tetrarchy

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Noun

tetrarchy (plural tetrarchies)

1. (politics) A government where power is shared by four people, especially (historical) the Herodian tetrarchy established in Judea after the death of Herod and the Tetrarchy of Diocletian which ruled the Roman Empire in the years 293-313.
   • 1996, Sam Lieu, 2: Constantine's "Pagan" Vision: The anonymous panegyric on Constantine (310), Pan. Lat. VII(6), Samuel N. C. Lieu, Dominic Montserrat (editors), From Constantine to Julian: Pagan and Byzantine Views: A Source History, 2003, page 66 ↗,

     Constantius was not born to the purple and Maximianus was the only original member of the First Tetrarchy from whom Constantine could satisfactorily derive his rule.

   • 2010, Roger Collins, Early Medieval Europe, 300-1000, 3rd Edition, page 16 ↗,

     The abdication of Diocletian and Maximian in 305, whether long-planned or just the product of the senior emperor's recent ill health, created a second Tetrarchy, in which the dominant figure should have been Galerius.

2. (geography) The land ruled by such a government, either together or separately.

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:government

Related terms

• tetrarch

Translations

• French: tétrarchie
• German: Tetrarchie
• Italian: tetrarchia
• Portuguese: tetrarquia
• Russian: тетра́рхия
• Spanish: tetrarquía

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