Two Empires in One

Newprocedures and practices were being introduced and it was under Diocletian that the more radical changes began to be made. One of his first moves was to split power between himself and another appointed Augusti or Emperor by the name OfMaximinus Daza, a loyal and able general but without much political ambition.

By now Rome, abandoned as capital of the Empire, was an urban sprawl of well over a million inhabitants, most stuffed into crowded tenements and apartments. It suffered from con­gested traffic, air polluted by stench and burning oil, high un­employment and crime. Rome also resembled a modern city in that it had a police force, firefighters, as well as building and health inspectors, although their effectiveness is not known. We do know that typhus, tuberculosis and dysentery were com­mon with the occasional outbreak of the plague. Parts of the citywere also devoted to sprawling villas of the wealthy, which by now they seldom left.

To restore order and control required a powerful and ef­fective military, which under Diocletian was increased to half a million men. Needing roughly 90,000 recruits per year to sus­tain the great army, he began to hire barbarian mercenaries, set­ting a practice which would continue into the future. By the end of the third century the results began to show.

The deep crisis and the instability of the 3rd century saw the spread of mystical religions in the Eastern Empire, partic­ularly Christianity which would have a profound effect on its evolution. The inspirer of the faith was a religious Jewish re­former from Judea CalledJoshua of Nazareth, or as we know him by his GreeknameJesus (the Christ).¹⁸ Not much is known about him, except what has come down from his apostles during his three years of preaching, more-or-less contained in the New Testament of the Bible. He seems to have been regarded as a minor rebel by the Romans, and according to Tacitus “was cru­cified under Tiberius by the procurator Pontius Pilate,” probably sometime in the 30s.

More than a century after his death, “Christians” began to believe that Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. His early followers were those Jews who had accepted him as the Messiah sent by God but most continued to adhere to the oldjewish faith and laws. One of the adherents was a Jew by the name of Saul (Paul) who belonged to the hereditary priestly class that presided over rites in the Temple of Jerusalem. After taking part in the persecution of the new cult he himself became a convert in about 37, and began to spread the faith amongst non-Jews, who proved to be more receptive to the Christian message.

In the first two centuries the spread of Christianity took place predominantly amongst low-class urban Greeks rather than the “pagensis” or peasants of the countryside, who stub­bornly clung to the old Roman gods.²⁰ By 64 there were enough Christians in Rome that Emperor Nero could blame a great fire on them and have some burnt at the stake as fitting punishment. Subject to periodic persecution, the new religion spread literally underground in catacombs, since they were not permitted to bury their dead in the usual cemeteries.²¹ All Christians in an urban Settingwere grouped into “ekklesias” named after Greek city assemblies and led by “episkopoi” (overseers) and “pres- biteroi” (elders). Over time the episkopoi became the senior priests or bishops responsible for the correct interpretation of the faith, with the ekklesias evolving into churches. By the early 3rd century Christianitybegan to spread amongst non-Greeks in the cities and slowly to Latin-speaking men of the upper classes. The central tenet of early Christianitywas that the end of the world was approaching but the redemptive power of Christ s death, his resurrection and the expected second coming would save the true believers by granting them everlasting life. The early Christian attitude is illustrated by the so-called Sybil- Iene Oracles, which proclaimed in part: “Near at hand is the end of the world, and the last day and the judgment of immortal God, for such as are both called and chosen.

One important form of mutual support amongst the Christians pertained to travel. A Christian traveler would be given the locations of Christian dwellings along his planned route, and upon showing the secret sign of the fish would be provided with free room and board, as well as security. In an effort to provide unity, Diocletian had banned all religions except the traditional Roman cults, and Christians were perse­cuted once again. Also, part of the simplified taxation system which he introduced depended on the number of people living on the land. Manpower had become scarce due to wars, the plague and famine. To guarantee a predictable flow of tax rev­enues, a law was passed prohibiting individuals from leaving their place of residence. This made traveling very risky and was the beginning of what would develop into serfdom, which would come to dominate Europe for centuries to come.

The most remarkable aspect OfDiocletians reign, how­ever, was the unprecedented and virtually total control of the economy by the state. A great inflation had occurred towards the end of the 3rd century, probably due to insufficient gold coinage being minted and an oversupply of cheap coinage with limited silver content. Only a small rich minority could afford to use gold coinage, while the vast majority depended on the almost valueless “silver” currency. In an attempt to stamp out the alarming increases in prices Diocletian issued the “De Pretiis” edict in 301, which laid down maximum prices for some 1,000 items as well as maximum wages, in what was the first major attempt in history at price and wage controls. Market forces of supply and demand were replaced by government management. Although many of the laws proved to be unen­forceable and were eventually repealed, they nevertheless es­tablished a precedent of state intervention into economic and business affairs.

The crisis of the 3rd Centuryhad been averted by Dioclet­ian’s policies, but at a cost. Once the backbone of the Roman Empire, the Italian peninsula emerged from the crisis in partic­ularly bad shape. The acute and extensive social stratification, destruction of the rural citizen-farmer, and a general decline in population due to the plagues and the famines which followed had taken their toll. With Italy contributing only about ten per­cent of the total population it was no longer able to maintain the legions at full strength, and began to rely on the Provinces for manpower and leadership.²² With the granting of universal citizenship to most free men of the Empire and the land tax ex­tended to Italy by Diocletian, the peninsula lost its privileged status. The decline became irreversible when Emperor Con­stantine decided to build a new capital in the east, on the stretch of water joining the Mediterranean and Black Seas. The center of gravity of the Empire had shifted to the eastern territories, particularly to the Greek and Danubian Provinces and another crucial stage in the fall of the Roman Empire had occurred under an emperor from the Balkans.²³

Named New Rome, the new capital would become known as Constantinople, and would become the greatest city in the world. Reaching a population of one million, it eclipsed Rome and become a hub of trade routes, stretching from Britain to China. A major center for manufacturing and close to Greek educational institutions it boasted palaces and buildings un­paralleled in the world. In the words of an Ilth century French traveler, Fulcher of Chartres:

How stately, how fair, how many monasteries therein, how many palaces raised by sheer labor in its broadways and streets, how many works of art marvelous to behold. It would be wearisome to tell of the abundance of all good things; of gold and silver, gar­ments of manifold fashion, and such sacred relics. Ships are at all times putting in at this port so that there is nothing that men want that is not brought hither.²⁴

Why did Constantine follow Diocletians example and abandon Rome and the western part of the Empire for a new beginning in the Greek east? He had served in Diocletians court in Nicomedia not far from Byzantia and was personally ac­quainted with the region.

A second major decision by Constantine which would completely transform the Empire even further was to proclaim Christianity as the official “religia” of the Roman Empire.²⁵ A Greek movement, Christianityhad become widespread in the Empire (including the army), and Constantine must have in­troduced the new religion to both unify and further distance his reign from Roman traditions. His mother, Helen, the daugh­ter of an innkeeper, was already a Christian and at the age of 70, on a pilgrimage to the Middle East, would achieve promi­nence by finding what was assumed to be the True Cross of the crucifixion (Constantine himself, however, was Onlybaptized on his deathbed, presumably with the intention of dying without sin). But exactly what was Christianity at this time? The Christian bishops themselves were divided into many fac­tions and creeds, mainly according to their interpretation of the nature of Jesus Christ. This was a situation which did not help to provide the autocratic Empire with a unifying set of be­liefs, and to provide a single religion Constantine proclaimed the Council of the Church, which would meet at the city of Nicaea in the Imperial palace on the 20 May, 325.²⁶ The meeting was conducted in Greek, and was attended almost exclusively by bishops from the east (where Christianity was centered), lasting for a whole month due to the sharp divisions which arose amongst the 300-odd participants.

Under Constantine, Christianity underwent a profound change. Administratively, the Church was divided into five re­gions each with a Bishop appointed as Patriarch (Pope) in Con­stantinople, AntiocffiJerusalem, Alexandria and Rome.²⁷ The Church became an integral part of the State, exempt from tax­ation and laying claim to a part of the imperial funds. Imperial regulations were brought into Church affairs and Bishops in­corporated into State service, with clerics wielding wide powers. Although owners were requested to treat slaves humanely, slav­ery itself was not denounced or abolished. By 385 the Church was beginning to oversee executions of Christian heretics con­demned in special ecclesiastical courts. The Imperial govern­ment under Constantine was also becoming more autocratic with most of the states resources going to the bureaucracy, the Church and the armed forces. Edicts were passed whereby a person inherited his father s occupation—the sons of veterans, for example, had to serve in the army, and government officials had to follow in their father s footsteps. The will of the Emperor also became law, with offices of the State restricted to an aris­tocracy of patrician “comites” (counts) and “duces” (dukes), who were appointed by the Emperor.

Constantine died on the 22nd of May 337 after a reign of 31 years. His body was brought to Constantinople draped in Imperial purple, and for three months lay in-state in a golden coffin in the imperial palace. With his victories and peace treaties with the Visigoths in 332 and the Sarmatians in 334, he had brought peace to the empire and for two years following his death there were no major campaigns against the northern and eastern enemies. Soon all this would change, with the arrival of fresh waves of barbarians intent on taking a share of Roman wealth.