Gemmabeta: The Romans did have the story of Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, whom was appointed to a 6-month term as Dictator of Rome to deal with with a national crisis.
Cincinnatus managed to end the crisis in *one day,* promptly resigned from his dictatorship, and was back to tending his farm by nightfall.
___
George Washington was acclaimed a “latter-day Cincinnatus” (hence the city) for voluntarily retiring from the presidency after two terms.
Creeper360bill: Out of all the vegetables he could grow and he chose cabbages?
Relevant parts of the wikipedia article:
> He lived out his retirement in his palace on the Dalmatian coast, tending to his vegetable gardens.
—
>People begged Diocletian to return to the throne, to resolve the conflicts that had arisen through Constantine’s rise to power and Maxentius’ usurpation. Diocletian’s reply: “**If you could show the cabbage that I planted with my own hands to your emperor, he definitely wouldn’t dare suggest that I replace the peace and happiness of this place with the storms of a never-satisfied greed.**”
Saljen: ***MY CABBAGES!!!!!***
SeptimiusK: Farming was basically the golf of ancient Rome. It was common for wealthy Romans to retire to their country estates to “farm”. These farms could be very lavish. Think, palace on a plantation with hundreds of slaves.
TLDR: Diocletian retired to his Mar a Lago Cabbage resort
GetBAK1: …In massive palace ( [which still stands](http://www.diocletianspalace.org/) ) on the coast of Croatia with immeasurable wealth
Divi_Filius_Augustus: He was also the only Roman Emperor to peacefully abdicate the position of emperor.
LizzyMcGuireMovie: “Tend to your garden” is always a great piece of advice.
With the internet everyone can spend their lives eternally outraged, which is absolutely horrible for your health. So every once in a while, take a step back and just tend to your garden. Focus on your life and the people in it, control what you have control over, feed the good thoughts (crops) and uproot the negative (weeds).
And then you can get back to the vitriol of arguing with strangers about gun control and transvestites and climate change. You know, the things that probably don’t really affect your every day life at all.
PM_me_killer_chess: It was probably his safest play. He probably knew someone was scheming to poison him.
DoktorKruel: Actually, he had to resign because of allegations he had groped an intern, but that story was swept under the rug.
mrshatnertoyou: >At Carnuntum people begged Diocletian to return to the throne, to resolve the conflicts that had arisen through Constantine’s rise to power and Maxentius’ usurpation. Diocletian’s reply: “If you could show the cabbage that I planted with my own hands to your emperor, he definitely wouldn’t dare suggest that I replace the peace and happiness of this place with the storms of a never-satisfied greed.”
Cabbage or being emperor, I’ll take the cabbage, please.
imjusthereforasoiaf: …until his country needed him the most.
“I’m retired! Damn it!”
Tripleshotlatte: And build a bad-ass [palace](https://dioklecijanovalegija.hr/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Diocletians-palace.jpg) for himself.
SourcreamHologram: unexpected /r/StarDewValley
42LSx: Peasant dreams, just like Barenziah.
makenzie71: A problem with people ruling the world is that those who would do it well don’t want the job, which leaves us with only the dregs seeking their own personal gain.
youngnstupid: Didn’t Cesar do this in Asterix and Obelix after they won Rome from him? That was a great ending.
Jacobarcherr: My cabbages!!!
ShoutOutTo_Caboose: Cincinnatus did something similar. When the Rome was invaded, he was named Dictator and put in total control of Rome. After a quick victory, he opted to return to his farm even though he could’ve stayed in power forever.
Eggs_and_Rice: Just like old Cincinnatus
gallowboob4: MY CABBAGES!
glorgifypetey: MY CABBAGES!
The_Magic: Too bad that Diocletian stepping down triggered a bloody civil war so he saw everything he built be torn apart.
BrotherM: Fun fact: This was referenced in the movie “Moscow Does not Believe in Tears” (which won an academy award and is amazing).
DViousRed: I wonder if the cabbage man from avatar the last airbender was based off Diocletian
mikebritton: Some of my most spectacular farts have been cabbage-related.
thothkatari: My cabbages!!!
TheCrimsonSquanch: MY CABBAGE CART!!
ghold1971: He’s like the Jimmy Carter of his time.
alivak: He retired so that he could play FarmVille full time.
impunity: I wonder if [Diocletian](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Coi87Siunvw) references his peaceful end.
TorgoLebowski: The dream of Maximus realized! What was that line, something like “The cabbages you plant in life will echo in eternity.”
Ihavethepowerheman: Better than a violent death.
TheRedWingdings: Washington did something similar under his own vine and fig tree…
-Rexford: [Here’s a silver argenteus of mine that was issued under Diocletian, struck circa 294-295 AD.](https://m.imgur.com/a/kvuia)
gazongas001: I love sour kraut
skillpolitics: the old school “spend more time with my family”
animengus: His palace is just amazing! And is the shooting spot for GOT
squarecorners: “Retired.” Just like Robert Mugabe is about to “retire” to go grow cabbages and tend to his vegetable gardens.
180by1: He must have watered his garden with the blood of Christian martyrs.
scarab123321: Well big D, at least you tried
martycoffey: Everyone shall sit under their own vine, and fig tree…
dwwilson: I like this guy, I figure he must have had a sense of humor. My reasoning for this is in his “Edict on Maximum Prices” there’s well over 1000 items.
Most of them are the usual sort of shit you’d expect to buy in ancient Rome like: $2 for a haircut, $6 for a bottle of wine and so on. But then right at the bottom there’s “1 pound purple silk: $150,000”
Like, you know there’s only one guy in the empire buying a pound of purp and you better not rip him off.
(apparently lions were $150,000 a piece too)
XNinSnooX: The wholesome emperor
