09-10-2008, 10:01 PM
Quote:That one is based on a brief note in IIRC Zonaras, who states (erroneously) that Gallienus first raised cavalry units. ... Anyway, there is a good chance Gallienus raised cavalry - everybody seems to have - but I would be very careful with the assumption that he instituted any set policy or was any kind of first.You and Duncan confirm my doubts. Thanks.
Quote:More of a question oh how long did they live large on the loot from one particular Parthian plundering before it was drained and the Romans were forced to go on an expedition again.If I recall correctly, Birley thinks the loot from Ctesiphon postponed the crisis with a decade or two. The trouble is that when Birley wrote his biography of Severus, there were no quantitative studies of Roman coinage, based on the number of dies, as we now have. I am unaware, however, of such a numismatic study, although this is the obvious strategy to say something meaningful about Roman finances.
Quote:Another Marcus Aurelius or Septimius Severus could probably have weathered the storm. You can see things picking up again under Aurelian, so it was just an unfortunate episode rather than a trend.I'm not really sure about that; although I think the extent of the crisis is exaggerated, and that we must allow for regional variation, the combination of declining trade (decline of number of wrecks) and inflation suggests something serious. Neither am I confident about the qualities of Aurelian. The fall of the Gallic Empire meant the end of the Rhine army, and it took six years until Probus was able to restore some order; it was only Constantius Chlorus who restored the Lower Rhine frontier.
