Dominate

If you smirk at me, my family, or anything I say...I'll kill you...you pathetic bastard...because I can...because I have power...and because my guns are bigger than yours...

I am leaving the above as it is because, I fear, it will be the only bit of writing that will be even remotely entertaining.  I'm sorry, but I am just not feeling the creative juices of Great Fluffy flowing from my mind today...AND, this is due in just over an hour...

The Dominate was in power from 285-476 A.D. or, C.E. (Common Era) for all of you non-religious, politically correct, hippie-types (aka [Tree Huggers]). 

The Dominate was a totalitarian form of government.  For those of you that don't quite understand that term, it basically means that the man in charge can do whatever he wants to (See opening paragraph of this wiki).  The emperor is now called Augustus, Dominus et Deus, Big Asshole, and the Guy-you-really-don't-want-to-piss-off.  The Emperor, or GYRDWTPO, has all authority and is not bound by any laws or precedents.  This basically means that the Mos Maiorum does not hold any cards here.  Ceremonies and rituals were created for dealings with the Emperor and he became someone that was seen as awesome (not cool, but looked at with awe and amazement). 

The army under the Dominate was much larger than the army of the principate.  Instead of having an army that consisted mostly of men that volunteered for the position, the Emperor paid the army.  Also, upon retirement, the Emperor gave bonuses of money, land, and cattle.  This is a much larger incentive to fight for the Emperor...and you just don't want to piss him off.

At this time, Germany was a part of the Roman Empire.  The Romans saw the Germans as too barbaric to assimilate into any kind of Roman society.  The Germans were also seen as barbaric to those in England who dealt with their invasions for hundreds of years.  Ignoring the Germans was a bad move on the part of the Dominate because later Orestes troops mutinied and found a leader in the German warrior, Odoacer. 

Under the Dominate, the economy was in pretty bad shape.  Because of the civil wars of the third century, tens of thousands of men were killed along with the destruction of cities, farms, and the disempowerment of local governments.  The currency began to lose its value which caused inflation and the demise of small farmers and merchants.  In addition, the Empire needed extremely large quantities of money in order to maintain defense, but the people could not pay cash and inefficiencies in the method of collection led to problems with taxation.  The Dominate attempted to fix this situation by freezing prices and wages, attempting to fix the sysem of taxation, trying to stabilize the currency, and making occupations hereditary. 

The Roman Society under the Dominate remained a society of defined classes.  Any chance of social mobility was stopped and hope for the Empire to become a commonwealth was destroyed.  Again, the Germans were seen as unworthy to become assimilated into Roman classes because they were too wild to accept the Roman way of life, and they were lunable to speak Latin.  This was considered the end of Rome's attempts to assimilate conquered peoples.  These conquered people were only allowed to serve in the army and lived under their own rule. 

The Lower class carried the load of the government.  They paid the taxes, served in the army and gradually saw their numbers decrease (I would assume from the loss of lives fighting in the civil wars).  They also had nearly no legal status whatsoever.  The middle class which once served as the strongest limb of the body of Roman society began to back out of their duties.  The Upper class and senators remained successful, but tended to work against the government. 

This is a brief overview of Roman society and what-not under the Dominate...

If you don't like it, I'll kill you...