The Roman Empire from Severus to Constantine

414 Pages·2004·9.12 MB·English

by  Miss Pat Southern

THE ROMAN EMPIRE FROM SEVERUS
TO CONSTANTINE
The third century ADin the Roman Empire began and ended with Emperors
who are recognised today as being strong and dynamic – Septimius Severus,
Diocletian and Constantine. Yet the intervening years have traditionally
been seen as a period of crisis. Beating off rivals and coping with immediate
emergencies occupied a rapid succession of rulers. The 260s saw the nadir of
imperial fortunes, with every frontier threatened or overrun, the senior
Emperor imprisoned by the Persians, and Gaul and Palmyra breaking away
from central control. It might have been thought that the Empire should
have collapsed – yet it did not.
Pat Southern shows how this was possible by providing a chronological
history of the Empire from the end of the second century to the beginning of
the fourth; the emergence and devastating activities of the Germanic tribes
and the Persian Empire are analysed, and a conclusion details the economic,
military and social aspects of the third century ‘crisis’.
She shows that many of the rulers of the third century – in particular
Gallienus, whose reign has been called the lowest point in imperial history –
have been significantly underrated. Far from being responsible for the prob-
lems of the era, it was thanks to their determination to consolidate that the
Empire survived and was able to transform itself into the sacrosanct,
absolutist, dynastic regime of the fourth century.
Lucidly written, fully illustrated and incorporating the latest scholarly
findings, this work makes a fascinating but little-known period of imperial
history accessible to both students and the general reader.
Pat Southern studied Ancient History and Archaeology at the Universities
of London and Newcastle upon Tyne. She is the author of numerous books
on Roman history, including The Roman Cavalry (with Karen Dixon, Rout-
ledge 1997), The Late Roman Army (with Karen Dixon, Routledge 2000),
Domitian – Tragic Tyrant (Routledge 1997) and Augustus (Routledge 1998,
paperback 2001).

THE ROMAN EMPIRE
FROM SEVERUS TO
CONSTANTINE
Pat Southern
London and New York
First published 2001
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2004.
© 2001 Pat Southern
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Southern, Pat
The Roman Empire from Severus to Constantine/Pat Southern.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Rome–History–Severus, 193–235. 2. Rome–History–Period of military
anarchy, 235–284. 3. Rome–History–Diocletian, 284–305. 4.
Rome–History–Constantine I, the Great, 306–337.
DG298.S67 2001
937(cid:1).06–dc21
2001019483
ISBN 0-203-45159-7Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-45721-8(Adobe eReader Format)
ISBN 0–415–23943–5 (hbk)
ISBN 0–415–23944–3 (pbk)
CONTENTS
Illustrations vii
Introduction and acknowledgements ix
Abbreviations xi
1 The third century: the nature of the problem 1
Sources of evidence 7
Through a glass darkly: limitations of the evidence 12
2 Emperors and usurpers: 180–260 14
Empire without end 14
The development of frontiers 14
Prelude to the third century 17
The reign of Commodus 20
The rise of Severus 23
Severus Imperator 28
Elimination of rivals 32
The Severan dynasty 37
The successors of Severus 50
The end of the Severans: Maximinus Thrax becomes Emperor 64
The three Gordians 66
Philip the Arab 71
Decius 74
Trebonianus Gallus 75
Valerian and Gallienus 78
3 Schism and reunification: 260–84 81
Gallienus sole Emperor 81
The battle for the Empire: Gallienus to Aurelian 102
v
CONTENTS
The Empire restored: Aurelian 110
The successors of Aurelian: Probus to Diocletian 126
4 A world geared for war: 284–324 134
Diocletian: the Empire strikes back 134
Constantine: the Empire reshaped 169
5 Beyond the northern frontiers 182
Introduction: the image of the ‘barbarians’ 182
Romans and natives 184
The third century and after 203
6 Beyond the eastern frontiers 227
The rise of the Sassanids: Ardashir defeats the Parthians 228
The Roman eastern frontier 232
The reign of Ardashir (224–41) 233
The reign of Shapur I (241–72) 234
The successors of Shapur: Hormizd I (272–3), Vahram I (273–6) and
VahramII(276–93) 240
Vahram III (293) and Narses (293–302) 242
Hormizd II (302–9) and Shapur II (309–79) 244
7 The Empire transformed 246
Emperors 246
Usurpation or regional self-help? 250
The Senate and senatorial careers 254
The equestrian career 255
The Praetorian Prefects 257
The provinces 257
Cities and towns 260
The theory of depopulation, deserted lands and the decline of agricultural
production 263
Economy and finance 265
The army and the frontiers 268
Religion 279
Notes 284
Bibliography 372
Index 394
vi
ILLUSTRATIONS
1 The provinces of the Roman Empire in the second century 15
2 Coin of Pertinax 27
3 Portrait of Severus 29
4 Gold aureus of 206 depicting Severus and Caracalla 40
5 Portrait of Caracalla 50
6 Coin denoting the deification of Caracalla 57
7 Severus Alexander on a coin of 231 62
8 Julia Mamaea on a coin of 225 63
9 Bust of Maximinus Thrax 65
10 Coin of Philip the Arab celebrating the Saeculum Novum 72
11 Coin of Philip the Arab proclaiming Concordia Augustorum 73
12 Portrait of Valerian 77
13 Bust of the young Gallienus 82
14 Map of the frontier of Germany and Raetia showing the forts
given up before 260 85
15 Map of the frontier of Germany and Raetia showing the main
areas of destruction in the 230s and the 260s 86
16 Map of the frontier of Germany and Raetia after 260 87
17 Map of the Roman Empire in 260 99
18 Gallienus on a gold aureus of c.267 104
19 Gold aureus of 267 106
20 Stylised portrait of Gallienus 107
21 Aurelian on a coin of 270 111
22 Portrait of Aurelian on an antoninianus of 274 123
23 Gold aureus of Probus minted at Lyons c.281 131
24 Coin depicting ‘Carausius and his brothers’ 138
25 Coin of 293 depicting Carausius as Augustus 139
26 Diocletian on a coin of c.293 144
27 Portrait of the Tetrarchs from Venice 146
28 Stylised portrait of Diocletian on a coin from Nicomedia 151
29 The dioceses of the Roman Empire 164
30 Diocletian’s reorganisation of the provinces 166
vii
ILLUSTRATIONS
31 Constantius Caesar restores the eternal light to Britain on a
gold coin of 296 169
32 Map of the Empire divided between Constantine, Maxentius,
Galerius and Licinius 173
33 Constantine and the Sun god on a gold coin of 313 174
34 Colossal head of Constantine 180
35 Map showing the routes of the Franks, Alamanni and others
into the Roman provinces in the 260s 210
36 Map showing the invasions of the Goths in the 230s and 240s 221
37 Map showing the Gothic attacks of the 250s and 260s 223
38 Map showing the Gothic attacks of the late 260s and 270s 224
39 Cameo depicting Shapur’s victory over Valerian 237
40 Drawing of the rock carving from Naqs-i Rustem detailing the
triumphs of Shapur 239
41 Drawing of the rock carving from Bishapur celebrating the
triumphs of Shapur 240
42 The Strata Diocletiana 243
43 Third-century Imperial residences 261
44 Map showing forts with fan-shaped towers on the Danube 274
45 Plan of the fort at Drobeta on the Danube 275
46 Plan of the fort at Ulcisia Castra on the Danube 276
47 Plan of the late fort at Eining on the Danube 277
viii
INTRODUCTION AND
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book attempts to document the changes in the Roman Empire between
the end of the second century and the beginning of the fourth. The Roman
world was an organic entity that evolved and changed all the time, but at
varying rates and in different aspects; in the third century, changes acceler-
ated, affecting many if not all areas of life in many if not all parts of the
Empire, including areas beyond its frontiers.
The Empire of Severus already displayed several differences from that of
the Julio-Claudians, but the Empire of Diocletian and Constantine shared
hardly anything with its first-century counterpart – not surprising perhaps,
given the timescale between the first and the fourth centuries. The events of
this time-span can be compared to the evolving state mechanisms and social
transformations that took place, for instance, in Britain between the
Angevins and the Tudors, or in France between the Valois and the Bour-
bons. Time alone would have produced changes in the Roman world,
without the particular catalysts that affected the Empire of the third
century. Foremost among these catalysts was the relentless pressure on the
northern frontiers and the efforts of the Roman government to contain it.
The Rhine suffered badly until the frontier died; the Danube was brought
back from ruin, rebuilt and strengthened, and it survived in an altered form.
The pressure from the new and vigorous Persian Empire was great, but not
as damaging, and though resources of men and money were continually mar-
shalled to combat this threat, the choice was more often than not Rome’s,
for she was often the aggressor. As a broad generalisation, in the east, Rome
attacked to pre-empt attacks; in the west and on the Danube, Rome reacted
to attacks.
It is impossible to document all the changes in all the provinces and work
the details into a continuous narrative, not least because the available
information has alarming gaps. Compared to the previous two centuries the
sources are meagre. There is no contemporary history beyond the first four
decades of the third century, so the written sources fail as the Empire is
most threatened. Many of the gaps in our knowledge have been filled in
recent years by studies emanating from scholars all over the world, whose
ix