Third Century Crisis

1. Third Century Crisis April 3rd, 2012

2. The Third Century Crisis:General Remarks Empire confronted by several overlapping crises. Power struggle between commanders of provincial legions. Attacks across the Rhine and Danube from increasingly organized and effective German confederacies (i.e. Goths, Franks, Alemanni etc.) and across the Euphrates from invigorated Persian Empire (Sassanid Persia); Repeated simultaneous invasions on two fronts. Several devastating plagues. Massive economic failure. Power struggles required loyalty of troops; Raises in pay; devastation of land and disruption trade caused by internal and external invaders reduced available resources; debasement of coinage and hyperinflation – increases in pay for the troops. One brief period of stability – 253-268 (Age of Gallienus)

3. Maximinus Thrax (235-38) 235 – Severus Alexander assassinated by Maximinus Thrax. Maximinus Thrax Emperor (235-38) Doubled the pay of the troops. Drove back invading Goths over the Danube. Debasement of coinage and strict collection of taxes irritates the senate. Senate raises up Gordian I and Gordian II as co-emperors (defeated by Maximinus). Senate puts forth M. Pupienus Maximus and D. Calvinus Balbinus as co-emperors (forced to adopt Gordian III as heir). Maximinus’ military failures caused his murder. Pupienus and Balbinus killed by Paetorian Guard for insufficient donatives. Gordian III emperor.

4. Gordian III (238-244) Civil conflict left frontiers undefended (Goths pour across the Danube, Persians over the Euphrates. Further debasement of coinage. 242 – Germans driven back across the lower Danube. 243-44 – Successes against Sassanid Persia; Shapur I besieged at Antioch; Gordian III dies after falling from his horse. Praetorian Prefect, Philip “The Arab” hailed emperor by the troops.

5. Philip the Arab (244-249) 244 - Peace reached with Shapur I; purchased with 10,000 pounds of gold. 244-7 – Germans thrown back across the Danube. 247 – Philip in Rome; cultivating friendly relations with the senate; Raids of Goths and Carpi across the Danube; Generals in the East and West hailed emperor by their troops; C. Messius Quintus Decius sent to restore order on the Danube; Decius’ soldiers hail him emperor. 249 – Decius marches toward Rome; Philip defeated and killed at Verona.

6. Decius (249-51)Gallus (251-53) Decius inaugurated the first active persecution of Christians as subversives. 251 – Goths cross the lower Danube; Decius and thousands of troops lost at b. of Abrittus. C. Vibius Trebonianus Gallus acclaimed emperor by the surviving troops. Gallus emperor (251-3); Peace concluded with the Goths; allowed to keep their plunder and high ranking POWs; Distractions on the Danube left Eastern frontier untended; Persians attack into Syria; Plague. 253 – Gallus moves toward Syria and the Danube legions rebel acclaiming Aemilius Aemilianus emperor; Gallus killed by his own troops; Raetian legions acclaimed P. Licinius Valerianus (Valerian) emperor; Aemilianus marches on Italy but is killed by his own men. Senate ratifies Valerian as emperor and appoints P. Licinius Egnatius Gallienus (son) as co-emperor.

7. The Age of Gallienus (253-68) The empire in a mess; Persians invading Syria, Capadoccia, and Mesopotamia; Germans raiding back and forth across the Rhine and Danube; Plague causing demographic and economic crises; 18 claimants to the throne. 254 – Gallienus on the Rhine driving back incursions; Marcomanni cross the Danube and penetrate as far as Ravenna and Mediolanum; bought off with land grants south of the Danube. 258-9 – Legions in Panonia in open revolt; successfully quelled by Gallienus. 259 – Alemanni invade the Rhone Valley, Franks cross the Rhine and penetrate Gaul, Spain, and North Africa, Saxons and Jutes engaged in piracy around Britain and Gaul; Legions on the Rhine, in Spain, and Britain mutiny in favour of Postumius. Gallienus pre-occupied with Danubian defences; Postumius left as “emperor” in Gaul, Britain, and Spain; Postumius drives the Franks and Alemanni back across the Rhine. 259-268 – Gallienus on the Danube fighting Goths and would-be usurpers. 268 – The revolt of Aureolus in Italy; Gallienus defeats Aureolus at Mediolanum but is murdered by his men.

8. Reforms of Gallienus Senators excluded from military commands; replaced by equestrians promoted through the ranks. Move away from hard frontier defence to mobile “defence in depth” relying heavily on cavalry. Large cavalry detachments (Vexillationes) stationed at key cities to react to a crisis. New cavalry units comprised of Cataphracti and African javelin men formed into mobile response units; placed under a magister equitum. Western territories (i.e. Gaul, Britain, and Spain) nominally independent under Postumus; Eastern territories nominally independent under Zenobia, queen of Palmyra. Equestrians replace senators as provincial governors in imperial (and some senatorial) provinces. Decrease in the importance of Rome and the senate; imperial capital wherever the emperor is; emperor frequently at forward bases with the vexillationes.

9. A Very Brief RespiteAurelian (270-75) 268 – Gallienus assassinated by his own staff officers; succeeded by Claudius II. 268-70 – Claudius II given the cognomen “Gothicus” for driving the Goths beyond the Danube; died of plague and succeeded by L. Domitius Aurelianus. 271 – Commenced construction of the “Aurelian Wall” around Rome; abandoned Dacia to facilitate shorter lines of defence. 272-3 – Zenobia, queen of Palmyra, declared independence and formed alliance with Persia; Zenobia captured and Palmyra destroyed. 273-4 – Aurelian in Gaul; “Gallic Empire” under Tetricus falls quickly to Aurelian. 274 – Aurelian returns to Rome; celebrates triumphs over Zenobia and Tetricus; re-values Roman currency to counter hyper-inflation; Nationalized the baker’s guild to facilitate bread distribution programme for the urban poor. 275 – Aurelian assassinated by staff officers owing to false rumours. Empire again plunged into chaos.

10. The Aurelian Wall http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Celio_-_le_mura_tra_porta_san_Sebastiano_e_porta_Ardeatina_1974.JPG

11. The Descent into Chaos...Again:Tacitus (275-6) and Probus (276-82) Senate declares the elderly M. Claudius Tacitus emperor. Tacitus (275-6) – Campaigns against Goths and Alans in Asia Minor; assassinated by his own soldiers; succeeded by M. Aurelius Probus (magister equitum). Probus emperor (276-82) 276-77 – Drove back invasions of Franks and Alemanni; constructed fortifications along Rhine crossing points; recruited 16,000 Franks and Alemanni into the Roman army. 278-9 – 100,000 Scythians and Bastarnae settled in (largely depopulated) Thrace; drove back German incursions in Raetia and Pannonia; drove back Sudanese incursions into Egypt. 282 – Probus undertakes campaign vs. The Persians but is killed in a mutiny.

12. The Death Throes of the Principate:Carus, Carinus, and Numerianus (282-5) Troops in Raetia acclaim M. Aurelius Carus (Praetorian Prefect) emperor. Carinus does not seek ratification from senate; appoints sons (Carinus and Numerianus) as “Caesars.” 282- Carinus left in command of Italy; Carus and Numerianus move east to push back barbarian incursions. 283 – Quadi and Sarmatians defeated on the Danube. 284 – Series of rapid victories deep inside Persia; mysterious death of Carus; Nemerianus quickly assassinated by Arrius Aper (Praetorian Prefect; troops acclaim Diocles (Diocletian) emperor; Diocletian stabs Aper. 285 – Carinus marches east to defeat Diocletian; armies clash in Moesia; Carinus’ troops prevailing but is assassinated by one of his officers. Diocletian sole emperor.

13. A Summary of Conditions Upon the Accession of Diocletian Military discipline and order completely gone. Major demographic crisis; fewer and fewer recruits and virtually none from Italy. Inability to patrol the many miles of frontiers. Widespread economic chaos; hyper-inflation; tax revenues dwindling because of lack of physical security.

14. Aurelius Victor on the Poor State of Military Discipline and Its Consequences “After a month or two of unstable rule, Florian was killed by his troops near Tarsus. After him they accepted Probus, who had been elevated in Illyria. Probus was a man highly skilled in military science, and almost another Hannibal in the art of exercising troops in various and of hardening young men. Indeed, just as Hannibal had employed his soldiers in planting olive trees in several places in Africa, fearing that their idleness might be dangerous to the state and their leaders, so Probus filled Gaul, Panonnia, and the hills of Moesia with vineyards, after he had worn down the barbarian tribes which had made incursions when our emperors had been slain through their crimes, and after he had killed Saturninus in the East and Bonosus with his army at Cologne. Both had attempted, employing the troops which they had commanded as generals, to seize the imperial power. For this reason, when all the territory had been recovered and pacified, he is reported to have said that in a short time there would be no need of soldiers. Provoked by this, the troops, when he compelled them to dig openings and ditches in order to drain the lands which the winter rains had turned into marshes in the vicinity of Sirmium, his native city, murdered him near that city in the sixth year of his reign. Thenceforth the military power gained the ascendant, and the senate has remained until our time deprived of the power and the right of choosing the emperor. It is uncertain whether this took place through default, with the consent of the senate, or through fear, or dislike of discord. Yet it is certain that...military discipline could have been reestablished in consequnce of the moderate conduct of the legions during Tacitus’ reign; that Florian would thennot have been so bold as to seize power; that finally, if the members of an order so distinguished and important had spent their lives in military camps, the military would not be bestowed on anyone, even a good man, by the decision of the soldiery. But, by giving themselves up to the delights of leisure and fearing for their riches, whose enjoyment and abundance they thought would last longer than eternity, they paved the way for the soldiery, and almost the barbarians, to dominate them and posterity.” (Aurelius Victor, Lives of the Emperors 24-27. Lewis & Reinhold, 1990, pp.377-9)

15. Widespread Depopulation “Aquileia was even in earlier times a very big city with a large population of its own. Situated on the sea like an emporium of Italy and fronting all the Illyrian peoples, she provided the merchants sailing there with the products received from the interior by land or river, and she shipped into the hinterland the products from overseas needed by the inhabitants, which their land did not readily produce because of its cold climate; and also, as they did not cultivate the vine and her territory was especially productive of wine, she furnished them with an abundance of drink. Accordingly a large population lived there, consisting not only of citizens but also of foreigners and merchants. At this time [238 A.D.], however, the population was even further increased by all the crowds streaming hither from the countryside, leaving the neighbouring towns and villages to seek safety inside the great city and its surrounding wall. The ancient wall had for the most part been demolished earlier, since after the advent of Roman rule the cities of Italy no longer needed walls or weapons, for they enjoyed, in place of wars, profound peace and association in Roman citizenship. But now necessity drove them to restore the wall, rebuild its ruins, and raise towers and battlements...The army [of Maximus] crossed over and marched upon the city. Finding the houses of the suburbs deserted, they cut down all the vines and trees, set some on fire, and made a shambles of the once thriving countryside...After destroying all this to the root, the army pressed on to the wall...and strove to demolish at least some part of the wall, so that they might break in and sack everything, razing the city and leaving the land a deserted pasturage.” (Herodian, History 8.2.3-4.8. Lewis & Reinhold, pp. 394-5)

16. Widespread Barbarian Infiltration “He took 16,000 [German] recruits, all of whom he scattered through the various provinces, incorporating bodies of fifty or sixty in each detachment or among the soldiers along the frontier, for he said that the aid the Romans received from the barbarian auxilliaries must be felt but not seen...Having made peace, then, with the Persians, he returned to Thrace, where he settled 100,000 Bastarnians on Roman soil, all of whom remained loyal. But when he had likewise brought over many from other tribes – that is, Gepedians, Greuthungians, and Vandals – they all broke faith, and when Probus was busied with wars against the pretenders, they roamed over well-nigh the entire world on foot or in ships and did no little damage to the glory of Rome.” (Historia Augusta, Life of Probus 14.7, 18.1-2. Lewis & Reinhold, 1990, p. 392)

17. Diocletian (284-305):Restoring Political Stability Accession of Diocletian inaugurates new phase of Roman history – The Dominate. First order of business – est. Control over rebellious commanders/governors and stop all barbarian incursions. 285 – Maximian chosen as “Caesar”; sent to drive Germanic tribes out of Roman territory; successfully drives Franks et.al. Over the Rhine; Britain lost to M. Aurelius Carausius (German commander of the Roman fleet; Emperor of the north). 286 – Diocletian makes Maximian “Augustus” co-equal with himself. 286-291 – Western affairs left in the hands of Maximian; Diocletian goes East, drives Germans back across the Danube and shores up defences; Negotiates peace with Persia regaining control of Mesopotamia and Armenia. 293 – Establishes a new form of government – the Tetrarchy.

18. The Rule of Four Empire divided in half (East and West). Two Augusti (Diocletian in the East, Maximian in the West). Each Augustus adopts a “Caesar” as an heir. Maximian adopts Contantius Chlorus as Caesar; Diocletian adopts Gallerius as Caesar. Each half of the empire under the control of an Augustus and a Caesar; each issued laws and decrees in the name of all four; minted their own coins. Upon death or retirement, each Augustus succeeded by the appointed Caesar; the new Augusti then adopt new Caesars.

19. The Tetrarchy http://antikefan.de/kulturen/Roemisch.html

20. The Empire Strikes Back 296 – Contantius defeats Carausius and retakes Britain. 298 – Alemanni severely mauled by Constantius; Rhine crossings firmly controlled. 293-296 – Diocletian subdues tribes along the lower Danube. 293-5 – Galerius drives the Sudanese out of Egypt. 296-8 – Galerius and Diocletian repel Persian incursions into Roman Mesopotamia. Persecutions of Christians.

21. Reforms of Diocletian Surrounded the Augusti with a divine aura (Jovialis, Herculius); adoption of new court ceremonial. Administrative divisions of the empire re-divided; 40 provinces divided into 105; provinces grouped together into 12 Dioces presided over by a Vicarius (Vicar); Vicars = equestrians who supervise provincial governors, collected taxes, distributed justice; governors and vicars hold no military powers; 12 dioces grouped into 4 prefectures (Gaul, Italy, Illyricum, and the Orient); Armies commanded by a dux (general) dependent on governors for supplies and authority. Military increased by 100,000 stationed in smaller detachments in more numerous provinces; large mobile field armies under the direct command of the tetrarchs; re-established frontier defence system in conjunction with mobile response. Revamped the coinage; 286 - introduced a new solid gold coin (Solidus – 60 to 1 pound); 293 – introduced a new silver coin (Argentius – 96 to one pound); 301- introduced price controls; taxes levied on land and heads, payable in kind and in labour.

22. From Princeps to Lord “By decision of the generals and military tribunes, Valerius Diocletian, commander of the palace guards, was chosen emperor because of his wisdom. A mighty man he was, and the following were characteristics of his: he was the first wear a cloak embroidered in gold and to covet shoes of silk and purple decorated with a great number of gems. Though this went beyond what befitted a citizen and was characteristic of an arrogant and lavish spirit, it was never the less of small consequence in comparison with the rest. Indeed, he was the first after Caligula and Domitian to allow himself to be publically called ‘lord,’ and to be named ‘god,’ and to be rendered homage as such…But Diocletian’s faults were counterbalanced by good qualities; for even if he took the title of ‘lord,’ he did act [toward the Romans] as a father.” (Aurelius Victor, Lives of the Emperors 39.1-8. Lewis & Reinhold, 1990, p. 413)

23. Edict on Prices “We hasten therefore to apply the remedies long demanded by the situation, satisfied that no one can complain that our intervention with regulations is untimely or unnecessary, trivial or unimportant. These measures are directed against the unscrupulous, who have perceived in our silence of so many years a lesson in restraint but have been unwilling to imitate it. For who is so insensitive and so devoid of human feeling that he can be unaware or has not perceived that uncontrolled prices are widespread in the sales taking place in the markets and in the daily life of the cities? Nor is the uncurbed passion for profiteering lessened either by abundant supplies or by fruitful years….It is our pleasure, therefore, that the prices listed in the subjoined the schedule be held in observance in the whole of our empire (Lewis & Reinhold, 1990, pp. 422-3)

24. The Abdication of Diocletian 305 – Diocletian and Maximian abdicate. Constantius Chlorus Augustus in the West; adopts Flavius Valerius Severus as Caesar and heir. Galerius Augustus in the East; adopts Maximinus Daia as Caesar and heir. Maximian not happy with forced abdication.