The Empire from the Third-Century
Crisis to Justinian
The major factor that brought about the weakening and eventual destruction of the Empire is the defect of Augustus' political arrangement. Augustus never created a system that involved political succession after the death of an Emperor. The inability to guarantee imperial succession to any person is conceivably dangerous and very risky. Meaning, that any person, provided they are supported by a certain group, can take the throne, even by force of arms. This is exactly what happened after the death of Severus Alexander in A.D. 235. The…
