[History] The Roman Empire: Victim to Many Things, Even Itself

[scottishranger]

Author: Final Frontier
Original thread: The Roman Empire: Victim to Many Things, Even Itself

The Roman Empire: Victim to Many Things, Even Itself

The Aquila, one of the signa militaria. (A standard)

A question often pondered concerning the Roman Empire is what caused it to fall, and even more so, when and if it even fell, as it lives on through many cultural achievements over its glorious existence. Obviously, the process of deterioration took a long time; as the empire waxed and waned throughout its years, falling victim to either an internal or external threat, only to rise up against the odds and fight on to see another day, it slowly but surely began to lose the internal foundation that had kept it on its feet throughout the many centuries it lasted. But what exactly caused such a powerful and determined people to finally succumb to the changing world around them? Deadly plagues that wrecked throughout the populated (and even loosely populated) regions of the empire? Internal conflict that only tempted the outsiders, deemed “barbarians,” to come in and take something for themselves? Excessive payments by the emperors themselves to acquire material possessions found only in the corners of their world? No, a single problem can not be blamed for the fall of this civilization, but each problem must be stacked up to see how they, as a whole, achieved the ultimate demise of Roma.

The Problem of the Generals

I will use wikipedia’s picture to demonstrate the growth of the Empire from the Republic. The only thing I have against this picture is that it does not display specific regions nor show the decrease in size of the empire, but it works. To quote: “Red = 133 B.C.; Orange = 44 B.C.; Yellow = 14 A.D.; Green = 117 A.D.”

The picture above shows that the empire built itself from a strong line of generals, fierce and, sometimes, rash. One of the key thorns in the empire were its many of the generals, but mainly due to the competition between these men to gain a seat of power. (One, if I may point out, that would probably not have seen them for long before they themselves were executed in favor of yet another opponent) The fighting between men in the empire may have lasted throughout its existence, but there are some key points where the fighting had the simple citizens of the empire scared for their well-being. The first part to be mentioned is the civil war in the late republic between Caesar in Pompey, (49-44 B.C.) and then Octavian and Mark Antony. (44-31 B.C.) There were also minor contenders, but they were lesser compared to the strains between these individuals. These civil wars resulted ultimately in the creation of the Empire, though earlier Sulla had managed to become absolute dictator in 82 B.C.

The Roman Empire in 260 A.D.

Next up comes the crisis of the third century. It was a period that may have been the end for the Roman Empire because of the internal and external fighting that went on. If it wasn’t bad enough that emperors were guaranteed to have a lifespan of no more than 10 years, then the fact that the Germanic tribes and Sassanids took advantage of this was. No cities within range of the Black or Aegean Sea were safe from the Gothic raiders, who learned how to use boats to do quick strikes into Roman territory to steal whatever they could. In the near East the capture of Valerian only proved that the Empire was becoming helpless to defend its people, so one Odenathus took it to himself and his people, the Palmyrenes, took up the task of fighting back any invaders. Likewise, in the western region, the Gallic Empire sprung forth to do just the same thing, and it was lead by Postumus. (For more information about these two empires, please feel free to visit a thread in the museam that was written by me)

The successor to Valerian, Gallienus, was powerless to do anything about these two empires, and instead consolidated on defending what he had with new means of moving soldiers, such as the creation of an all-cavalry force meant to be a rapid response to threats. How did the Roman Empire manage to survive? The emperors after Gallienus, (Claudius II, Aurelian, Tacitus, Probus, Carus, Numerian, Carinus, Diocletian) made efforts to take back the lost regions and push out the invaders. They were successful, though they had lost the provinces of Dacia and Agri Decumates. (The latter would be between the area of the Rhine and Danube) If that wasn’t bad enough, the end of Diocletian’s reign saw yet another civil war, in which the victor was ultimately Constantine.

The Plague

Galen, a Greek physician who wrote about the Antonine Plague

Another major issue was the plague brought back by soldiers campaigning in the near east, during the reign of the two Antonines. It was called the Antonine Plague or Plague of Galen, and it may have resulted to five million deaths within the empire, which was no small thing. In the north, the Quadi and Marcomanni made pushes into the empire, causing war and destruction. Marcus’ death would lead into the reign of Commodus, and, ultimately, many civil wars. (For more on this particular plague, please feel free to visit the Wikipedia article on it)

There was another plague, the Plague of Cyprian, that occurred during the height of the thrid century crisis. The link provided above gives more details on that. The timing of this plague could have not been worse, and it provides further evidence of the misery that life was during the mid-third century. The fact that the Empire was able to live on after this just shows the sheer determination of those ruling. (And moreso, of those being ruled)

The Extravagant Spending

Maximus Decimus Meridius fights for his life.

Although there were many problems in the Empire, the problem of greed is the last to be addressed. There were emperors who valued the materials and animals from far off lands and would pay millions just to acquire them. Spices, arena animals, anything to appease either they or the plebian’s senses would be purchased. The movie Gladiator demonstrates the use of exotic animals, (tigers) though there were many more types of animals used.

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Like mentioned earlier, yes, there are many more causes for the ultimate downfall of the Roman Empire, but I cannot mention them all. (Unless I slowly incorporate the ideas into this post, something that would take too much time) Feel free to comment or even add more reasons for the destruction of Rome, for it adds to the purpose of this topic. I haven't done one of these in a long time, and I have even tried using some of the newer additions to the BBCode. (or however you'd accurately describe it )

Sources:

Wikipedia - Some pictures, backup
The Roman Empire From Severus to Constantine - Pat Southern
The Penguin Historical Atlas of Rome - Chris Scarre
The links for the pictures can be found by right clicking and choosing the 'Properties' option.