3rd Century Roman Crisis

3400 Words14 Pages
What was in crisis, and why, in the third century? How was the empire changed as a result? The Roman Empire was one of the largest empires ever created over the course of human history stretching from harsh, arid deserts of the middle-east across the whole of the Mediterranean Sea to the cold wetlands of Britain. At the centre of this phenomenal empire was the civilisation of the Roman people that dictated the future of millions of people which left a legacy that has lasted to the present day. Yet as with all empires, the Roman Empire eventually began a gradual decline and during the height of the third Century CE, The Roman Empire suffered one of its greatest crises in its history. The succession of Crisis that occurred throughout this century forever left wounds that could not be sustained and contributed to its final decline and fall. The Roman Empire by the start of the third Century CE was one of the largest empires in the ancient world. Ruled from Rome in central Italy the empire was stretching from Palestine in the east, to Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey), The Balkan Peninsula up to the Danube River (in modern day Hungary and Romania) along the Danube to the Swiss alps and up to the Rhine river till the English Channel and the Atlantic Ocean covering Gaul (Modern-day France), Spain and Britain as well as Egypt and the entire North African Coast. Such a vast amount of land could only be held together by power and force as the lands of the Roman Empire were divided up into provinces that were maintained by governors who represented the Emperor or Princeps. The northern limit was in Britain where, after an unsuccessful attempt by the emperor Antonine Pius (86-161CE), to annex southern Scotland, the frontier was eventually established on Hadrian's Wall, which stretched from the Tyne to the Solway in northern Britain. The whole of the Iberian Peninsula was
Open Document