Part V

Throwing the Empire Away

In this part . . .

Acentury of brutal thugs ruled the Roman world after Marcus Aurelius, and very few of them died in their beds. The Roman Empire even started splitting up into rival Empires as one general after another decided to try and become emperor himself. Meanwhile, war broke out constantly on the borders. As long as this went on, the very existence of the Roman world was at stake.

Along came Diocletian at the end of the third century. Diocletian’s system was completely different – in an effort to keep the Roman world functioning, he tied Roman citizens to their homes and jobs. The medieval feudal system had been born. The rich grew very rich, and the poor grew poorer. But the Roman Empire was still under attack on all its borders and from within. Diocletian’s new order started falling apart over the next hundred years as his successors squabbled over power and territory. It’s no great wonder that the barbarians found their way in and sacked Rome. The Western Roman Empire fell to pieces. Perhaps the strangest thing of all, though, is that the Eastern Roman Empire had another thousand years to run.