Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - The Crisis of the Third Century

Episode Date: August 28, 2024

The Roman Empire, at its height, was a juggernaut.  However, during the third century, almost everything fell apart. In fact, for a brief period of time, it arguably did.  It suffered from invasions, plagues, a collapsing economy, lower agricultural productivity, and numerous political assassinations.  They eventually solved their problems, but the Empire was changed forever. Learn more about the Crisis of the Third Century and how the Roman Empire almost collapsed on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors Sign up for ButcherBox today by going to Butcherbox.com/daily and use code daily at checkout to get $30 off your first box! Subscribe to the podcast!  https://link.chtbl.com/EverythingEverywhere?sid=ShowNotes -------------------------------- Executive Producer: Charles Daniel Associate Producers: Ben Long & Cameron Kieffer   Become a supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/everythingeverywhere Update your podcast app at newpodcastapps.com Discord Server: https://discord.gg/UkRUJFh Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everythingeverywhere/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/everythingeverywheredaily Twitter: https://twitter.com/everywheretrip Website: https://everything-everywhere.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Roman Empire at its height was a juggernaut. However, during the 3rd century, almost everything fell apart. In fact, for a brief period of time, it arguably did. It suffered from invasions, plagues, a collapsing economy, lower agricultural productivity, and numerous, numerous political assassinations. They eventually solved their problems, but in the process, the entire empire was changed forever. Learn more about the crisis of the 3rd century and how the Roman Empire almost collapsed, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

What if your perceptions about the past were wrong? ThruLine is a podcast that takes you back in time to uncover the parts of the story that may have gone unnoticed. It effectively turned day into night. And how it shaped the world now. Time travel with us every week on the ThruLine podcast from NPR. Before I start this episode, let me give you fair warning. This period in Roman history had a lot of imperial turnover, and most of the emperors were not

ones that you have heard of before. Most of them had unusually short tenures, came to power through their predecessors' assassination, and were assassinated themselves. Other than getting some coins made with their faces on them, few of them had any lasting impact on Roman civilization or world history. Historians have dubbed the period in Roman history from the years 235 to 284, a 49-year span that saw the empire almost fall apart, the crisis of the third century. Before this period kicked off, several macro-level problems paved the way for the crisis, and some of which continued to take place during the crisis, which made this period so bad. The first was the Antonine Plague. Although the Antonine Plague didn't occur during the

the crisis of the third century, it devastated the population, dramatically weaken the Roman army, and damage the economy. Then came the plague of Cyprian, which lasted from 249 to 262. The plague is believed to have caused the population of Alexandria, for example, the second largest city in the empire, to drop by 60%. Another major problem during this period was inflation. During the reign of Augustus, the Roman silver coined the Denerius, had a silver content of about 98%. However, starting with Emperor Nero, emperors began reducing the silver content to the coins. At the start of the crisis, the silver content of the denarius was about 50%, and it dropped precipitously during the crisis. The debasement of the currency was mostly to pay for armies. They could effectively

raise money by using the same amount of silver to make more denari coins. And by the same token, the aureus, the Roman gold coin, was also debased, going from 95% gold during Augustus to about 38% gold during the middle of the crisis. Debasing the currency caused prices to rise, which caused economic chaos. The third century also saw the beginning of the end of the Roman climate optimum period. This was a period of warm temperatures that saw increased agricultural productivity. It would be several centuries before this period would be considered over, but the third century marked an increase in the variability in temperatures. Perhaps most important was the Roman political system. Ever since Augustus established the empire, there was never a system of

succession which was put in place. Every time one emperor replaced another, things were kind of up in the air. When things were stable, succession plans were made well in advance. However, when an emperor died unexpectedly or was assassinated, things were thrown into chaos, and it usually became a matter of who had the bigger army. The crisis is usually said to have begun in the year 235 with the assassination of Emperor Alexander Severus. Severus ascended to the imperial throne in the year 22, with the assassination of his cousin, Elagabalus.

He was only 14 years old when he became emperor. Elagabalus was one of, if not the worst emperors in Roman history, something I covered in my episode on the worst emperors. Severus's 13-year reign was the longest. since Antoninus Pius, who died in 161. This period of stability was broken with his assassination at the hands of his own troops. The soldiers grew discontent with Alexander Severus' policies, particularly his attempts to negotiate with the Germanic tribes rather than confront them

militarily. Severus was also dominated by his mother who had cut spending on the military. So they got rid of Severus and turned to a military leader by the name of Maximinus Thrax. By all accounts, Maximinus was a large and strong man who had worked his way up the ranks and was respected by the army. However, those traits do not necessarily carry over to being a good emperor. Maximinus was the first of what would be called barracks emperors, men who came up through the army. Unlike Severus who tried to buy off the Germanic tribes, Maximinus kept Rome in an almost constant state of war. He was never popular with the Senate or the people who considered him an outsider.

He raised taxes and was considered a despot. In 238, the empire experienced what became known as the year of six emperors. Maximinus was the first of that year. An uprising erupted in North Africa after locals killed a tax collector. The regional governor, Gordian, declared himself and his son co-emperors, and the Senate ratified their claim in March. They were emperors two and three. They were emperors two and three, Gordian I first and Gordian the second. Maximinus was still alive, and forces loyal to him were fighting against the Gordians and the Senate. 22 days after being declared emperor, Gordian the second was killed in combat, fighting forces

loyal to Maximinus. And when he heard the news, his father, Gordian I, killed himself. Maximinus was declared a public enemy by the Senate, and in April they turned to two elderly senators, Pupianus and Belbinus, who they declared co-emperors. They were numbers four and five. In June, Maximinus was killed by soldiers in his own army, and in July, both Pupianus and Balbinus were killed by the Praetorian Guard in Rome. The Senate then declared the son of Gordian I and the nephew of Gordian II as Emperor,

who became known as Gordian III. Gordian the Third was the sole emperor at the age of 13, the youngest sole emperor ever to rule over a United Roman Empire. However, five years and seven months later, in 244, he too was killed at the age of 19. He died under mysterious circumstances while at war with the Persians. He's widely believed to have been murdered, most probably at the hands of the leader of the Praetorian Guard, and the man who succeeded him as emperor, Philip the Arab. Philip and his son, Philip II, also ruled for five years and seven months. The usurper named Desius claimed the throne

and started a civil war. In 249, both Philip and his son were killed at the Battle of Verona by the forces of Decius, and Decius was then declared emperor. I think you probably realize by now that the third century was a very bad time to be a Roman emperor. In 251, less than two years after becoming emperor, Desius has killed in battle against the Goths, marking the first time a Roman emperor died in combat against a foreign enemy. The Senate then taps Decius' son, Hostilian as emperor. In a shocking turn of events, Hostilian was. wasn't assassinated or killed in combat. About four months after he became emperor, he died of the

plague. The death of Hostilian probably wasn't a bad thing insofar as the Danubian legions had declared someone else emperor, Trebonianus Gallus. Trebonianus Gallus lasted for a little over two years before his troops assassinated him in favor of a provincial governor by the name of Amelian. Amelian lasts two months before, surprise, he's murdered by the by his own troops. In 253, the Rhine legions declare for another provincial governor named Valerian. Valerian declares his son, Galeanus, co-emperor. However, Valerian does something that hasn't been seen before. He splits the empire between him and his son, with his son taking the west and he the east. There was a reason for this. Everything was starting to fall apart. The Persians were

invading Roman lands in the east. They or their vassal states had conquered Antioch and Armenia. Valerian set about taking the Roman lands back, which he was initially successful in doing. However, in 260, while fighting the Persians, Valerian was not killed in combat or assassinated. Something worse happened. He was captured alive by the Persian king Sharper I. The reason why his capture was worse than death was because it was a huge, sign of weakness for Rome. Valerian ended up dying in captivity, and there were many rumors as to how he was killed. These include being forced to drink molten gold and being flayed alive, but there's nothing conclusive either way. Gallienis was now the sole emperor, but he faced a crisis. Provinces in both

the east and the west declared their independence from Rome. In the west, the Gallic Empire was declared in the provinces of Gaul, Britannia, and Hispania, under Marcus, Cassinius, Latinus, posthumous. In the east, Queen Zenobia established the Palmarine Empire in the eastern provinces, which included Syria and Egypt. For another eight years, Galeanus ruled as emperor, unable to reunify the empire. In fact, it got worse because in 267, the Goths broke through the defensive lines to sack Roman towns and the Balkans and Greece, including Athens. Finally, in 268, Gellianus received the reward that most third-century emperors received when his own troops assassinated him. He was replaced by the successful General Claudius,

known as Claudius II. Soon after becoming emperor, Claudius finally delivered some good news for the Romans when he defeated the Goths at the Battle of Nysus. The battle earned him the name Gothicus. However, Claudius was old for a Roman, 60, and he died about a year later from the plague. He was replaced. by his brother Quintillus. It isn't clear what happened to him, but historians put his rule at somewhere between 17 and 77 days, and his death was probably murder.

In 270, the Danubian legions declared Orwellian Emperor. Aurelian was the first truly competent emperor in several decades. Aurelian defeated both the Gallic and Palm Marine breakaway empires reuniting the Roman Empire and earning the title Restitutor Orbis, or Restorer of the World. He ordered the construction of new defensive walls around Rome to protect against external threats, and he attempted to stabilize the economy

by reforming the currency and addressing hyperinflation. In 275, in thanks for all of Aurelian's hard work, he got what every other emperor did. Assassinated. For the next nine years, the conveyor belt of emperors actually got faster. After a few months without an emperor, where it was quite possible Aurelian's wife actually ruled,

the elderly Tacitus became emperor. He ruled for only nine months before either dying of natural causes or being assassinated, depending on which historian you believe. He was replaced by his brother Florianus, who ruled for three months before being assassinated. He was replaced by Probus, who actually managed to rule for six years before being assassinated. He was replaced by Karras,

who ruled for ten months before being assassinated. killed by lightning. Something a little different. He was replaced by his son's Numarian and Carinas. Numerian was assassinated in 284 and Carinus was killed in battle in 285 by the man who finally ended the crisis of the third century, Diocletian. Diocletian is not assassinated or killed in combat. In fact, he went on to become one of the most important Roman emperors in history, completely overhauling the economic, military, and political structure of the empire. Diocletian ruled for 21 years until he voluntarily abdicated so he could retire and grow cabbages, which he did for four years until dying of natural causes,

which was a highly unnatural way for a Roman emperor to die during this period. The story of Diocletian will be for a future episode, as there were so many reforms that he instituted. Now, if everything I just went over in this episode seems really confusing in a giant mess, that's because it was. There were people in the outer fringes of the empire who had no clue who the emperor was for much of this period because the job was being changed so frequently. If things had gone slightly different,

the Roman Empire might have ended in the third century, almost 200 years before it did actually fall in the West. And the only reason it didn't fall apart was really due to luck and the fact that the right emperors came along at just the right. time. The executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Charles Daniel. The associate producers are Benji Long and Cameron Kiever. I want to give a big shout out to everyone who supports the show over on Patreon, including the show's producers. Your support helps me put out a show every single day. And also, Patreon is currently the only place where Everything Everywhere Daily merchandise

is available to the top tier of supporters. If you'd like to talk to other listeners of the show and members of the Completionist Club, you can join the Everything Everywhere Daily Facebook group, or Discord server. Links to everything are in the show notes.