The Reorganisation of the Imperial System

The assassination of Emperor Alexander Severus in 235 AD marks the beginning of a long period of crisis during which the Roman empire came close to disintegration.

In the wake of the devastation caused by civil wars and foreign invasions, imperial unity was shattered, agriculture, commerce and industry declined and the economic and political foundations of ancient civilised life were badly shaken. But amidst the chaos a feeling was gathering strength, especially among the upper classes of the population, that they must, by some means or other, defend Roman civilisation, save the cities from destruction and restore the unity of the state. In the later part of the third century a succession of capable emperors^{^[1073]} began the work of restoring the crumbling empire. Eventually, discipline in the army was restored, external enemies were repelled and imperial unity was reestablished. The work of these so called 'soldier emperors' paved the way for the systematic changes of structure which were to take place during the reigns of Diocletian and Constantine the Great in the late third and early fourth centuries AD.

With Diocletian (284-305 AD) begins a new period in Roman history, known as the 'Dominate' (dominalus). During this period the autocratic tendencies that had grown ever stronger during the later Principate era prevailed and the emperor was openly recognised as the sole ruler (dominus) of the Roman world. At the same time Diocletian gave the empire a bureaucratic organisation better suited to the needs and conditions of the times. The relative success of the extensive programme of reforms initiated by Diocletian was largely due to the same conditions which had helped Augustus to succeed about three hundred years earlier: after nearly half a century of anarchy and civil war the Roman world was thirsting for peace and stability and the chance to return to a more settled life. Diocletian was quick to realise the temper of the times and to make use of it. Like Augustus, he brought together what had grown up in the confusion

of the age, made it into a system and gave it the permanence of a constitutional form.^{^[1074]}

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Source: Mousourakis George. The Historical and Institutional Context of Roman Law. Routledge,2003. — 480 p.. 2003

The Reorganisation of the Imperial System

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