Crisis of the Third Century

  • The Crisis of the Third Century (235-284 CE) was a fifty year Period of Civil Wars, which is also known as ‘The Military Anarchy’ or ‘The Imperial Crisis’.
  • Powerful Roman Generals competed to become Emperor and almost destroyed the Roman Empire.

The Crisis

  • In fifty years there were 33 Emperors, also known as the Soldier Emperors, who came to power as the result of a succession of military coups.
  • The arrival of Diocletian in 284 CE marked the end of the Crisis.

The Reason for the Crisis (235 CE)

  • On the 18th or 19th march 235 CE, the Crisis started with the assassination of Severus Alexander by his own soldiers in Mainz, which triggered the civil wars that followed.
  • For the next fifty years, the Legions would proclaim their own Commanders as Emperor, who then was obliged to fight another Commander whose Legion had proclaimed him Emperor.

Praetorian Guard

  • During this period the Praetorian Guard auctioned the Office of Emperor to the highest bidder, and became the self-appointed kingmaker of the Empire.

The Gothic Invasions (249-253 CE)

  • Then Gothic Invasions, between 249-253 CE, resulted in the defeat and death of the Roman Emperor Decius, the first Emperor to be killed by Barbarians.
  • The Gothic Fleets (255-269 CE)  raided the Black Sea and the Aegean before they were finally stopped at the Battle of Naissus in 269 CE.

The Persians capture the Emperor Valerian and his Army (260 CE)

  • In 260 CE the Persians defeated a Roman Army at the Battle of Edessa.
  • The Emperor Valerian, with the entire Roman Army numbering almost 70,000 men, were captured by the Persians and taken prisoner.

The Soldier Emperors (235-68 CE)

The Roman Empire disintegrates (258-297 CE)

  • Between 258-260 CE, the Empire disintegrated into three competing Empires.
  • The Gallic Empire in the west which included Britannia, Gaul and Spain.
  • The Palmyrene Empire in the east which included Syria and Egypt.
  • Italy and the rump of the Roman Empire and remaining Provinces attached to Rome.
  • A last split occurred between 286-297 CE known as the Britannic Empire.

The Gallic Empire (260-74 CE)

The Palmyrene Empire (c. 250-72 CE)

The Britannic Empire (286-97 CE)

The Soldier Emperors continued (268-284 CE)

Diocletian and the end of the Crisis (284 CE)

  • In 284 CE Diocletian became Emperor and ended the Crisis with a series of political Reforms known as the Tetrarchy, which divided the Empire between two Emperors and their Assistants.

The Outcome

  • Abolition of the Praetorian Guard
    • This removed one of the main causes of the Civil Wars, as they had assassinated and then nominated Emperors throughout the Crisis.
  • Monarchical Style
    • After 284 CE a fundamental change took place in all the Roman Institutions of Government, from the Republican values of the Principate to the monarchical values of the Dominate in 284 CE.
  • Christianity
  • Split between East and West
    • After 395 CE, the Roman Empire was permanently divided between East and West, with the Fall of the western Empire occurring in 476 CE.

 

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