13a: Introduction

When Marcus Aurelius's biological son, Commodus, became Emperor in 180 AD the era of the "Five Good Emperors" was over. Whether Marcus had anyone better to co-opt as his heir, is anyone's guess. Despite the great achievements of the Antonine emperors, the Roman bureaucracy was expanding, and the Romans themselves got a little complacent. Most worrisome was the increasing barbarian action on Rome's northern and eastern frontiers. The skill with which the Antonines balanced Rome's military and social needs became all the more evident when an absolute fool took the throne. The Severan dynasty (193-235 AD) held the line for a short time by focusing on military needs, but when it fell, the days of the Pax Romana were over. The Crisis of the Third Century (235-284 AD), which followed the end of the Pax Romana, was probably inevitable. The borders were crumbling while the government itself collapsed. As many as thirty men were named Emperor during this time, and the Empire itself came dangerously close to imploding  The only cure for what ailed the Empire involved dumping the Principate for a totalitarian form of government better known as the Dominate.

In segment 13b: The Roman Imperial Military, we take a look at how Augustus's leaner, meaner army worked. Commanded by trusted and experienced generals, it served its purpose well when a strong, intelligent Princeps led the Roman state. Most of Rome's soldiers were not Roman or even Italian, but this diversity was again a source of strength: non-citizens who served in the army not only benefitted the Empire with their service, but the Empire benefitted them by granting them citizenship upon completion of their service. Maintaining the limes, or border area, was crucial to the Empire's defenses. Wherever possible, the Romans relied on natural boundaries (like rivers, mountain, or deserts) to keep the Empire safe. But in the wide open spaces, the Romans worked out a combination of fortifications and quick-response containment forces which served well for a long time... as long as the Romans could afford to pay the soldiers.

In segment 13c: Crisis of the Third Century AD, basically everything goes wrong. Barbarians at the doorstep, imbeciles on the throne, and to top it off, it seemed like the gods were angry. The Roman armies were too busy fighting each other to do their job of warding off enemies and holding the borders. Emperors, it seemed, were a dime a dozen and even the skilled ones had a way of getting themselves killed. The government would not even accept its own debased currency in payment of taxes. Parts of the Empire broke off and other parts were overrun. For the first time since Hannibal stood at the gates nearly five centuries earlier, Rome was faced with a world-class gut check. Once more, Rome had to be re-invented; this time the mastermind of the Empire's salvation was not a native Roman but a general who had born a poor Serbian child named Diocletian.

Segment 13d: Roman Totalitarianism reveals the answer to Rome's ills as a top-down totalitarian police state. It is called the "Dominate" to distinguish it from the Principate. The Emperor was now dominus et deus, master and God, with an elaborate court ritual basically establishing him as a God on earth. Diocletian made massive reforms to the military, to Imperial government, and to the economy. His biggest reform was the "Tetrarchy," a complicated scheme designed to provide the Empire with four emperors and a logical scheme of succession. Although the Tetrarchy failed as soon as Diocletian stepped down, his other reforms were sufficient to buy the Empire two more centuries of survival in the West... and 1,200 more years in the East. The cost of these reforms, however, was terrible. Personal liberty died for good, and personal initiative was more dangerous than it was helpful. Even though the borders had stabilized, the Roman people never seemed to regain the pluckiness and optimism they had possessed before the Crisis of the Third Century AD.