The Cercadilla Palace was built in Cordoba during the reign of Maximianus
Herculius, emperor during the 3rd century AD who, together with Diocletian,
Constantinus, Chlorus and Galerius, formed what is known as the first tetrarchy,
a government of four that for a time guaranteed the integrity of the immense
territory that comprised the Roman empire.
The Romans conquered Corduba in the
year 206 AD and the Roman Empire spread out through all the Mediterranean Sea
but it went through a period of crisis. Before that, the emperor Aurelian in the
year 274 AD tried to put an end to the separatists and restore the unity of the
empire, then Diocletian tried to decentralize the Empire with the establishment
of the Tetrarchy. Nevertheless, Gothic people penetrated and invaded Greece,
establishing a kingdom in the Northeast.
The main causes of the crisis where the
weakness of the different emperors, the difficulty in collecting taxes and the
pressure of the Barbarians. Rome went through a demographic crisis that forced
the state and the landowners to ensure the permanence of the peasants in the
fields. The small owners due to high taxes and debts were forced to hand over
their properties in exchange for the protection of the landlords. Furthermore,
inflation skyrocketed, trade came to a standstill and provinces became isolated
from one another.
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| The Tetrarchs. Porphyry scuplture, looted from the Great Palace of Constantinople in 1204 and currently housed in the Treasury of Saint Mark. Source: Wikipedia. |
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