Western Civilization

and his death in captivity, an event unprecedented in

Roman history. Germanic tribes also poured into the

empire. The Goths overran the Balkans and moved into

Greece and Asia Minor, while the Franks advanced into

Gaul and Spain. Not until the reign of Aurelian (aw-

REEL-yun) (270–275) were most of the boundaries

restored. Although he abandoned the Danubian prov-

ince of Dacia, Aurelian reconquered Gaul and reestab-

lished order in the East and along the Danube. Grateful

citizens hailed him as “restorer of the world.”

As civil wars and invasions wore down the central

government, provinces began to break away from the

empire. A military commander named Postumus

seized control of Gaul and then gained the support of

Britain and Spain. He defended his “Gallic empire”

until he was killed by his own soldiers in 269. In the

East, Zenobia (zuh-NOH-bee-uh), the wife of the ruler

of Syria, seized power after his death and then in 270

extended her control over Egypt and much of Asia

Minor. In 272, Emperor Aurelian ended this threat to

imperial power by defeating Zenobia and her forces

in Syria.

Economic and Social Crises

Invasions, civil wars, and a recurrence of the plague

came close to causing an economic collapse of the

Roman Empire in the third century. The population

declined drastically, possibly by as much as one-third.

There was a noticeable decline in trade and small

industry, and the labor shortage created by the plague

affected both military recruiting and the economy.

Farm production deteriorated as fields were ravaged by

Germanic tribes and even more often by the defending

Roman armies. Provincial governors seemed powerless

to stop these depredations, and some even joined in

the extortion. The monetary system began to show

signs of collapse as a result of debased coinage and the

beginnings of serious inflation.

Armies were needed more than ever, but financial

strains made it difficult to enlist and pay the necessary

soldiers. Short of cash, the imperial government paid

its soldiers with produce, causing bitter resentment.

Whereas in the second century the Roman army had

been recruited among the inhabitants of frontier prov-

inces, by the mid-third century the state had to rely on

hiring barbarians to fight under Roman commanders.

These soldiers had no understanding of Roman tradi-

tions and no real attachment to either the empire or

the emperors. By the end of the third century, a new

political structure would emerge (see Chapter 7).

Transformation of the Roman

World: The Rise of Christianity

Q FOCUSQUESTION: What characteristics of

Christianity enabled it to grow and ultimately to

triumph?

The advent of Christianity marks a fundamental break

with the dominant values of the Greco-Roman world.

Christian views of God, human beings, and the world

were quite different from those of the Greeks and

Romans. Nevertheless, to understand the rise of Christi-

anity, we must first examine both the religious environ-

ment of the Roman world and the Jewish background

from which Christianity emerged.

The Religious World of the Roman

Empire

Augustus had taken a number of steps to revive the

Roman state religion, which had declined during the

turmoil of the late republic. The official state religion

focused on the worship of a pantheon of gods and god-

desses. Observance of proper ritual by state priests the-

oretically established the proper relationship between

Romans and the gods and guaranteed security, peace,

and prosperity. The polytheistic Romans, who were

extremely tolerant of other religions, allowed the wor-

ship of native gods and goddesses throughout their

provinces and even adopted some of the local gods. In

addition, the imperial cult of Rome and Augustus was

developed to bolster support for the emperors. After

Augustus, deceased emperors deified by the Roman

senate were included in the official imperial cult.

The desire for a more emotional spiritual experience

led many people to the mystery religions of the Hellen-

istic East, which flooded into the Western Roman

world during the early empire. The mystery religions

offered secret teachings that promised their followers

advantages unavailable through Roman religion: entry

into a higher world of reality and the promise of a

future life superior to the present one. They also fea-

tured elaborate rituals with deep emotional appeal. By

participating in their ceremonies and performing their

rites, an adherent could achieve communion with spir-

itual beings and undergo purification that opened the

door to life after death.

Perhaps the most important mystery cult was

Mithraism. Mithra was the chief agent of Ahuramazda,

the supreme god of light in Persian Zoroastrianism

138 Chapter 6The Roman Empire

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