Diocletian voluntarily abdicated as Roman emperor in 305 CE and retired to grow cabbages.
Born Diocles, he became emperor in 284 CE after the army elevated him following the death of Carus. He reorganized the empire through the Tetrarchy, ruling alongside co-emperors and junior Caesars. This system was intended to make the enormous empire easier to govern and succession more orderly.
On 1 May 305, Diocletian and his fellow Augustus Maximian abdicated simultaneously. Diocletian retired to his palace at Split, in modern Croatia, where ancient sources say he devoted himself to gardening. When Maximian later urged him to return to power, Diocletian reportedly replied that he preferred showing the cabbages he had planted.
Diocletian’s retirement was unusual among Roman emperors, although his succession system did not remain stable for long. Civil wars soon followed, eventually bringing Constantine the Great to power.