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====Barbarian Invasions====
In the reign of Alexander Severus, there was a sudden rise in the number of raids by German and other barbarians. These raids were a part of life for Rome’s frontier population but by the 230s, they became more intense and frequent .<ref> Southern, Pat. The Roman Empire from Severus to Constantine (London, Routledge, 2015), p 356</ref>. German tribes became better organized and formed into confederations such as the Franks.
The emergence of the Goths, who created a large state in modern Ukraine, created a significant challenge for the Balkan and Black Sea provinces. They were militarily powerful and were especially proficient in cavalry and even took to the sea to launch piratical attacks in the 250 AD. The barbarian attacks were ferocious for two reasons. First, the Romans had been weakened by constant warfare. The bloody civil wars had been especially devasting. The Roman legions could no longer defeat foreign raids and invasions. <ref>Heckster, p 113</ref>
Second, the barbarians were often desperate. Climate change and rising sea levels had impacted on their food supply and they were forced to raid deeper and deeper into Imperial Roman territories. They needed to secure resources and seize arable lands to stay alive. The continuous barbarian invasion thus weakened the Empire, and this encouraged further raiding by tribal confederations beyond the Rhine and Danube.