tetrarchies

Noun

tetrarchy (plural tetrarchies)

1. A government where power is shared by four people, especially (historical) the Herodian tetrarchy established in Judea after the death of Herod and the Tetrarchy of Diocletian which ruled the Roman Empire in the years 293-313.
   • Constantius was not born to the purple and Maximianus was the only original member of the First Tetrarchy from whom Constantine could satisfactorily derive his rule.1996, Sam Lieu, “2: Constantine's "Pagan" Vision: The anonymous panegyric on Constantine (310), Pan. Lat. VII(6)”, in Samuel N. C. Lieu, Dominic Montserrat, editors, From Constantine to Julian: Pagan...
2. The land ruled by such a government, either together or separately.
   • According to Josephus, Herod Agrippa, who succeeded Antipas in his Tetrarchy, died in the seventh year of his reign;[…].1830, Edward Greswell, chapter I, in Dissertations Upon the Principles and Arrangement of a Harmony of the Gospels, volume 1, page 228