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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Bart9349, post: 4186829, member: 5682&quot;]Kevin: Thank you for this well-written and thought-provoking post. I have a special interest in Rome&#039;s &quot;Third Century Crisis.&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>I think one needs to put the financial crisis during this time in context with the societal collapse that was also occurring throughout the Empire.</p><p><br /></p><p>Pat Southern, in her excellent <i>The Roman Empire: From Severus to Constantine,</i> seems to feel that the disruption of the Empire during this period was not as nearly fatal as I do. She wrote, &quot;Military disasters, folk migrations, hit-and-run raids across the frontiers, external and internal rebellions, civil wars, bankruptcy, famines and plagues were recurrent and familiar events in the history of Rome.&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>I think, however, she underestimated the precarious state of the Empire at this point of its history. The severe devastation of disease, the Plague of Cyprian from about AD 249 to 262, for example, cannot be exaggerated.&nbsp; (Our most recent panic from the relatively mild Coronavirus epidemic should give us some insight what role a devastating epidemic could play in a scientifically unsophisticated ancient society.)</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plague_of_Cyprian" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plague_of_Cyprian" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plague_of_Cyprian</a></p><p><br /></p><p>It must be noted that it was the earlier Antonine plague of AD 165 to 180 that led to the events (including co-regent Lucius Verus&#039; death) that created the instability that led to the crises of the next (third) century.</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonine_Plague" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonine_Plague" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonine_Plague</a></p><p><br /></p><p>Michael Grant in his enjoyable <i>The Climax of Rome </i>also emphasized the cultural and military achievements of this period.</p><p><br /></p><p>The erosion of trust in coinage erodes trust in a central authority. The confidence in a fiat currency (money whose value is derived from government order, not the underlying metal) is only as good as the confidence in the government that has issued it.</p><p><br /></p><p>I&#039;m only surprised that the Roman Empire didn&#039;t collapse sooner, perhaps even in the third century.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>I agree. Great book.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>I thank you and others for this great thread.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>g.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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