POLITICS

The Roman Empire in 395 AD

By 395 AD the Roman Empire had changed considerably since the time of its first emperor Augustus (27 BC-14 AD). Increased external pressures, deteriorating economic conditions and political disorder aggravated by dynastic insecurity and the ambitions of generals led to the abandonment of outlying provinces and a period of prolonged upheaval in the third century. A major reorganization introduced by Diocletian (284-305) and continued by Constantine (306-37) saw the elevation of the emperor into a remote autocrat along Eastern lines, the creation of a large bureaucracy and a division of the army into a two-tier force consisting of elite mobile units and poorer quality local troops. In an attempt to improve local efficiency and to minimize the risk of revolt Diocletian doubled the number of provinces and grouped them into dioceses under vicarii, while Constantine established a separation of powers between civil governors and military commanders. After defeating his opponents at the Milvian Bridge (312), Constantine became a Christian and promoted what had been a minority faith by appointing Christians to key positions and endowing the Church with lands and buildings. Theological divisions remained acute, however, and pagan rites were not proscribed until the reign of Theodosius I (37895). Constantine's transfer of the capital to the strategic site of Byzantium, re-named Constantinople in 330, reflected both his commitment to his new faith and the increasing importance of the East in the empire.

These changes produced a measure of political and economic stability although Constantine's dynasty was riven by family disputes and it died out after the death of the short-lived pagan emperor Julian fighting the Persians in 363. During the reigns of the succeeding emperors barbarian pressure on the frontiers increased, partly as a result of the arrival of the Hun nomads in Europe in the 370s. The Visigoths successfully requested asylum in the empire in 376, but ill-treatment led them to turn against the Romans and to wipe out a Roman army at the battle of Adrianople (378), in which the emperor Valens was killed. This defeat was a great blow to Roman prestige, but the direct effects were limited. The Goths were granted lands in the Balkans as foederati (allies) and order was restored by the staunchly Christian Spanish emperor Theodosius I.

Following Theodosius' death in 395 a critical stage in the transformation of the Roman world occurred with the division of the empire between his sons Honorius (West) and Arcadius (East). While the myth of imperial unity was maintained, tension grew between the two courts. The Eastern empire remained relatively powerful as a result of its greater wealth and population and its relative immunity from barbarian pressure and the dangerous influence which German mercenaries exercised in the West. Christianity became strongly entrenched, and, despite bitter christological controversies, served to reinforce imperial authority by treating the empire as an instrument of divine policy. In the West, however, fundamental economic and social weaknesses were aggravated by court intrigues, the self-interest of the senatorial elite and frequent revolts by usurpers. While Roman administration, society and culture remained resilient at the highest levels, the decentralization of the pars occidentalis was reflected in the growth of non-Roman cultures (as in Britain and North Africa) and the rise of local political allegiances (as in Gaul) even before the full effects of the barbarian migrations were felt in the fifth century.

T. S.Brown