The Roman Army: A Social and Institutional History - Karatunov.net

246
The Roman A rmy
The hard-pressed Emperor Gallienus had to rely upon the remnants of the army that were still
available to him after the splitting of the Empire in ad 260. This coin proclaims the loyalty of all
the soldiers (FIDES MILITUM). (Drawing courtesy of Trish Boyle)
n ew pre s su res from the movem ent of the nort h ern tri bes tow a rd the Empire
and the accession of a much more aggressive regime in the east, where Ardashir
and his successors set about reconstituting the former empire of the Persians.
The rei gn of G a ll i enus was rega rded as the nadir of the Empire , t h ro u gh no
fault of his own, but he was nonetheless reviled for his inability to restore order
instantly. In ad 259–260, Gallienus’s father Valerian mounted a disastrous expedition
to the east, ending in defeat and his capture. He ended his days a prisoner
of the Persians, and Gallienus was in no position to rescue him.
In ad 260, the whole of the Gallic provinces broke away in rebellion under
their own self-appointed emperors, and much of the east was under the control
of the Pers i a n s , but Roman interests were tem pora ri ly loo ked after by a
Palmyrene noble called Odenathus. In the Alps, the new tribal federation of the
Alamanni stood poised to attack Italy. Gallienus could do little but maintain the
s t a tus qu o. Wh en he was assassinated his su cce s s ors built on his work and
started the long haul back to unity, achieved under Aurelian. The century closed
with the accession of Diocletian and the institution of the short-lived Tetrarchy,
and the accession of Constantine, the architect of the late Roman Empire.
With Constantine, everything changed. He spent some time eliminating his
rivals, so once again there was prolonged civil war affecting many parts of the
E m p i re , u n til ad 324 wh en the last con ten der, L i c i n iu s , was defe a ted , l e avi n g
Constantine as sole ruler. Rome ceased to be the hub of the Empire, but it was
not an abru pt tra n s i ti on , s i n ce Rome had not been the main focus for som e
time. Emperors had taken the field with their armies since the second century,
and provincial bases had been established for the Imperial households. The new