InterviewSolution
Saved Bookmarks
InterviewSolution
| 1. |
Crisis of the third century |
| Answer» The\xa0Crisis of the Third Century, also known as\xa0Military Anarchy\xa0or the\xa0Imperial Crisis\xa0(235–284 AD), was a period in which the\xa0Roman Empire\xa0nearly collapsed under the combined pressures of\xa0barbarian\xa0invasions\xa0and\xa0migrations\xa0into the Roman territory,\xa0civil wars,\xa0peasant rebellions,\xa0political instability\xa0(with multiple\xa0usurpers\xa0competing for power), Roman reliance on (and growing influence of) barbarian mercenaries known as\xa0foederati\xa0and commanders nominally working for Rome (but increasingly independent),\xa0plague,\xa0debasement\xa0of\xa0currency, and\xa0economic depression.The divided Empire in 271The crisis began with the\xa0assassination\xa0of Emperor\xa0Severus Alexander\xa0by his own troops in 235. This initiated a 50-year period during which there were at least 26 claimants to the title of emperor, mostly prominent\xa0Roman army\xa0generals, who assumed imperial power over all or part of the Empire. The same number of men became accepted by the\xa0Roman Senate\xa0as emperor during this period and so became legitimate emperors.By 268, the empire had split into three competing states: the\xa0Gallic Empire\xa0(including the\xa0Roman provinces\xa0of\xa0Gaul,\xa0Britannia\xa0and, briefly,\xa0Hispania); the\xa0Palmyrene Empire\xa0(including the eastern provinces of\xa0Syria Palaestina\xa0and\xa0Aegyptus); and, between them, the Italian-centered independent Roman Empire proper. Later,\xa0Aurelian\xa0(270–275) reunited the empire. The crisis ended with the ascension of\xa0Diocletian\xa0and his implementation of reforms in 284.The crisis resulted in such profound changes in the empire\'s institutions, society, economic life, and\xa0religion\xa0that it is increasingly seen by most historians as defining the transition between the\xa0historical periods\xa0of\xa0classical antiquity\xa0and\xa0late antiquity.[1] | |