The Roman Empire from Severus to Constantine

Excellent update and massive expansion of Southern's essential book on the third century Roman world - a great read for devotees of Roman imperial history.Dr. Charles M.Odahl

la autora ha tratado magistralmente un tema tan difícil como el imperio romano del s. III, del que hay falta de fuentes. La información es mucha y excelentemente expuesta. Un gran libro.

This is probably still the most accessible and affordable overview of what used to be called the "third-century crisis". There are at least three other good books on this topic, all of which are more recent than this one. However, two of them are both massive and horribly expensive: Volume 12 of the Cambridge Ancient History set, with almost a thousand pages and the Roman Empire at Bay. In addition, the latter covers both the third and the fourth century, since it ends with the death of Theodosius I in 395. The third one is the recent volume published as part of the Edinburgh History of Ancient Rome. It is relatively short and reasonably priced, which is exactly what one might want when looking for an overview or a book to start with, but it stops in AD 284 and therefore leaves out the rather crucial reigns of Diocletian and Constantine.Apart from this, Pat Southern's book, although published in 2001 and no longer entirely up to date - an new edition including an updated bibliography might be a good idea, by the way, especially, although not only, for students of the period - is a very good overview in many respects, and sometimes even an excellent one.An interesting feature is that it is carefully balanced. The narrative is mostly chronological but nevertheless entertaining. The author takes the trouble to lay out systematically the numerous areas of contention between historians on various issues. She also discusses these issues and the problems related to the sources while managing to avoid being boring and she also presents the most likely causes and sequences of events, in her opinion. At times, it almost feels like a textbook for university students.Even the book's title is quite deliberate. As another reviewer mentioned, a range of other titles could have been expected. However, there are good reasons for choosing a purely chronological one. One is that the notion and scope of a "Third Century Crisis" has been disputed, as explained in the book. Another is that Pat Southern's book is about much more than the "Soldier-Emperors" only. Rather, it is about trying to understand why the Empire changed so much, and how it both changed and survived.Contrary to what had been stated in another review, and contrary to what the book's title imply, the story starts with the "problems" that appeared under the reign of Marcus-Aurelius (AD 161-180), followed by his son Commodus (AD 180-192), as opposed to starting straight away with Severus. It was under Marcus Aurelius that the plague first hit and weakened the Empire and that the frontiers were breached. It is also from this period onwards that the army's importance became even more crucial than before so that it had to be supplied, paid and replenished in numbers. So the army took priority and received what it needed from a reduced pool of resources, even at the expense of the population.This grim, relentless and ruthless determination coming from a long succession of Emperors (at least those who survived more than a few months) is one of the most outstanding features that this book demonstrates. This is probably one of the reasons why the author insists on the 15 year reign of Gallienus, who is little-known and often maligned, but who managed to hold together the rump of the Empire despite terrible odds and attacks from all sides. As Pat Southern also shows very well, there was no grand plan of reforms. Changes were made on an "ad hoc" basis, in an emergency, at least up to the reign of Diocletian, and there was no time to think about potential long-term consequences. Essentially, you get the impression that The Empire was fighting for survival, and this was quite literally the case for the Emperors.Then there is the delicate issue of apportioning the changes between the various emperors, with Gallienus, Aurelian, Probus, Diocletian and Constantine being the main reformers, after Severus' initial efforts. Here, Pat Southern is careful to avoid being categorical and stresses that the innovations or achievements of one emperor were typically amplified and reworked by his immediate successors when these had to address similar issues.This is something that is clearly shown when discussing the re-establishment of the frontiers on the Rhine. Some work was done by Probus, but also under Diocletian (or, more correctly, under Maximian and his Caesar Constantius) and then by Constantine. However, given the relatively short span of time between them (slightly more than 60 years between the accession of the first and the death of the last of them), it is very difficult to determine precisely who did what. There is a similar issue with the evolution of the army. While Gallienus did create a mobile force of cavalry, we do not hear about it after the reign of Aurelian. There is also some uncertainty as to whether this cavalry force can be equated to the Protectores or if these were only a less numerous force made up of followers and a bodyguard.Then there is also a debate regarding the respective roles and responsibilities of Diocletian and Constantine in reorganizing the defence of the frontiers and splitting up the army into frontier forces and what would become by the time of Constantine the Emperor's field army.One of the great merits of this book is to lay out the limits of our knowledge, without pretending to know and to have the "definitive" answer, as some historians tend to do. Another significant quality is to show that change happened gradually, over time, as one emperor picked up on the empirical solutions worked out by his predecessor and amplified them because they had worked and addressed the issue immediately at hand. The last main point in favour of this book is the last three chapters of this book. The last chapter is a recap of all the changes that have been presented in chronological order in the book. The two previous ones are assessments of the Empire's enemies to the North of the Rhine and Danube and in the East, showing how they became more dangerous and how they interacted with the weakened Empire. The price to pay for these three pieces is some amount of repetition, as the same events and reigns may be retold in a different context. This is however not excessive given the high value of this book.So, although it was published in 2001 and some more recent books have been published on the period or on some of the emperors covered (such as on Constantine, in particular), this is still probably the most accessible and most affordable overview of this very troubled period for both students and readers with a more general interest.

Well written scholarly analysis of the third century Roman Empire. Fairly heavy going for the casual reader.

Excellent chronicle of a very difficult time period. Unlike other histories I've read, this one makes it easy to follow a chaotic chronology based on limited first-hand knowledge. Great job, Ms. Southern!