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THE
FIRST TEST
 Rome could easily defend its borders if attacks came from one
direction at a time
 From either the Germans or the Parthians
 But it attacks occurred simultaneously, Rome was trouble
 Roman policy had always made sure that this would not happen
 Parthian Empire kept weak by Roman encouragement of
corruption and well-time pre-emptive attacks
 But in 226 AD, the Parthian monarchy was overthrown by the
Sassanians and suddenly Rome was faced with a vigorous
and aggressive enemy of its eastern frontier
GERMANS
 Along the German frontier,
Roman policy aimed at
keeping the various tribes on
the other side continually
fighting among themselves
so they would never be able
to unite and threaten the
border
 Movement of new tribes
into central Europe
around 200 AD forced
more established ones to
unite into nations and
push hard on the Roman
frontier
 Ostrogoths,
Visigoths, Franks,
Alamanni
BORDER DEFENSES
 Problems made worse by the
fact that legion were
concentrated only on the
frontier and units were fairly
isolated from each other
 Therefore when barbarians
did break through border
defenses, there were no
troops further inside the
empire to check their
progress
 German tribes broke
through Rhine defenses
four times between 254280 AD and advanced as
far as Spain and North
Africa before they were
finally stopped
 Ostrogoths broke
through Danube
defenses and plundered
Greece
ROMAN RESPONSE
 Romans strengthened their defenses
Towns and cities now surrounded by fortified walls
 Forts constructed away from border
 Cavalry units enlarged and consolidated into mobile legions to
quickly catch and defeat tribes who had broken through border
defense
 In short, Rome divided army into internal, mobile forces and static
frontier garrisons
 All this was a good idea but very expensive

CUTTING PARTS
 Rome let go of some of its hardest to
defend territories
 In order to concentrate its military
strength on more important areas
 Let go of part of Rhine frontier,
Dacia, and Mesopotamia
 Borders restabilized by 384 AD
 Army morale was lower,
occasional mutinies and
desertions were more frequent
and an increasing number of
soldiers were of German barbarian
origin
 But the army still held the
advantage against the
barbarians
ROMAN GOVERNMENT
 Roman government had become a mess

Fragile system of imperial succession established by
Augustus had completely broken down
 The basis reason is that the successors to Septimius
Severus were so incompetent and inadequate that
they managed to totally destroy the image of imperial
rule that had been so painstakingly built up over the
previous 200 years
 Result was ambitious generals and chiefs of the
Praetorian Guard felt freer to gamble and seize
power
 Pressure on the frontier also played a role
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC
RESULTS OF TURMOIL
 Steady decline in population
Due to invasions, civil war, and
plague
Decrease in manufacturing and
agricultural production
Severe drop-off in trade
Overall rise in pessimism and gloom
in provinces
 But at the same time the
demands of the state on the
resources of the provinces
increased
In short, the economic and
manpower base of the empire was
shrinking but the demands on that
base were expanding
 Result was impoverishment of
the people of the empire
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SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION
 City residents were easiest to
squeeze with increased and
new taxes
 People left cities as a result
 Wealthy bought villas
out in countryside to be
safe from tax collectors
 Smaller landowners
turned to larger
ones for protection
and aid from tax
collectors
 In exchange for
this they gave
up their land to
the large
landowners
SUMMARY
 A process of massive transformation began in the
provinces of the Roman Empire
 The result of pressure from the state, declining
production and population, and the general insecurity
caused by civil war and barbarian invasion
 Cities shrank to shadows of their former selves
 Mainly populated by criminals and people too poor to
get away
 Both groups kept in line by harsh laws, harsher
punishments, and huge garrisons of soldiers
 The countryside, at the same time, was developing into a
pattern of isolated, self-sufficient, and semi-independent
units in which tenants, sharecroppers, and peasants tied
themselves to a powerful local landowner and his villa
DIOCLETIAN AND CONSTANTINE
PRAGMATIST
 40 year old pragmatist who would halt the chaos of previous
decades and buttress the empire with a series of reforms that
gave it a new lease on life
 Consolidated the trend towards authoritarianism that had
begun in the days of the Antonines and placed all
elements of society in a state of continual mobilization
 Also added elements of his own personality
 Humble origins, the son of a freedman
 Immense practicality
 Risen in the army through his own merits and
worshipped order and efficiency
 Realism was diluted by military background
 Believed in government by decree and assumed
orders would always be obeyed without question
TETRARCHY
 Used precedent from Marcus Aurelius
to create Tetrarchy
 Two co-emperors (each with title of
Augustus)
 Each had an assistant and
designated heir (with title of
Caesar)
 Diocletian was one of the co-emperors
 But he also retained the position of
“chairman of the board” within this
system
 After 20 years, both Diocletian and his
co-emperor retired and elevated their
Caesars to their former positions
 Hoped that this new system would
provide for an orderly succession in
the future and free the empire from
the recurring nightmare of civil war
PROTOCOL AND PAGEANTRY
 Protected himself behind
an host of secretaries
and courtiers
 Size of imperial court
rapidly expanded
 Also portrayed himself
as the earthly
representation of a god
 Often portrayed with
a halo
 Wore gorgeous
costumes
 Golden crown,
robes of golden
cloth, jewelstudded shoes
 Turned position of
emperor into a remote,
semi-divine figure,
protected by a wall of
protocol and pageantry
PROBLEMS AT THE PALACE
 Successors would become distracted
by the pomp of the court
 Also isolated by the court
 Strong rulers dominated their
courtiers but weak ones became the
puppets of their own servants
 Emperor and family served by
eunuchs
 From Armenia or Persia
 Had more access to ruler than
senators or generals
 Dependent solely on the emperor
 No past or future, no local ties,
and no family
 Still notorious for the greed
and continually involved in
plots
 Deprived of normal
pleasures, they sought
money and power
CONSERVATIVE MOTIVATIONS
 Creation of Tetrarchy was in large
part a response to military crisis
 When Diocletian became
emperor, Gaul was being
ravaged by Franks and
Alemanni and peasants were
in revolt
 Diocletian’s friend
Maximian restored order
 Diocletian made him
co-emperor as a
reward
 Positions of Caesar were
created to deal with other
military threats
 Young general named
Galerius became
Diocletian’s Caesar and
Constantius became
Maximian’s Caesar
Diocletian and
Maximian
Constantius
centered his
operations in Trier
in Gaul
Galerius guarded
the Danube River
from a fortress in
the Balkans
Maximian
made Milan
his
headquarters
None of them made
Rome their
headquarters
Diocletian resided in
Nicomedia and
guarded eastern
border
MOVE TOWARDS ABSOLUTISM
 Diocletian erected a pyramid
of absolutism and oppression
in piecemeal fashion
 Required his people to
support a never-ending
military effort, an
expanding bureaucracy,
and four imperial courts
 Relied mostly on equestrians
for government officials
 Because of their
experience and their
gratitude for advancement
Created 100
new miniprovinces,
governed by
equestrians,
and grouped
into 12 large
administrative
districts known
as dioceses
Separated
civilian and
military
authority in
the frontier
provinces
where most of
the army was
stationed
Chief administrator for each
diocese were called vicars
and were drawn from the
equestrian class
Despite his best efforts,
the system still swarmed
with parasites and
required a network of
spies and secret police
BIG ARMY/HIGH TAXES
 Local officials required to
furnish a certain number of
recruits to the army each year
or else pay money to hire
soldiers in their place
 Diocletian decreased size of
legions but increased their
number
 Army probably numbered
500,000 men
 To pay for all this,
Diocletian stabilized
currency and reformed the
tax structure
 Many taxes now paid in
kind
 Cash head tax on farm
laborers and tenant
farmers
UNFAIR SITUATION
 Heavy taxes provoked
tenants to abandon farms
and run away
 When a community
could not meet its
projected tax obligations
because of this, local
officials had to make up
the difference out of
their own pockets
 They were also
responsible for
putting down rural
discontent and
capturing runaway
tenants
 Great landowners
managed to avoid paying
their fair share of taxes
by bribing state officials
and secret agents
INFLATION
 Rampant inflation had been a serious problem for the 50 years
before the advent of Diocletian
 Prompted by war and swollen government expenditure
 Diocletian’s monetary reforms prompted speculation in coins
among his officials
 Who knew in advance that their value would change
 To get a handle on the situation Diocletian specified maximum
prices, wages, and freight charges
 Ordered death penalty for violators
 Motivation was to stop inflation and protect his subjects from
overcharging profiteers
 But edict was indifferently enforced and greedy merchants
risked death penalty to hoard products and sell them for
high prices on black market
 Edict was no longer in effect by the time of Constantine
PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS
 Diocletian ordered that all palace
officials worship the state gods of
Rome in 299 AD
 Galerius pushed to extend order
to the army and to purge
Christian officers
 Produced oracle who
predicted destruction of the
empire unless this was done
 Diocletian bans
Christian rites and
confiscating books and
churches
 Two fires broke out in palace and
Galerius convinced Diocletian that
Christians had started them
 Diocletian then launches fullscale attack on Christians
CHANGING OF THE GUARD
 Diocletian visits Rome in 304
and orders baths to be built to
commemorate visit.
 Now 60 years old and
seriously ill
 Galerius convinces
him to retire later that
same year
 Maximian retired at the
same time
 New Augusti, Galerius and
Constantius, appoint new
Caesars
 Galerius: nephew
Maxentius Daia
 Constantius: drinking
buddy Serverus
 Diocletian retires to his villa
and spends his last days
gardening
RISE OF CONSTANTINE

New power struggles erupted
between new Tetrarchs
 Ultimately resulted in all their
deaths and the victory of
Constantine
 Son of Contantius
 Born in Balkans and
poorly educate
 Won final battle at
Mulvian Bridge
 Between him and
Maxentius Daia
 Had vision the night
before the battle that
he would win if his
soldiers had Greek
symbol of Christ on
their shields
 Later
elaborated and
exaggerated the
dream
POWER
 After victory, Constantine entered Rome,
disbanded Praetorian Guard, and left

Never to return again
 Repaid debt to Christian god by endorsing a
policy of toleration

Became patron and protector of
Christians
 Originally had a co-emperor and both had a
Caesar


But he ultimately eliminated them all
Was sole Augustus by 324 AD and
named his two sons as his Caesars
 Believed in dynastic succession
DEVELOPMENTS
 Constantine favored senators over equestrians and placed members of
the aristocracy in high positions
 Roman society became stratified along class lines


Began to resemble caste system
Many occupations deemed necessary to national defense
were made hereditary

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Municipal officials known as decurions were locked into
their jobs
Tenant farmers were reduced to virtual serfdom
 Prohibited from leaving their land and completely
under the control of local landlords
 Senatorial class avoided its obligations through bribery

Corruption of judges and administrators remained a big
problem
 Created elite mobile military force made up of cavalry and mercenary
specialists
 Issued stable gold coinage but most taxes still collected in kind
CONSTANTINOPLE
 Converted old city of Byzantium into
a “New Rome”
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New capital renamed
Constantinople
Not far from Diocletian’s old
headquarters in Nicomedia
 Reflected shift of
empire’s center of gravity
to the east
Filled with massive public
buildings
Immigrants lured to new city
with cash gifts and promises
of free food and public
entertainment
FIRST CHRISTIAN EMPEROR?
 Did not want to anger pagan majority and
thus went through motions of supporting
pagan rites

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But support for Christianity became
official policy in 312
 Mulvian Bridge emblem put on
all his banners and crucifixion
abolished
Not interested in theology but
impressed by organizational
strength of the Church
 Became more religious as he became
older
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Built a number of churches and
increased the influence of bishops
at his court
But postponed baptism until he
was on his deathbed
SAINT OR SINNER?
 Lauded by Christian apologists and
detested by pagans, Constantine’s
reputation has not been high among
modern skeptics
 He was a worldly, blood-splattered emperor
who was impatient with the fine points of
theology

But he was in awe of Christian magic
and willing to turn his back on 1000
years of pagan tradition

He was a revolutionary in a
religious sense and put the
Roman state under the
protection of a new god and into
the hands of a new religious
sect
REVITALIZATION
 As reconstituted by Diocletian and
Constantine, the empire survived its first test
and enjoyed new burst of prosperity, stability,
and intellectual vitality

Witnessed by amazing construction
boom
 Constantinople grew virtually


overnight from nothing to a huge,
beautiful metropolis
In the West, Trier, Milan, Ravenna,
and Rome experienced major
facelifts and expansion
Capital in West moved from Rome
to Milan and then to Ravenna for
defensive purposes
 But Christian bishops in
Rome built huge basilicas