hand in marriage. (This is a classic fairy-tale element – "half my kingdom and the hand of my daughter" – and wholly ahistorical). At this point, Diocles is a common soldier, who is spending his best efforts killing wild boars; the witch/sorceress Delphia has prophesied that Diocles will become emperor when his kills a certain boar. The prophecy comes with a condition: Diocles will also marry Delphia's niece Drusilla, who is deeply in love with him. When Diocles complains that he still is not emperor despite all the boars he's killed, Delphia merely tells him that he hasn't yet got the right one. Then Diocles learns of the bounty placed on Aper's head, and gets the point of the prophecy: aper is the Latin term for a wild boar. Diocles kills Aper, and receives his reward: upon ascending to the highest place in the empire, he amends his name to Dioclesianus. But he has conveniently forgotten about Drusilla, and plans to marry Aurelia. Delphia doesn't like this. She reproves his faithlessness, but Dioclesian is recalcitrant; in the early scenes of the play he acts with the egomania and bombast of Marlowe's Tamburlaine. Delphia's magic is so powerful, however, that she can spoil the hero's good fortune. A sudden storm of thunder and lightning, caused by Delphia, forces the superstitious Romans to delay the wedding; then Delphia's spells make Aurelia fall in love with Dioclesian's nephew Maximinian. (Maximinian is based on the historical Maximian, Diocletian's co-ruler but no familial relation.) Dioclesian rages at Delphia's interference, but events forestall any action on his part. In their long-running conflict with the Persians, the Romans have captured the Persian princess Cassana, sister of the king, Cosroe. (The historical Khosrau I ruled nearly three centuries after the historical period of the play, 531–579 A.D.; his presence here constitutes the drama's biggest departure from historical fact. "Cosroe" is a stereotypical Persian emperor of much Western literature; he appears in Tamburlaine and in other plays and operas.) Aurelia uses the captured princess as her servant. Persian ambassadors try to ransom Cassana, but the proud Aurelia dismisses even the highest offers. Desperate, the Persian ambassadors manage (with Delphia's magic help) to abduct Charinus, Aurelia, and Maximinian and take them into Persian custody. Dioclesian rushes with his army to rescue them; by this time, though, he has learned to moderate his egotism and ambition. He is victorious over the