The Crisis of the Third Century in the Roman Empire  

The Crisis of the Third Century in the Roman Empire

The political history of Rome during the turbulent era of 3rd century CE

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The Crisis of the Third Century in the Roman Empire

15 events | No comments | 180 - 284

180

The Five Good Emperors and Marcus Aurelius

The period from 96 AD to 180 AD is known as the reign of Five Good Emperors of Rome. It is characterized as a time of relative peace along the borders and lasting prosperity within the empire...

180

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190

Roman Empire and its periphery in the end of the Second Century

If the imposition of the Principate in the first century AD could be seen as a continuation of Roman republican traditions, then by the third century, the situation had definitely changed. The role of the senate in government had been gradually but...

190

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193

Septimius Severus and the Year of Five Emperors

After deposing of Commodus the conspirators had the praetorians declare Helvius Pertinax emperor. Helvius was sixty years old and one of the last surviving advisors, who had been appointed by Marcus Aurelius to help his son to govern the state...

193

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211

The reforms of Severus and Caracalla

Severus raised the soldier’s salary two times and allowed them to get married. During his reign the bureaucratization of the administration made great progress and Rome saw it's famour lawyers Papianus, Paulus and Ulpianus at work...

211

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218

Macrinus and Elagabalus

Caracalla wished to imitate Alexander the Great and invaded Parthia. Like his father, he was a successful general and the belligerency brought a lot of plunder and prestige, but nevertheless no territorial gains...

218

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226

Alexander Severus and Ardashir

As Alexander Severus (222-235) was only thirteen when he became emperor, a regency was formed. It was led by Julia Mamaea, who remained influential even after Alexender had reached full age. During Alexander’s reign several important events took place...

226

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238

Maximinus and the War of 238

The usurpation of Maximinus (235-238) is considered the beginning of the Crisis of the Third Century. This was the first of many times when an emperor was deposed by an army revolt and Maximinus was also the first barracks emperor – a man of half...

238

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244

Gordian and Philippus

Gordian was crowned emperor at the age of 13 and in the first part of his reign the state was governed by the senate. However, before long Gordian's father-in-law Timesitheus became the head of regency...

244

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251

Military defeats and interregnum

Decius (249-251) attempted to present himself as a republican and also began large construction projects (Thermae Deciane), something that had not been done for years. The situation on the Danubian border, however, remained tense and the empire got...

251

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253

Valerian's attempt to restore order

Valerian (253-260) was, as his predecessor, of senatorial origin and had previously held high state offices. Therefore it was easy for him to gain the support of the senate. He may have been late to help Gallus, but when he arrived to Italy, he had the...

253

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260

Gallienus and the disintegration of the empire

If before the capture of Valerian, the emperors were mainly concerned with driving back foreign foes, then after 260 local usurpations and army riots began to spiral out of control as imperial authority eroded even further...

260

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268

Claudius Gothicus

After organizing Gallienus’ assassination, the plotters organized emperor’s confrere Claudius (268-270) to be elected into the imperial office. Even though some amount of stability in the Balkans had been achieved during Gallienus’ reign, its end saw...

268

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274

Aurelian and the restoration of the Empire

The army elected Aurelian, an Illyrian who had distinguished himself during the Gothic campaign, to be emperor. He soon crushed the Alemanni, who had invaded Northern Italy, in the bloody battle of Fano...

274

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276

Probus

After Aurelian’s murder, an interregnum lasted for a couple of months but eventually a certain Tacitus was elected as emperor. Nothing is known of him for certain other that he had been a consul...

276

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284

The Accession of Diocletian

Having beaten back another barbarian raid to the Balkan provinces, Carus followed Valerian's example by leaving his son Carinus in charge of the western provinces and headed east to have revenge over the Persians for humiliating Valerian...

284

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