270-289 Peasant German Emperors & Rome's Wall

In this 20 year period the Roman Emperor Claudius II Gothicus (pictured) died of plague and was replaced by his brother, Quintillus who was murdered in the same year by his usurper, Aurelian.

Aurelian died in 275 and was succeeded by Tacitus who died in 276 and was replaced by his brother Florian who was murdered in the same year by his usurper Probus who, in turn, was murdered in 282 and replaced by Carus who died of mysterious causes in 283 and was succeeded by his sons Numerian (who died in 284) and Carinus (who died in 285). Finally, Diocletian became emperor.

Claudius Gothicus, was one the generals responsible for the murder of the former emperor Gallienus, gained his name from a victory over the Goths in Serbia. He came from the German Danubian provinces and when he died of plague in 270 he was succeeded by his brother Quintillus, who was murdered by Aurelian -a general under Claudius - who believed he was better qualified to rule and better supported by the troops.

Aurelian was another peasant emperor. He moved the Roman population of Dacia south of the Danube and abandoned that area of the empire, making the new border more defensible. In the east, in 273, he crushed a local dynasty - led by Zenobia - attempting to establish an empire similar to the Gallic one.

In 274 he invaded Gaul and restored Roman rule, and then went for the Persians and was murdered in Thrace.

Aurelian's lasting legacy was that he built a new wall around Rome, making Romans feel less threatened.

The next emperor was the 75 year old Tacitus who attempted to restore the Senate to it's traditional importance in the state, but got involved in the Gothic wars and died in 276 of natural causes while campaigning.

Florian, Tacitus' brother, took over and was immediately murdered by an army commander, Probus, with the support of Syria and Egypt.

Probus was a Danubian peasant who rose up through the ranks. In 280 he had to settle 100,000 Germanic tribesmen in Thrace (a Black Sea area east of Macedonia, south of Dacia , west of Byzantium). His troops were unhappy being employed on public works and murdered him in 282.

The next emperor was another Danubian, Carus, who campaigned with his sons against the Persians and died mysteriously. His sons, Numerian and Carinus succeeded him, but were suspect of murdering their father and Diocletian - commander of the Imperial Bodyguard and another Danubian peasant - met Carinus in battle in Serbia and defeated him, becoming emperor in 285.

Around this time, too, the Egyptian civilization collapsed and Saxon invasions began.

290-309 Diocletian Splits Empire into West & East

In this 20 year period  the Roman Emperor Diocletian (pictured) appointed Maximian as co-emperor, but the threats from all parts of the empire were such that in 293 he appointed the Germans Constantius (married to Maximian's daughter) to rule the west and Galerius (married to Diocletian's daughter) to rule the east - though the boundaries were fluid, each man helping the other.

In 293 the Persian throne had been seized by a new king who drove the Romans out of Armenia - Galerius in 298 defeated the Persians and wanted to advance further, but Diocletian checked him, negotiating a stronger Roman position with the Persians, giving the Romans full control of Armenia and northern Mesopotamia.

By late 290s, peace restored to the Empire, enabling Diocletian to pay attention to administrative affairs - particularly the murder of emperors by soldiers. He proclaimed that emperors were ordained by the gods to rules, and introduced an elaborate ceremonial intended to mark the emperor as being superior to normal human beings, requiring prostration before the emperor by commoners and kneeling and kissing the hem of the robe by higher ranks. He also created rules for imperial appearances whereby emperors were not allowed to act like normal human beings.

He also reformed the structure of provincial government, by increasing the number of provinces by dividing them into smaller units, and then each province into twelve dioceses. He also stripped the governors of command over the armies. He also initiated a capitation system of taxation, requiring regular censuses (which later lea to extensive legislation prohibiting peasants from leaving the land under which they had been entered into the census).

Then he attempted a policy of social uniformity by imposing upon everyone the observance of Roman traditions. Hence the Great Persecution of the Christians.

He outlawed marriage with close female relatives (a Roman custom that had not been applied to non-Romans); and banned the Manichaean religion (founded in 240 by Mani, a resident of Persian controlled Mesopotamia, inspired by Gnosticism and Zoroastrianism, by which believers gained salvation through him - very similar to Christianity).

Starting with his own household, he threatened to dismiss anyone who refused to act like a Roman, and in 303 prohibited Christian religious assemblies, demolished churches and burnt liturgical books, arresting church leaders who refused to act like a Roman. These measures were pursued with determination in the east, especially Africa, but less so in the west where few Christians.

In 303 Diocletian abdicated - persuading Maximian to do likewise - giving power to Constantius in the west and Galerius in the east who appointed their own co-rulers.

Galerius appointed his nephew Maximinus as co-ruler, and urged Constantius to appoint Severus, a general, as his co-ruler in the west, but within a year, in 306, Constantius died, precipitating his son, Constantine, to pronounce himself Emperor of the West, but acting as senior emperor Galerius coerced him to be Severus' co-ruler and so Severus became Emperor of the West.

Constantine acquiesced for the moment and distinguished himself by establishing his authority over Britain, Gaul and Spain and in his new capacity as co-ruler rescinded his father's edicts against the Christians and became their savior.

Meanwhile Maximian's son, Maxentius, followed Constantine's lead and took advantage of dissent in Rome to have himself declared as Emperor in 306.

Galerius refused him recognition and ordered Severus to remove him by force, but faced with Maximian suddenly re-claiming the emperorship from his son, Maxentius, Severus was forced to abdicate and was eventually killed.

Galerius finally invaded Italy in 307, wanting the re-instatement of Severus, but was defeated and had to withdraw.

Then Maxentius argued with his father about who was the rightful emperor.

In the meantime, Constantine remained neutral as the co-ruler of the west - despite the fact that he had married Maxentius' sister and was therefore involved in the family struggle whether he liked it or not.

When the army sided with Maxentius, Maximian fled to Constantine's court in the west.