When Marcus died, a golden age died with him. The gap between rich and poor, always wide, began to widen further. The middle class all but died out. In its place were two extremes: honestiores, who were the very rich and powerful, most of whom had lavish homes both in the city and countryside, and humiliores, who lived in crowded slum dwellings that often collapsed or caught fire.
Romans both rich and poor turned increasingly to entertainment, the rich out of boredom and the poor out of a desire for escape. They watched chariot races in the Circus Maximus, a huge racetrack, and battles between gladiators in the Colosseum (kahl-uh-SEE-uhm). The latter, part of which still stands today, was one of the most impressive structures of ancient Rome. It seated some 45,000 spectators and was the model for the sports arenas of modern times. The Colosseum, of course, became the site of even more cruel “sporting” events, as Christians, slaves, or prisoners were put in the ring unarmed against wild animals.
Marcus's son Commodus (KAHM-uh-duhs; r. a. d. 180-192) imagined himself both a god and a gladiator, but before he got a chance to compete in the ring, he was assassinated. Septimus Severus (SEP-ti-muhs seh-VEER-uhs; r. a. d. 192-211) tried to restore order, but after a. d. 235, the empire went into a period of severe decline.
During the next forty-nine years, no fewer than twenty emperors reigned, many of them promoted to their positions by the army. Emperors who inspired the disfavor of the military or the senate had a way of winding up dead, and they would
An aerial view of the Colosseum. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.
Simply be replaced. For a time, a rival dynasty of emperors ruled Gaul, and plenty of other would-be rulers contended for power. Zenobia of Palmyra led a revolt in Syria, as did other leaders in other parts of the empire. One emperor, Valerian (vuh-LEER-ee-un; r. a. d. 253-260), was murdered by the Persians—an event which was as humiliating as it was terrifying to the Romans.
A number of other disturbing trends began to emerge during these years. Slavery actually declined, but not for good reasons: rather, the distinctions began to blur between slaves and the poorest of peasants, marking the beginnings of the feudal system that would characterize Europe during the Middle Ages. As political freedom declined, sexual freedom increased, and this helped lead to a drop in the population. Not only did family life began to fall apart, but the practices of abortion and infanticide (in-FAN-tih-side), or killing of unwanted children, spread. As society crumbled, people looked for someone to blame, and Christians made an easy target: thus began a series of persecutions.
Arch of Constantine, illustration. The Granger Collection, New York. Reproduced by permission.
The persecutions later decreased under the reign of Gallienus (gal-ee-AY-nuhs; r. a. d. 253-268), Valerian's son and co-ruler, who began a period of slow recovery in the empire as a whole. He built up the military on the borders and prevented senators from holding command positions in the army. Aure-lian (oh-REEL-ee-uhn; r. a. d. 270-275) crushed the revolts in Syria and Gaul, but like other Roman emperors, he proved ineffective against the most serious threat to Rome's power: the barbarian tribes. His building of a wall around Rome, which had never had one in all its years, was a sign of the empire's increasingly defensive posture. A bizarre feature of Aurelian's rule was his adoption of the cult of Mithra (MITH-ruh), a Persian sun god whom the Romans called Sol Invictus (SOHL in-VIK-tuhs), as the state religion.
Aurelian was assassinated in a. d. 275, and the army— which had increasingly taken over from the senate the decision-making power in naming new emperors—chose Diocletian (die-oh-KLEE-shuhn; r. a. d. 284-305). Diocletian dealt successfully with a whole range of problems from the barbarians to the steady decline of the economy, but he resumed the persecution of Christians. Up to his time, attacks on Christians had been a local matter, not something directed by the emperors themselves: his persecution, which began in a. d. 302, was particularly severe.
A number of men contended for the throne after Diocletian, but in A. D. 307, the last truly powerful Roman emperor took control. This was Constantine (KAHN-stan-teen), who would reign for the next thirty years. In striking contrast to Diocletian, Constantine became a Christian and presided over the religious Council of Nicaea (niy-SEE-uh) in a. d. 325. This marriage of church and state would have a corrupting influence on the church, which assumed vast political power. In the meantime, the adoption of Christianity as the official religion of Rome seemed to breathe new life into the empire.
World History
