Crisis of the Third Century

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The divided Empire in 271

The Crisis of the Third Century, also known as Military Anarchy or the Imperial Crisis (AD 235–284), was a period in which the Roman Empire nearly collapsed under the combined pressures of invasion, civil war, plague, and economic depression. The crisis began with the assassination of Emperor Severus Alexander by his own troops in 235, initiating a 50-year period during which there were at least 26 claimants to the title of emperor, mostly prominent Roman army generals, who assumed imperial power over all or part of the Empire. The same number of men became accepted by the Roman Senate as emperor during this period and so became legitimate emperors.

By 268, the empire had split into three competing states: the Gallic Empire, including the Roman provinces of Gaul, Britannia and (briefly) Hispania; the Palmyrene Empire, including the eastern provinces of Syria Palaestina and Aegyptus; and the Italian-centered and independent Roman Empire, proper, between them. Later, Aurelian (270–275) reunited the empire; the crisis ended with the ascension and reforms of Diocletian in 284.

The crisis resulted in such profound changes in the empire's institutions, society, economic life and, eventually, religion, that it is increasingly seen by most historians as defining the transition between the historical periods of classical antiquity and late antiquity.^[1]

History[edit]

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After the Roman Empire had been stabilised once again after the turmoil of the Year of the Five Emperors (193) in the reign of Septimius Severus, the later Severan dynasty lost more and more control; the army required larger and larger bribes to remain loyal.^[2] Septimius Severus raised the pay of legionaries, and gave substantial donativum to the troops.^[3][4] The large and ongoing increase in military expenditure caused problems for all of his successors.^[5] His son Caracalla raised the annual pay and lavished many benefits on the army, in accordance with the advice of his father to keep their loyalty,^[6][7][8] and considered dividing the Empire into eastern and western sectors with his brother Geta to reduce the conflict in their co-rule.^[9]

The situation of the Roman Empire became dire in 235. Many Roman legions had been defeated during a previous campaign against Germanic peoples raiding across the borders, while the emperor Severus Alexander had been focused primarily on the dangers from the Sassanid Persian Empire. Leading his troops personally, the emperor resorted to diplomacy and accepting tribute to pacify the Germanic chieftains quickly, rather than military conquest. According to Herodian this cost Severus Alexander the respect of his troops, who may have felt that more severe punishment was required for the tribes that had intruded on Rome's territory.^[10] The troops assassinated Severus Alexander and proclaimed the new emperor to be Maximinus Thrax, commander of one of the legions present.

Maximinus was the first of the barracks emperors – rulers who were elevated by the troops without having any political experience, a supporting faction, distinguished ancestors, or a legitimate claim to the imperial throne. As their rule rested on military might and generalship, they operated as warlords reliant on the army to maintain power. Maximinus continued the campaigns in Germania, but struggled to exert his authority over the whole empire. In 238 a revolt broke out in Africa, which was soon supported by the Roman Senate. This precipitated the chaotic Year of the Six Emperors during which all of the original claimants were killed.

In the following years, numerous generals of the Roman army fought each other for control of the empire and neglected their duties of defending it from invasion. There were frequent raids across the Rhine and Danube frontier by foreign tribes, including the Carpians, Goths, Vandals, and Alamanni, and attacks from Sassanids in the east. Climate changes and a sea level rise disrupted the agriculture of what is now the Low Countries, forcing tribes residing in the region to migrate into Roman lands.^[11] Further disruption arose in 251, when the Plague of Cyprian (possibly smallpox) broke out. This plague caused large-scale death, and possibly weakened the ability of the empire to defend itself.^{[citation needed]} The situation was worsened in 260 when the emperor Valerian was captured in battle by the Sassanids (he later died in captivity).

Throughout the period, numerous usurpers claimed the imperial throne. In the absence of a strong central authority, the empire broke into three competing states. The Roman provinces of Gaul, Britain, and Hispania broke off to form the Gallic Empire in 260. The eastern provinces of Syria, Palestine, and Aegyptus also became independent as the Palmyrene Empire in 267. The remaining provinces, centred on Italy, stayed under a single ruler but now faced threats on every side.^{[citation needed]}

An invasion of Macedonia and Greece by Goths, who had been displaced from their lands on the Black Sea, was defeated by emperor Claudius II Gothicus at the Battle of Naissus in 268 or 269. Historians see this victory as the turning point of the crisis. In its aftermath, a series of tough, energetic barracks emperors were able to reassert central authority. Further victories by Claudius Gothicus drove back the Alamanni and recovered Hispania from the Gallic Empire. He died of plague in 270 and was succeeded by Aurelian, who had commanded the cavalry at Naissus. Aurelian reigned (270–275) through the worst of the crisis, gradually restoring the empire. He defeated the Vandals, Visigoths, Palmyrene Empire, Persians, and finally the remainder of the Gallic Empire. By late 274, the Roman Empire had been reunited into a single entity. However Aurelian was assassinated in 275, sparking a further series of competing emperors with short reigns. The situation didn't stabilise until Diocletian, himself a barracks emperor, took power in 284.^{[citation needed]}

More than a century would pass before Rome again lost military ascendancy over its external enemies. However, dozens of formerly thriving cities, especially in the Western Empire, had been ruined. Their populations were dead or dispersed and could not be rebuilt, due to the economic breakdown caused by the constant warfare. The economy had been ruined by the breakdown in trading networks and debasement of the currency. Major cities and towns, including Rome itself, had not needed fortifications for many centuries, but now surrounded themselves with thick walls.^{[citation needed]}

Fundamental problems with the empire still remained. The right of imperial succession had never been clearly defined, which was a factor in the continuous civil wars as competing factions in the military, senate, and other parties put forward their favoured candidate for emperor. The sheer size of the empire, which had been an issue since the late Roman Republic three centuries earlier, continued to make it difficult for a single ruler to effectively counter multiple threats at the same time. These continuing problems were addressed by the radical reforms of Diocletian, who broke the cycle of usurpation. He began by sharing his rule with a colleague, then formally established the Tetrarchy in 293. Historians regard this as the end of the crisis period, which had lasted 58 years. The empire survived until 476 in the West and until 1453 in the East.

Economic impact[edit]

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Emperor Diocletian. With his rise to power in 284, the Crisis of the Third Century ended and gave rise to the Tetrarchy

Internally, the empire faced hyperinflation caused by years of coinage devaluation.^[12] This had started earlier under the Severan emperors who enlarged the army by one quarter,^[13] and doubled the base pay of legionaries. As each of the short-lived emperors took power, they needed ways to raise money quickly to pay the military's "accession bonus" and the easiest way to do so was by inflating the coinage severely, a process made possible by debasing the coinage with bronze and copper.

This resulted in runaway rises in prices, and by the time Diocletian came to power, the old coinage of the Roman Empire had nearly collapsed. Some taxes were collected in kind and values often were notional, in bullion or bronze coinage. Real values continued to be figured in gold coinage, but the silver coin, the denarius, used for 300 years, was gone (1 pound of gold = 40 gold aurei = 1,000 denarii = 4,000 sestertii).^{[citation needed]} This currency had almost no value by the end of the third century, and trade was carried out without retail coinage.

Breakdown of internal trade network[edit]

One of the most profound and lasting effects of the Crisis of the Third Century was the disruption of Rome's extensive internal trade network. Ever since the Pax Romana, starting with Augustus, the empire's economy had depended in large part on trade between Mediterranean ports and across the extensive road systems to the Empire's interior. Merchants could travel from one end of the empire to the other in relative safety within a few weeks, moving agricultural goods produced in the provinces to the cities, and manufactured goods produced by the great cities of the East to the more rural provinces.

Large estates produced cash crops for export, and used the resulting revenues to import food and urban manufactured goods. This resulted in a great deal of economic interdependence among the empire’s inhabitants. The historian Henry Moss describes the situation as it stood before the crisis:

Along these roads passed an ever-increasing traffic, not only of troops and officials, but of traders, merchandise and even tourists. An interchange of goods between the various provinces rapidly developed, which soon reached a scale unprecedented in previous history and not repeated until a few centuries ago. Metals mined in the uplands of Western Europe, hides, fleeces, and livestock from the pastoral districts of Britain, Spain, and the shores of the Black Sea, wine and oil from Provence and Aquitaine, timber, pitch and wax from South Russia and northern Anatolia, dried fruits from Syria, marble from the Aegean coasts, and – most important of all – grain from the wheat-growing districts of North Africa, Egypt, and the Danube Valley for the needs of the great cities; all these commodities, under the influence of a highly organized system of transport and marketing, moved freely from one corner of the Empire to the other.^[14]

With the onset of the Crisis of the Third Century, however, this vast internal trade network broke down. The widespread civil unrest made it no longer safe for merchants to travel as they once had, and the financial crisis that struck made exchange very difficult with the debased currency. This produced profound changes that, in many ways, foreshadowed the very decentralized economic character of the coming Middle Ages.

Large landowners, no longer able to successfully export their crops over long distances, began producing food for subsistence and local barter. Rather than import manufactured goods from the empire's great urban areas, they began to manufacture many goods locally, often on their own estates, thus beginning the self-sufficient "house economy" that would become commonplace in later centuries, reaching its final form in the manorialism of the Middle Ages. The common, free people of the Roman cities, meanwhile, began to move out into the countryside in search of food and better protection.

Made desperate by economic necessity, many of these former city dwellers, as well as many small farmers, were forced to give up hard-earned basic civil rights in order to receive protection from large land-holders. In doing so, they became a half-free class of Roman citizen known as coloni. They were tied to the land, and in later Imperial law, their status was made hereditary. This provided an early model for serfdom, the origins of medieval feudal society and of the medieval peasantry.

However, although the burdens on the population increased, especially the lower strata of the population, this can not be generalised to the whole empire, especially since the living conditions were not uniform. Although the structural integrity of the economy suffered from the military conflicts of that time and the inflationary episode of the 270s, it did not collapse, especially because of the complex regional differences. Recent research has shown that there were regions that prospered even further, such as Egypt, Africa and Hispania. But even for Asia Minor, which was directly affected by attacks, no general decline can be observed.^[15] While commerce and the economy flourished in several regions, with several provinces not affected by hostilities, other provinces experienced some serious problems, as evidenced by personal hoards in the northwestern provinces of the empire. However, there can be no talk of a general economic crisis throughout the whole of Empire.^[16]

Increased localism[edit]

All the Barracks Emperors based their power on the military and on the soldiers of the field armies, not on the Praetorians in Rome. Thus, Rome lost its role as the political center of the empire during the third century, although it remained ideologically important. In order to legitimize and secure their rule, the emperors of the third century needed above all military successes.^[17]

Even the Roman cities began to change in character. The large, open cities of classical antiquity slowly gave way to the smaller, walled cities that became common in the Middle Ages. These changes were not restricted to the third century, but took place slowly over a long period, and were punctuated with many temporary reversals. In spite of extensive reforms by later emperors, however, the Roman trade network was never able to fully recover to what it had been during the Pax Romana (27 BC – AD 180). This economic decline was far more noticeable and important in the western part of the empire, which was also invaded several times during the century. Hence, the balance of power clearly shifted eastward during this period, as evidenced by the choice of Diocletian to rule from Nicomedia in Asia Minor, putting his second in command, Maximian, in Milan. This would have considerable impact on the later development of the empire with a richer, more stable eastern empire surviving the end of Roman rule in the west.

While imperial revenues fell, imperial expenses rose sharply. More soldiers, greater proportions of cavalry, and the ruinous expense of walling in cities all added to the toll. Goods and services previously paid for by the government were now demanded in addition to monetary taxes. The steady exodus of both rich and poor from the cities and now-unprofitable professions forced Diocletian to use compulsion; most trades were made hereditary, and workers could not legally leave their jobs or travel elsewhere to seek better-paying ones.

The decline in commerce between the imperial provinces put them on a path toward increased self-sufficiency. Large landowners, who had become more self-sufficient, became less mindful of Rome’s central authority, particularly in the Western Empire, and were downright hostile toward its tax collectors. The measure of wealth at this time began to have less to do with wielding urban civil authority and more to do with controlling large agricultural estates in rural regions, since this guaranteed access to the only economic resource of real value — agricultural land and the crops it produced. The common people of the empire lost economic and political status to the land-holding nobility, and the commercial middle classes waned along with their trade-derived livelihoods. The Crisis of the Third Century thus marked the beginning of a long gradual process that would transform the ancient world of Classical antiquity into the medieval one of the Early Middle Ages.

Emperors[edit]

Several emperors who rose to power through acclamation of their troops attempted to create stability by appointing their descendants as Caesar, resulting in several brief dynasties. These generally failed to maintain any form of coherence beyond one generation, although there were exceptions.

Gordian dynasty[edit]

Portrait	Name	Birth	Succession	Reign	Death	Time in office
	Gordian I CAESAR MARCVS ANTONIVS GORDIANVS SEMPRONIANVS AFRICANVS AVGVSTVS	c. 159 AD, Phrygia?	Proclaimed emperor, whilst Pro-consul in Africa, during a revolt against Maximinus Thrax. Ruled jointly with his son Gordian II, and in opposition to Maximinus. Technically a usurper, but retrospectively legitimised by the accession of Gordian III	March 22, 238 AD – April 12, 238 AD	April 238 AD Committed suicide upon hearing of the death of Gordian II	21 days
	Gordian II CAESAR MARCVS ANTONIVS GORDIANVS SEMPRONIANVS ROMANVS AFRICANVS AVGVSTVS	c. 192 AD, ?	Proclaimed emperor, alongside father Gordian I, in opposition to Maximinus by act of the Senate	March 22, 238 AD – April 12, 238 AD	April 238 AD Killed during the Battle of Carthage, fighting a pro-Maximinus army	21 days
	Pupienus (non-dynastic) CAESAR MARCVS CLODIVS PVPIENVS MAXIMVS AVGVSTVS	c. 178 AD, ?	Proclaimed joint emperor with Balbinus by the Senate in opposition to Maximinus; later co-emperor with Balbinus	April 22, 238 AD – July 29, 238 AD	July 29, 238 AD Assassinated by the Praetorian Guard	3 months and 7 days
	Balbinus (non-dynastic) CAESAR DECIMVS CAELIVS CALVINVS BALBINVS PIVS AVGVSTVS	?	Proclaimed joint emperor with Pupienus by the Senate after death of Gordian I and II, in opposition to Maximinus; later co-emperor with Pupienus and Gordian III	April 22, 238 AD – July 29, 238 AD	July 29, 238 AD Assassinated by Praetorian Guard	3 months and 7 days
	Gordian III CAESAR MARCVS ANTONIVS GORDIANVS AVGVSTVS	January 20, 225 AD, Rome	Proclaimed emperor by supporters of Gordian I and II, then by the Senate; joint emperor with Pupienus and Balbinus until July 238 AD. Grandson of Gordian I	April 22, 238 AD – February 11, 244 AD	February 11, 244 AD Unknown; possibly murdered on orders of Philip I	5 years, 9 months and 20 days
	Philip the Arab (non-dynastic) CAESAR MARCVS IVLIVS PHILIPPVS AVGVSTVS with Philip II MARCVS IVLIVS SEVERVS PHILLIPVS AVGVSTVS	c. 204 AD, Shahba, Syria	Praetorian Prefect to Gordian III, took power after his death; made his son Philip II co-emperor in summer 247 AD	February 244 AD – September/October 249 AD	September/October 249 AD (aged 45) Killed in the Battle of Verona by Decius	5 years

Decian dynasty[edit]

Portrait	Name	Birth	Succession	Reign	Death	Time in office
	Trajan Decius CAESAR GAIVS MESSIVS QVINTVS TRAIANVS DECIVS AVGVSTVS with Herennius Etruscus	c. 201 AD, Budalia, Pannonia Inferior	Governor under Philip I; proclaimed emperor by Danubian legions then defeating & killing Philip in the Battle of Verona; made his son Herennius Etruscus co-emperor in early 251 AD	September/ October 249 AD – June 251 AD	June 251 AD Both killed in the Battle of Abrittus fighting against the Goths	2 years
	Hostilian CAESAR CAIVS VALENS HOSTILIANVS MESSIVS QVINTVS AVGVSTVS	Sirmium	Son of Trajan Decius, accepted as heir by the Senate	June 251 AD – late 251 AD	September/October 251 AD Natural causes (plague)	4–5 months
	Trebonianus Gallus (non-dynastic) CAESAR GAIVS VIBIVS TREBONIANVS GALLVS AVGVSTVS with Volusianus GAIVS VIBIVS VOLVSIANVS AVGVSTVS	206 AD, Italia	Governor of Moesia Superior, proclaimed emperor by Danubian legions after Decius's death (and in opposition to Hostilian); made his son Volusianus co-emperor in late 251 AD.	June 251 AD – August 253 AD	August 253 AD (aged 47) Assassinated by their own troops, in favour of Aemilian	2 years
	Aemilian (non-dynastic) CAESAR MARCVS AEMILIVS AEMILIANVS AVGVSTVS	c. 207 or 213 AD Africa	Governor of Moesia Superior, proclaimed emperor by Danubian legions after defeating the Goths; accepted as emperor after death of Gallus	August 253 AD – October 253 AD	September/October 253 AD (aged 40 or 46) Assassinated by his own troops, in favour of Valerian	2 months

Valerian dynasty[edit]

Portrait	Name	Birth	Succession	Reign	Death	Time in office
	Valerian CAESAR PVBLIVS LICINIVS VALERIANVS AVGVSTVS	c. 195 AD	Governor of Noricum and Raetia, proclaimed emperor by Rhine legions after death of Gallus; accepted as emperor after death of Aemilian	October 253 AD – 260 AD	After 260 AD Captured in Battle of Edessa against Persians, died in captivity	7 years
	Gallienus CAESAR PVBLIVS LICINIVS EGNATIVS GALLIENVS AVGVSTVS with Saloninus	218 AD	Son of Valerian, made co-emperor in 253 AD; his son Saloninus is very briefly co-emperor in c. July 260 before assassination by Postumus	October 253 AD – September 268 AD	September 268 AD Murdered at Aquileia by his own commanders	15 years

Claudius II[edit]

Portrait	Name	Birth	Succession	Reign	Death	Time in office
	Claudius II CAESAR MARCVS AVRELIVS CLAVDIVS AVGVSTVS	May 10, 210 AD, Sirmium	Victorious general at Battle of Naissus, seized power after Gallienus's death	September 268 AD – January 270 AD	January 270 AD (aged 60) Natural causes (plague)	1 year, 4 months
	Quintillus CAESAR MARCVS AVRELIVS CLAVDIVS QVINTILLVS AVGVSTVS	c.210 AD, Sirmium	Brother of Claudius II, seized power after his death	January 270 AD – September(?) 270 AD	270 AD (aged around 60) Unclear; possibly suicide or murder	Unknown
	Aurelian (non-dynastic) CAESAR LVCIVS DOMITIVS AVRELIANVS AVGVSTVS	September 9, 214 AD/215 AD, Sirmium	Proclaimed emperor by Danubian legions after Claudius II's death, in opposition to Quintillus	September(?) 270 AD – September 275 AD	September 275 AD (aged 60-61) Assassinated by Praetorian Guard	5 years

Tacitus[edit]

Portrait	Name	Birth	Succession	Reign	Death	Time in office
	Tacitus CAESAR MARCVS CLAVDIVS TACITVS AVGVSTVS	c. 200, Interamna Nahars, Italia	Elected by the Senate to replace Aurelian, after a short interregnum	September 25, 275 AD – June 276 AD	June 276 AD (aged 76) Natural causes (possibly assassinated)	9 months
	Florianus CAESAR MARCVS ANNIVS FLORIANVS AVGVSTVS	?	Brother of Tacitus, elected by the army in the west to replace him	June 276 AD – September? 276 AD	September? 276 AD (aged ?) Assassinated by his own troops, in favour of Probus	3 months
	Probus (non-dynastic) CAESAR MARCVS AVRELIVS PROBVS AVGVSTVS	232 AD, Sirmium	Governor of the eastern provinces, proclaimed emperor by Danubian legions in opposition to Florian	September? 276 AD – September/ October 282 AD	September/ October 282 AD (aged 50) Assassinated by his own troops, in favour of Carus	6 years

Caran dynasty[edit]

Portrait	Name	Birth	Succession	Reign	Death	Time in office
	Carus CAESAR MARCVS AVRELIVS CARVS AVGVSTVS	c. 230 AD, Narbo, Gallia Narbonensis	Praetorian Prefect to Probus; seized power either before or after Probus was murdered; made his son Carinus co-emperor in early 283 AD	September/ October 282 AD – late July/ early August 283 AD	Late July/early August 283 AD Natural causes? (Possibly killed by lightning)	10–11 months
	Numerian CAESAR MARCVS AVRELIVS NVMERIVS NVMERIANVS AVGVSTVS	?	Son of Carus, succeeded him jointly with his brother Carinus	Late July/early August 283 AD – 284 AD?	284 AD Unclear; possibly assassinated	1 year
	Carinus CAESAR MARCVS AVRELIVS CARINVS AVGVSTVS	?	Son of Carus, ruled shortly with him and then with his brother Numerian	Early 283 AD – 285 AD	285 AD Died in battle against Diocletian?	2 years

See also[edit]

• Bagaudae
• Sengoku period - a similar period in Japanese history
• Warring States period and Three Kingdoms period - similar periods in Chinese history

Notes[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

• Olivier Hekster, Rome and its Empire, AD 193–284 (Edinburgh 2008) ISBN 978 0 7486 2303 7
• Klaus-Peter Johne (ed.), Die Zeit der Soldatenkaiser (Akademie Verlag, Berlin 2008).
• Alaric Watson, Aurelian and the Third Century (Taylor & Francis, 2004) ISBN 0-415-30187-4
• John F. White, Restorer of the World: The Roman Emperor Aurelian (Spellmount, 2004) ISBN 1-86227-250-6
• H. St. L. B. Moss, The Birth of the Middle Ages (Clarendon Press, 1935, reprint Oxford University Press, January, 2000) ISBN 0-19-500260-1
• Ferdinand Lot, End of the Ancient World and the Beginnings of the Middle Ages (Harper Torchbooks Printing, New York, 1961. First English printing by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1931).

Further reading[edit]

• Crisis of The Third Century, Hugh Kramer.
• Map, University of Calgary.
• The Crisis of The Third Century, OSU.