UN SINGUR IMPERIU-ROMA !

 1-Acest articol este copiat !

2-Istoria ramane pasiunea mea nr-1!

“One faith, one empire.”

The reforms of the Roman Emperor Aurelian would change the Imperial bureaucracy, boost the faltering Roman economy, and increase religious tolerance. He would restore public buildings, reorganise food distribution, set fixed prices for imports, and prosecute corruption. Aurelian was a henotheist – that is, someone who worships one overarching deity while not denying the existence of other, lesser deities (unlike monotheists, who do). He strengthened the position of his favoured deity, sun god Sol Invictus, as the head of the Roman pantheon. His intention was to give the eclectic mix of cultures and nationalities across the empire one god they could believe in, without betraying their own pagan beliefs.

A new temple was built in 274 AD, and opened to much fanfare, with celebrations and decorations from the conquered Palmyrene Empire, on 25 December. This would become an annual festival, following shortly after Saturnalia (where slaves and masters traded places), and celebrated the victory of Sol Invictus, the Unconquered Sun pushing through the winter solstice, so the nights became shorter again. It was also a day of celebration for the eastern deity Mithras, which was a favoured god among legionaries. Sixty years later, with Constantine not wanting to antagonise pagans as he forced Christianity on Rome, the date instead became a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ – Christmas Day.

While Aurelian was no Christian, he set the principle of “one faith, one empire”, and took the title of Deus et dominus natus (“God and born ruler”). Being the latest in a long line of military generals, Aurelian was among the pioneers of a new way of justifying a dynasty – divine selection. The Principate had been a “first among equals” affair, with the emperor ostensibly just the mouthpiece of the Senate, with this façade maintained even as the role became more autocratic. Their right to rule was based on family and blood, just as how the old Patricians had turned the republic into an oligarchy by ascribing power to those who could trace their lineage as close to the days of Aeneas as possible (Caesar traced his lineage to be descended from Aeneas himself, thus making him a descendant of Venus). Aurelian’s new justification was of a ruler chosen by god, and thus beyond reproach. The first step down this road of divine selection would go onto play a fundamental role in later centuries, with Medieval monarchies almost uniform in justifying their reigns as being God’s anointed.

Aurelian’s clampdown on corruption sparked an uprising of workers in the Rome mint. Felicissimus, a senior figure who supervised the mint, after his prosecution was announced. The debasement of Rome’s currency had offered them prime opportunity to siphon off even more of the silver before making the mixed-metal coins, and the trial of Felicissimus was to put an end to this. Rebellion spread to the streets, despite the swift execution of Felicissimus, and quickly mothballed into an expression of dissatisfaction of disrupted grain shipments and the overthrow of the brief Emperor Quintillus. The urban cohort moved in, reinforced by legionaries, and fought a battle on the Caelian Hill which left up to 7,000 rioters dead. Most of the rebels were executed, along with numerous supporting Senators. The temporary closure of the Rome mint led to a loss of its hegemony and the rise in fortune of mints elsewhere, just another of the increasing amount of reasons as to why Rome, as a city, was losing its importance in the scope of the empire.

New coins were introduced with 5% silver, though 22 of these would contain the same silver quantity of the old denarius – it was essentially a lottery as to whether you had a valuable coin or not. This was a slight improvement to the economic situation, but by no means resolved it. While some measures were taken to recall the old coins, these were not pursued nearly as rigorously as needed to replace the old currency completed. Again, the problem was compounded by people still hoarding the old coins with the higher silver content, which reduced the amount of coins in circulation. During these times of economic crises, the most stable currency was the gold aureus, and the ‘silver’ denarius would go on to become almost worthless.

With most of his reforms pushed through, Aurelian sought to deploy his victorious veterans against the unravelling Sassanid Empire. Rocked by the quick deaths of Shapur the Great and his successor Hormizd, the weak ruler Bahram now presented Rome with an ideal opportunity to reclaim the halcyon days of Trajan. While preparing to head to the Euphrates, Aurelian first made for Gaul to suppress either a revolt, or a Germanic incursion. While he was in Thrace, preparing to cross to Asia Minor, a secretary of his, Eros, was panicking about his fate after lying on a minor issue – the disciplinarian Aurelian was not known for his leniency. Eros forged a document listing the names of official marked for execution and showed it to said official, including high ranking officers of the Praetorian Guard. Fearing that they would be executed, the officer pre-empted the issue and murdered Aurelian in September 275 in Caenophrurium, Thrace (Turkey). Aurelian was 61-years-old, and had ruled the Roman Empire for five and a half years.

Aurelian’s enemies in the Senate briefly condemned his memory, though this was swiftly reversed by his predecessor Claudius II, and he was deified. His short reign has reunited a fragmented empire that was on the brink of collapse, vanquishing both barbarian invaders and usurping/renegade emperors. His death prevented a full restoration of political stability and the chance to found a dynasty, and the cycle of imperial assassinations would continue until Rome fell two centuries later. Without his firm leadership, Rome may never have survived the combined pressures it faced in the Crisis of the Third Century. As it was, the west would persevere for another 200 years, the east for over a millennium. The city of Orleans in France (and thus New Orleans in the USA) is named after him.

The Roman Empire may have been saved, but what emerged from the Crisis of the Third Century was very different to the one that had entered it. Invincible legions, and empire capable of bullying its Persian neighbours, barbarians kept in check in distant lands, an Italy far removed from any foreign armies, an emperor who was approachable and serving the Senate – all of these ideals were dead. The Germanic tribes were emboldened, forming increasingly large coalitions to attack Rome and demand payment, land, or the opportunity to settle within the empire. Their luck at achieving these would rotate depending on the competence of the empire. Italy itself was vulnerable, but so were other provinces that had been assumed to be far from danger, including Greece and Asia Minor. Rome’s ability to protect these provinces had been cast into serious doubt, and reliance on the centralised state would reduce. Rome no longer looked outwards to expand, but inwards and how to keep the barbarians out. Cities threw up large walls, expecting to be able to defend themselves from marauding armies, and trade betwixt the various parts of the empire declined. The world became much smaller. As people stayed closer to their cities and micro-economies formed self-sufficient small geographical bubbles, the blueprint for what would become Medieval feudalism were already in place. Why send goods and taxes to the state in Rome, when your protection will more likely come from the local governor? In Rome, the Imperial Court would be presided over by an emperor who was not among the people, but removed from the people. It would no longer be easy to have an audience, for the emperor became not the first among equals, but God’s chosen. It would take a decade after Aurelian’s death for Rome to finally stabilise under a new ruler, but when Diocletian achieved this it would be clear that the Principate was long dead – in its place now was the Dominate.