WEBVTT 00:01.167 --> 00:05.697 PAUL FREEDMAN: But the advantage of talking to you, 00:05.700 --> 00:10.900 even on an inconvenient day, is Diocletian. 00:10.900 --> 00:16.400 We don't use terms in the professional world of history 00:16.400 --> 00:18.500 like awesome very much. 00:18.500 --> 00:21.230 But the guy certainly deserves that. 00:21.233 --> 00:25.433 He rescued the Roman Empire, and we'll begin by saying what 00:25.433 --> 00:27.973 he rescued it from. 00:27.967 --> 00:33.127 As a preliminary, the sections are meeting this week. 00:33.133 --> 00:38.003 If you're wait-listed for a section, just go to it. 00:38.000 --> 00:42.200 We will have enough sections for however many people take 00:42.200 --> 00:43.000 this course, right? 00:43.000 --> 00:44.970 So there are currently four. 00:44.967 --> 00:50.997 The additional ones that were added since last week are 00:51.000 --> 00:57.170 Wednesday at 2:30 and Thursday at 7:00. 00:57.167 --> 01:00.167 And again, if you're wait-listed, just go. 01:00.167 --> 01:02.397 We'll figure this out. 01:02.400 --> 01:05.570 There will be enough sections for everybody. 01:05.567 --> 01:10.767 So I referred last time to the third century crisis. 01:10.767 --> 01:14.167 A crisis of the Roman Empire that preceded the accession of 01:14.167 --> 01:18.627 Diocletian, from 235 to 284. 01:18.633 --> 01:23.173 And we mentioned several interrelated weaknesses of the 01:23.167 --> 01:26.597 Empire that might be seen as long-term 01:26.600 --> 01:28.430 causes of this crisis. 01:31.467 --> 01:34.297 The size of the Empire. 01:34.300 --> 01:36.830 It's sheer, massive size. 01:39.400 --> 01:44.100 The problem the succession. 01:44.100 --> 01:46.870 That is, it was never quite clear, and we'll talk about 01:46.867 --> 01:52.267 this in more detail, how one emperor succeeded another. 01:55.167 --> 01:57.667 The urban-rural imbalance. 01:57.667 --> 02:02.527 This was an empire built on cities. 02:02.533 --> 02:05.673 And to some extent, although heavily debated among 02:05.667 --> 02:09.427 historians to what extent, but to some extent, the cities may 02:09.433 --> 02:15.303 be said to have drained off the energy, or been parasites 02:15.300 --> 02:17.830 to the productivity of the countryside. 02:20.700 --> 02:25.830 It was an empire that was, according to one point of 02:25.833 --> 02:28.433 view, more cosmopolitan than it had been, according to 02:28.433 --> 02:30.903 another point of view, more barbarian. 02:30.900 --> 02:36.430 In other words, this was an empire whose Roman population 02:36.433 --> 02:40.503 was less dominant, partly through its own success in 02:40.500 --> 02:44.570 co-opting other peoples. 02:44.567 --> 02:47.367 Some of the peoples that it co-opted we're not actually 02:47.367 --> 02:49.427 originally inhabitants of the Empire. 02:49.433 --> 02:52.933 Particularly, this is visible in the armies, which tended to 02:52.933 --> 02:59.033 be staffed by so-called barbarian tribes. 02:59.033 --> 03:02.773 So called by the Romans, who referred to them as 03:02.767 --> 03:04.027 barbarians. 03:06.567 --> 03:10.467 Another problem is the East-West imbalance, where the 03:10.467 --> 03:13.897 East tends to do better economically and 03:13.900 --> 03:18.700 demographically than the West, demographically meaning 03:18.700 --> 03:20.300 population. 03:20.300 --> 03:23.700 We live in a world where one of the great threats is 03:23.700 --> 03:24.930 over-population. 03:24.933 --> 03:30.273 It is therefore not self-evident, although true, 03:30.267 --> 03:34.027 that for most of the time, historically, most places have 03:34.033 --> 03:36.903 trouble reproducing their population. 03:36.900 --> 03:41.530 And indeed, we are starting to enter into a period of great 03:41.533 --> 03:43.033 demographic decline. 03:48.400 --> 03:53.970 The infant mortality, the low life expectancy, the death of 03:53.967 --> 03:57.797 women in childbirth, the prevalence of disease, and to 03:57.800 --> 04:01.730 some extent, military threats of invasion, or if not 04:01.733 --> 04:06.533 threats, the reality, made it hard for one generation to 04:06.533 --> 04:09.103 produce children to replace itself. 04:09.100 --> 04:13.770 And this is true up until the dawn of modernity. 04:13.767 --> 04:17.497 So these are fundamental problems of the Roman Empire. 04:17.500 --> 04:22.030 The real question is why do they explode 04:22.033 --> 04:24.373 in the third century? 04:24.367 --> 04:28.227 And this is a question, as I think I said last week, with 04:28.233 --> 04:29.873 any great empire. 04:29.867 --> 04:36.627 It's easy to point to the flaws in a complicated system. 04:36.633 --> 04:39.103 Often size is one of them. 04:39.100 --> 04:41.170 Often bureaucracy. 04:41.167 --> 04:44.027 Often overspending on the military. 04:44.033 --> 04:48.603 But some of these go on for a very long time, more or less 04:48.600 --> 04:52.470 success of successfully, despite the flaws. 04:52.467 --> 04:56.067 And the Roman Empire went on longer than most, as we said. 04:59.267 --> 05:05.127 The immediate problems that explode in the third century 05:05.133 --> 05:08.403 are invasions and succession. 05:08.400 --> 05:13.770 Invasions by, first of all, Persia. 05:13.767 --> 05:17.327 Persia is the old enemy of the Roman Empire. 05:17.333 --> 05:22.833 Indeed, as many of you know, the old enemy of the Greek 05:22.833 --> 05:28.933 city-states that precede the Roman Empire as far back as 05:28.933 --> 05:33.403 the first historian of the Western tradition, Herodotus-- 05:33.400 --> 05:36.700 first week of directed studies, for those of you who 05:36.700 --> 05:39.230 are nostalgic for that experience-- 05:39.233 --> 05:41.403 Persia is the enemy. 05:41.400 --> 05:42.870 Now we never study Persia. 05:42.867 --> 05:45.567 It's kind of like offstage all the time. 05:45.567 --> 05:47.897 And that's the great benefit of the Department of Near 05:47.900 --> 05:51.630 Eastern Languages and Cultures. 05:51.633 --> 05:55.433 If you want to learn about Persia really from within, 05:55.433 --> 05:57.573 instead of oh, my god, the Persians. 05:57.567 --> 06:00.897 And it's oh, my god, the Persians in 370 BC, 06:00.900 --> 06:02.800 [correction:470] 06:02.800 --> 06:05.470 and it's going to come to an end. 06:05.467 --> 06:10.167 It is going to come to an end in the seventh century. 06:10.167 --> 06:14.267 But that's because of Islam, just to anticipate. 06:14.267 --> 06:16.627 But in the third century, Persia becomes resurgent. 06:16.633 --> 06:19.973 Having been rather passive, it has this frontier with the 06:19.967 --> 06:24.167 Roman Empire in the East. More or less, buffer states are 06:24.167 --> 06:28.067 Mesopotamia, present-day Iraq, and Armenia. 06:28.067 --> 06:30.227 It's not exactly the same as the present-day state of 06:30.233 --> 06:35.073 Armenia, but more like eastern Turkey. 06:35.067 --> 06:42.127 The dynasty that controls Persia, and that is more 06:42.133 --> 06:48.303 aggressive than its predecessor are the Sassanids, 06:48.300 --> 06:49.700 and this appears in your reading. 06:49.700 --> 06:54.100 The Sassanid Dynasty, the rulers of Persia, just more 06:54.100 --> 06:55.370 aggressive and more adventurous. 06:55.367 --> 07:03.297 Beginning in 224, they start to probe that frontier along 07:03.300 --> 07:07.670 the Armenian and Mesopotamian border, and eventually cross 07:07.667 --> 07:11.097 it and start to wreak havoc in some of the eastern provinces 07:11.100 --> 07:12.800 of the Roman Empire. 07:12.800 --> 07:19.570 The climax of this is the Emperor Valerian was captured 07:19.567 --> 07:22.827 by the Persians in 260. 07:22.833 --> 07:26.973 Valerian actually one of the longer-reigning Emperor's of 07:26.967 --> 07:30.827 this chaotic period, 253 to 260. 07:30.833 --> 07:32.873 They kept him for a little while. 07:32.867 --> 07:37.097 Displayed him in chains, maybe flayed him. 07:37.100 --> 07:40.030 Anyway, he died in captivity. 07:40.033 --> 07:43.333 They did a kind of a job on him. 07:43.333 --> 07:46.773 I think maybe he was flayed after he died, just not to be 07:46.767 --> 07:49.727 too gruesome, but I think they displayed the skin. 07:49.733 --> 07:51.873 As I said, I'm not a Persian specialist. 07:51.867 --> 07:58.067 But the second invasion is across the 07:58.067 --> 08:00.097 Danube-Rhine frontier. 08:00.100 --> 08:02.970 The Danube and the Rhine form what the Romans thought of as 08:02.967 --> 08:06.697 a natural frontier with the barbarian states. 08:06.700 --> 08:08.930 That didn't mean that they didn't cross them. 08:08.933 --> 08:15.803 In fact, many of their great fortresses and establishments 08:15.800 --> 08:18.400 were on the eastern side of the Rhine. 08:18.400 --> 08:21.730 But they considered those as bulwarks against a dramatic 08:21.733 --> 08:23.903 invasion across the Rhine. 08:23.900 --> 08:27.970 The Rhine and the Danube almost meet-- 08:27.967 --> 08:31.627 the Rhine going from modern Netherlands down to 08:31.633 --> 08:36.873 Switzerland, and the Danube going also from Germany 08:36.867 --> 08:40.867 eventually Austria, Hungary, into the Black Sea. 08:40.867 --> 08:44.427 As we'll see, Charlemagne, in the early ninth century, tried 08:44.433 --> 08:46.903 to build a canal between the two of them. 08:46.900 --> 08:51.270 And there are actually traces of this immense and completely 08:51.267 --> 08:52.967 unsuccessful project. 08:52.967 --> 08:55.897 And there now is a canal between them. 08:55.900 --> 08:58.270 So this is sort of the frontier of the Roman Empire, 08:58.267 --> 09:01.267 and this is the line above which wine grapes are grown, 09:01.267 --> 09:02.227 [correction: wine grapes become scarce] 09:02.233 --> 09:04.733 no olive oil is pressed. 09:04.733 --> 09:11.003 And it's got to be protected, but not worth conquering. 09:11.000 --> 09:13.600 So we have pressure on the Rhine-Danube frontiers in the 09:13.600 --> 09:19.900 third century, and another Emperor, Decius, died fighting 09:19.900 --> 09:24.370 the Goths in 251, Decius. 09:24.367 --> 09:27.397 And Valerian dies in 260. 09:27.400 --> 09:33.030 So the Emperors are certainly out there as leaders, but that 09:33.033 --> 09:35.473 actually has to do with the fact that 09:35.467 --> 09:37.097 they're military guys. 09:37.100 --> 09:39.800 And that is part of the problem. 09:39.800 --> 09:43.600 The major problem besides the invasions was succession. 09:48.233 --> 09:50.503 It depends on how you count-- 09:50.500 --> 09:53.370 is someone a real Emperor, or is he merely a pretender?-- 09:53.367 --> 09:59.667 there are at least 30 Emperors between 235 and 285. 09:59.667 --> 10:02.767 Many of them ruling for months, most 10:02.767 --> 10:05.597 of them being killed. 10:05.600 --> 10:08.700 They're assassinated by the Praetorian Guard, that is, by 10:08.700 --> 10:13.470 their own troops. 10:13.467 --> 10:16.367 They're killed in battle against foreign enemies, like 10:16.367 --> 10:18.367 Decius and Valerian. 10:18.367 --> 10:20.827 They're killed in battle against other people claiming 10:20.833 --> 10:23.733 to be Emperors. 10:23.733 --> 10:27.603 But the most common thing is they're assassinated by their 10:27.600 --> 10:28.830 own troops. 10:32.733 --> 10:36.433 How had Roman Emperors succeeded each other? 10:36.433 --> 10:38.273 There were several ways. 10:38.267 --> 10:41.667 One is what you would expect, and that is dynastic. 10:41.667 --> 10:43.397 But that's not all that common. 10:43.400 --> 10:46.270 Dynastic, in other words, families rule. 10:46.267 --> 10:50.427 And the family is recognized as a ruling family, and 10:50.433 --> 10:57.533 therefore it goes from father to son, or if there's no son, 10:57.533 --> 11:01.673 father to person daughter marries, or father to nephew, 11:01.667 --> 11:03.767 something like that. 11:03.767 --> 11:07.667 But that was not actually so common. 11:07.667 --> 11:16.527 Sometimes the next Emperor was chosen by his predecessor. 11:16.533 --> 11:20.773 This is characteristic of the second century AD, the era of 11:20.767 --> 11:23.967 the so-called good Emperors. 11:23.967 --> 11:26.127 In theory, this is a great system. 11:26.133 --> 11:28.503 You have no family prejudice. 11:28.500 --> 11:32.570 You simply, as a good Emperor, pick someone who looks to you 11:32.567 --> 11:36.897 like he's going to be a good Emperor. 11:36.900 --> 11:38.670 So that is another possibility. 11:43.633 --> 11:48.503 Another possibility is some guy is powerful, and uses his 11:48.500 --> 11:50.400 troops to take over. 11:50.400 --> 11:52.400 And that's what we see in the third century. 11:52.400 --> 11:56.130 We see not only the militarization of the Empire, 11:56.133 --> 12:05.803 but the interference of the army in raising successors, in 12:05.800 --> 12:09.130 raising new Emperors. 12:09.133 --> 12:13.033 The army was able to make and unmake Emperors. 12:13.033 --> 12:17.533 Just as in some countries with unstable political structures, 12:17.533 --> 12:21.873 the military is able to make and unmake rulers. 12:21.867 --> 12:24.467 What is interesting about the third century is that they're 12:24.467 --> 12:26.597 able to do it far from Rome. 12:26.600 --> 12:29.130 Some of these armies are in North Africa. 12:29.133 --> 12:30.703 Some of them are on the frontier 12:30.700 --> 12:32.470 fighting the Persians. 12:32.467 --> 12:37.127 Rome is becoming less and less relevant as the dominant city 12:37.133 --> 12:38.333 of the Empire. 12:38.333 --> 12:42.873 And I mentioned that now, because we'll see on Wednesday 12:42.867 --> 12:46.197 the result of this is will be the establishment of another 12:46.200 --> 12:50.800 capital, a second capital in the East, in what would be 12:50.800 --> 12:55.270 called Constantinople, modern Istanbul. 12:55.267 --> 12:58.967 Rome is fortified for the first time. 12:58.967 --> 13:01.727 There is a wall that you can still see in many parts of 13:01.733 --> 13:08.773 Rome, built by the Emperor Aurelian in 271. 13:08.767 --> 13:12.997 And this is a significant thing, because until 271 for 13:13.000 --> 13:16.070 centuries, Rome had not been walled, because it was not 13:16.067 --> 13:17.567 threatened. 13:17.567 --> 13:23.997 And fortification in 271 starts to indicate things to 13:24.000 --> 13:26.770 come, or at least things that we know are to come. 13:26.767 --> 13:33.297 Namely, barbarian invasions, just as the marginalization of 13:33.300 --> 13:36.070 Rome begins at this time. 13:39.800 --> 13:43.300 Rome in the third century is ruled, if one can call it 13:43.300 --> 13:46.000 that, by a succession of generals. 13:46.000 --> 13:50.630 Not members of an upper class elite, but men who have come 13:50.633 --> 13:53.103 from the provinces. 13:53.100 --> 13:56.170 Men who are not particularly well-educated, who would have 13:56.167 --> 14:03.027 trouble recognizing a tag from Horace, there being no 14:03.033 --> 14:07.273 internet just to look these quotes up. 14:07.267 --> 14:10.627 They hold the traditional Roman elite in contempt. 14:10.633 --> 14:15.573 The Senate of Rome is the embodiment of that elite. 14:15.567 --> 14:20.297 The Roman Senate is a collection of extremely 14:20.300 --> 14:27.630 wealthy people, from good families, extensive property, 14:27.633 --> 14:30.703 and very, very fine education. 14:30.700 --> 14:35.830 The people leading in the third century now are generals 14:35.833 --> 14:37.273 raised by their troops. 14:37.267 --> 14:39.667 One of the reasons that the troops both raised up 14:39.667 --> 14:42.197 generals, and then killed them, was that they tended to 14:42.200 --> 14:45.330 get a kind of reward from the new Emperor-- 14:45.333 --> 14:47.203 a thing called a donative. 14:47.200 --> 14:49.730 A donative is money that you get when 14:49.733 --> 14:52.273 there's a new Emperor. 14:52.267 --> 14:55.327 A bad idea from the point of view of the Emperors, because 14:55.333 --> 15:01.303 it encourages double-dipping, or triple-dipping. 15:01.300 --> 15:04.130 OK, now we've gotten our money from this guy, let's kill him 15:04.133 --> 15:05.603 and get money from another guy. 15:05.600 --> 15:07.530 I don't think that's too cynical to say that that is 15:07.533 --> 15:11.433 some of what is going on. 15:11.433 --> 15:14.103 Now of all the crises of the third century, this is the one 15:14.100 --> 15:16.430 that leaves the most visible impression. 15:16.433 --> 15:19.633 There's absolutely no doubt that there are all of these 15:19.633 --> 15:21.933 different Emperors, and that the top of the 15:21.933 --> 15:23.933 government is unstable. 15:23.933 --> 15:28.233 The question is how much does that carry over into the lives 15:28.233 --> 15:30.533 of ordinary people? 15:30.533 --> 15:33.173 One measure of the effectiveness of a 15:33.167 --> 15:37.527 civilization is that is survives, and even people 15:37.533 --> 15:42.533 don't comment very much on political instability. 15:42.533 --> 15:48.133 In a way, we are testing that now. 15:48.133 --> 15:52.473 For many people, the fact that the government is polarized 15:52.467 --> 15:55.067 doesn't really matter, in terms of their everyday life. 15:55.067 --> 15:59.027 How long can that go on? 15:59.033 --> 16:03.503 That's partly because all sorts of institutions are 16:03.500 --> 16:05.100 functioning perfectly fine. 16:05.100 --> 16:05.930 Here we are. 16:05.933 --> 16:08.103 We are meeting. 16:08.100 --> 16:14.200 There's no problem of the supply of water suddenly, or 16:14.200 --> 16:20.030 scarce provisioning, or barbarians massed outside, and 16:20.033 --> 16:23.403 we have to sort of protect against during our class. 16:23.400 --> 16:24.630 It hasn't come to that. 16:27.333 --> 16:28.733 Yet. 16:28.733 --> 16:32.303 But if you look at the lives of ordinary people in the 16:32.300 --> 16:38.230 third century, they are not saying not another Emperor, I 16:38.233 --> 16:41.333 can't take it anymore. 16:41.333 --> 16:44.073 The philosopher Plotinus, for example, one of the great 16:44.067 --> 16:45.727 intellectual figures of this time. 16:45.733 --> 16:48.703 Now it's true, he has a very otherworldly way of thinking 16:48.700 --> 16:49.370 about things. 16:49.367 --> 16:52.827 He is a follower of Plato, he's the leading so-called 16:52.833 --> 16:55.773 neo-Platonist philosopher, flourishes during the third 16:55.767 --> 16:58.167 century, travels a bit. 16:58.167 --> 17:02.127 But we never hear of any difficulty, any kind of 17:02.133 --> 17:05.973 problems raised by these unstable conditions. 17:05.967 --> 17:09.797 The one that might have affected more people than the 17:09.800 --> 17:13.870 instability is inflation. 17:13.867 --> 17:17.997 Roman coinage was silver and bronze, and based on ratios of 17:18.000 --> 17:19.730 these metals to gold. 17:19.733 --> 17:26.503 The ultimate standard of value was gold, but bronze and 17:26.500 --> 17:30.900 silver had attributed values in relation to gold. 17:30.900 --> 17:35.570 The need to reward the army with those donatives, and the 17:35.567 --> 17:39.427 dislocations of the invasions led to tremendous government 17:39.433 --> 17:41.373 expenditures. 17:41.367 --> 17:46.227 And this was a society that did not have debt financing. 17:46.233 --> 17:47.733 There are no bonds. 17:47.733 --> 17:52.203 There are no ways of the government anticipating future 17:52.200 --> 17:55.930 revenues and borrowing money against them. 17:55.933 --> 17:58.703 That is actually an invention of the Middle Ages. 17:58.700 --> 18:01.100 This is an example of something that the Romans 18:01.100 --> 18:05.870 didn't have that Medieval cities in Italy pioneered, 18:05.867 --> 18:06.797 debt financing. 18:06.800 --> 18:08.800 I don't have to tell you what that is. 18:08.800 --> 18:11.730 And it's a great advantage, up to a point. 18:11.733 --> 18:16.233 Great advantage, because it gives you leverage, allows you 18:16.233 --> 18:17.473 to do things now. 18:20.433 --> 18:25.903 So how does a government deal with problems like this if it 18:25.900 --> 18:27.230 can't borrow money? 18:27.233 --> 18:30.203 It does what is called debasing the coinage. 18:32.933 --> 18:38.333 To debase, that is degrade, the coinage means that you 18:38.333 --> 18:42.933 just don't put in as much silver or bronze, let alone 18:42.933 --> 18:46.473 gold, and try to get people to accept it 18:46.467 --> 18:48.767 for its value anyway. 18:48.767 --> 18:54.227 So up until the 1970s, the American currency was based on 18:54.233 --> 18:58.273 gold, and dollar bills were called silver certificates. 18:58.267 --> 19:05.067 They said that you could hand this bill in for a dollar's 19:05.067 --> 19:06.127 worth of silver. 19:06.133 --> 19:10.503 It was, technically speaking, not currency. 19:10.500 --> 19:14.300 It was merely a representative of currency, which 19:14.300 --> 19:16.170 you could trade in. 19:16.167 --> 19:19.227 And before that, of course, the coins were metal. 19:19.233 --> 19:23.803 Dollars were both silver and paper, with the silver one 19:23.800 --> 19:28.230 being, in some sense, the more real. 19:28.233 --> 19:31.533 It is in the nature of modern government financing that, at 19:31.533 --> 19:33.003 some point, the government could just say 19:33.000 --> 19:34.230 forget about it. 19:34.233 --> 19:37.933 And even long before the 1970s, of course the 19:37.933 --> 19:42.033 government didn't have enough silver for everyone to trade 19:42.033 --> 19:47.533 them in, just as it doesn't have enough gold in Fort Knox 19:47.533 --> 19:49.903 to float the entire world's currency. 19:49.900 --> 19:51.470 It has a lot. 19:51.467 --> 19:55.527 And that's important that there be some real kind of 19:55.533 --> 20:00.673 value, or bullion, or bottom line kind of gold bars. 20:00.667 --> 20:04.597 But the fact that it's not enough is not 20:04.600 --> 20:08.730 intrinsically a problem. 20:08.733 --> 20:13.003 But here, so let's say the government receives, in the 20:13.000 --> 20:18.700 form of taxes and stuff, a thousand gold units. 20:18.700 --> 20:22.530 And it issues two thousand units using that gold. 20:22.533 --> 20:28.133 The coins say they're worth a unit, but they're actually, in 20:28.133 --> 20:31.573 terms of precious metal value, worth a half. 20:31.567 --> 20:33.727 So it pays its expenses that way. 20:33.733 --> 20:35.133 It pays the army. 20:35.133 --> 20:37.773 It gets people to accept this money. 20:37.767 --> 20:44.267 But when most people go to buy stuff, they are going to find 20:44.267 --> 20:50.097 that the stuff is 50% more expensive, because their coins 20:50.100 --> 20:52.930 are not actually very good. 20:52.933 --> 20:56.433 The governments tend to do this gradually, hoping the 20:56.433 --> 20:59.803 people don't notice in the first place, or that if the 20:59.800 --> 21:03.470 inflation is say, 10%, it's not so bad. 21:03.467 --> 21:06.867 But once having embarked on the debasement of the coinage, 21:06.867 --> 21:10.027 this tends to get out of control because of the famous 21:10.033 --> 21:12.633 Gresham's law-- an 18th century economist-- 21:12.633 --> 21:15.433 that bad money drives out good. 21:15.433 --> 21:23.733 If I have good sestertia, or Roman currency, with the full 21:23.733 --> 21:28.233 measure of silver that they say they have, one full unit, 21:28.233 --> 21:31.933 and I've got other coins that say one full unit, but only 21:31.933 --> 21:36.533 have half, I'm going to try to get rid of the bad ones and 21:36.533 --> 21:38.473 hoard the good ones. 21:38.467 --> 21:42.067 And only spend the good ones if I absolutely have to, or 21:42.067 --> 21:43.827 demand a premium on them. 21:43.833 --> 21:48.373 So therefore, there are all these crappy coins circulating 21:48.367 --> 21:54.397 like mad, and the good ones retreat into peoples' wealth-- 21:54.400 --> 21:56.530 they don't really have mattresses then-- but into 21:56.533 --> 22:01.473 their store boxes, or under their beds, creating in itself 22:01.467 --> 22:05.027 more and more inflation. 22:05.033 --> 22:07.133 So you have a fierce inflation. 22:07.133 --> 22:08.303 Prices go up. 22:08.300 --> 22:10.170 People don't know the value of things. 22:10.167 --> 22:12.167 They start bartering. 22:12.167 --> 22:15.627 And the Roman economy is very, very adversely affected, as 22:15.633 --> 22:17.933 hyperinflation tends to. 22:17.933 --> 22:26.333 And a final problem is the ruin of the local elite, 22:26.333 --> 22:31.033 partly because of this economic chaos, but partly 22:31.033 --> 22:33.973 from deeper causes. 22:33.967 --> 22:36.427 The importance of this is something that I alluded to 22:36.433 --> 22:40.273 last time, and that is that the Empire could not be held 22:40.267 --> 22:44.027 together, really, by the government, however big the 22:44.033 --> 22:45.633 government was. 22:45.633 --> 22:50.873 It required the cooperation of wealthy people with ties to 22:50.867 --> 22:52.297 their native city. 22:52.300 --> 22:56.070 It was these people who sponsored games, civic 22:56.067 --> 23:01.567 improvements, maintained the temples, and kept a kind of 23:01.567 --> 23:04.627 local order. 23:04.633 --> 23:09.833 The third century crisis undermines this elite. 23:09.833 --> 23:12.703 This elite is undermined by the militarization of society. 23:15.767 --> 23:19.797 They are, to some extent, ruined by taxation and 23:19.800 --> 23:21.230 increased taxation. 23:21.233 --> 23:24.633 They're just powerful enough to be well-off, but not 23:24.633 --> 23:29.833 powerful enough to evade taxation. 23:29.833 --> 23:35.303 But they also tend to be undermined by an Empire that's 23:35.300 --> 23:39.470 more cosmopolitan, where local elites don't matter as much. 23:39.467 --> 23:43.767 Where, for example, military people who move around a lot, 23:43.767 --> 23:45.597 are more important. 23:45.600 --> 23:50.330 And I emphasize this, not only because of these elites 23:50.333 --> 23:54.303 themselves and their role in holding the Empire together, 23:54.300 --> 23:56.370 but we're going to talk about this when we talk about 23:56.367 --> 23:57.897 Christianity. 23:57.900 --> 24:00.070 Because when the local elites are 24:00.067 --> 24:03.567 ruined, so is local religion. 24:03.567 --> 24:07.367 And local religion means polytheism. 24:07.367 --> 24:13.597 If I am of a grand family of, let's say the city of Sardis 24:13.600 --> 24:17.300 in Asia Minor, in modern Turkey, and I feel that my 24:17.300 --> 24:20.230 ancestors have always been involved in the worship of the 24:20.233 --> 24:25.633 goddess Cybele and I am a votary, or an officer, or like 24:25.633 --> 24:31.173 a member of the governing board of the club, or society 24:31.167 --> 24:35.667 that runs the cult of Cybele, I'm going to feel very loyal 24:35.667 --> 24:39.067 to that local deity. 24:39.067 --> 24:42.327 But if I come from North Africa, and I'm in Sardis 24:42.333 --> 24:45.273 because that's where my army is, I'm not going to don't 24:45.267 --> 24:47.067 care about some local. 24:47.067 --> 24:54.767 No more than you might care about a club that's important 24:54.767 --> 24:58.167 at Yale, if you went to the University of Illinois. 24:58.167 --> 25:03.727 No more important than you might feel about pizza in New 25:03.733 --> 25:07.433 Haven, if you came from somewhere else 25:07.433 --> 25:08.973 and didn't like pizza. 25:08.967 --> 25:12.927 It's just like this local cult, and you don't understand 25:12.933 --> 25:14.903 it, and you don't care. 25:14.900 --> 25:20.070 So the kind of things you will care about, we'll see, 25:20.067 --> 25:20.927 religiously. 25:20.933 --> 25:24.603 But they will tend to be religions that cross borders, 25:24.600 --> 25:25.630 like Christianity. 25:25.633 --> 25:30.303 Religions that are not identified with one place and 25:30.300 --> 25:35.470 one god, in the sense of local god, local temple, my people. 25:38.600 --> 25:42.100 So into this mess Diocletian-- because Diocletian defeats his 25:42.100 --> 25:45.100 predecessor, Carinus in battle in 284. 25:45.100 --> 25:46.930 Diocletian is a general. 25:46.933 --> 25:51.033 In 284, it would have seemed like more of the same. 25:51.033 --> 25:56.173 But Diocletian rules until 305 and he abdicates. 25:56.167 --> 26:01.667 He passes the power to someone else. 26:01.667 --> 26:04.567 He is, however, very typical of the military 26:04.567 --> 26:05.967 class of the Empire. 26:05.967 --> 26:08.767 He came from nowhere, socially. 26:08.767 --> 26:12.967 He was the son of an ex-slave from Dalmatia, 26:12.967 --> 26:14.767 modern coastal Croatia. 26:14.767 --> 26:18.827 You can still see his palace in the Croatian city of Split 26:18.833 --> 26:21.203 on the Adriatic. 26:21.200 --> 26:24.930 His retirement palace, actually. 26:24.933 --> 26:29.803 Under his severe guidance, the Empire was reformed. 26:29.800 --> 26:32.430 And the way it was reformed was that it was, in effect, 26:32.433 --> 26:35.073 militarized. 26:35.067 --> 26:37.567 Diocletian was not a great general, but he was a 26:37.567 --> 26:39.627 brilliant manager. 26:39.633 --> 26:44.403 And he was a brilliant bureaucratic organizer. 26:44.400 --> 26:48.800 I used the term bureaucracy, not to mean inefficient, 26:48.800 --> 26:53.230 useless administration, but administration. 26:53.233 --> 26:58.003 Administration officers of the state, who are capable of 26:58.000 --> 27:01.070 doing their jobs, or maybe not capable of doing their jobs. 27:01.067 --> 27:02.127 But who are nevertheless-- 27:02.133 --> 27:04.573 I'm not making a value judgment with the term 27:04.567 --> 27:04.867 bureaucracy-- 27:04.867 --> 27:08.627 I simply mean the proliferation of government 27:08.633 --> 27:10.903 and government offices. 27:10.900 --> 27:17.730 Diocletian is responsible for the militarization of society. 27:17.733 --> 27:20.973 That is, building society around the army in order to 27:20.967 --> 27:21.967 protect it. 27:21.967 --> 27:26.827 And he is responsible for a more efficient, and 27:26.833 --> 27:29.873 ultimately, burdensome form of taxation. 27:29.867 --> 27:35.527 The two are enlinked because, as we know, you have to pay to 27:35.533 --> 27:38.933 have a large and effective military. 27:41.700 --> 27:44.300 Diocletian did not set out to be a revolutionary. 27:44.300 --> 27:47.130 His aims were conservative. 27:47.133 --> 27:52.933 He wanted to save, preserve, restore, the Roman Empire of 27:52.933 --> 28:01.133 the pre-235 era. 28:01.133 --> 28:03.073 His methods were radical. 28:03.067 --> 28:08.127 He was willing to undertake radical measures. 28:08.133 --> 28:09.973 And the debate among historians, 28:09.967 --> 28:11.067 now somewhat muted. 28:11.067 --> 28:13.427 Many historians at one time felt that he had basically 28:13.433 --> 28:14.803 destroyed the Empire. 28:14.800 --> 28:18.100 By making it so bureaucratic, so militarized, so 28:18.100 --> 28:21.030 heavy-handed, in terms of government, it no longer was 28:21.033 --> 28:22.133 the Roman Empire. 28:22.133 --> 28:23.573 It was something else. 28:26.433 --> 28:30.973 Now the reason this is no longer exactly considered to 28:30.967 --> 28:33.867 be a big problem, or a big controversy, you'll see when 28:33.867 --> 28:35.297 we come to read Wickham. 28:35.300 --> 28:39.200 The Empire has an impress on society. 28:39.200 --> 28:43.070 There is what he calls the Burden of Empire, but it is, 28:43.067 --> 28:47.227 at the same time, not a totalitarian empire that 28:47.233 --> 28:49.403 controls everything. 28:49.400 --> 28:52.870 Society has an identity that's different from the government. 28:55.533 --> 28:59.003 So he has three goals. 28:59.000 --> 29:04.430 One, solving this problem of the imperial succession. 29:04.433 --> 29:07.173 Two, stabilizing the economy. 29:07.167 --> 29:09.527 Three, protecting the frontiers. 29:12.233 --> 29:14.833 Of these three, he's actually only really successful in the 29:14.833 --> 29:17.403 third, protecting the frontiers. 29:17.400 --> 29:20.430 He devises a system, that we're going to talk about in a 29:20.433 --> 29:23.373 moment, of succession, but it does not really 29:23.367 --> 29:26.797 outlast him very long. 29:26.800 --> 29:32.100 The economy does get fixed but, not exactly because of 29:32.100 --> 29:33.330 his policies. 29:35.167 --> 29:38.897 What he's really successful at, and what changes most 29:38.900 --> 29:42.830 dramatically, is what rulership means. 29:42.833 --> 29:47.603 That includes the figure of the Emperor, who becomes more 29:47.600 --> 29:52.500 sacred and more powerful, in terms of imagery, as well as 29:52.500 --> 29:54.900 administration. 29:54.900 --> 30:00.000 Changes in the administration, of taxes in particular, and 30:00.000 --> 30:07.270 then that goal of his to change and grow the military. 30:07.267 --> 30:12.697 The size of the army grew, probably doubled. 30:12.700 --> 30:16.600 Maybe, just as a ballpark figure, from 200,000 troops to 30:16.600 --> 30:21.470 400,000 troops. 30:21.467 --> 30:23.467 This is a major, major increase that 30:23.467 --> 30:24.667 had to be paid for. 30:24.667 --> 30:30.427 And it had to be paid for by taxation, and from a 30:30.433 --> 30:32.473 population not particularly eager to 30:32.467 --> 30:35.727 volunteer to pay more. 30:35.733 --> 30:37.803 Ultimately, it looks as if Diocletian didn't so much 30:37.800 --> 30:40.630 increase taxation, as increase the efficiency of its 30:40.633 --> 30:43.173 collection. 30:43.167 --> 30:45.497 In order to increase the efficiency of his collection, 30:45.500 --> 30:48.470 he had to increase the bureaucracy charged with 30:48.467 --> 30:49.897 monitoring the taxes. 30:49.900 --> 30:53.300 And that means first making an 30:53.300 --> 30:55.800 inventory of taxable resources. 30:55.800 --> 30:59.330 There is no income tax in this society because it's an 30:59.333 --> 31:02.473 economy based more on land than on salaries. 31:05.000 --> 31:11.230 An income tax is easy because you can keep records of what 31:11.233 --> 31:13.573 people are earning. 31:13.567 --> 31:17.167 The government, to this day, finds it much easier to take a 31:17.167 --> 31:22.097 portion of your wages, because it knows from your company 31:22.100 --> 31:24.670 what you're being paid. 31:24.667 --> 31:27.727 If you're being paid in some other form, like you're a 31:27.733 --> 31:33.603 waiter, and a lot of your money is in tips, that's 31:33.600 --> 31:36.800 harder for the government. 31:36.800 --> 31:43.000 If your wealth is in property, it's hard to 31:43.000 --> 31:44.600 put a value on that. 31:44.600 --> 31:46.730 You own estates. 31:46.733 --> 31:51.373 You have people who are free tenants, who rent land from 31:51.367 --> 31:56.527 you, and pay you in money, or produce, or labor. 31:56.533 --> 31:58.533 You have some slaves. 31:58.533 --> 32:02.033 You have a water mill. 32:02.033 --> 32:06.073 How do you pay taxes on all of this stuff. 32:06.067 --> 32:08.897 The opportunities for evasion are greater. 32:08.900 --> 32:11.570 So the first bureaucratic tasks was just to have a lot 32:11.567 --> 32:15.567 of people could value things, who could come into a 32:15.567 --> 32:19.897 territory and say OK, this farm is worth so much, and it 32:19.900 --> 32:22.830 has these many people. 32:22.833 --> 32:28.233 They develop a system to evaluate productive units of 32:28.233 --> 32:32.503 things like land, and population, and to tax them 32:32.500 --> 32:34.770 according to a formula. 32:34.767 --> 32:38.827 So I have a lot of land, but it's not very good land. 32:38.833 --> 32:41.573 I don't have a lot of people making a living off it. 32:41.567 --> 32:44.997 I will be taxed at a lower rate than someone was maybe 32:45.000 --> 32:49.470 half that land, but twice the people, better soil, more 32:49.467 --> 32:53.227 clearance of forest, whatever the reason. 32:53.233 --> 32:55.073 It changes. 32:55.067 --> 32:59.327 So every 15 years, the government changes its 32:59.333 --> 33:00.673 estimation. 33:05.133 --> 33:09.333 A second means, once you have this taxation system in place, 33:09.333 --> 33:13.503 of bringing the Empire together and dominating it 33:13.500 --> 33:19.870 more, is to have the army really have first call on the 33:19.867 --> 33:21.597 resources of the state. 33:21.600 --> 33:24.270 We now start to have a state supply system 33:24.267 --> 33:27.367 for the army alone. 33:27.367 --> 33:30.367 This allows the state to avoid dealing with 33:30.367 --> 33:31.997 that debased currency. 33:32.000 --> 33:35.170 So for example, the state just goes in and takes wheat and 33:35.167 --> 33:39.567 gives it to the army, without taking money, buying wheat, 33:39.567 --> 33:40.797 giving that to the army. 33:43.300 --> 33:46.430 Diocletian binds the Empire together, also very 33:46.433 --> 33:48.633 effectively, by a postal system. 33:48.633 --> 33:53.103 Post in this case meaning a system of riders, horses, 33:53.100 --> 33:56.930 communications, that allows the Emperor to go faster than 33:56.933 --> 34:00.133 anyone else, to have news quicker than anyone else, to 34:00.133 --> 34:02.233 send orders quicker than anyone else. 34:06.133 --> 34:12.233 And also, more punishment for things like tax evasion. 34:12.233 --> 34:15.503 It's not just that people get killed for not paying their 34:15.500 --> 34:19.700 taxes, or imprisoned, or tortured, but that groups are 34:19.700 --> 34:21.800 responsible. 34:21.800 --> 34:25.070 Not only that if I don't pay my taxes, I get punished, but 34:25.067 --> 34:28.527 if you and I live in the same village, and you don't pay 34:28.533 --> 34:30.473 your taxes, I get punished. 34:30.467 --> 34:34.397 Or at the very least, taxed for the part that you evaded. 34:40.000 --> 34:42.870 But the most important change in government is the 34:42.867 --> 34:44.967 establishment of what's called the Tetrarchy. 34:50.800 --> 34:54.570 The Tetrarchy is the rule of four. 34:54.567 --> 34:59.797 Four rulers Diocletian divides the Empire, first in two-- 34:59.800 --> 35:03.900 East, West. A very significant move that will have 35:03.900 --> 35:08.670 consequences for the next 1,200 years. 35:08.667 --> 35:19.027 He then appoints a co-Emporer to rule in the West, while he 35:19.033 --> 35:28.373 rules in the East. And they each appoint a helper, number 35:28.367 --> 35:29.567 three and number four. 35:32.533 --> 35:37.273 The two Emperors are called Augusti, Emperors, and the two 35:37.267 --> 35:40.767 helpers are Caesars. 35:40.767 --> 35:49.697 So they're subordinate to their respective Augusti, and 35:49.700 --> 35:51.270 they're supposed to help them. 35:51.267 --> 35:53.867 Why this system? 35:53.867 --> 35:56.767 This is really to overcome the problems of size, 35:56.767 --> 35:59.627 communication, administration. 35:59.633 --> 36:03.403 It's a statement that the Empire is too big 36:03.400 --> 36:05.170 for one man to rule. 36:12.300 --> 36:18.830 But the chief Emperors are also exalted now. 36:18.833 --> 36:20.633 There's no longer a pretense that 36:20.633 --> 36:23.003 they're just first citizens. 36:23.000 --> 36:24.430 or princes. 36:24.433 --> 36:27.073 They are clothed in purple. 36:27.067 --> 36:32.867 They don't move a lot in public audiences. 36:32.867 --> 36:35.267 We're familiar with this kind of dichotomy between the 36:35.267 --> 36:38.427 political figure as distant authority, versus the 36:38.433 --> 36:40.803 political figure at least pretending to be just 36:40.800 --> 36:41.900 like you and me. 36:41.900 --> 36:44.270 We're in the era of the latter. 36:44.267 --> 36:48.467 The Diocletianic period ushers in a period when the Emperor 36:48.467 --> 36:54.767 is distant, glimpsed, product of ceremonies, wearing a lot 36:54.767 --> 36:59.097 of very funny-looking, but fancy clothes. 36:59.100 --> 37:01.870 He doesn't appear a lot in public. 37:01.867 --> 37:03.097 He's a god. 37:05.400 --> 37:12.230 You don't go up to him and shake hands, or say hi. 37:12.233 --> 37:15.773 You throw yourself at his feet, and don't look at him 37:15.767 --> 37:17.067 until he tells you to. 37:20.433 --> 37:25.133 So the tetrarchy, great idea, it really doesn't work. 37:25.133 --> 37:27.633 Because, first of all, the Emperors 37:27.633 --> 37:29.473 don't necessarily cooperate. 37:29.467 --> 37:33.697 The Caesars don't necessarily cooperate with the Emperors. 37:33.700 --> 37:43.800 And so in 285 Diocletian nominates a Caesar, and then 37:43.800 --> 37:48.030 makes him, in 286, a co-Augustus. 37:48.033 --> 37:49.673 And this man is named Maximian. 38:00.133 --> 38:04.773 In 293, Diocletian and Maximian appoint two Caesars. 38:04.767 --> 38:08.997 I think I'm not going to burden you with the personnel. 38:09.000 --> 38:14.300 I will hand out something on Wednesday that gives you some 38:14.300 --> 38:16.830 of this information. 38:16.833 --> 38:19.303 Diocletian and Maximian appoint Galerius in the East 38:19.300 --> 38:21.770 and Constantius in the Western-- you don't have to 38:21.767 --> 38:22.467 remember who these are-- 38:22.467 --> 38:24.327 and each of them marries a daughter of 38:24.333 --> 38:26.333 their respective Augusti. 38:26.333 --> 38:29.473 This looks like a great system. 38:29.467 --> 38:33.967 In 305, Diocletian and Maximian abdicate and then two 38:33.967 --> 38:35.367 people become Augusti. 38:35.367 --> 38:40.597 The two Caesars rise up to be Augusti and they appoint their 38:40.600 --> 38:41.870 own new Caesars. 38:44.867 --> 38:47.167 It breaks down beginning in 306. 38:47.167 --> 38:50.127 One of the sons of one of these Augusti is not 38:50.133 --> 38:53.273 appointed, and he's mad, and he revolts. 38:53.267 --> 38:57.997 And then the Augusti don't get along. 38:58.000 --> 39:04.630 Out of this chaos between 306 and 312 emerges one Emperor. 39:04.633 --> 39:06.403 And that is Constantine. 39:06.400 --> 39:10.570 And we'll be talking about Constantine on Wednesday. 39:13.700 --> 39:16.730 So the Tetrarchy fails. 39:16.733 --> 39:23.333 Diocletian's second big initiative was over this 39:23.333 --> 39:27.603 question of the economy, and ways of combating inflation. 39:27.600 --> 39:32.500 Diocletian issued a so-called edict on prices. 39:32.500 --> 39:36.000 The edict on prices attempted to set a 39:36.000 --> 39:40.200 fixed price for goods. 39:40.200 --> 39:43.430 And if you sold them for more than that, you were to be 39:43.433 --> 39:45.703 severely punished. 39:45.700 --> 39:51.900 This is the kind of classic example of the state trying to 39:51.900 --> 39:55.570 combat inflation by dictating prices. 39:55.567 --> 40:01.067 Most of you are not familiar with inflation, because we 40:01.067 --> 40:05.097 have lived in an era of very low interest and 40:05.100 --> 40:06.900 fairly stable prices. 40:06.900 --> 40:09.800 But if you think of those commodities whose inflation 40:09.800 --> 40:14.100 you are familiar with, like petroleum, it is very 40:14.100 --> 40:16.000 dislocating. 40:16.000 --> 40:19.600 It starts to create panics, and the panics then feed into 40:19.600 --> 40:20.500 the inflation. 40:20.500 --> 40:24.400 Just as, if people keep on getting gas because they think 40:24.400 --> 40:27.100 that it's going to go up in price, then there's a greater 40:27.100 --> 40:30.570 demand for gasoline, and it goes up further in price. 40:30.567 --> 40:34.997 Eventually, if the thing is really just speculative, it 40:35.000 --> 40:36.130 deflates again. 40:36.133 --> 40:38.173 And that's what's happened with products that we're 40:38.167 --> 40:40.127 familiar with in recent times. 40:40.133 --> 40:44.603 But there is also a kind of structural, longer-term 40:44.600 --> 40:46.730 inflation such as America experienced, for 40:46.733 --> 40:48.403 example, in the '70s. 40:48.400 --> 40:52.570 And in theory, if you have resource crises and things 40:52.567 --> 40:56.527 that are becoming scarcer, then you ought to have more 40:56.533 --> 41:01.233 and more experience with inflation. 41:01.233 --> 41:04.703 The government in the 1970s in the United States tried also 41:04.700 --> 41:07.270 to have an edict on prices. 41:07.267 --> 41:12.397 Under President Ford, there was a kind of administration 41:12.400 --> 41:14.530 of maximum prices. 41:14.533 --> 41:18.073 The problem with this is that it creates a temptation for 41:18.067 --> 41:21.327 black markets, creates a version of what we were just 41:21.333 --> 41:24.873 talking about with Gresham's law of coinage. 41:24.867 --> 41:29.767 If you say that tomatoes can only be sold for a dollar a 41:29.767 --> 41:33.067 pound, then those tomatoes that are being sold for a 41:33.067 --> 41:36.167 dollar a pound in a climate of severe inflation will be 41:36.167 --> 41:40.167 terrible, will be rotten. 41:40.167 --> 41:44.067 If you want to pay $2.00 a pound in secret, we have some 41:44.067 --> 41:45.667 nice tomatoes for you. 41:45.667 --> 41:48.727 And if you want to pay $5.00 a pound, we have some really 41:48.733 --> 41:54.333 nice, locally-grown tomatoes for you. 41:54.333 --> 42:00.473 All of which may be illegal, but the legal market is empty. 42:00.467 --> 42:02.997 And this is what happened in response to 42:03.000 --> 42:05.100 the edict of prices. 42:05.100 --> 42:06.830 This doesn't mean that the government cannot-- 42:06.833 --> 42:09.003 I mean it still remains debatable, obviously, the 42:09.000 --> 42:11.830 degree to which government can or cannot 42:11.833 --> 42:14.133 intervene in such things-- 42:14.133 --> 42:17.603 but certainly, in the case of the Roman Empire, this failed. 42:17.600 --> 42:25.270 What did bring back a measure of economic stability is the 42:25.267 --> 42:26.267 reform of the taxation. 42:26.267 --> 42:30.267 The fact that the state simply started getting in more 42:30.267 --> 42:36.197 resources, that less was being withheld by private people, 42:36.200 --> 42:39.200 and so the state could actually pay for its 42:39.200 --> 42:41.770 administrative and military costs. 42:46.233 --> 42:51.403 So Diocletian succeeded in abdicating peacefully, spent 42:51.400 --> 42:58.270 his retirement in Split in his palace, and lived to see the 42:58.267 --> 43:01.367 breakdown, or the partial breakdown of the Tetrarchy. 43:01.367 --> 43:06.797 And in certain respects, his policies clearly failed. 43:06.800 --> 43:11.530 The edict on prices had to be abandoned, the Tetrarchy did 43:11.533 --> 43:17.773 not work, and Diocletian failed in trying to suppress 43:17.767 --> 43:18.497 Christianity. 43:18.500 --> 43:20.970 We'll talk about this some more, but Diocletian, in the 43:20.967 --> 43:26.227 late part of his reign, a couple animals were split open 43:26.233 --> 43:29.303 to see what the future would be. 43:29.300 --> 43:29.930 Right? 43:29.933 --> 43:35.433 Isn't that what we all do if you want to figure out what's 43:35.433 --> 43:36.733 going to happen? 43:36.733 --> 43:40.633 You slaughter an animal and check out its liver. 43:40.633 --> 43:42.333 Maybe its kidneys and spleen, too. 43:42.333 --> 43:44.803 But the liver is really what you want to look at. 43:44.800 --> 43:50.070 And I don't exactly know what the animal was, what the 43:50.067 --> 43:55.097 organs were, and why they didn't splay out right, but 43:55.100 --> 43:57.270 the liver told Diocletian that the Christians were 43:57.267 --> 44:00.467 responsible for this, and that he'd better go after them. 44:00.467 --> 44:03.097 So there is this big persecution of Christians in 44:03.100 --> 44:06.600 the first part of the fourth century. 44:06.600 --> 44:09.130 And he certainly didn't succeed in that. 44:09.133 --> 44:13.573 Not only did the Christians not crumble, but of course 44:13.567 --> 44:16.567 Diocletian's most effective successor, six years after he 44:16.567 --> 44:18.797 abdicated, would convert to Christianity. 44:22.033 --> 44:25.603 But Diocletian is extremely important, and in many 44:25.600 --> 44:28.100 respects, extremely successful. 44:30.767 --> 44:34.167 He did more than prop up a tottering Empire. 44:37.867 --> 44:40.797 He did more than just transform a tottering Empire 44:40.800 --> 44:43.130 into a kind of tottering tyranny. 44:45.767 --> 44:47.167 He saved the Roman Empire. 44:47.167 --> 44:49.727 He saved the Roman Empire for 100 years. 44:49.733 --> 44:53.973 When you take a course like this that goes for 700, 800 44:53.967 --> 44:57.767 years, you start to hurl centuries around and get 44:57.767 --> 44:59.067 confused among them. 44:59.067 --> 45:03.197 But any polity that exists for 100 years is fairly 45:03.200 --> 45:04.370 impressive. 45:04.367 --> 45:08.467 Or a polity that looks like it's about to collapse, and 45:08.467 --> 45:11.827 then is restored for 100 years. 45:11.833 --> 45:14.833 The Roman Empire, conventionally speaking, is 45:14.833 --> 45:16.533 thought to have collapsed in the West in 45:16.533 --> 45:17.803 the late fifth century. 45:20.267 --> 45:25.197 In the East however, arguably, Diocletian's reforms last for 45:25.200 --> 45:28.230 more on the order of 1,200 years. 45:28.233 --> 45:31.203 The Eastern Empire, the Byzantine Empire 45:31.200 --> 45:35.900 would fall in 1453. 45:35.900 --> 45:40.630 And to its last day, it was modeled on Diocletianic 45:40.633 --> 45:48.873 administrative and military forms. 45:48.867 --> 45:53.467 People at the time clearly thought that they'd been saved 45:53.467 --> 45:55.127 from disaster. 45:55.133 --> 45:58.903 If you look at fourth century artifacts, things like mosaics 45:58.900 --> 46:02.830 on the floors of dining rooms, people often put mottos there. 46:02.833 --> 46:05.203 And their mottos are things like "Joyful times 46:05.200 --> 46:13.200 everywhere." or "A world restored." The fourth century 46:13.200 --> 46:19.170 is interpretable as an era of increasing gloom, because we 46:19.167 --> 46:22.497 know that in the fifth century things are going to collapse. 46:22.500 --> 46:25.770 But people in the fourth century are not saying to each 46:25.767 --> 46:28.527 other, I'm so glad I'm alive in the fourth century, because 46:28.533 --> 46:31.733 I don't want to see what's going to happen in the fifth. 46:31.733 --> 46:34.703 They are just happy that the barbarians are back across the 46:34.700 --> 46:39.330 Danube and the Rhine, the Persians are more or less 46:39.333 --> 46:41.603 controlled along the frontier. 46:41.600 --> 46:43.300 Yes, taxes are high. 46:43.300 --> 46:46.970 Yes, the elite is some sort of riff-raff, and not as well 46:46.967 --> 46:49.467 educated, and they're military people. 46:49.467 --> 46:53.967 But basically, things are working, prosperity is 46:53.967 --> 46:58.227 restored to the people who had been prosperous before, the 46:58.233 --> 47:01.133 local elites have declined, but it's not so 47:01.133 --> 47:03.503 visible as it had been. 47:03.500 --> 47:05.500 But there are some changes. 47:05.500 --> 47:07.900 Changes that we can, with the proverbial benefit of 47:07.900 --> 47:09.370 hindsight, see. 47:09.367 --> 47:12.097 Changes in the center of gravity. 47:12.100 --> 47:14.630 The dominant places are now places that 47:14.633 --> 47:15.773 are military bases. 47:15.767 --> 47:20.597 They are great cities, with all the amenities of Rome. 47:20.600 --> 47:23.970 That is, stadiums, gateways. 47:23.967 --> 47:26.127 One of the best-preserved of these to this 47:26.133 --> 47:28.133 day is Trier in Germany. 47:31.167 --> 47:33.497 Trier, on the Moselle behind [correction: west of] 47:33.500 --> 47:39.800 the Rhine, has a wonderful collection of Roman ruins. 47:39.800 --> 47:50.570 A gateway, the Porta Nigra, a theater, a sports arena, a 47:50.567 --> 47:54.767 basilica, a law court turned into a church. 47:54.767 --> 47:58.097 The reason trier was great was because of the frontier. 47:58.100 --> 48:00.730 It was one of the most important cities in the Empire 48:00.733 --> 48:02.673 because of the military, because of its strategic 48:02.667 --> 48:03.567 importance. 48:03.567 --> 48:05.167 And there are other cities that are like. 48:05.167 --> 48:09.067 Milan, for example, becomes more important than Rome. 48:09.067 --> 48:12.797 Because Milan is further north, it's a good place to 48:12.800 --> 48:16.730 get to the Danube and to the Rhine quickly, whereas Rome is 48:16.733 --> 48:18.373 buried in the Mediterranean. 48:22.600 --> 48:23.870 So we're in a new world. 48:23.867 --> 48:26.167 We'll discuss more of the new world on Wednesday. 48:26.167 --> 48:29.367 And we will see that Constantine, in some cases, 48:29.367 --> 48:31.167 completely revolutionizes things. 48:31.167 --> 48:35.297 And in other cases, continues Diocletian's work.