History of the Roman Empire
Group 4
Question 1
Several significant factors contributed to the crisis that followed Alexander Severus’s assassination in AD 235. Some of the significant factors that contributed to the chaos, turmoil, and the breakaway empires that were the main elements in the crisis were as follows. The assassination of Emperor Alexander Severus by the troops that he led, causing the leadership paradigm to shift, marked the beginning of the crisis of the Third Century. Other influencing factors that contributed to the crisis included the economic depression and inflation that were brought about by currency devaluation that happened under the dynasty of Severan(Johannessen, 2017); the failure of adherence to the policies of succession by the emperors; and the plague which caused fears that got heightened among the people leading to the destabilization of communities in the empire. Some of the other factors that played a role in contributing to the crisis included the military becoming more active in participating in politics, the emperor facing pressure that was excessive from his people to defend the provinces in the empire from the tribes that were invading them, and there was a decrease on the labor force for agriculture which was caused by the need for more men in the armies that were larger.
Question 2
The Greco-Roman religion is an interpretation or translation of the deities of both the Roman and Greek in comparison to other religions and myths. It was made up of several religions that got practiced under the rule of the Romans(Livingston, 2018). The three characteristics that differentiate this religion from Christianity are as follows. The Greco-Roman religion during the Roman rule was polytheistic in that it entailed believing in many gods, while Christianity entailed believing and worshipping one God, thus they were monotheistic. While the Greco-Roman religion placed an obligation that all the Roman and Greek citizens must follow the religion and following any other religion was considered a crime, the Christian religion allowed people to freely choose for themselves concerning following the religion. While they had many gods in the Greco-Roman religion, each god has his name with the main god of the religion of ancient Geek was called Zeus, the same god named by the Romans as Jupiter, while in Christianity, the principal name for their one and only God is Yahweh as provided in the old testament which states that it was the name he identified himself as in appearing to the people that were sacred. Different languages and people who are Christians use different names for their God, who is still the same God.
Question 3
The Adrianople battle was between the Gothic rebels and the Eastern Roman army.The circumstances that surrounded the Adrianople battle of AD 378 were as follows. After the Goth got displaced by the Huns in 376, they asked to get allowed to establish a settlement in the Eastern Roman empire, hoping that they would become soldiers and farmers. The emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire allowed them to settle as their allies. However, they started revolting after suffering hardships due to the provincial commander’s dishonesty(Atkinson, 2017). The Eastern empires Valens asked for reinforcements from the Gratian of the western empire to help in fighting the Goths. The Gratian provided the reinforcements leading to a series of battles for the next two years with neither side seeming to win. The ultimate resolution of the battle was that the barbarians, the Goth won the battle against the Eastern Roman army, leaving the Roman Empire almost defenseless. Calvary’s supremacy over infantry got established lasting for the next millennium.
References
Atkinson, C. (2017). Adrianople: Before and After. Explorations, 5.
Johannessen, J. A. (2017). The Long Economic Crisis of the Third Century. In Innovations Lead to Economic Crises (pp. 9-34). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Livingston, C. W. (2018). Imperial Cult, Roman. Encyclopedia of Global.