But it was pretty obvious that Rome as a republic didn't work either. Either the lazy, corrupt senators mishandled various wars, or it all devolved into civil wars. Concentration of power was the only way to achieve stability, but with the expanding borders of the empire, stability became a problem again despite that improvement. It was just too easy for general X waay over in the other end of the empire to achieve some victories defending the empire, then use his loyal legions to march on Rome to get a bigger slice of the power while the Caesar was far away defending the empire on some other border.Originally Posted by Commilitone
The basic problem was never really solved, but just circumvented by subdividing the empire. But the divisions of the empire (tetrarchy and whatnot) just meant that the empire evolved toward splitting into autonomous parts, eventually becoming two separate states.
Bookmarks