The Roman Empire almost collapsed in the third century A.D., and in the fifty years after A.D. 235, disasters such as civil war, barbarian invasion and plague followed one after another, which almost destroyed the Roman Empire. However, the Roman people's loyalty to the empire made it still a cohesive whole. With the efforts of several outstanding emperors, the empire finally did not fall apart in the third century A.D..
The Rift of Rome's Golden Age in Kyle? Ole appeared when he was alive (AD 16 1- 180). In A.D. 165, the expeditionary troops in Parthia brought back a terrible plague, which soon spread throughout the empire. The aftermath of this great plague will continue to erupt for many years to come, which will make the population of the empire decrease rapidly. With the plague, barbarians invaded the imperial border (mainly the Danube front), and even Egypt, which has always been peaceful, was invaded by small nomads. The plague and barbarian invasion were finally put out, followed by the brutal rule of the tyrant Commodus, which was another heavy blow to the empire that had just experienced disaster. Under this series of blows, the imperial economy, which had been at a standstill in the middle of the second century, began to retrogress. However, the disaster did not end there, and worse blows followed. In 192, Commodus was assassinated and the civil war broke out again. Within a year, the guards successively won two men and became emperors, and local military attaché s also led the troops to join the battle for the throne. This great civil war lasted for more than four years, and finally Cedar Weilus won the civil war, but this victory came at a heavy economic and military cost. In the last battle, Severus and his opponent Abinus put all the elite troops into a bloody battle for a day, and the casualties were extremely heavy. In this civil war, those well-trained Roman soldiers killed each other, which caused great losses to the military strength of the empire, and these losses could not be easily made up, and its sequelae would soon appear. During the war, the opposing sides adopted a policy of retaliatory slaughter (which was not found in the previous civil war), and many cities of the empire were completely destroyed. For example, Caesar Verus's brutal orders completely destroyed Lyon, the capital of Gaul, and turned the century-old prosperity into ruins, which could never be recovered. The number of cities destroyed by this civil war is incalculable, but what is certain is that this civil war destroyed Rome's last strength that can be used for revival, both economically and demographically.
In 235 AD, Alexander, the last emperor of Seville Dynasty, was assassinated. This event is usually regarded by historians as the symbol of the end of the Roman head of state system, which was replaced by the anarchy of the whole empire. During the fifty years from AD 235 to AD 284, historians called it "the era of chaos". Warlords everywhere launched the biggest civil war in history. In 238 AD, seven emperors issued coins with personal heads printed on them. In the half century after AD 235, at least 50 people competed for the throne, and some of them claimed to be emperors, such as the once prosperous Perth Mausoleum Empire, which consisted of Gaul, Britain and Spain.
In the whole chaotic era, * * * had 27 so-called "authentic" emperors, of which 17 emperors were killed by their own soldiers or officers, two were forced to commit suicide, one died of natural causes, others died in the battlefield, and even the outstanding and successful Emperor Aureliano was murdered. This shows that the succession relationship of Roman emperors was very chaotic at that time, and the succession of the throne was completely owned by the army. Since the time of Augustus, the throne of the Roman Empire has not formed a legal system. The only weak proof of the legitimacy of the throne is the approval of the Senate without real power. In this era, even this weak recognition has become an outdated farce.
The weakness of Rome is exactly what the barbarians want to see, and this is the opportunity they have been waiting for. Now the Romans are killing each other, and the empire Daimon Masaru is opening, so barbarians flock across the border and kill each other inside the empire. Even Talagon, Spain and Athens, Greece, far from the border, were looted. The excellent road network in the empire has always been used to transport troops to resist aggression, but now it has become a booster for barbarian invasion. When the imperial defense existed in name only, the Roman citizens who were used to the tradition of unarmed self-defense in the inner city now faced the most ferocious enemy.
In addition to the military and political chaos, the imperial economy is also in a state of collapse. After Wei Lusi came to power, he expanded his army to 400,000 and raised his salary by 50%. His son caracalla actually got another 50% salary increase to please the army. In order to pay a huge salary, caracalla issued a large amount of currency, which led to the devaluation of the currency. This method was used by successors, making the imperial currency almost scrap metal. By the middle of the third century, merchants and money shops refused to accept Roman currency. In "troubled times", due to the large-scale civil war, the size of the army soared and the salary became astronomical. Warlords all over the world only rely on their own excessive money and heavy taxes to maintain their troops, which makes a large number of Roman citizens completely bankrupt. On the other hand, the devalued currency made the pay worthless, so many troops began to plunder openly, which aggravated the chaos within the empire and made the military discipline deteriorate.
During this period, the imperial economy was in a state of collapse, but at this time, who still has the mind to maintain the economy? It is estimated that by the middle of the 3rd century, 65,438+05% of cultivated land had been abandoned (but Egypt's economy was still prosperous at that time). Life in the city, especially in the western part of the empire, is very miserable. Due to barbarian invasion or population flight, the scope of many cities has shrunk dramatically, and the middle class in cities-the pillar of imperial economy-has gone bankrupt under the weight of taxes. A few rich people fled to self-sufficient rural life, while more people entered slums. The "chaotic times" completely destroyed the Roman Empire, especially the western civil class. No matter how hard the future rulers try, these are irreversible.