Changes

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.

In 200 AD, the Roman Empire was at its greatest extent since Trajan's reign, and a strong Emperor, Septimius Severus, governed it. 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.