The ill-fated reign of Komod, the son of Marcus Aurelius, lasted twelve years. It seemed that the new emperor collected in himself all the vices of the most unlucky Roman rulers - Caligula, Nero, Domitian. And the end was in store for Commodus as inglorious as those of his predecessors: on December 31, 192, the tyrant was killed by conspirators.
There were great jurists in Rome, and Roman law is perhaps the main tribute of the Romans to civilization.
A period of anarchy lasted from 192 to 197. Then the Senate appointed one of its most influential members, the brave commander Helvius Pertinak, as emperor, but as soon as he tried to establish a little order at the court, the Praetorians removed him from the road; the emperor was killed on March 28, 193.
After the death of Pertinac, the praetorians offered the Roman throne to Didius Julian, which caused a mutiny in the army: legions located in different areas of the empire proclaimed at least three emperors at the same time. Septimius Sever, a native of Paninonia, was the first to arrive in Rome, killed Didius Julian, dispersed the Praetorian Guard and, after long civil wars, remained the only emperor in 197. After the death of Septimius Severus, his two sons claimed power: Caracalla and Geta. By killing his brother, Caracalla proclaimed himself emperor. Six years later, during a military campaign against the Parthians, Caracalla fell victim to a conspiracy organized by Macrinus, who, in turn, was the emperor of Rome for only a few months.
From that time on, the dynasty of the Severs reigned on the Roman throne; Heliogabalus ruled for four years, until 222, and Alexander Sever - thirteen years, until 235. The army revolted against the power of the latter, incited by the commander Maximian, after which a period of military anarchy began, which lasted several decades. In the middle of the century, 18 emperors replaced each other with dizzying speed on the Roman throne, whose deeds did not make the glory of Rome.
The decline of the military power of the Romans was due to the fact that the Roman army consisted mainly of mercenaries, who were only interested in money and trophies.
One thing was clear - the huge Roman Empire was going through a severe crisis; on the frontiers the barbarians became more and more boldly, and in Rome itself there were neither reliable defenders nor an organized, well-controlled army against them. Maximian, who plunged the empire into political, military and social chaos with the murder of the last North, three years later ended his imperial reign ingloriously: in 238 he was killed by his own soldiers in his own house near Aquileia.
The only rulers worthy of mention among the so-called soldier emperors are Claudius II and Aurelian. Both capable and influential generals, they supported each other and ruled for a total of seven years. The first of them defeated the army of the Goths on the Danube near Naissa, and Aurelian, nicknamed the "restorers of the empire", again conquered several breakaway provinces of Gaul, but could not keep Dacia, which was captured by the Goths, within the borders of the empire.
During the protracted anarchy, many of the Roman provinces, left without protection and assistance, were conquered by invaders. For example, in the east of the empire, the independent state of Palmyra was formed, ruled by a new Cleopatra - Zenobia. Aurelian began a military campaign against Asia Minor, which he himself led in 272. After several bloody battles, the army of Zenobia and her allies took refuge behind the ramparts of Palmyra, a city located in the very center of the desert between the Euphrates and Celesiria. Only in the late autumn of 272 did Palmyra fall, and Aurelian could return to Rome, taking with him the captive Zenobia.
Diocletian, in search of a means of saving the Roman Empire, divided it into four parts, with four capitals and four emperors.
The severe crisis of the third century was overcome in 284 with the coming to power of Diocletian. It seemed that an imminent catastrophe had been avoided, but by that time the empire had fallen into such decline that it was hardly possible to hope for its salvation.
Diocletian, Illyrian by birth, was well versed in foreign policy, was an energetic and decisive commander, the concept of "citizens" did not exist for him, for him everyone was subjects. He completely changed the structure of the empire, giving rise to the tetrarchy, which involved the division of the entire state into four parts, each of which was ruled by August, who, in turn, was assisted by Caesar. At the death of August, Caesar became his heir. Diocletian believed that this kind of system was supposed to guarantee great calm and reliability in the appointment of the highest leaders of the state.
Over the twenty years of his reign, the emperor more than once had the opportunity to ascertain the shortcomings of his reform.
Envy, rivalry, ambition, various difficulties in managing such a huge empire led to the fact that Diocletian, disappointed in his capabilities, was forced in 305 to retire to his estate in the north of Spalat.
It was the last glimpse of glory, the last glimpse of ancient greatness. The empire was slowly dying. The last blow was struck by the Eruls of Odoacer, who overthrew the last Roman emperor Romulus, nicknamed Augustulus in 476.
Everyone knows that the Middle Ages sprouted through the ruins of Ancient Rome. The decline of the Roman Empire preceded and, to a certain extent, paved the way for the rise of the kingdoms and cultures that made up the medieval system. However, despite these obvious facts, we know very little about the life of people and the ideas that prevailed in those years when Europe was already losing its Roman features, but not yet acquired medieval. We do not know what it was like to watch the decline of the empire, we do not even know if the people of that era understood that they were living during its decline. However, we are sure that none of them could predict or foresee what the world will be like in a few centuries.
Nevertheless, people were well aware that Rome was going through tragic times, and the main opposing forces were in plain sight. People understood that the Roman Empire of the 4th and 5th centuries was no longer the same empire in which the great Antony and Augustine lived, that it lost many of its possessions, and economic ties between various provinces were interrupted. The empire was threatened by barbarians, who eventually destroyed it. The territory of the Roman Empire during its heyday stretched from the shores of the North Sea to the northern outskirts of the Sahara and from the Atlantic coast of Europe to the Central Asian steppes. It comprised most of the holdings of the former Hellenic, Iranian and Phoenician empires, and ruled or controlled vast masses of people and many states beyond its Gallic and North African borders. In the 4th century, the territory of Rome shrank and continued to steadily shrink.
In previous centuries, powerful interregional trade flows flowed along the routes that connected the Roman provinces within the Roman borders. However, from about the 3rd century, the economic unity of the empire began to collapse, and by the 5th century, most of the flows of this interregional trade ceased to exist - the provinces and regions were left to their own devices and had to rely only on their own resources. And with the impoverishment of the provinces and the decline in trade, the population, wealth and political power of the large cities in them declined.
However, the empire, until the very last days of its existence, tried to protect its borders from the invasion of the barbarians. The barbarian conquests, like all other conquests, threatened the empire not only with ruin and destruction, the very way of life of the barbarians denied Roman civilization - what it was before and what - alas! - gradually ceased to be.
Contemporaries observed or should have observed the sharpest conflict between Roman and barbarian values not in the material sphere at all. Roman civilization was primarily a civilization of reason. She drew on a centuries-old tradition of thought and intellectual achievement that constituted the heritage of Greece, to which she, in turn, made a great contribution. The Roman world was a world of schools and libraries, writers and builders. The barbarian world was a world in which the mind was in an infant state, and this state dragged on for many centuries. Germanic sagas that glorified battles existed and came down to us only in the form of legends created at a later time. There were several crude laws that governed the personal relationships of people - hardly all this can be called civilization in the sense in which the Romans understood it. King Chilperic tried to write poetry in the style of Sedulia, but he had no idea about the long and short feet, and they limped, and Charlemagne himself, going to bed, put a slate board under his pillow to practice the art of writing at night, which he did and did not master it. What did they have in common with Julius Caesar, Marcus Aurelius and that great Julian, who was called the Apostate? From these examples alone, one can understand what an impassable abyss separated Germany and Rome. Thus, the Romans and the barbarians were not only military opponents, but also led a completely different way of life - civilized and barbaric. We do not have the opportunity here to discuss in detail the question of why, in the process of their collision, civilization perished and barbarism won. However, it is very important to remember that as the empire tried to defend its borders against barbarian hordes, it gradually opened them up to barbarian settlers.
The peaceful penetration of the barbarians, which changed the entire character of the society they conquered, would have been impossible if the society had not been afflicted with disease. This disease could be clearly seen already by the 3rd century. It manifested itself in those endless civil wars that various provinces and armies waged among themselves. It manifested itself in the great inflationary crisis that began around the year 268 and in exorbitant taxes that ruined the small owners, leaving the wealth of the wealthy intact. It manifested itself in the gradual curtailment of trade based on free exchange and its replacement with more primitive barter, as each province sought to become self-sufficient. It manifested itself in the decline of agriculture, in which the unemployed population of the cities was pacified by the distribution of bread and circuses. The life of the poor was very much, very sharply different from the life of the haughty senatorial families and large farmers who lived in luxurious villas and city houses. It manifested itself in the emergence of mystical beliefs that arose on the ruins of philosophy, and superstitions (especially astrology) that arose on the ruins of reason. One religion was especially elevated, which in its sacred books addressed the victims of social injustice with words of consolation, but, although it could give hope to an individual, it was not able to breathe new strength into a civilization destroyed in battle or inspire it to fight (and did not strive for this). By its very nature, this religion was impartial and suitable for everyone - whether it was a barbarian, a poor Roman, or a rich Roman, whether it was a person in power or a person who was below the poverty line.
The most striking manifestation of the decline of Roman society was the decrease in the number of Roman citizens. The empire became impoverished in people long before the end of the period of peace and prosperity, which lasted from the time of Augustus to Marcus Aurelius. Didn't Augustus invite a poor man from Fiesole, who had eight children, thirty-six grandchildren and eighteen great-grandchildren, to Rome to celebrate in his honor at the Capitol, which all the citizens of Rome learned about? Did not Tacitus, known for his attention to human nature, when describing the noble savages (but having in mind his fellow citizens), did not note that among the Germans it is considered a shame to limit the number of children in a family? The long life of the Augustan law of fertility is a very important fact. This law did not lead to its increase, but the very fact that it was included in the code of laws and for three centuries was systematically revised and supplemented shows that it was considered absolutely necessary. Of course, mortality in those days was much higher than in our time, and mortality from epidemics and civil wars since the time of Marcus Aurelius has been exceptionally high. It is also well known that in the Roman Empire there were a lot of lonely people, and the number of children in families was steadily decreasing. The authors of that time lament that many spouses do not want to have children at all, and those who do have one or two. Seelius exclaimed: "The human harvest was very poor." He was poor in all classes of society, but this was most pronounced among the upper strata of society - the most educated, the most civilized, whose children, growing up, became the leaders of the state. The Roman Empire could repeat the terrible words of Swift, said much later, which he uttered, realizing that he was going crazy: "I will dry up like a tree - from top to roots."
This begs the question - why did civilization lose its reproductive capacity? Was it because, as Polybius believed, that people preferred to have fun rather than raise children, or did they want to raise them in comfort? However, the decline in fertility was observed primarily among the rich, not the poor, and the rich could give their children all the best. Or maybe people were overwhelmed by fear and they lost faith in the future and civilization and did not want their children to come to this dark world, shaken by constant wars? We do not know this. But we can clearly see the connection between the decline in the population and other troubles of the empire - the high cost of maintaining the bureaucratic apparatus (and the lower the population density, the more people had to pay taxes for the maintenance of officials), abandoned fields, the decreasing number of legions, which were not enough even for border protection.
To compensate for the lack of population, the Roman rulers did not find anything better than to pour fresh blood of the barbarians into it. It all started with small injections, and ended with the blood that flowed in the veins of the inhabitants of the empire, not Roman, but barbaric. The Germans settled in the lands of Rome to guard its borders and sow wheat. At first they were part of the auxiliary troops, but soon the whole legions began to consist of Germans. Gradually, the barbarians took over all the leading posts in the state. The army has become almost entirely barbaric. The Roman author Moss cites in his work an amazing document - a complaint from an Egyptian mother who demands that her son be returned home, since, according to her, he left with the barbarians, in other words, became a soldier of the Roman legion! The legions became barbaric, and they, in turn, made their emperors barbarians. For them, the emperor was no longer the personification of divine power, but was only a simple leader, the Fuhrer, and they raised him to the shield. Along with the barbarization of the army, there was also the barbarization of the civilian lifestyle. In 397, Honorius was forced to issue a decree according to which it was forbidden to wear Germanic clothes within the Roman Empire. After all, the emperors, themselves half barbarians, could count on the fact that only barbarians would be able to protect them from the onslaught of other barbarians!
Such was the picture of the general decline of civilization during the period in which the Romans lived in the 4th, 5th and 6th centuries. What was it like to live in the era of the death of civilization under the onslaught of barbarism? Did the people understand what was happening? Did the Dark Ages cast their shadow over Europe even before their arrival? It so happened that we can answer these questions in some detail, focusing our gaze on one part of the empire - the famous, highly civilized province of Gaul. We will be able to identify signs of decline in three directions, since the Gallo-Roman writers of the 4th, 5th and 6th centuries left us with descriptions of the life and mores of their era. We know about the IV century from the works of Ausonius, about the fifth from the works of Sidonius Apollinarius and about the sixth from the works of Gregory of Tours and Fortunatus, an Italian who lived in Poitiers. They describe life in Auvergne and Bordle in the deepening twilight. So, IV, V and VI centuries - we are leaving, leaving, leaving!
nstarikov — 18.10.2014 State problems always begin where the elite becomes rotten. A striking example of this is the Decline of the Roman Empire. Rotten elite, rotten emperors. "The speaking name" - Emperor Honorius, refuses to pay salaries to the barbaric allies. The result - the Goths take and partially destroy Rome. Honorius kills the best commander of his empire, Stilicho. His daughter Honoria (the Romans gave her daughter's name by the family name of her father) - writes a letter to Attila, in which he offers his hand, and as a devotee, half of the Western Empire. The result is the invasion of Attila. War, devastation. Vandals, who will destroy Rome completely, will also be "invited" within the framework of the division of the throne and inheritance. About the decline of the Western empire of the Romans - an article by blogger Andrei Michurin.
Source: http://sheshbesh144.blogspot.ru/2014/10/zakat-rimskoy-imperii.html
"Not knowing history means always being a child". / Cicero.
"The year 395 from the birth of Christ. Emperor Theodosius I dies due to illness. This is the last emperor who ruled the united Roman Empire. Before him, she was repeatedly divided into parts and reunited, but after his death, it will never become a single state. it is known from history that a divided state is a weak state.
Before his death, Theodosius bequeathed the empire to two sons at once. The western part of the empire, with the capital in Mediolana (modern Milan) - to the son of Honorius, and the eastern part (later called the Byzantine Empire), with the capital in Constantinople - to the son of Arcadius. It was the beginning of the end.
Great migration of peoples.
In the second half of the 4th century, the Huns, a mysterious nomadic people who lived off constant raids on their neighbors, came to Europe from Asia.
There is a version that the Great Wall of China was built to protect against the ancestors of the Huns. And if this is really so, then this could be one of the reasons why the Huns were forced to begin their migration to the west.
"They (the Huns - approx. Auth.) Have brutal manners and disgusting appearance; in childhood they cut their chin, face and cheeks so that their hair cannot grow. With the greatest disgrace of the face, their bones are strong, their shoulders are wide, and, moreover, they are so awkward and discordant that seem like two-legged cattle.
For the preparation of food they do not need either fire or spices; feed on wild roots and raw meat, which is placed on a horse instead of a saddle and steamed by a quick ride; agriculture is alien to them; They do not know permanent dwellings, from childhood they wander through the mountains and forests and get used to endure cold and hunger. Their clothes are linen or sewn from the skins of forest mice; they change it only when it falls off the body in rags.
They are inseparable from their small, but strong horses, on which they eat, drink, sleep and send all their affairs; even in public meetings, everyone is on horseback. They carry their dirty wives and children with them in carts. Shame and decency do not know and have no religion; an exorbitant greed for gold prompts them to raid. Their weapons are spears and arrows with sharpened bones at the end; they know how to skillfully throw lasso at enemies.
In their movements, they are extremely fast, they suddenly swoop down on the enemy formation from all sides, bully, scatter, run away and then suddenly attack again ... They boast of killing enemies most of all, and instead of removing their weapons, they remove their heads from them, flay their skin and they hang horses with hair on their bosoms. "
/ Ammianus Marcellinus, Roman historian.
The Huns lay siege to the Great Wall of China. Painting from the Museum of Istanbul.
Looking for new lands for themselves, the Huns, like a scythe, swept away everything in their path, even a proverb emerged: "Where the Hunnic horse stepped, there the grass does not grow." It was their arrival that caused the Great Migration, and in many ways influenced the collapse of the Western Roman Empire.
Coming from the east, the Huns began to press the Goths - the ancient Germanic tribes of farmers. Back in the middle of the 3rd century, the Goths were divided into two branches: Visigoths and Ostrogoths, that is, Western and Eastern. Persecuted by the Huns, the Visigoths fled to the Eastern Roman Empire, seeking protection from the Emperor Valentine. Most of the Ostrogoths remained in their places and swore allegiance to the Huns, later fighting on their side, which would greatly strengthen the Hunnic army, since the Huns had absolutely no skills in foot combat.
Looking for a home. Resettlement of the Visigoths.
Under the leadership of their leader Fritigern, the Goths come under the protection of Rome (meaning the empire). Under the treaty, Rome had to allocate new lands to the Goths and provide them with food, in return, the Goths were obliged to defend the northern territories (those below the Danube) of the Eastern Empire. These kinds of agreements were common.
But Rome did not keep its promises. The Goths starved, they were mercilessly exploited. Local officials sold them provisions at exorbitant prices, despite the fact that the Goths had practically no money; it began to reach the point that food was traded for their own children. Here and there hunger riots began to flare up and at one point, the Goths were seized by a wave of universal anger.
The uprising was led by Fritigern. Gathering armed troops under his command, he went across the country, plundering it and accepting an increasing number of rebels into his ranks.
Emperor Valens sent his troops against Fritigern.
The two armies met in a terrible wheelhouse near Adrianople in 378. The Goths completely defeated the Roman army, famous for their martial arts, killing 2/3 of its personnel, along with the emperor himself.
The outcome of the battle greatly shocked both Roman Empires. And thanks to this, the Goths were equal in rights with the rest of the inhabitants of the empire. But they were equalized only in words, and therefore the peace did not last long.
The Goths were introduced into the Roman army and were used in constant wars with the Huns and the Western Roman Empire. Here it is necessary to emphasize the word use, since the Goths were given the role of "cannon fodder" - the Roman generals threw them in the heat, covering their regular units with them.
And a new wave of anger was not long in coming.
The new uprising will be associated with the name of Alaric I - a name that terrified the hearts of the Romans, the first king of the Visigoths.
Taking advantage of the death of Emperor Theodosius in 395, Alaric revolts and begins to plunder Greece.
A little about the Western Empire and the commander Stilicho.
After Theodosius I died, Honorius became the emperor of the Western Roman Empire, but he became it only formally. In fact, the country was ruled by Stilicho, the commander-in-chief of the Western Roman armies, who was gaining more and more strength and making claims to the Eastern part of the empire.
In response, Constantinople persuades Alaric to attack Italy, if only he would leave them alone, which Alaric willingly does. In 401, he invades northern Italy, forcing the emperor Honorius to flee in horror from Mediolan (Milan) to Ravenna, and the capital of the empire was also moved there.
Alaric's attack forced the people to look for shelter: some settled on the Venetian islands, the province of Venetia, where before that there were only a small number of fishing huts, and some moved towards Rome.
Stilicho manages to repel the attack of the Visigoths, he concludes a peace treaty with them, wanting to unite for a joint action against the Eastern Empire, but his plans were not destined to come true. Emperor Honorius, worried about the above treaty with the Goths, as well as the growing influence of his commander, orders his courtiers to kill Stilicho, apparently the last person who wanted the unification of the empire.
Alaric takes Rome.
As will be seen later, nothing good came of this murder. Stilicho was the best general in the Western Empire and the only one who could resist Alaric.
Taking advantage of the execution of Stilicho, the Visigoths ask the emperor for resettlement in Pannonia and cash payments, to which Honorius responds with a categorical refusal.
Unsatisfied with the refusal, Alaric again goes to war against Italy, and all that the emperor Honorius can do is to lock himself in his Rabbinical palace and not show his nose from there.
Alaric enters Rome.
In 410, the troops of Alaric almost met no resistance, in just a month they reached Rome. Rome was taken. The empire was horrified, because Rome was a symbol of the greatness of the empire, a symbol of its power and invincibility, and then some wild and uncouth barbarians easily took it and ravaged it.
In Rome, Alaric was only 3 days, after which he planned to go through the whole of Italy towards Sicily. There he wanted to cross to Carthage in order to finally find fertile lands for his people, where they could stay to live. But by the end of 410, having reached the south of Italy, the "Mighty King" (as his name is literally translated from Gothic) dies.
After the death of Alaric, the Visigoths still find refuge. They settle in Gaul.
Attila the conqueror. Legendary leader of the Huns.
Attila. Fresco by Delacroix, 1840.
"He (Attila - author's note) was proud of his gait, his gazes to and fro, and by his very body movements revealed his highly ascended power. A lover of war, he himself was moderate on hand, very strong in common sense, available to those who ask and merciful to those who He once confided in. Outwardly short, with a broad chest, with a large head and small eyes, with a sparse beard, touched by gray hair, with a flattened nose, with a disgusting color [of skin], he showed all the signs of his origin. "
Jordan, 6th century Gothic historian.
Starting from the first half of the 5th century, the leader of the Huns was the outstanding king Rua (or Rugila), who made constant raids on the Eastern Roman Empire, demanding tribute from them. From his deceased brother, Rua left two nephews - Bled and Attila, whom he began to raise himself.
Over time, as his nephews grew older, Attila began to acquire military glory, participating in numerous battles. At this point, the Huns are allies of the Western Roman Empire and periodically side with them in the wars against the Goths.
Attila takes over.
"Attila is a man who was born to shake the world." / Prisk Pannian, Byzantine historian of the 5th century.
With the death of King Rua, in 434, power passes immediately to both brothers - Bled and Attila. But Attila was extremely ambitious from childhood, his dream was to unite all the Huns and conquer the world.
As a result, Attila kills his brother Bleda in order to concentrate all power in his hands.
"Attila, the king of the Huns, Bled, his brother and companion in the kingdom, killed and forced his people to obey."
/ Prosper Aquitaine, Roman historian of the 5th century.
He begins to unite at first the scattered tribes of the Huns, and then all other peoples under his command, building an empire from the Black Sea to the shores of the Rhine.
Empire of Attila.
The scope of his empire is truly impressive.
Having united numerous tribes and peoples, he directed his gaze to the rich and weakened, in military terms, empire - the Roman Empire.
"In a terrible war, much more difficult than the first [in 441-442], Attila erased almost all of Europe into dust." Marcellinus Comitus, Byzantine historian of the 6th century.
From 441 to 448, Attila made two military campaigns against the Eastern Empire, capturing a huge number of cities. When his troops approached the walls of Constantinople itself, a peace treaty was signed, according to which Byzantium paid a huge tribute.
Attila bled Byzantium, because of which it did not pose a threat for a long time.
Attila goes to Gaul.
"Civilization! What is it? Bribery, intrigue, slavery, an empire of weak people, and an emperor who is wearing makeup!"
From the movie. Attila the conqueror. 1954
In the Western Roman Empire, at this time, a young and frivolous emperor Valentinian III was in power, completely oblivious to the needs of the empire and caring only about his own entertainment. For him, his mother, Galla Placidia, actually ruled, enlisting the support of the commander and commander-in-chief of the Roman troops Flavius Aetius (after all, according to Roman law, a woman could not rule the state), who, by the way, also played his game for power.
Flavius Aetius deserves special attention. The best of the generals of the Western Empire, of that time, as a child, he was given into political captivity to the Huns, where he spent three years, and therefore knew firsthand about their morals, way of life and military tactics. This gave Aetius a great price.
The Western Empire was extremely weakened and more and more presented itself as an appetizing piece for the conquerors.
Back in 439, the king of the Vandals (a union of East German tribes) Geiserich captured Carthage and northern Africa, posing a threat from the south. Rome cannot oppose it, since there are barely enough troops to protect all borders.
And then Attila has a pretext for an invasion.
Around 450, the sister of the emperor Valentinian, Honoria, who was exiled to Constantinople, believed to be due to a love affair with the official Eugene, writes a letter to Attila, in which he offers his hand, and as a devotee, half of the Western Empire.
"Honoria, the sister of the Emperor Valentinian, corrupted by her procurator Eugene, conceived [a child], and, sent from Italy to Prince Theodosius, prompted Attila to [act] against the Western state."
Marcellinus Comitus, 6th century Byzantine historian.
It did not take long to wait, in 451 Attila declares war on the Western Roman Empire - he goes to Gaul, which by that time was torn apart by numerous strife.
Battle of the Catalaunian Fields. 14th century engraving.
"The Lord firmly decided that the Huns should come to Gaul and, like a great storm, devastate it."
Gregory of Tours, 6th century Frankish historian.
He took the cities: Cologne, Reims, Troyes, Metz, Trier, Tongeren, but during the siege of Orleans, Attila is repulsed. Flavius Aetius puts up his forces against him, combined with the forces of the Visigoth king Theodoric I, against whom Aetius fought together with the Huns.
The main battle took place on the Catalaunian fields. From the side of Attila, according to some reports, more than 500,000 soldiers marched. I have not seen such a cabin for a long time.
"Although none of the [rivals] yielded in this clash, there were incalculable exterminations of the dead on both sides, but the Huns were considered defeated because those who survived, having lost hope of [success in] the battle, returned home ".
According to the historian Jordan, 180,000 people died in the battle on both sides. The Gothic king Theodoric also laid down his head there. Attila retreated, this was his first military defeat.
Attila goes to Rome.
"They were the wrath of the Lord. As often as his indignation grows against the believers, he punishes them with the Huns, so that, purified in suffering, the believers reject the temptations of the world and its sins and enter the heavenly kingdom."
Isidore of Seville, Archbishop of Seville in the 7th century.
Cole Thomas. "The Path of the Empire. Downfall."
In the summer of 452, Attila attacks northern Italy. He first captured the city of Aquileia, one of the largest cities in Italy at the time. Some of the fleeing people settle on the Venetian Islands, which, since the invasion of Alaric I, have already been partially inhabited. The refugees who remained on the islands later found the city of Venice, which would become an independent state and the common fate of the Western Roman Empire would not befall it.
“After Attila had coped with the losses suffered in Gaul, he decided to attack Italy through Pannonia. Our general [Aetius] did not take any measures that he carried out in the first war, did not even protect the passages in the Alps, where the enemy could be stopped. Perhaps he was occupied with only one hope - to flee from Italy with the emperor. But since it seemed so shameful and dangerous, the sense of honor overcame fear. "
Prosperus of Aquitaine, Roman historian of the 5th century.
But Attila was not destined to reach Rome. It is believed that "God withdrew his hand", for this motive Raphael even painted a fresco in the Vatican, in 1514.
A terrible epidemic broke out among the Huns, which, by the way, is not surprising because they had not washed for years, and often went to the toilet without getting off their horse.
All plans to march on Rome had to be abandoned, Attila retreated.
Death of Attila - "the scourge of God". End of the history of the Huns.
Death of Attila.
For some time, Attila - "the scourge of God", as the Pope called him, vexed Gaul with his raids. But already in 453, on his wedding day, he was poisoned and died in his own bed.
Thus ended the life of a powerful and terrible man, whose arrival had long been predicted by the prophets.
Attila had many sons from many wives. And after his death, they inherited the empire, each grabbed a piece. The Hunnic tribes divided again and a wave of civil strife swept over them. The Hun Empire existed by inertia for some time and soon disappeared. The Huns, subsequently, dissolved among other peoples.
The people that terrified all of Europe disappeared as suddenly as they appeared ...
The last breath of the empire.
"Those are mistaken who, during the time of prosperity, think that they have gotten rid of adversity forever." /Cicero.
Rome's nightmare ended, as it seemed to many. Now the empire had to breathe deeply, if not for one thing ...
In 454, Emperor Valentinian III summoned Aetius to his audience and personally stabs him with his sword. The emperor was afraid of a conspiracy, because Aetius had acquired tremendous power, and more, as he believed, he no longer needed, since Attila was dead.
But this did not bring the desired results. Exactly one year after the death of Aetius, as a result of a coup d'état, the emperor Valentinian is killed, and a little more than 20 years later, the Roman Empire itself will cease to exist.
Taking advantage of a good moment, the Vandal king Geyserich, in 455, is transported from Carthage, which he captured, to Italy, and, just like Alaric earlier, captures Rome.
Geyserich plunders Rome.
Vandals plundered the city clean. What they could not take with them was destroyed on the spot. It is from here that the concept of "vandalism" originates.
1. What period is called the golden age of the Roman Empire? With the activities of which emperors is the power of the empire connected?
The golden age of the Roman Empire is associated with the reign of five good emperors from the Antonine dynasty, who ruled from 96 to 180. They successively replaced each other without dynastic crises, while all five actively participated in the management of the empire, personally solving the problems that arose. This refers to:
Mark Kokcei Nerva (96-98):
Mark Ulpius Traian (98-117):
Publius Aelius Hadrian (117-138):
Antoninus Pius (138-161):
Marcus Aurelius (161-180).
2. Indicate the economic and political reasons for the crisis of the Roman Empire. How did the economic structure and social structure of Roman society and the rights of its citizens change?
Causes of the crisis of the Roman Empire.
The fall in average annual temperatures led to a crisis in agriculture.
Emperor Septimius Sever changed the army management system. Before him, the commanders (legates) of the legions were politicians for whom this position was just a brief episode in their careers. The soldiers did not consider them theirs. The North introduced the practice of appointing legates of legions from among the lower-ranking commanders. Soon there were people who had spent their entire lives in the army, whom the soldiers trusted and who began to receive higher command positions, that is, political weight. It was these people who became the so-called soldier emperors, the civil wars between which tormented the Roman Empire for several decades.
The good emperors were followed by the reign of several bad emperors at the turn of the 2nd-3rd centuries. Some of the emperors who succeeded each other at that time were not at all involved in ruling the empire, but only surprised the people with their eccentricities and cruelties.
Civil wars that lasted for several decades disrupted economic ties between the provinces, making commodity farms unprofitable, large latifundia that had flourished before, most farms became subsistence farms, and an economically unified empire was no longer needed with subsistence farming.
For several decades, the legions were engaged in war with each other, and not with external enemies. During this time, the wild tribes on the borders of the empire got used to successful campaigns in the empire, which brought rich booty, scouted the routes of such campaigns and did not intend to refuse.
- During the civil wars, all sides got used to using barbarians as mercenaries, after the end of the civil wars, this practice continued. As a result, the Roman army no longer consisted of Romans, but of barbarians, and at all levels, including the highest command posts.
The seemingly endless streak of disasters, which seemed to people, led to a spiritual crisis in the empire, as a result of which new cults gained popularity, the main ones of which were Mithraism and Christianity.
As a result of the civil wars, as mentioned above, subsistence farming prevailed in the Roman Empire. Under a subsistence economy, in contrast to a commodity one, the use of slaves ceased to be effective, their share in society was declining. Instead, the number of columns increased - dependent people who worked on the land of the owner for a part of the harvest (from this institution the estate of serfs later developed). During the crisis, all the inhabitants of the empire became Roman citizens. Because of this, citizenship ceased to be a privilege, as before, it ceased to bear additional rights, only duties in the form of taxes remained. And after the deification of the ruler, the citizens finally turned into subjects.
3. Think: what were the goals of the administrative reforms of Diocletian and Constantine?
Diocletian and Constantine deified the power of the emperors, hoping by this to prevent further actions by the military commanders (they could not achieve this goal). In addition, the new administrative division of the empire into smaller provinces and the transfer of many officials from monetary to subsistence allowance (which was easier to deliver to the centers of smaller provinces) responded to the changed economic conditions, the actual transition of the empire to a subsistence economy.
4. Complete the table. What factors do you think played a decisive role in the decline of Rome?
As can be seen from the table, there were more internal reasons for the fall of the Western Roman Empire, they played a large role. Rome during the times of good emperors, perhaps, could have withstood the onslaught of the Great Nations Migration, the state weakened by the crisis did not cope with this task. On the other hand, it was the barbaric onslaught that aggravated the crisis and did not give time to overcome it. Therefore, it is truly impossible to separate internal and external reasons, their combination led to the fall of the Western Roman Empire.
5. How was the spiritual crisis of Roman society expressed? Why has the Christian Church become a tight-knit organization that has become an influential political and economic force?
The spiritual crisis was expressed in the growing popularity of numerous non-traditional cults for Roman society. And it's not only about Christianity and Mithraism, Eastern cults of various kinds flourished in large numbers.
In the conditions of a long crisis, all strata of society lacked confidence in the future. Christianity gave this assurance regarding, if not this world, but the future. Because of this, many members of the privileged strata of society also became Christians. They brought into the Christian church many elements of the Roman civil order, which made church life more orderly and gave it structure. The outbreak of persecution of Christians activated this structure and rallied the Christian church, which was trying to resist the persecution. Considering that this church united many people from the upper strata of society, it possessed their capital and political influence, becoming a powerful force in the state.
6. Make a detailed response plan on the subject of "The Fall of the Western Roman Empire."
1. Strengthening the onslaught of peoples from the flow of the Great Migration to the borders of the Roman Empire.
2. Allowing the Visigoths to settle in Roman territory.
3. The uprising of the Visigoths in 378 and their successful actions against the Roman troops.
4. The final division of the Roman Empire into Western and Eastern after the death of Theodosius the Great in 395.
5. Settlement of new barbarian tribes in Roman territory and their uprisings.
6. Periodic uprisings of the Roman generals (over time, more and more often from among the barbarians), their attempts to usurp the throne.
7. Fight against the invasion of the Huns.
8. Rule in the Western Roman Empire, often replaced by weak, often juvenile emperors.
9. Odoacer coup, end of the Western Roman Empire.
So, the empire reached its natural boundaries at the peak of its power in the 1st century. In a nutshell, the profitability of wars has exhausted itself and the complex social organism of the Roman Empire, in order to maintain its existence, began to take it inside the country.
I will focus on the economy, as it is a source of energy for the state. In addition, at the same time, we will have to familiarize ourselves with the history of the empire in the third century in order to understand the logic that guided the emperors in making decisions.
Empire Peak
The graph shows indicators of the level of the economy of the Roman Empire. The more shipwrecks, the more actively people swim and trade by sea. The level of lead pollution indicates the level of performance of the mining and industrial sectors. And in order to measure the growth of the Roman economy by this indicator, the researchers went ... to Greenland. To do this, we had to drill cores in the ice. The metal mining center was located in Spain at the time, which we will talk about below, and Greenland is 4000 km away from it. But the atmosphere polluted by the Romans in Spain is a dynamic system with constant circulation of air masses. And therefore, lead was carried away to the north, along with the circulation of the atmosphere, where it settled together with precipitation, accumulating in the ice. His concentration was measured.
The number of animal bones is understandable, it shows the level of livestock. And together they show the state of the economy.
Clear symptoms of the crisis were observed long before it took on a general character, in the most prosperous times in the history of the Roman Empire. Even behind the outward splendor of the "golden age" of the Antonins, deep problems were hidden.
The first signs of understanding the disastrous situation appeared in general at the end of the republic:
"The budget must be balanced, the treasury must be filled, the national debt must be
reduced, bureaucratic arrogance subdued, and aid to foreign
territories are limited, while Rome has not yet gone bankrupt. People must
learn to work and not rely on government assistance. "
Mark Tullius Cicero, 55 BC
So that's it. These words of Cicero have not lost their relevance today, for modern governments. Cicero focused on social aspects. But much larger and more fundamental problems were the problems that are an integral part of the ancient socio-economic formation based on the exploitation of slave labor and the plundering of the surrounding countries in the changed conditions.
Actually, the reason for this was the depletion of cash flows and slave labor that fed the empire's economy, as discussed in the previous post. The mismatch between supply and demand led to higher prices for slaves. If in the second, first centuries BC slaves cost from 400 to 500 denarii, then in the second century they cost 600 - 700 BC it was more profitable to buy a slave in the market than to raise him on his own farm.
The blood of a slave-trophy economy stopped flowing to Rome, ceasing to fill its economy. This was superimposed on the increased external pressure. Sassanian Empire, Germans and other barbarians.
Live fast, die young
Power began to exhibit great instability. The first sign was the assassination of Commodus, after which the civil war of 193-197 broke out. Whoever was popular with the troops, which, as a rule, was supported by money, controlled the country. As an excellent example of the imperial mentality of that time, the advice given by Emperor Septimius Severus, who, by the way, won power after the death of Commodus, the advice given to his sons - Caracalla and Geeta, can serve as an excellent example. He said, "Live in harmony, enrich the army and ignore everyone else." Actually, as they say now, a security official came to power. He relied exclusively on the army, and the government under him turned into a military-bureaucratic monarchy.
Interestingly, Diocletian and his predecessors, starting with the Severs, that is, who ruled in the worst times, caring only about themselves and the army, demanded that their subjects call the time of their reign "the golden age."
Caracalla's concept of state priorities can be explored on the basis of his phrase, "Nobody should have money except me, and I should have it in order to give it to my soldiers." Caracalla increased the soldiers' wages by 50% due to the fact that he doubled inheritance taxes. The principle "free people do not pay tribute taxes" was canceled. When the tax revenues of the citizens of Rome were not enough to cover the expenses of the emperor, in 212 he decided to give citizenship to all, without exception, people living in the Empire. But this did not save him either. Caracalla was killed. Whereas earlier Roman citizenship was a privilege, now it has come to mean simply an expansion of the tax base. Previously, in order to receive all the benefits that citizenship gave, one had to serve in the army. After this step, most of the motivation to serve simply disappeared.
The army was still recruited from volunteers, but in the late Roman army, service became compulsory. Conscripts often chopped off their thumb so that they could not hold a spear or sword. Those who were nevertheless taken into the army were branded as slaves so that they could be recognized if they deserted. But all this awaited the empire a little later.
Island of Rome
By the third century, slave and colonial revolts, which were previously very rare, became more frequent and widespread. The situation was complicated by the liberation movement of the peoples conquered by Rome. The situation was aggravated by epidemics. A large-scale smallpox epidemic of 165-180, the so-called plague of Antoninus, took about 7-10% of the population of the empire and possibly 13-15% of the population of cities and the army.After it, from 250 and from 270, the plague of Cyprian began to rage. It caused massive labor shortages in agriculture and the army. This, too, was a sweep for a Roman colossus.
From wars of conquest, Rome began to move to defensive ones. An army of conquest and economic plunder, turned into a regular army of border guards. The onslaught on the borders objectively intensified. A war on many fronts at the same time, with limited resources, is a sure path to death, as Germany has twice demonstrated in the twentieth century. The Romans also understood this. After an unsuccessful war in the east, Emperor Alexander Sever immediately headed west. The Germans crossed the Rhine and invaded Gaul. They had to move troops from the east and are preparing for a new military campaign. Alexander tried to bribe the German leaders. But this act looked cowardly in the eyes of his legionnaires.
Herodian wrote "in their opinion, Alexander did not show an honorable intention to continue the war and preferred an easy life, at a time when he was supposed to go and punish the Germans for their previous impudence".
The troops chose a new leader, and the North was killed. After that, it began to spin ... so much so that the previous civil war seemed like a small scuffle.
The struggle for power sharply escalated. And from 235 to 284, 26 emperors changed, of which only one died a natural death. That is, on average, at this time, the emperor ruled for 1.9 years. The 238th is generally known as the year of the six emperors. This time, almost constant civil war and anarchy, got the name - the era of "soldiers' emperors".
The Roman emperors tried to buy the loyalty of their soldiers by increasing wages. But in order to cover the additional costs, they also reduced the silver content of the minted denarii, exacerbating the already difficult financial situation in the country.
Correlation between the salary of a soldier and the silver content of the denarius.
Caracalla's father, Septimius Sever, reduced the amount of silver in the denarius to sixty percent, and Caracallus himself decided to reduce the amount of silver in the coin to fifty percent. In general, the topic of the content in the currency of precious metals, betraying its value, is interesting in itself and shows well how things were going with the empire. We will talk about it below.
The first signs of disintegration - the separatist states in the Roman Empire
Outside enemies exploited Rome's weakness when its legions fought each other and neglected their duty to prevent outside invasions. The Germans and Goths threatened the northern border of the empire. The Sassanid Empire posed a serious threat in the East. The provinces became victims of frequent raids. In the midst of this crisis, separatist states arose in Gaul and Palmyra, which seriously questioned the unity of the empire. Moreover, the queen of Palmyra, Zenobia, thought to subjugate Rome. That was such a serious situation.
The end is at hand
Positive feedbacks started to work. The crisis began to disrupt trade relations within the state, undermining the economy, which exacerbated the crisis both directly and through the fact that the state received fewer taxes and weakened militarily. Inflation hit trade just as hard. Road networks were not renewed, banditry began. This is how barter begins, self-sufficiency, in general, things more characteristic of the Middle Ages, where antiquity itself plunged. Self-sufficient, self-contained households emerged. The people living in them remembered less and less about the central authority of Rome and became more and more hostile to its tax collectors.
Organization is simplified by the loss of specialization, which is possible only with a large number of participants, which increases productivity. Specialization, in turn, collapses with the collapse of connections between the elements of the system.
The social organism is similar to the biological one. Individual cells benefit from being together and constituting a single large organism when there are benefits in terms of more efficient foraging and protection. If the connections inside the body break down, then there is no reason for individual cells to stay there. They do not gain benefits and begin to rely only on themselves. Large cities, as hubs for trade, began to decline.
Actually, in these conditions of circulation of emperors, a person could steadily gain a foothold, who would create such an administrative system that is imprisoned to oppress everyone and everything, so that no one rocked the boat. That the system itself would prevent the usurpation of power.
Energetic, tough soldiers-emperors began to come to power, who did not give a damn about the fate of the empire. The so-called Illyrian military junta. They received a common name from their place of origin - the romanized province of Illyria. They restored the army to its former power and efficiency, but they were focused only on the needs and interests of the military. The unity of the empire was restored in the 274th Aurelian.
Here it is important to say about such a moment: having turned from a polis democracy into an empire, the functions of people were divided. If earlier everyone was equal - all free peasant warriors, then later society was divided into specialists - peasants and soldiers. Because with the growth of the territory, the duration of the hikes and being out of the house grew in proportion. And who is to cultivate the land at this time?
Power in society began to be distributed asymmetrically. In accordance with this, the ruler, in order to sustainably hold power in his hands, in conditions of limited funds, also needed to restructure and asymmetrize cash flows in society. Indeed, the protest of specially trained, disciplined people with weapons is in itself a powerful force for the demolition of power, plus, it ceases to control the situation in the country.
At the beginning of their history, the troops largely provided themselves with equipment, and in the end were almost entirely financed by the state. The soldiers of the early republican army were unpaid. And the financial burden of the army at that time was minimal. During the expansion of the republic and later the early empire, the Roman troops acted as earners of the country's income, conquering countries. However, after Rome stopped expanding, this source of income dried up. And by the end of the 3rd century, Rome "ceased to win." The army has become a burden that has grown steadily.
The rise of Roman possessions
If you look at the territories conquered by Rome, and go back 200 years (top photos), you can see how quickly its territory is growing. But then it becomes clear how the expansion stops and the last two images with an interval of 220 years are practically indistinguishable.
If you look closely, you can see a purple hillock on the map of 140 over Greece, which is no longer on the map of 360. It would seem, well, what's wrong with that? But Rome in the east grabbed land, compensated for the loss. No, no. The purple tubercle is Dacia, the loss of which he did not compensate and which we will talk about below. So that's it. As I said in a previous post, Rome has reached its natural boundaries. And if you look at the diagram below, showing the list of Roman battles, you can see how the military activity of Rome has changed throughout history.
Victories and defeats of RomeAs you can see, after the tumultuous three centuries of victories, their number is falling. But here it is necessary to clarify. In the fourth century BC. the republic was just gaining momentum. So many defeats in the third century BC explained by the fact that Rome came together with its equal Carthage in a mortal battle. And the genius commander Hannibal inflicted a series of crushing defeats on Rome. Almost half of the victories of the first century BC provided by the genius of Julius Caesar. In the third century, half of the victories came from Aurelian. And these were not conquests, but the recapture of territories lost in the turmoil. In the fifth century, 2 victories were won by the combined Roman-Visigothic and Roman-British armies. That is, they somehow go into the set-off of the Romans, but the main roles were no longer played by them.
Against the background of a stop in income from conquests, the army is constantly growing.
The growth of the Roman army
As I mentioned in the previous post, in the East, Rome faced armies based on cavalry. This required Rome to increase the number of its cavalry, which was much more expensive to maintain than infantry.
Why is it so important to know what size the army was? The fact is that most of the money from taxes and rent payments received by the imperial government was spent on the military: in 150, this amounted to approximately 70-80% of the imperial budget. Imagine that the modern state has increased the spending on the most expensive budget item by a third, not to mention 50%. See how it breaks down and goes bankrupt. Rome had to. Forced wars with the Sassanids, Germans and other barbarians.
A bit of accounting. Even less gold and silver
The structure of the expenditure side of the Roman budget looked like this:
Military expenses - 70%
Civil Service - Judiciary, Police, Government Offices - 10%
Social expenses - 5%
Economic infrastructure - 5%
Others, mainly expenses on foreign affairs - 10%
To support the growing army amid dwindling revenues, the government began to tax the people more and more. Both the number of taxes and their value increased.
In the century after Augustus' death, the central administration was stable and the government's expenses were covered by growing wealth. After that, government spending (salaries of soldiers and an increase in the bureaucratic apparatus due to the increase in the number of provinces) increased sharply and began to exceed revenues. The imperial power could only cover the increased costs by minting and increasing taxes. Both strategies were set in motion, and both undermined the empire's prosperity and stability.
An unpleasant surprise was the scarcity of the material from which the coins were minted and which provided their value.
Vernadsky wrote: “Probably the most important of the gold mining in the Roman era were the deposits of the Iberian Peninsula. The grandiose developments in southern Portugal and Spain are described by Pliny