History of the Roman Empire disputes about the supreme authority, this finally formalised a peaceful succession of the emperor: in each half a "Caesar" would rise up to replace the "Augustus" and select a new "Caesar". On May 1, 305, Diocletian and Maximian abdicated in favour of their "Caesars". Galerius named the two new "Caesars": his nephew Maximinus for himself, and Flavius Valerius Severus for Constantius. The arrangement worked well under Diocletian and Maximian and shortly thereafter. The internal tensions within the Roman government were less acute than they had been. In "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire", Edward Gibbon notes that this
Considerations on the Causes of the Greatness of the Romans and their Decline Considerations on the Causes of the Greatness of the Romans and their Decline Considerations on the Causes of the Greatness of the Romans and their Decline (French: "Considérations sur les causes de la grandeur des Romains et de leur décadence") is an 18th-century book written by French political philosopher Montesquieu. First published in 1734, it is widely considered by scholars to be among Montesquieu's best known works and was an inspiration to Gibbon's more extensive "The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire". In 1734, the book was first published anonymously as an octavo by Jacques Desbordes