The introduction to this series, on Roman achievements during the early Empire, is here. This post is available as a video at https://youtu.be/yjcfNZqYjGI.

3. Roman Empire in the late 2nd c. to 4th c.

To recap: Being a resident of the Empire in the 1st-2nd centuries brought powerful advantages for Roman citizens and even non-citizens. A consistent set of laws protected individuals and property. Transportation and communication within the Empire was easy, with all that implied about exchange of goods and ideas. The Roman army protected the Empire from attacks by barbarians. Infrastructure was quite advanced, with fresh water, efficient sewers, and public baths within cities, and well-maintained roads connecting the farflung corners of the Empire. A numerous middle class lived in comfortable homes.

From the late 2nd c. on, some of these benefits were eroding, making living in the Empire far less appealing.

3.1  Change in type of ruler

The emperors from Augustus through Marcus Aurelius (d. 180 AD) called themselves princeps, and paid lip service to the old Republican forms of government. That implied that the emperor was the most important member of a group rather than an entirely different class of person. By the late 3rd c., however, the emperor was an absolute monarch on the old Eastern model, like the rulers of ancient Egypt and Persia. Diocletian (ruled 284-305) proclaimed himself dominus et deus, ruler and god. He created a new imperial image: aloof, semi-divine, as much a symbol of a ruler as a portrait of a man.

3.2  Change in role of army

During the early Empire, the army protected the Empire from barbarians beyond its borders. By the 2nd c., emperors began to rely on it to keep themselves in power. This had two important effects. First: the army realized its own political power, and factions within it began to overthrow emperors as they saw fit. In the 50 years from 235 to 285 AD, there were 26 emperors: only one died of natural causes. Ambitious men and insecure rulers sometimes tried to win the army’s favor by allowing it to plunder territories within the Empire.

The composition of the army changed, too. During the Republic, every citizen had to serve in the army for ten years. Under Augustus and later emperors, service was voluntary, with a 20-year term. If a non-citizen served in the army, he was granted citizenship: a powerful incentive. (See §2.1 in last week’s post.)

In 212, Emperor Caracalla enfranchised all free-born residents of the Empire, regardless of race, origin, creed, language, or military service. The incentive for military enlistment abruptly disappeared.

Because the citizens of Rome and other urban centers didn’t want to serve in the army, the army began to be recruited from border areas. Eventually even that source of soldiers dried up, and the emperors had to pay barbarians to come in and keep other barbarians out. The barbarians generally rose to and fell from high positions (including the imperial throne) too quickly to absorb Greco-Roman culture and pass it on. A civilization, in the sense of a body of shared ideas and values, can’t survive if those who are living it don’t know its past or care about its future.

3.3  Change in exchanges of goods & ideas

During the Pax Romana, that long era of peace in the 1st-2nd c. AD, transportation, communication, and production were much improved. (See §2.3 in last week’s post.) As a result, once-exotic goods were now often produced locally. The quality might be inferior, but the prices were significantly lower.

Even knowledge was distributed more widely. By the end of the 3rd c. AD, much if not all of the collection of the Great Library at Alexandria had probably been destroyed. But by then, every major city in the Empire had its own libraries. Rome had a couple dozen.

So: by the late 2nd c., trade with distant points of the Empire for goods and ideas had become less essential. That meant that it was not so important to be part of that Empire.

3.4  Change in government actions, 3rd-4th c.

During the early Empire, local governments were semi-independent. Local officials were responsible for collecting imperial taxes. If the officials collected more than the total set by the emperor, they made a profit. If they collected less, they were required to make up the deficit.

By the 3rd-4th centuries, the army was powerful enough to demand more pay. The emperors increased taxes. Not surprisingly, when taxes rose sharply, far fewer locals were willing to serve as tax collectors. The emperors had to send out bureaucrats to run local governments. Hired bureaucrats meant higher administrative costs, which meant higher taxes. And so the cycle continued.

Because the Roman government desperately needed money, it began debasing the currency, adding silver to gold coins, copper to silver coins, lead to copper coins. Under Septimius Severus (ruled 193-211), silver coinage was about 50% silver. Under Gallienus (ruled 253-268), silver coins were copper with a silver wash that was 5% or so by weight.

It was not uncommon for the government to use such debased coins to pay for goods and services, but then refuse to accept those coins as payment for taxes. Debasing the coinage ruined many middle-class businessmen and farmers.

Increasingly oppressive government actions led to further unintended consequences. Shopkeepers and workers who couldn’t make ends meet were quitting their jobs. Under Aurelian (ruled 270-275), membership in a guild was made compulsory and hereditary. Those performing jobs considered essential to the government were made involuntary government employees.  Among them were municipal officials, ship-owners, and sellers or processors of grain, wine, and oil.

In 301, wages and prices were fixed by Diocletian. The penalty for violations was death.

In 332, tenant farmers were legally attached to the estate they worked on. If they fled, they were brought back in chains, like slaves.

So: by Diocletian’s reign (late 3rd c.), the emperor was an oriental despot with no restraints on his power. He could use brute force on the citizens of the Empire, many of whom were slaves and beggars. The emperor’s power rested on the army, but the army was fickle.

So if we’re doing a cost-benefit analysis (see part 1), what do we know at this point? By the early 4th century, being a citizen of the Empire was no longer a great benefit in terms of goods available. With respect to taxes and having a say in local government, being within the Empire was becoming a burden. For those living on the borders, the Empire was not necessarily a protection, and its soldiers might even be a threat.

Next week: Philosophy and religion during the 3rd-4th centuries AD.

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