Diocletian's Marriage Edict

This document is found in the Codex Gregorianus, column 31* of Hand’s edition. It is here given as a specimen of the Emperors moral feeling, and of the strong practical turn which his religion took: and also of the state of public morals at the time. The translation cannot aspire to much grace of literary style: but nothing can be heavier than the edict-Latin of the period.