Weakening+and+Transformation+of+the+Roman+Empire




 * [[image:rotating gif.gif width="43" height="43"]]See Grade 7.42 for more information on the Fall of the Roman Empire. **


 * The image to the left is the “Grande Ludovisi” sarcophagus, with battle scene between Roman soldiers and Germans, dated from 251 CE **

In AD 180, as Commodus started to rule Rome, the Roman Empire fell into turmoil.

It was in the beginning of a collapse of political institutions, a weakening of the army, and economic disaster.

Moreover, under Caligus, Commodus, and Nero, even though they oversaw the government of the Empire, the life of an average Roman citizen worsened.

After the murder of Commodus in AD 192, the fighting over the seat to the throne erupted into civil war, changing every aspect of Roman life. During the Severan dynasty, which ruled Rome from 193-235CE, civil war continued in many areas. Septimus, part of the Severan dynasty, kept his soldiers loyal by raising their annual pay and also by relaxing the strict military discipline. Legionaries that were on active duty were allowed to marry, farm their own land, and even live in the city as opposed to living in a camp. Septimus trusted his army so much as to give his soldiers numerous administrative tasks such as tax collection. Such actions lessened military readiness.

Septimus made it very open that his regime relied mainly on the military alone. In fact, his final words to his sons, Caracalla and Geta, were, "Live in harmony; enrich the troops; ignore everyone else." By making his troops feel as relaxed as he could, he intended to secure the future of his dynasty. Contradictory to his ambition, this ended up weakening the imperial defenses and inflaming the greed and ambition of the soldiers. His plan did not meet his hopes, having his five successors, and both of his sons, murdered.

The Severan dynasty stayed in power by indulging the troops over several decades. However, it was soon apparent that the costs of doing so were enormous. This age was full of turmoil. Despite this, the Roman Empire remained large and had an impressive system of law, food production, frontier defense, and commerce. **Factors that led to the weakening of the Empire**:
 * Civil war and the collapse of central authority affected Roman life and culture.
 * Increasingly harsh demands for funds to support the armies and the bureaucracy made Roman civilian’s life hard. Many farmers fled their land to work for large landholders or turned to robbery because they could not pay such high taxes.
 * Geographically, the Western Empire had to defend a long border along the Rhine and Danube rivers, western Empire cities were weaker and newer. The eastern Empire had more population and wealthy cities that provided men and supplies for a larger army.
 * Rome was subject to numerous invasions by the Germanic tribes. These weakened central authority, disrupted trade, hurt agriculture, and destroyed communities.
 * The military needed more items to support itself. This caused taxes to rise and the richer class of people avoided them. Emperors doubled inheritance taxes paid by Roman citizens, then extended citizenship to nearly everybody in the Roman Empire so that there would be a larger tax-paying population. The bulk of tax revenue began to come from poor farmers who had barely enough to support themselves. This caused an increase in poverty and contributed to the economic decline of the Roman Empire.

For more information, The Ambush That Changed History from Smithsonian Magazine (September 2005) describes the decisive Battle of Teutoburg Wald (Teutoburg Forest).
 * For more, see Battle of the Teutoburg Forest (9 AD)
 * One third of the Roman army was destroyed in this battle that cost 30,000 lives

Additionally, Emperors gradually debased Roman coinage.
 * Silver coins, the basic currency of the Empire, were made of 95% pure silver when they were first introduced under Augustus.
 * This standard slipped to 85% in 117, 75% in 180, and finally sank to 50% before the death of Carcalla in 217. The reduced value of the basic unit of Roman currency caused a massive amount of inflation, leading to panic and poverty in the government and the general population.

Though some Emperors made an effort to reverse this trend, inflation caused by the fiscal irresponsibility of previous regimes made it impossible to reverse the effects of inflation. In 301, Emperor Diocletian fixed the price at 50,000 denarii (basic silver coins) as equal to one pound of gold. At the death of Constantine in 337, scarcely 36 years later, this price had risen to 20,000,000 denarii per pound of gold - and Constantine was reasonable, compared to the lack of fiscal responsibility demonstrated by many other Emperors.

The east also had a stronger economic base provided by the rich lands of Egypt. It also received a financial boost from trade with Arabia, China, and India. Rome taxed Egypt and North Africa for grain. As Germanic tribes seized more taxable lands, revenues fell and the west could barely support its unproductive soldiers, civil servants, and clergy. It did not have enough money to support the bribes that the Germanic invaders wanted in order to leave.