Changes

==Introduction==

The Third Century Crisis in the 2nd century AD was a series of military, social, and political crises that almost destroyed the Roman Empire. For some fifty years (235-285 AD), one of the world’s greatest Empire’s and one of the most influential state’s in history was stricken by military revolts, barbarian invasions, economic collapse, plague, and political divisions. For many years it seemed that the Roman Empire would fragment and collapse. However, a series of military Emperors managed to save the state and allowed it to continue to exist in the west for almost two hundred years and in the east for another thousand years. The origins of the Third Century Crisis is complex. It will be argued that the crisis was a result of, a breakdown in army discipline, barbarian invasions, the rise of the Sassanian Empire, and natural disasters.

==The Background==

In 200 AD the Roman Empire was at its greatest extent since the reign of Trajan. It was governed by a strong Emperor, Septimius Severus. The Empire seemed invincible and it had overawed the German and Iranian tribes on its Rhine and Danuban frontiers <ref>Hekster, Oliver. Rome and its Empire, AD 193–284 (Edinburgh 2008), p 119</ref>. The Parthian Empire, once Rome’s most formidable enemy in the east was no longer a serious threat. The local elites in the Empire had become Romanized and were very loyal to Rome. However, beneath the surface, the state had been undermined by a series of problems. Inflation as a result of the debasing of the currency was causing persistent economic problems <ref>Heckster, p 127</ref>. Moreover, the plague that had ravaged Rome and its provinces in the 160s had led to a dramatic drop in the population and this was to have long-term consequences for the Imperial territories. After the death of Emperor Severus his sons Geta and Caracalla ruled as co-Emperors. Caracalla murdered his brother and became sole ruler and according to Gibbon he ‘was the common enemy of mankind’ <ref>Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, chapter 6</ref>. After Caracalla was assassinated, in 217 AD, he was succeeded by an alleged relative Elagabalus, a former priest in a sun-cult in Syria. The sources are all hostile to Elagabalus who it is said tried to impose his religion on Rome and who may have been a transsexual <ref>, Gibbon, William, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire I, Chp 6</ref>. When he was assassinated (222 AD) he was succeeded by his nephew Alexander Severus, who was a benign ruler who was prepared to cooperate with the Senate. However, he too was assassinated, and his death is widely seen as the start of the Third Century Crisis <ref>Hekster, p 198</ref>.