Chapter 7: the great imperial crisis (250-500)
The Period between 250-500 => imperial regression
The Western Roman Empire was overrun by barbarians
Parts of the imperial grandeur lived on in Constantinople, but the Eastern Roman Empire would
never attain the same power as that of the first two centuries of imperial Rome
In China: the barbarians swarmed over the kingdoms into which the Han Empire had splintered
The period from the 3the -5the century saw the two great centres of power, Rome and China, succumb to a
combination of international weakness and unrelenting pressures.
The fatal thrust came from the heart of Eurasia , where the plains and the valleys of Mongolia and
central Asia where inhabited by the Xiongnu and the related people known as the Huns (who
comprised various tribal grouping)
1. The core of these genetically and culturally related societies who followed their cattle from
land to land.
Semi-nomads and traders maintained relations with sedentary, agricultural societies, which looked
down on the wandering people
2. In the third century, relations between wandering tribes and agricultural centres were
profoundly disturbed => this was caused by environmental changes => the Xiongnu and
the Huns were forced to move
The steppes became drier between 242 and 293
The clashes between the Xiongnu, the Xianbei and Chian along the Yellow River
became more frequent
The Hun left their homeland on the banks of Volga
In 370 they crossed the Don and reached the Danube a few years later,
where they classed with the Goths, who dwelt in that area
The exodus of the Goths panicked their fellow Germanic people, who lived
along the borders of the Roman Empire
The Germanic people fled, overrunning the borders of the Roman lines
The same climatic change that drove the Huns out of their plains, combined with overpopulation,
accelerated the migration of Germanic tribes from the Baltic region towards the Black sea
3. The Baltic had been a transit zone for both trade and migration but this exodus was far
larger and more destabilizing
The Goths became involved in roman infighting over the imperial successions, resulting in the
deaths of thousands (in 350 they moved to the Danube where they clashed agains Roman legions)
4. Conflicts between the Gothic tribes, over land and leadership were also rife. They were
plagues by famine and vanguard of the Hun incursion
In an act of desperation, the Goths crossed the Danube into the Roman Empire =>
they were at mercy of local leaders, who enslaved Gothic children in exchange for
food
In 405, the Goths marched on Rome to demand land and rights
The Vandals (another major Germanic people) had travelled the Baltic sea in the second century
and came into conflict with the tribes there. Around 270 they moved on to the Danube, where they
made a pact with Rome to stay on the northern bank
5. When the Goths arrived, they begged the Romans for permission to relocate.
6. But defeats by the Goths and the Huns forced them west
7. In 429, they traversed the Strait of Gibraltar to Africa, where they fought off Roman troops
and founded a Vandal Kingdom
, These migrations were a völkerwanderung: sustained migration crises caused by a combination of climatic
changes, hardship, insecurity, and the lure of wealth => they rapidly spiralled out of control
8. First into wars with peoples already inhabiting the lands they entered
9. And then, fatally, with the Roman Empire itself
The fallen of the Roman Empire
There was a lot of unrest in the Roman Empire. A Christian writer and Bishop wrote of a world order that
was passing away only heaven could bring salvation from plague and oppression
At that them there were emergencies on the empire’s borders
10. The empire Philip the Arab, had been forced to sign an embarrassing peace treaty with the
Sasanians, surrendering all claims on Armenia and paying a large indemnity, in order to
have his hands free to defend the northern frontier
11. The late fifth century Byzantine historian Zosimus wrote of universal confusion and
feebleness at the time
Rome => political weakness
12. The averages reign was only three years during the century that followed the millenary
13. In 293 Diocletian attempted to stem the crisis in imperial authority by appointing three co-
rulers, each responsible for governing a part of the empire => his reign was emblematic of
the paradoxes that haunted the Roman Empire
On one hand, there were no limits to the military ambition
Fortresses were refurbished, the army expanded, and campaigns launches
against enemies outside the imperial borders
Foreign delegates were forced to abase themselves in the traditional
Persian style, lying flat on the ground in the presence of the emperor
On the other hand, Diocletian struggled to cope with social unrest within the
empire caused by massive price inflation
The emperor tried his hand on populism, singling out wealthy speculators
for blame
He had catastrophic policies of debasing the coinage, attempting to
impose maximum prices, and increasing taxes to pay for greater military
expenditure => Tax revolts broke out all over the empire
14. The strong government and reforms of the emperor Constantine brought a period of relief
after a period of civil war
To control the inflation, he introduced a new golf coin => the solidus
He wanted to end the blight of religious violence between pagans and Christians by
making the Edict of Milan in 313, which recognized the right to religious freedom
The edict is regarded as the point at which the Roman Empire formally stop
from persecuting Christians and began to adopt their faith
He decides to move the capital to the old Greek city of Byzantium (in 330 it became
Constantinople) in order to increase his grip over the wealthy eastern provinces
and facilitate the renewed centralization of imperial authority
In reality: in the fourth century the Roman empire split into western and
eastern halves, with rival emperors ruling from Rome and Constantinople
The empire remained defending its northern borders, understanding that it would
the barbarians only take a matter of days to march into Central Italy
The Period between 250-500 => imperial regression
The Western Roman Empire was overrun by barbarians
Parts of the imperial grandeur lived on in Constantinople, but the Eastern Roman Empire would
never attain the same power as that of the first two centuries of imperial Rome
In China: the barbarians swarmed over the kingdoms into which the Han Empire had splintered
The period from the 3the -5the century saw the two great centres of power, Rome and China, succumb to a
combination of international weakness and unrelenting pressures.
The fatal thrust came from the heart of Eurasia , where the plains and the valleys of Mongolia and
central Asia where inhabited by the Xiongnu and the related people known as the Huns (who
comprised various tribal grouping)
1. The core of these genetically and culturally related societies who followed their cattle from
land to land.
Semi-nomads and traders maintained relations with sedentary, agricultural societies, which looked
down on the wandering people
2. In the third century, relations between wandering tribes and agricultural centres were
profoundly disturbed => this was caused by environmental changes => the Xiongnu and
the Huns were forced to move
The steppes became drier between 242 and 293
The clashes between the Xiongnu, the Xianbei and Chian along the Yellow River
became more frequent
The Hun left their homeland on the banks of Volga
In 370 they crossed the Don and reached the Danube a few years later,
where they classed with the Goths, who dwelt in that area
The exodus of the Goths panicked their fellow Germanic people, who lived
along the borders of the Roman Empire
The Germanic people fled, overrunning the borders of the Roman lines
The same climatic change that drove the Huns out of their plains, combined with overpopulation,
accelerated the migration of Germanic tribes from the Baltic region towards the Black sea
3. The Baltic had been a transit zone for both trade and migration but this exodus was far
larger and more destabilizing
The Goths became involved in roman infighting over the imperial successions, resulting in the
deaths of thousands (in 350 they moved to the Danube where they clashed agains Roman legions)
4. Conflicts between the Gothic tribes, over land and leadership were also rife. They were
plagues by famine and vanguard of the Hun incursion
In an act of desperation, the Goths crossed the Danube into the Roman Empire =>
they were at mercy of local leaders, who enslaved Gothic children in exchange for
food
In 405, the Goths marched on Rome to demand land and rights
The Vandals (another major Germanic people) had travelled the Baltic sea in the second century
and came into conflict with the tribes there. Around 270 they moved on to the Danube, where they
made a pact with Rome to stay on the northern bank
5. When the Goths arrived, they begged the Romans for permission to relocate.
6. But defeats by the Goths and the Huns forced them west
7. In 429, they traversed the Strait of Gibraltar to Africa, where they fought off Roman troops
and founded a Vandal Kingdom
, These migrations were a völkerwanderung: sustained migration crises caused by a combination of climatic
changes, hardship, insecurity, and the lure of wealth => they rapidly spiralled out of control
8. First into wars with peoples already inhabiting the lands they entered
9. And then, fatally, with the Roman Empire itself
The fallen of the Roman Empire
There was a lot of unrest in the Roman Empire. A Christian writer and Bishop wrote of a world order that
was passing away only heaven could bring salvation from plague and oppression
At that them there were emergencies on the empire’s borders
10. The empire Philip the Arab, had been forced to sign an embarrassing peace treaty with the
Sasanians, surrendering all claims on Armenia and paying a large indemnity, in order to
have his hands free to defend the northern frontier
11. The late fifth century Byzantine historian Zosimus wrote of universal confusion and
feebleness at the time
Rome => political weakness
12. The averages reign was only three years during the century that followed the millenary
13. In 293 Diocletian attempted to stem the crisis in imperial authority by appointing three co-
rulers, each responsible for governing a part of the empire => his reign was emblematic of
the paradoxes that haunted the Roman Empire
On one hand, there were no limits to the military ambition
Fortresses were refurbished, the army expanded, and campaigns launches
against enemies outside the imperial borders
Foreign delegates were forced to abase themselves in the traditional
Persian style, lying flat on the ground in the presence of the emperor
On the other hand, Diocletian struggled to cope with social unrest within the
empire caused by massive price inflation
The emperor tried his hand on populism, singling out wealthy speculators
for blame
He had catastrophic policies of debasing the coinage, attempting to
impose maximum prices, and increasing taxes to pay for greater military
expenditure => Tax revolts broke out all over the empire
14. The strong government and reforms of the emperor Constantine brought a period of relief
after a period of civil war
To control the inflation, he introduced a new golf coin => the solidus
He wanted to end the blight of religious violence between pagans and Christians by
making the Edict of Milan in 313, which recognized the right to religious freedom
The edict is regarded as the point at which the Roman Empire formally stop
from persecuting Christians and began to adopt their faith
He decides to move the capital to the old Greek city of Byzantium (in 330 it became
Constantinople) in order to increase his grip over the wealthy eastern provinces
and facilitate the renewed centralization of imperial authority
In reality: in the fourth century the Roman empire split into western and
eastern halves, with rival emperors ruling from Rome and Constantinople
The empire remained defending its northern borders, understanding that it would
the barbarians only take a matter of days to march into Central Italy
