so I know he places honor above every other virtue. As Augustus of the West he can hold a checkrein upon Galerius and keep the Empire from being tom apart.”
Constantine was far from agreeing with the old Emperor’s evaluation of Galerius, having seen the Caesar of the East face defeat in the disastrous Persian campaign and build back stubbornly, profiting from his mistakes to win an even greater victory and cement his own position more strongly, until now he almost held Diocletian prisoner in the palace.
“Galerius has no son.” Diocletian’s voice broke into his thoughts. “Maximian is a brave soldier but an indifferent ruler and his line has run out in Maxentius, a bloodthirsty beast who should have been destroyed at birth. Naturally I shall not appoint Maxentius Caesar in the West, knowing he would seize the first opportunity to stab your father in the back. And since I cannot appoint Maximian’s son as Caesar, obviously I cannot appoint Constantius’ son to a similar position.”
“You warned me long ago not to aspire to rule, Dominus.”
“And I was wrong, for you would make a fine ruler. But you can see now that it is impossible. I have already written your father telling him of my decision.”
“Will you let me go to Treves then?” He did not add that, if he stayed in Nicomedia, Galerius would break him at the first opportunity.
Leave myself unprotected
“I shall not be so foolish as to leave myself unprotected when I am no longer Emperor,” Diocletian said. “You will stay with me. Salonae is not far from Nicomedia and, if I should discover that what I have spent twenty years building up is in danger of being destroyed, duty could always call me back to the throne, with you in command of my personal troops.”
Constantine could hardly repress a shudder, when he remembered the dark corridors, the massive walls and the cold rooms of the great palace at Salonae.
“You will command my personal bodyguard after I abdicate, so during the next few months I want you to select men you can trust.” Diocletian smiled wryly. “I’ve worked hard for the peace of my garden at Salonae and I intend to enjoy it.”
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