How Rome Fell: Death of a Superpower

by Adrian Goldsworthy

  ii. Lang (1996), pp. 64-69, Dodgeon & Lieu (i99i), pp. 84-85, 88-89, Potter (2004), pp. 266-267, and Millar (1993), pp. 171-172.

  12. Work on temple at Bostra, IGLS 9107 = AE 1947, 165, translated in Dodgeon & Lieu (1991), p. 86; the Egyptian campaign, see Potter (2004), pp. 266-267, Watson (1999), pp. 61-63, Zosimus 1. 44, S HA, Claudius 11. 1-2.

  13. Potter (2004), pp. 261, Watson (1999), pp. 65-66.

  14. Lang (1996), pp. 68-69, Watson (1999), pp. 67-69.

  15. Zosimus 1. 5o-51, SHA, Aurelian 22. 1-25. 6, Dodgeon & Lieu (1991), pp. 89-95, with Watson (1999), pp. 71-75.

  16. Zosimus 1. 52-53.

  17. Watson, (1999), pp. 76-80, 81-84, and Dodgeon & Lieu (1991), pp. 96-101 for the key sources, including Zosimus 1. 55; on the death of Cassius Longinus, see Zosimus 1. 56. 2-3, SHA, Aurelian 30. 3.

  18. Watson (1999), pp. 82-3, Dodgeon & Lieu (1991), pp. 101-105.

  19. SHA, Aurelian 33. 1-34. 6 for a detailed - if possibly fanciful - account of the triumph; on Zenobia's fate, see Zosimus 1. 59, Zonaras 12. 27, SHA, Thirty Tyrants 30. 27, Eutropius 9. 13. 2, Jerome, Chron. 223, and see also Watson (1999), pp. 83-88, and Dodgeon & Lieu (1991), pp. 105-109-

  20. SHA, Aurelian 18. 3-4, 21. 1-3, Zosimus 1. 48-49, Dexippus FGH II no. loo, fr. 6. 2, with Watson (1999), pp. 48-52, 54-56, Potter (2004), pp. 2,69-270-

  21. Watson (1999), pp. 138-140 on the distributions of food to the urban population, and pp. 143-152 on the walls.

  22. Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 7. 11. 10, M. Edwards, in CAHZ (2005), pp. 637-647, Potter (2004), P• 255.

  23. For a full discussion of the episode, see F. Millar, `Paul of Samosata, Zenobia and Aurelian, JRS, 61 (1971), pp. 1-17-

  24. Drinkwater, in CAHZ (2005), pp. 53-54, R. Syme, Emperors and Biography: Studies in the Historia Augusta (1971), pp. 245-246, Potter (2004), PP. 274-275, and Watson (1999), pp. 104-112.

  25- SHA, Tacitus 13. 2-3, Zosimus 1. 63. 1, Zonaras 12. 28 on the raiders; Aurelius Victor, De Caesaribus 36, S HA, Tacitus 13. 5, Zosimus 1. 63.

  26. Drinkwater, in CAHZ (2005), pp. 54-57, and Potter (2004), PP. 275-279•

  27. S. Mitchell, Cremna in Pisidia: An Ancient City in Peace and War (1995), pp. 177-218 for a full discussion of the siege and the literary and archaeological evidence for it; Zosimus' account is found in 1. 69, mentioning the shooting of Lydius.

  28. Drinkwater, in CAHZ (2005), pp. 56-58, and Potter (2004), pp. 279-280.

  29. Dodgeon & Lieu (1991), pp. 112-121 for the sources.

  30. Zosimus I. 73.

  31. R. Frye, in CAHZ (2005), PP. 470-471.

  32. E.g., P. Heather, The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History (2005), pp. 58-67, esp. pp. 6o, 64.

  33. Potter (2004), p. 2,56, Dodgeon & Lieu (1991), pp. 67, 297, and esp. S. Lieu, `Captives, Refugees and Exiles', in P. Freeman & D. Kennedy (eds.), The Defence of the Roman and Byzantine East (1986), pp. 475-505.

  7-Crisis

  i. Herodian i. 1. 4-5 (Loeb translation).

  2. Domitianus is mentioned in Zosimus 1. 49, S HA, Gallienus 2. 6, Thirty Tyrants 12. 14,.13- 3-

  3. For discussions of the `Third Century Crisis', see the useful introduction in A. Watson, Aurelian and the Third Century (1999), pp. 1-20, A. Jones, The Later Roman Empire, 284-602, Vol. 1 (1964), pp. 1-36, G. Alfody, `The Crisis of the Third Century As Seen By Contemporaries', in Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies, 15 (1974), pp. 89-111, W. Liebeschuetz, `Was There a Crisis of the Third Century?', in O. Hekster, G. Kleijn & D. Slootjes (eds.), Crises and the Roman Empire (2007), pp. 11-20, and in general, R. MacMullen, Roman Government's Response to Crisis, AD 235 337 (1976), and Corruption and the Decline ofRome (1988). A recent reassessment that still presents a fairly bleak view of the period is L. de Blois, `The Crisis of the Third Century A.D. in the Roman Empire: A Modern Myth?', in L. de Blois & J. Rich (eds.), The Transformation ofEconomic Life Under the Roman Empire (2002), pp. 204-2,17. A more positive view of the period is offered in C. Witschel, `Re-evaluating the Roman West in the 3rd c. A.D.', Journal of Roman Archaeology, 17 (2004), pp. 2,51-2-81. On the period as one of change rather than crisis, see R. Reece, `The Third Century: Crisis or Change?', in A. King & M. Henig (eds.), The Roman West in the Third Century: Contributions From Archaeology and History (1981), pp. 27-38. A convenient collection of comments on this and other themes related to the end of the Roman empire is M. Chambers (ed.), The Fall of Rome: Can it be Explained? (1963).

  4. Jones (1964), pp. 9-11, 20-23, 29-32, K. Hopkins, `Taxes and Trade in the Roman Empire (200 BC-AD 400)W RS, 70 (1980), pp. 101-125, M. Corbier, in CAR' (2005), pp. 360-386.

  5. On devaluation and its possible consequences, see Corbier, in CALF (2005), pp. 330-360, C. Howgego, `Coin Circulation and the Integration of the Roman Economy,' journal ofRoman Archaeology, 7 (1994), pp. 6-2,1, esp. 12-16, de Blois (2002), pp. 2,15-2,17, R. Duncan-Jones, Money and Government in the Roman Empire (1994), esp. pp. 20-32, and L. de Blois, `Monetary Politics, the Soldiers' Pay, and the Onset of Crisis in the First Half of the Third Century AD', in P. Erdkamp (ed.), The Roman Army and the Economy (2002), pp. 90-107.

  6. C. Bruun, `The Antonine Plague and the Third Century Crisis', in Hekster, Kleijn & Slootjes (2007), pp. 201-217, and W. Jongman, `Gibbon was Right: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Economy, in Hekster, Kleijn & Slootjes (2007), pp. 183-199, both of which argue that there was a serious decline in both the population and the economy of the empire during the third century.

  7. R. MacMullen, `The Epigraphic Habit in the Roman Empire,' American journal of Philology, 103 (1982), pp. 233-246.

  8. Hopkins (198o), pp. 1o5-1o8, and A. Parker, Ancient Shipwrecks of the Mediterranean and the Roman provinces (1992); on trade with India and China, see G. Young, Rome's Eastern Trade (2001), pp. 8o-88, 1z6-1z8.

  9. See Witschel (2004), esp. pp. 261-274, D. Bar, `Was there a 3rd-C. economic crisis in Palestine?' in J. Humphrey (ed.), The Roman and Byzantine Near East, Vol. 3. (2002), pp. 43-54, Reece (1981), MacMullen (1988), pp. 23-35, and M. Todd, Roman Britain (3rd edn, 1999), pp. 156-178.

  1o. For the alleged German preference for older silver coins, see M. Todd, The Early Germans (2nd edn., 2004), pp. 98-101, who is sceptical.

  11. A. Wilson, `Machines, Power and the Ancient Economy', JRS, 92 (2002), pp- 1-32, esp. 24-31.

  12. For the theory that a declining population contributed massively to the fall of Rome, see A. Boak, Manpower Shortage and the Fall of the Roman Empire in the West (1955); on the economy in general, see W. Jongman, `The Roman Economy: From Cities to Empire', in de Blois & Rich (2002), pp. 28-47-

  13. Aurelius Victor, De Caesaribus 33, 37, and see also L. de Blois, The Policy of the Emperor Gallienus (1976), pp. 37-47, and E. Lo Cascio, in CAH, (2005), PP. 158-165-

  14. E.g., D. Potter, The Roman Empire at Bay, AD 18o 395 (2004), p. 258, Watson (1999), p. to, F. Millar, The Roman Empire and Its Neighbours (1981), pp. 6o-6,, and Y. Le Bohec, The Imperial Roman Army (1994), pp. 198-199.

  15. For a discussion of styles of generalship, see A. Goldsworthy, In the Name of Rome (2004), esp. pp. 336-359.

  16. The unsuccessful coup of Praetorian Prefect Sejanus against Emperor Tiberius saw him gradually acquire senatorial rank and magistracies. Three inscriptions seem to suggest that Legio II Parthica was commanded by a senatorial legate at some point, see J. Balty & W. Van Rengen, Apamea in Syria: The Winter Quarters ofLegio II Parthica (1993), pp. 16, 39-41.

  17. For Alexander, see ch. 4, and for Tacitus, see Aurelius Victor, De Caesaribus 37, S HA, Tacitus 3. 1-9. 6.

  18. See Watson (1999), pp. 4-6, F. Millar, `Emperors, Frontiers and Foreign Relations', in Britannia, 8 (1982), pp. 1-23, esp. 11-15, J. Drinkwater, in CAH2 (2005), pp. 58-62.

  19. On the emperor's relationship with the army, see J. Campbell, The Emperor and the Roman Army (1984), esp. pp. 59-69, 120-156; J. Drinkwater, The Alamanni and Rome 213-496.• Caracalla to Clovis (2007), pp. 28-32 argues not entirely convincingly that Marcus Aurelius was mainly motivated by a traditional desire for g
lory.

  20. See F. Vervaet, `The Reappearance of the Supra-provincial Commands in the Late Second and Early Third Centuries CE', in Hekster, Kleijn & Slootjes (2007), pp. 125-139.

  21. Suetonius, Tiberius 25. 1.

  22. Dio 79. 32. 3-4; a good discussion of the misbehaviour of soldiers during civil wars is in de Blois & Rich (eds.) (2002), pp. 209-214.

  8-The Four - Diocletian and the Tetrarchy

  1. S HA, Carus, Carin us, and Numerian 18. 3-4.

  2. B. Grenfall et al, The Oxyrhyncus Papyri (1898), LXIII. 4352, translation by its editor, J. Rea, seeA. Bowman, in CAH2 XII (2005), p. 67.

  3. SHA, Aurelian 6. 2.

  4. Aurelius Victor 39, with P. Garnsey & C. Humfress, The Evolution of the Late Antique World (2001), p. 26-35, and S. Corcoran, `Before Constantine', in N. Lenski (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Constantine (2oo6), pp. 35-58, esp. 42-46.

  5. `Restorer of eternal light' from the Arras Amedallion, see P. Casey, Carausius andAllectus: The British Usurpers (1994), p. 142; on the need for radical reform and strong centralised rule in the third century, see Garnsey & Humfress (2001), esp. pp. 12-13, 14-17-

  6. S. Williams, Diocletian and the Roman Recovery (1985), PP. 24-27, 34-46, T. Barnes, The New Empire ofDiocletian (1982), pp. 3-4, 30-35-

  7. Williams (1985), PP. 45-46, Zonaras 12. 31, and also Bowman, in CAH2 XII (2005), pp. 71-73, 78-79, and D. Potter, The Roman Empire at Bay (2004), PP- 282-290, 292.

  8. Casey (1995), PP. 39-45, 89-105.

  9. On the creation of the tetrarchy, see Williams (1985), pp. 58-70, Barnes (1982), PP. 35-38, and CAH2 etc; on the end of the rebellion, see Casey (1995), pp. 106-114, 127-145.

  10. See Williams (1985), pp. 80-82, and Bowman, in CAHZ XII (zoo5), pp. 8182

  11. In general, see S. Corcoran, The Empire of the Tetrarchs: Imperial Pronouncements and Government, AD 284-324 (1996), passim, but esp. pp. 254-297; on Galerius, seeAmmianus Marcellinus 14. 11. 10, Orosius 7. 25. 9-ii-these and other descriptions of the events are collected in M. Dodgeon & E Lieu, The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars, AD 226-363 (1991), pp. 128-130.

  12. See Williams (1985), pp. 148; highly recommended for all visitors to Rome is A. Claridge, Rome: Oxford Archaeological Guides (1998), in this case pp. 7072.

  13. Williams (1985), pp. 148-150; on the emperors' movements and residences, seeBarnes (1982), pp. 47-64•

  14. On the army, see H. Nicasie, Twilight of Empire (1998), pp. i4-22.

  15. See Garnsey & Humfress (zoo1), pp. 25-51, C. Kelly, Ruling the Later Roman Empire (2004), passim, R. MacMullen, Corruption and the Decline of Rome (1988), PP. 144-145, A. Jones, The Later Roman Empire, 284-602 (1964), esp. 366-410, Potter (2004), pp. 370-377; on the role of the praetorian prefect, see L. Howe, The Praetorian Prefect from Commodus to Diocletian, AD 18o-305 (1942), esp. 60-64; ' . . . flies on sheep', see Libanius, Orations 19. 130.

  16. Lactantius, On the deaths of the persecutors 7. 4.

  17. On the role of governors, see Corcoran (1996), pp. 2,34-2,53; on the new administration in general, see Williams (1985), pp. 102-114.

  18. For a detailed discussion of the creation of the dioceses and provinces, see Barnes (1982), pp. 195-225•

  ,9. See W Treadgold, Byzantium and Its Army, 284-1081 (1995), pp. 9-21, 8793.

  20. See Kelly (2004), and Jones (1964), pp. 366-410, 563-606.

  21. Jones (1964), pp. 411-469, M. Corbier, in CAH2 XII (zoo5), pp. 360-386.

  22. On the census and taxation, see Williams (1985), pp. 126-139, Barnes (1982), pp. 2,2,6-2,37-

  23. Jones (1964), pp. 6o-68,

  24. Jones (1964), pp. 438-442.

  2-5. On price edict, see Bowman, in CAH2 XII (zoo5), pp. 83-4, 177-178 and Corcoran (1996), pp. 205-233; for a translation of a text reconstructed from several inscriptions, see R. Rees, Diocletian and the Tetrarchy (2004), pp. 139146.

  26. Prologue to price edict, see Corcoran (1996), pp. 207-208 incl. Quotes; on laws and courts, see Jones (1964), pp. 470-522, and MacMullen (1988), pp. 8793; Justinian Code 9. 20. 7 is a law of Diocletian's ordering the summary and execution of kidnappers of slaves `so that by the manner of the punishment the rest should be deterred'.

  27. Potter (2004), 294-298.

  28. Williams (1985), pp.14o-150, and Garnsey & Humfress (zoo,), pp. 25-51.

  29. On fortifications, see J. Lander, Roman Stone Fortifications (1984), esp. pp. 151-262, and S. Johnson, Late Roman Fortifications (1983); for a view contrasting frontier policy under Diocletian and Constantine, see Zosimus 2. 34. 1.

  30. See Bowman, in CAR' XII (2005), pp. 81-83, Dodgeon & Lieu (,99,), pp. 124-139, and Williams (1985), pp. 79-81, 84-86.

  9-The Christian

  i. Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 9. 9. 2 (Loeb translation, J. Oulton).

  2. Zosimus 2. 53 (translation R. Ridley, Zosimus: New History (1982)).

  3. The fullest account is in Lactantius, On the deaths of the persecutors 18-2o, but see also Anonymous, De Caesaribus 39-40, Aurelius Victor, De Caesaribus 39, Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 8. 13. 1o-ii; for a fuller description, see C. Odahl, Constantine and the Christian Empire (2004), pp. 71-74.

  4. For discussion of the abdication, see C. Grant, The Emperor Constantine (1993), pp. 20-23, S. Corcoran, `Before Constantine', in N. Lenski (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Constantine (2006), pp. 3 5-58, esp. PP. 5354, N. Lenski, `The Reign of Constantine', also in Lenski (2006), pp. 59-90, esp. 6o-6,, A. Bowman, in CAR' XII (2005), pp. 87-88, and D. Potter, The Roman Empire at Bay, AD 18o-3,95 (2004), pp. 340-342•

  5. Lactantius, On the deaths ofthepersecutors 24-25, Eusebius, Life ofConstantine I. 20-21, Aurelius Victor, De Caesaribus 40, Zosimus 2. 8; with Odahl (2004), pp. 72-78, Grant (1993), pp. 22-23, and Lenski (2oo6), p. 61 .

  6. Zosimus 2. 9, Lactantius, On the deaths of the persecutors 23-27, Aurelius Victor, De Caesaribus 41, Eutropius, Breviarum io, with Potter (2004), PP. 346348, Odahl (2004), pp. 86-88, and Lenski (2oo6), pp. 63-64-

  7. On the question of whether or not Constantine was legitimate, see B. Leadbetter, `The Illegitimacy of Constantine and the Birth of the Tetrarchy', in S. Lieu & D. Montserrat (eds.), Constantine: History, Historiography and Legend (1998), pp. 74-85, J. Drijvers, Helena Augusta (1992), pp. 14-19, T. Barnes, The New Empire ofDiocletian (1982), p. 36, and Odahl (2004), pp. 1617.

  8. Lactantius, On the deaths of the persecutors z9, Zosimus 2. 10, Aurelius Victor, De Caesaribus 39-40, Eutropius, Breviarum io. 4; A. Cameron, in CAH2 XII (2005), pp. 91-92, Odahl (2004), pp. 8o-86, 9o-9z, Grant (1993), pp. 25-26, T. Barnes, Constantine and Eusebius (1981), pp. 32-33, and Potter (2004), pp. 347-351.

  9. Lactantius, On the deaths of the persecutors 32, 42, and S. Williams, Diocletian and the Roman Recovery (1985), pp. 199-200-

  10. Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 8. 14, 9. 9, and Life of Constantine 1. 38, Zosimus 2. 15-17, Lactantius, On the deaths of the persecutors 44, Aurelius Victor, De Caesaribus 40; see also Odahl (2004), pp. 98-108, Potter (2004), PP. 356359, 363, Lenski (zoo6), pp. 68-70, and Grant (1993), PP. 33-40.

  ii. For more detailed accounts of these years, see Grant (1993), pp. 40-50, Odahl (2004), pp. 119-12,o, 162-165, 17o-182, Lenski (zoo6), pp. 73-77, A. Jones, The Later Roman Empire, 284-602 (1964), pp. 77-83, and Potter (2004), PP. 364- 368,377-380.

  12. See Lenski (2oo6), p. 66 with references to specific orations and inscriptions.

  13. For the church in Nicomedia, see Lactantius, On the deaths of the persecutors 12; for Porphyry, there is a useful survey in Potter (2004), PP. 323-332, and for more detailed analysis, see R. Berchman, Porphyry Against the Christians (2005).

  14. For the persecution, see Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 8. 1-14, Lactantius, On the deaths of the persecutors ,o-i6; see also Potter (2004), PP. 337-340, G. Clarke, in CAH2 XII (2005), pp. 647-665, Jones (1964), pp. 71-76.

  15. See Clarke, in CAH2 XII (2005), pp. 647-648, which includes this quote; see also Potter (2004), PP.

  302-314-IT 16. Quote from Lactantius,
On the deaths of the persecutors 34 (translation J. Creed, cited in CAH' XII (2005), p. 656-657, and Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 8. 17, who provides a Greek version of Galerius' decree, and 9. 7 for Maximinus Daia's reply.

  For surveys of Constantius' and Constantine's religious beliefs, see Odahl (2004), PP. 55, 63-67, 85-86, 94-95, Lenski (2006), pp. 66-68, and Grant (1993), pp. 134-140; more detailed discussion of his conversion can be found in P. Weiss, `The Vision of Constantine', Journal of Roman Archaeology, 16 (2003), PP. 237-259, and J. Bremmer, `The Vision of Constantine', in A. Lardinois et al. (eds.), Land of Dreams: Greek & Latin Studies in Honour ofA.HM Kessels (2,oo6), pp. 57-79•

  18. See R. Tomlin, `Christianity and the Roman Army, in Lieu & Montserrat (1998), pp. 21-51, esp. 25-27, and R. Lane Fox, Pagans and Christians (1988), pp. 613-616.

  19. Lactantius, On the deaths of the persecutors 44, Eusebius, Life of Constantine 1. 2,8-2,9, with discussion in H. Drake, `The Impact of Constantine on Christianity', in Lenski (ed.) (2,006), pp. 111-136, esp. 113-115, Odahl (2004), pp. 105- io8, and Potter (2,004), pp. 358-360.

  zo. The importance of perceptions of the power of a deity in conversion are well discussed in R. MacMullen, Christianizing the Roman Empire AD 100400 (1984); for Maximinus Daias policy, see S. Mitchell, `Maximinus and the Christians in AD 312: A New Inscription', JRS, 78 (1988), pp. 105-124.

  21. K. Hopkins, `Early Christian Number and its Implications', Journal ofEarly Christian Studies, 6 (1998), pp. 184-226, and see also Clarke, in CAR' XII (2005), pp. 589-616, with M. Edwards, `The Beginnings of Christianization', in Lenski (ed.) (2006), pp. 137-158, esp. 137-140, and S. Mitchell, `The Cities of Asia Minor in Constantine's Time', in Lieu & Montserrat (1998), pp. 52-73, esp. 66-67-

  22. See C. Lightfoot, in CAH'XII (2005), pp. 481-497 esp. 486-487, 494-495.

  23. See Edwards (zoo6), esp. 138-142.