Academy of Lifelong Learning Daniel Stephens Fall of the Roman

Academy of Lifelong Learning Daniel Stephens Fall of the Roman Empire Topics —  Marcus Opelius Macrinus —  How To Lose Friends and Empires. —  Rule Of The Empresses —  Elagabalus —  Worshiping the Sun —  Eccentric Tastes —  End of the Line —  Severus Alexander —  Peace For Ten Years —  The Sassanid's —  Death In Germany — 
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The Year Of Six Emperors The Years of Anarchy Valerian I & Gallienus Open Rebellion Palmyra The Gallic Empire Claudius II And Then Gone Aurelian Annihilating Palmyra Ending the Gallic Empire Trying to Fix Rome Probus Descent into Chaos Marcus Opelius Macrinus 217-­‐218 —  A prominent lawyer, Macrinus was — 
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promoted by Caracalla to prefect of the Praetorian Guard. Upon the murder of Caracalla Macrinus took the throne, despite never having served as in the Senate or any other political post. He would have to quickly rally the Roman army to fend off an attack by the approaching Parthians. After an indecisive victory, Macrinus would broker a shady peace with the Parthia handing over huge amounts of silver and gold. This would be the first in many mistakes that would lead to his untimely death. How Not To Win Over The Army —  In his peace settlement Macrinus handed over Armenia to Parthia, a province that the army had fought hard to keep. —  He pulled away the bonuses that Caracalla had promised the army. Veterans still made pay, but any new soldiers could not expect anything. —  After doing this he would parade in front of the army in gold and jewels, flaunting his new found luxury. —  He would then appoint an Fumentarii, named Adventus as head of state and Consul to rule in his absence. The Rule of the Empresses —  Another major thing Macrinus failed to — 
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do was wipe out any Severan candidates for the throne. After Caracalla's death his mother Julia Domna committed suicide. Macrinus would always be suspected of having to do with her death. Julia Maesa, Sister to Julia Domna was upset that Macrinus had throne her out of the palace. She would then turn to her daughter’s sons Severus Alexander and Elagabalus to replace Macrinus. She would circulate rumors that Elagabalus, who looked kinda like Caracalla, was in fact his illegitimate son. Julia Maesa would then pay off the army to have Macrinus murdered and Elagabalus put on the throne. Varius Avitas Bassianus (Elagabalus) 218-­‐222 —  Elagabalus at 14 years old would be handed the Empire, with his mother Julia Soaemias and his Grandmother Julia Maesa as his regents. —  A the beginning the Roman people liked Elagabalus because of his youth and good looks, but the fondness stopped right there. —  Elagabalus had no interest in running the empire. His own agenda would be to subvert the traditional gods of the Roman people and try to break every moral rule that Roman society held sacred. Worshiping the Sun God —  Elagabalus fervently worshiped the sun — 
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god Heliogabalus of Emesa. It was said that Heliogabalus descended to earth on a black stone (meteorite) in Emesa, which Elagabalus had taken to Rome. He would construct a large temple to the god and make worship of all other Roman god’s illegal. He would become Rome’s head priest of the Sun God and hold cross dressing rhythmic rituals and orgies at the temple. He would then try to marry the chief Vestal in a form of a union between Rome’s two many Religious cults. Later he would build an even larger temple to Heliogabalus in which he personally pulled a chariot with the god’s statue driving it to the new temple. ViolaKng Virtas as a Way of Life —  He was a rampant bi-­‐sexual posing — 
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as Venus during copulation. He would appoint his male lovers to high positions in the government. He made hid barber the prefect of grain, a mule-­‐driver the collector of taxes, and gave his freedmen positions as generals and governors. He demanded his baths be perfumed with Saffron. He kept lions and leopards as pets. He gave away eunuchs as banquet gifts. Wore cloths only made from silk. And he would invite men with the same disabilities in pairs of eight to his feasts. Death Of the Sun —  In 221 Julia Maesa had seen the — 
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problems were mounting between her and her daughter. She pressured Elagabalus to name his cousin Severus Alexander as his heir, which he did. But… in 222 he would order the Praetorian Guard to murder Alexander. The Guard though disgusted with Elagabalus, liked Alexander so they would turn on the Emperor. On March 6th Elagabalus and his mother Julia would be murdered. Their bodies would be dragged through the streets so the people could spit on them and then they were thrown away in the Tiber. Severus Alexander 222-­‐235 —  Severus was the classic example of being — 
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born 100 years too late. He was kind, thoughtful, and had the best interest of the Roman people at heart. If he was 100 years younger he would have been remembered as one of the “Good Emperors”. He would like Elagabalus be ruled by his grandmother and mother, but he would listen to them and take their advice. Julia Maesa would die in 226 and his mother Julia Manaea would declare herself Augusta. She would give power to the senate and make the senator Domitius Ulpianus the Praetorian prefect. They would give back control of the empire to most of the senators and governors that Elagabalus deposed like the historian Cassius Dio. Bringing Peace and Stability —  Severus Alexander and his mother would bring a calm to the chaos that surrounded his reign. —  He increased the alimentia, paid for public education and increased the wages of the army. —  In 228, Alexander’s Praetorian prefect Ulpianus was murdered by his own men, in 229 Cassius Dio had to be released as consul or face murder from the guard. —  By 230 Alexander’s reign was beginning to crumble. In come the Sassanid Empire — 
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In 224 Artaxerxes, who was descended from the Persian kings of old invaded Parthia and overthrew the last Parthian king, Artabanos IV. He would establish what would be called the Sassanid empire, named after his family name Sassan. Artaxerxes would then begin to work on restoring the traditions of the ancient Persian empire. He would restore the Zoroastrian religion, which worshiped Ahura Mazda. It was one of the first recorded monotheistic religions that preached eternal life after death, with a reunited body and soul. Alexander would lead his armies against Artaxerxes and defeat his in battle. Alexander, not a strong military leader would take the advice of his generals and split his army into three separate ones. The Armies would then in turn venture into Parthia and attack Artaxerxes on three different fronts. The three armies became bogged down and separated. The Southern army was routed, the middle army after moving through Ctesiphon was halted, and the northern army enjoyed a little success. The victory was pyrrhic for Alexander and he would have to settle a hasty peace with Artaxerxes in 233. Death in Germany —  Alexander had lost too many men — 
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in Parthia and now the German chiefs sensing weakness would begin attacking over the border. Alexander, with his mother would move his armies into Germany in 234. Alexander hoped this quick campaign would restore his prestige with the army after the debacle with the Sassanids. Again Alexander's lack of experience as a general showed through and the campaign quickly turned south. In 235, led by the general Maximinus Thrax, the troops mutinied and Alexander and his mother Julia Mamaea were killed. The Year of the Six Emperors — 
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With the crowning of Maximinus the floodgates opened for murder and mayhem. Maximinus immediately attacked the Germanic tribes and cut Rome’s grain supply to feed the troops. The aristocracy in Rome revolted and declared Gordian I and Gordian II were declared emperor in North Africa. A supporter for Maximinus murdered the Gordians on April 12, 238. The Senate would declare Maximinus an enemy of the state and elect Pupienus and Balbinus co-­‐emperors April 22. They in turned to stop the riots that broke out in the N. African provinces, declared Gordian’s nephew Gordian III co-­‐emperor. Maximinus would lead his armies from the Balkans into Italy and besiege the city of Aquilia. Unable to take the city, Maximinus’s army mutinied and he was murdered on April 30th. Pupienus and Balbinus would be murdered by their Praetorian guard on July 29thm who were fearful of the shifting alliances would turn against them. Immediately the guard would back the ascension of the young Gordian III as sole ruler. The Industrial Military Complex —  The year of the four emperors and the — 
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proceeding years of anarchy will show that Rome’s military complex was out of control. To become emperor all one had to do was to bribe enough generals and they could wear the imperial diadem. The legions and the guard would in-­‐turn try to one up each other by placing the candidates that would best suite them on the throne. Now with no cut in the spending on an inflated military, and the constant minting of baseless coinage, the Roman economy began to take a nose dive. The only constant would be that military spending and bribery would be the only constant. While the anarchy continued the empires borders would begin to falter and new empires would be carved out by Rome’s generals. The Years of Anarchy — 
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Gordian III would only rule for Six years. His government was quickly taken over by equestrians who would compartmentalize their offices and began selling off favors and positions. In 243 Gordian would lead an army into Persia and take on the son of Artaxerxes named Shapur I. Gordian’s army would beat back the Sassanids to the Euphrates and again take Ctesiphon, but Shapur struck and defeated Gordian and the emperor was murdered by his men and Philipus also known as Philip the Arab. Philip would make his way to Rome and be the first equestrian based emperor to do so. Philip would host the millennial games in Rome and would also be the first to split the rule of the empire into three parts allowing Jullius Priscus to rule the east and Severianus to rule the Balkans. His fatal mistake would be not to pay the tribal chiefs their subsidies in Germany and the whole northern provinces would go into open revolt. The General who was sent to the region suppressed the revolts then declared himself emperor in 249. Decius would march his army south and destroy the army of Philip, were he would defeat and kill Philip at Verona. The Years of Anarchy — 
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Decius would then try to return Rome to strict historical values and would make it mandatory for every Roman citizen to make sacrifices to the Roman state. He would start round after round of Christian persecutions, who he viewed as a subversive element undermining traditional Roman values. In 250 Decius would move his armies across the Danube and would be surprised by a large hoard of Goths who ambushed his army in a swampy region wiping out Decius’s army and killing him and his son at Abrittus. Trebonius Gallus the governor of the Danube would succeed him. Rome’s enemies then pressed down upon it Shapur I recaptured all of northern Mesopotamia and Asia Minor to the Dardanelles. Trebonius had his hands full with Germany and in 253 The Danudian army under Aemilianus won a victory against the Goths and declared him Emperor. The two emperors would face each other at Terni in Umbria and Aemilianus would defeat Trebonianus and kill him. Immediately after Aemilianus would be defeated by Valerian, an ally of Trebonianus, and Valerian would defeat and kill Aemilianus at Spoleto in Umbria. Valerian I & Gallienus 253-­‐268 — 
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Valerian would appoint his son Gallienus as his co-­‐
emperor and tried to bring the anarchy of the preceding years back under control. In 256 Shapur I moved and annexed Armenia and Valerian would invade Sassanid territory. Valerian would take back Antioch which had been captured two years before and was beating Shapur back into Iraq. The Goths then would invade Asia Minor and Valerian would dispatch 1/3 of his army to stop them. Back home Gallienus would have to deal with inflation, famine. Then a plague would hit Rome killing up to 5,000 people a day. In 260 Shapur sensing a weakened Roman opponent attacked Valerian and defeated him and took the emperor prisoner. Valerian used as a laborer would die in Shapur’s prisons. Gallienus would rule on until 268. he would have to deal with two usurpers for the throne names Macrianus and Quietus, as well as two provinces splitting off to become their own kingdoms named Palymrenes and Gallic Empire. Open Rebellion —  An officer in the east that had served — 
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under Valerian named Macrianus named his two sons Macrianus the younger and Quietus as co-­‐emperors. The rich city of Palmyra in Syria declared itself independent making Roman general Odaenathus it’s king. Gallienus would grant Odaenathus rights and titles as Duke of the east and imperator. His job would be to aid in the eradication of Quietus. In 259 Marcus Cassianus Postumus, the commander of the Rhine garrisons would declare himself emperor of Gaul, Spain , and Britain. Postumus would rule it as a model Roman empire issuing coinage and created his own senate. The Kingdom of Palmyra —  Odaenathus would move his — 
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army out and kill Quietus at Emesa in 260. He would then launch a punitive campaign into Persia and recapture Mesopotamia from the Sassanids, The power of Palmyra would continue to rise unchecked until 267 when Odaenathus was assassinated by one of his sons. In 269 Obaenathus’s wife Zenobia would take over as regent for her son Vaballathus. She would rule until Palmyra’s fall in 272 Claudius II Here and Gone 268-­‐270 —  By 268 Gallienus was fighting on several — 
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fronts, but had surrounded himself with capable men. He was waging war against the Gallic Empire when the Heruli attacked Greece. He left The General Aureolus in charge and best back the Germans. Aureolus then headed toward Rome, but Gallienus caught up with him and attacked him at Milan. Here Gallienus was murdered by several of his officers Claudius II and Aurelian. Claudius II then proclaimed himself emperor and defeated the Goths at Naissus. His reign would not last long because in 270 Claudius II would die from the plague. The only emperor in the last 20 years not to die violently. Aurelian 270-­‐275 —  Aurelian would immediately set about — 
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trying to once again bring stability back to Rome. He would deal with the Gallic Empire and Palmyra with both favorable conclusions. He would rebuild the walls of Rome and fortify the ancient capital. He would use money from Palmyra to buy food, oil and salt for the poor. He would re-­‐mint Roman coinage, which was good at the start, but would eventually cause run-­‐away inflation. He would bring back the worship of Elagadal, but make it the cult of the “invincible Sun”. He would use the restoration of virtus to his advantage to restore faith in the Emperor . DesolaKon of Palmyra —  In 271, Palmyra declared it’s king Valbalathus — 
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the new emperor of Rome. Aurelian would march his army and attack Palmyrs in two direction from Asia-­‐minor and through Egypt. He would defeat Palmyra at Antioch and Emesa and besiege the city itself. Queen Zenobia was captured, but brokered a favorable peace with Aurelian. Aurelian sent her to Rome were she lived out her life in the city free and re-­‐married to a effluent Roman Senator. Then again several Palmyran nobles led a revolt against Rome. Aurelian would quickly return and raze the city to the ground and sell off its inhabitants. Aurelian passed Rome’s ultimate sanction on Palmyra, and it never rose again. Crushing the Gallic Empire —  Posthumus, in 268 fought to put down a — 
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revolt against in empire in Mainz. He would Ultimatly subdue the city, but refused his soldiers requests to sack the city, so they killed him. Civil war broke out in the Gallic empire as different men vied for the throne. In 270 Tetricus I and his son Tetricus II gained the throne. Aurelian after finishing off Palmyra marched on the Gallic Empire. After seeing what happened to Palmyra, the Tetrici surrendered to Aurelian and he absorbed the territory back into the empire. The Tetrici were sent to Rome were they retired into Roman politics. Descent into the Maelstrom — 
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Aurelian would then march into Persia to settle peace with the Sassanids, were he was murdered by his Praetorian prefect by mistake. The senate then declared an elderly senator named Tacitus to rule. Tacitus ruled for seven months defeating a large force of Goths in Asia Minor, but died of old age afterward in 276. His brother-­‐in-­‐law Florianus declared for emperor, but was defeated and killed by Probus, one of Aurelian’s former generals. Probus would rule until 282. He would try to keep the empire together. He would rebuild Rome’s infrastructure, but when he suggested downsizing the military he was murdered by his own troops. Then came the Praetorian Carus who was made emperor and elected his sons Numerian and Carinus as Caesars In 283 Carus was “struck by lightning” and killed. His son Numerian would reign only until 284 when he was killed on his way back to Rome. Carinus would take up the throne but proving unpopular would be killed by his bodyguard, led by Diocles. Breaking Apart the Empire —  With the death of Carinus in 285 — 
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the Principate established by Augustus would come to an end. Diocles who would become the emperor Diocletian, would change the empire drastically for the rest of it’s life, another 200 years. The empire would now be divided up into manageable sections. New capitals would be created and a fabulous city in the east would become the new center of the world. Rome the ancient city would now begin to fade away and gradually become a back road in the empire.