Ancient Rome

=== Crisis of the Third Century ===
{{Main|Crisis of the Third Century}}
[[File:Map of Ancient Rome 271 AD.svg|thumb|right|upright=1.6|The Roman Empire suffered internal schisms, forming the [[Palmyrene Empire]] and the [[Gallic Empire]]]]

A disastrous scenario emerged after the death of [[Alexander Severus]]: the Roman state was plagued by civil wars, external [[invasion]]s, political chaos, [[Plague of Cyprian|pandemics]] and [[Economic collapse|economic depression]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Skip Knox |first=E.L. |title=Crisis of the Third Century (235–285) |url=http://history.boisestate.edu/westciv/empire/15.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070503114611/http://history.boisestate.edu/westciv/empire/15.shtml |archive-date=3 May 2007 |website=History of Western Civilization |publisher=Boise State University}}</ref>{{Sfn|Haywood|1971|pages=[https://archive.org/details/ancientworld0000unse/page/376 376]–393}} The old Roman values had fallen, and [[Mithraism]] and Christianity had begun to spread through the populace. Emperors were no longer men linked with nobility; they usually were born in lower-classes of distant parts of the Empire. These men rose to prominence through military ranks, and became emperors through civil wars.

There were 26 emperors in a 49-year period, a signal of political instability. [[Maximinus Thrax]] was the first ruler of that time, governing for just three years. Others ruled just for a few months, like [[Gordian I]], [[Gordian II]], [[Balbinus]] and [[Hostilian]]. The population and the frontiers were abandoned, since the emperors were mostly concerned with defeating rivals and establishing their power. The economy also suffered: massive military expenditures from the [[Severan dynasty|Severi]] caused a devaluation of Roman coins. [[Hyperinflation]] came at this time as well. The [[Plague of Cyprian]] broke out in 250 and killed a huge portion of the population.<ref name="Gibbon10">{{Cite book |last=Gibbon |first=Edward |title=The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire |date=1906 |publisher=Fred de Fau and Co. |editor-last=Bury |editor-first=J.B. |language=en |chapter=Chapter X |chapter-url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/731/731-h/731-h.htm#link102HCH0001 |chapter-format=Online version}}</ref> In 260&nbsp;AD, the provinces of [[Syria Palaestina]], [[Asia Minor]] and [[Aegyptus (Roman province)|Egypt]] separated from the rest of the Roman state to form the [[Palmyrene Empire]], ruled by Queen [[Zenobia]] and centered on [[Palmyra]]. In that same year the [[Gallic Empire]] was created by [[Postumus]], retaining Britannia and Gaul.<ref>[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Tyranni_XXX*.html] ''Historia Augusta'', ''The Lives of the Thirty Pretenders'', III et XXX.</ref> These countries separated from Rome after the capture of emperor [[Valerian (emperor)|Valerian]] by the [[Sassanid]]s of [[Persia]], the first Roman ruler to be captured by his enemies; it was a humiliating fact for the Romans.<ref name="Gibbon10"/> The crisis began to recede during the reigns of [[Claudius Gothicus]] (268–270), who [[Battle of Naissus|defeated]] the [[Goths|Gothic]] invaders, and [[Aurelian]] (271–275), who reconquered both the Gallic and Palmyrene Empires.<ref>[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Aurelian/2*.html] ''Historia Augusta'', ''The Life of Aurelian'', XXXII.; [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Claudius*.html] ''Historia Augusta'', ''The Life of Claudius'', I.</ref> The crisis was overcome during the reign of [[Diocletian]].