Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Within its set limits, this is an excellent book. Potter's major focus is the Imperial system of government and how it changed over the period covered in this book. Potter starts with the Imperial system at the end of the reign of Marcus Aurelius, the termination of a period of remarkable stability with a series of successful transitions between Emperors. Under Marcus Aurelius and his predecessors, the Emperor functioned as the fulcrum of a system in which governence was exercised partly by the Imperial court, partly by the Senatorial class through institutions inherited from the Roman Republic, partly by a bureaucracy staffed by the Roman equestrian order, and partly through the Army. The Emperor mediated through these different systems and balanced local/regional needs against Imperial needs. The ranks of the Senatorial and equestrian orders were socially permeable with provincial families making their up the social ladder into important positions. Potter shows the Empire at this point to be somewhat backward looking with intellectual life driven by work of important thinkers from prior generations and important institutions, like the Army, maintaining the structures established decades, if not centuries earlier. After Marcus Aurelius, a number of stresses emerged that drove major changes in governence. The Persian empire was reinvigorated by the Sasanids, 'barbarian' invaders from Europe became more of a problem, and chronic succession problems produced political instability. The imperial succession is marked by a series of incompetent (Commodus), underage, or arguably insane (Caracalla, Elagabalus) Emperors. Succession crises produced frequent civil wars. Over time, the role of the Imperial court expanded with a reduction in the importance of the traditional forms of governance and efforts to more closely govern the provinces. While the Emperor remained the linchpin of the system, Potter argues that towards the end of this period, the court bureacracy had become capable of manipulating Emperors. Certainly, the Army had become something of an arbiter of political fortunes well before the fall of the western Roman Empire. Potter implies that the shift to a more centralized form of government dominated by the court was responsible for some of the difficulties of the Empire. I'm not sure this is convincing. From Potter's account, it seems to me that the difficulties in producing peaceful successions seem more important and the other changes Potter describes might be secondary to the stresses an unstable Imperial system experienced.
Potter does very well in describing another major process in this period, the rise of Christianity as the official state religion. His discussion of religion in general is quite good and his description of how Christianity became the state creed is excellent. In some respects, the emergence of a single, somewhat exclusive state religion is of a piece with the centralizing tendencies of the later Roman state.
I think Potter does less well with demography and economic history, which are hardly mentioned, though I am sure there is not much real data on these topics. Still, what is mentioned is intriguing and would have been worth additional exploration. Towards the end of this period, there were persistent difficulties in recruitment for the Army. Troops were drawn often from 'barbarian' groups. Why? Was this due to population shortfalls in the Empire? This is not really addressed.
This book is written very well though there is an irritating tendency to use some post-modernist jargon like employing the word narrative in the sense of betokening a world view or sense of identity. Recommended strongly.
Click Here to see more reviews about: The Roman Empire at Bay: AD 180-395 (Routledge History of the Ancient World)
David S. Potter's comprehensive survey of two critical and eventful centuries traces the course of imperial decline, skillfully weaving together cultural, intellectual and political history.Particular attention is paid throughout to the structures of government, the rise of Persia as a rival, and the diverse intellectual movements in the empire. There is also a strong focus on Christianity, transformed in this period from a fringe sect to the leading religion.Against this detailed background, Potter argues that the loss of power can mainly be attributed to the failure in the imperial elite to respond to changes inside and outside the empire, and to internal struggles for control between different elements in the government, resulting in an inefficient centralization of power at court.A striking achievement of historical synthesis combined with a compelling interpretative line, The Roman Empire at Bay enables students of all periods to understand the dynamics of great imperial powers.
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