Rome 235-284
by Vel L. Garnett
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Caracalla granted Roman citizenship to all free men within the Empire in the year A.D. 211. He put the most magnanimous spin on an act that was really only a way to get more tax revenue out of the system. But the law of unexpected consequences applies in a very big way. My favorite shorthand for the change was till then, all roads ran to Rome, after that all roads ran from Rome. If Gaul and Syria were the same state, then the protection of those citizens within those areas was every bit as important as protection of the Italians. A great Pan-Mediterranean State then replaced the Roman Empire. Rome became its Empire and lost its locus. All parts worked together initially, the Gordianii came from Africa, Severus was from Libya, Elagabalus was from Syrian area, Philip was from southeastern Palestine. (See map) Senators came to Rome from all over the Empire and the parties tried working within the new social contract.
At first all worked within the new legal framework and in Rome, Senators continued to raise to the purple, boys continued to be taught to follow the model of the citizen-king of the old Greek philosopher Plato. Did not the great Alexander have Aristotle for his mentor? Thus Alexander Severus took the great one's name, and like him, did in Syria as the Syrians and in Rome as the Romans. Alexander Severus even kept the local deities of all the citizens with him at his palace in Rome. Including Jesus Christ.
I really think Alexander Severus wanted to make peace with the Germans and ultimately to bring them within the state -- willingly -- which is why he paid them money, but Maximinus and the newly trained legion weren't privy to the greater needs of the Empire. They murdered Alexander Severus and his great advisor, his mother. Thus the road to the fall of the new Pan-Mediterranean State had begun.
Maximinus, however, was not part of the plan and by 238, SPQR rose against him and his barbarian ways. A civil war was fought and in the end, Rome and its world had a new boy-king to raise and nurture to a Philosopher-King as they had had in Marcus Aurelius and as they wanted for Alexander Severus. But unlike Alexander Severus, when early manhood began, Gordian's advisor was changed from his mother to Timesitheus, his great prefect of the guard and general guru.
Then came the Sasanian Wars of A.D. 241-44. The wars went well and so Gordian and his great army advanced into Mesopotamia. What happened there is still debated, but here are the facts: Gordian died; Timesitheus died; and Philip (Timesitheus's lieutenant) became Emperor. A memorial tomb was built for Gordian in Mesopotamia which was visited by Julian and his forces as they proceeded into that hostile region.
Some later historians wrote that Philip poisoned both Timesitheus and Gordian and bought a cheap peace with the Persians to advance to Rome. Rumors persist that Philip sought out the Christian church in Antioch for communion while on his return from Mesopotamia. In fact, many people think Philip was the first Christian emperor, but unlike the fourth century version of a Christian, Philip, leader of "all" the citizens, respected all the local deities of all the citizens of the great Pan-Mediterranean State.
What happened in A.D. 249 and Decius' rise and persecution of the Christians, let alone whatever happened in 244, 238 and 235, was erased. But remember, Philip's story was written by his destroyers.
The combination of a social war (persecution within), plague, and multiple invasions fragmented the state. Provinces were left on their own to solve their problems. The Germans invaded Gaul, the Sasanians invaded the East, the Goths invaded Panonnia and Thrace. The delicate house of cards fell apart. Troops living in Gaul with family and friends, who were charged with defending their homeland, didn't want to depart for Syria to fight in the East. And vice versa. Regionalism and localism replaced the Greater State. Valerian went east (never to return), and his son, Gallienus was charged with defending the West. The revolt in Gaul and the rise of Postumus is not written about contemporarily, but I think Gallienus' reworking of the Imperial defense forces and disposition thereof had much to do with the Gallic Empire.
Valerian was captured by the Sasanians. The eastern provinces of the Orient were left to their own devices to defend themselves without western aid. The West defended itself, apart from Rome, Italy and the East. Gallienus pulled troops out of the Agri Decumates (a most strategic area between the Rhine and Danube River jutting out like a little triangle with long point turned west-southwest), thus getting his manpower for his new defense force in North Italy (Milan or Mediolanum) and further isolating the West from the East by forcing land travel east-west, south to Milan and to the passes in eastern Italy into Gaul, then across the North direct from Rhaetia to Germania. The direct route north of the Alps was lost.
Civil unrest was everywhere and the three nemeses tore the heart out the poly ethic empire. Italy fought for supremacy; Palmyra fought for its defense of the East; Postumus defended the West while armies slugged it out trying to outdo each other internally.
Aurelian finally restored the whole state as one, but the situation now called for a new role for the Emperor. No longer did the Empire seek the Philosopher-King but a king of kings on the eastern Sasanian model. Thus the diadem, and a kind of fascism became the working model of the state. Aurelian took the title Noster Dominus (Our Lord). Finally, Diocletian I (294) made four capitals, four emperors and four field armies, each responsible for its own Imperial territory. Thus Rome fell and a whole new state arose.
This resource page is copyright © 2001-2002 Vel L. Garnett.
