es mentioned in the edict, which is
chiefly interesting as giving their relative values at the time, include
cereals, wine, oil, meat, vegetables, fruits, skins, leather, furs,
foot-gear, timber, carpets, articles of dress, and the wages range from
the ordinary labourer to the professional advocate. The unit of money
was the denarius, not the silver, but a copper coin introduced by
Diocletian, of which the value has been fixed approximately at 1/5th of
a penny. The punishment for exceeding the prices fixed was death or
deportation. The edict was a well-intended but abortive attempt, in
great measure in the interests of the soldiers, to meet the distress
caused by several bad harvests and commercial speculation. The actual
effect was disastrous: the restrictions thus placed upon commercial
freedom brought about a disturbance of the food supply in non-productive
countries, many traders were ruined, and the edict soon fell into
abeyance.

See Lactantius, _De mortibus persecutorum_, vii., a contemporary who,
as a Christian, writes with natural bias against Diocletian; T.
Mommsen, _Das Edict Diocletians_ (1851); W. M. Leake, _An Edict of
Diocletian_ (1826); W. H. Waddington, _L'Edit de Diocletien_ (1864),
and E. Lepaulle, _L'Edit de maximum_ (1886), both containing
introductions and ample notes; J. C. Rolfe and F. B. Tarbell in
_Papers of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens_, v.
(1892) (Plataea); W. Loring in _Journal of Hellenic Studies_, xi.
(1890) (Megalopolis); P. Paris in _Bulletin de correspondance
hellenique_, ix. (1885) (Elatea). There is an edition of the whole by
Mommsen, with notes by H. Blumner (1893).

DIODATI, GIOVANNI (1576-1649), Swiss Protestant divine, was born at
Geneva on the 6th of June 1576, of a noble family originally belonging
to Lucca, which had been expatriated on account of its Protestantism. At
the age of twenty-one he was nominated professor of Hebrew at Geneva on
the recommendation of Theodor Beza. In 1606 he became professor of
theology, in 1608 pastor, or parish minister, at Geneva, and in the
following year he succeeded Beza as professor of theology. As a preacher
he was eloquent, bold and fearless. He held a high place among the
reformers of Geneva, by whom he was sent on a mission to France in 1614.
He had previously visited Italy, and made the acquaintance of Paolo
Sarpi, whom he endeavoured unsuccessfully to engage in a reformation
movement. I