The Late Empire

Question 1

Problems during the Late Empire (211-337 CE)

Answer 1

• the matter of succession between emperors was often a bloody one
• the Roman borders were under attack by barbarian tribes
• the economy was in great decline
• former provinces and allies were developing into economic centers that competed with rather than supported Rome

Question 2

the economy was in great decline due to

Answer 2

• expenses incurred by wars of defense in the borders
• suppression of uprisings in many Roman provinces
• supporting of an enormous slave population
• payment of the salaries and expenses of a huge administrative bureaucracy spread throughout the empire

Question 3

Caracalla (211-217)

Answer 3

• through the Constitutio Antoniniana, an edict issued in 212, he gave Roman citizenship to all freeborn people throughout the empire
• increase in the number of citizens resulted in increased revenues for the state through taxation as well as increase in the number of men to server in the legions

Question 4

Diocletian (284-305)

Answer 4

• formed a tetrarchy
• formalized the structure of the administration
• introduced legislation that required sons to follow the occupation of their father
• unsuccessfully attempted to comabt poverty through price-fixing

Question 5

the administration

Answer 5

the emperor is a dominus surrounded by a royal court, who dictated his order to a bureaucracy reorganized into 4 prefectures, 12 dioceses, and about 100 provinces

Question 6

tetrarchy

Answer 6

a government of 4 leaders: 2 Augusti and 2 Caesares, Diocletian was the Augustus of the East and Maximian was the Augustus of Italy and Africa, their junior partners were Galerius Caesar of the Danube provinces, and Constantius Chlorus, Caesar of the western districts

Question 7

Constantine (324-337)

Answer 7

• son of Constantius Chlorus, went to Britain to join his father and was proclaimed Caesar of Britain and Gaul after his father’s death
• invaded Italy
• together with the Augustus of the East, Lincinius, he issued the Edict of Milan in 313
• defeated Licinius and became sole ruler of Roman Empire
• founded Christian City, Constantinople

Question 8

invasion of Italy

Answer 8

Constantine on his way to Rome in 312, as is reported by the Christian historian Eusebius, he saw the symbol of the cross in the sky together with the words: In hoc signo vinces (under this sign you will win), after marking this Christian emblem on his soldiers’ shields he defeated Maxentius- the Augustus of the West, at the Mulvian Bridge outside Rome and became sole ruler of the western half of the empire

Question 9

Edict of Milan

Answer 9

Christians were given the right to worship freely and were no longer persectued

Question 10

Constantinople

Answer 10

founded Christian City by Constantine, proclaimed new capital city of the empire, new capital was center of eastern Roman Empire, or Byzantine Empire and lasted for another 1000 years after the “fall of Rome” and the dethronement of the last Roman emperor Romulus Augustulus by the German leader Odoacer in 476