Edward Gibbon, an English historian, published The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire in six volumes between 1776 and 1788. This is Chapter 13 of that work. He follows Rome from the prosperous age of Trajan and the Antonines, around the year 100, through the fall of the West and on to the Ottoman capture of Constantinople in 1453.

Chapter 13 takes up the reign of Diocletian and his three associates, Maximian, Galerius, and Constantius—General reestablishment of order and tranquillity—The Persian War, victory, and triumph—The new form of administration—Abdication and retirement of Diocletian and Maximian. The footnotes are not in this reading; what you have is the narrative.