The U.S. is often compared to the Roman Empire, usually by people who are saying the U.S. is going downhill. That may be true about the U.S. but, as a historian said, empires take a long time to fall. The Roman Empire lasted about a thousand years if you count the Republic that preceded the Empire, so we have a ways to go to equal Rome's longevity.
Any empire, even at its peak, has many problems. There's never enough money. The poor are neglected. The old are sometimes mugged in the street. But at least there's stability. When an empire starts having multiple rulers in a single year, you can foresee the end, but even then it's hard to predict the final fall.
For perspective, the Empire is said to have ended in 475 A.D. when the last Roman emperor was deposed. The year when there were four emperors took place in 69 A.D. It was a hint of things to come, but the Empire still had a good run ahead of it. After Nero committed suicide in 69, civil war broke out. There was a power vacuum and Galba, the elderly governor of Spain, was encouraged by his friend Otho to claim the throne, which Galba did. But when he failed to name Otho as his heir, Otho had him murdered and named himself emperor.
General Vitellius up in Germany said he wanted to be emperor and he had an army to back him up. His army defeated Otho's army and Otho committed suicide. Meanwhile over in Syria, Vespasian decided he wanted to be emperor and his army defeated Vitellius's army. Vitellius was killed by a mob. All these events occurred in less than a 12 month span. Vitellius secured his rule as emperor and died of natural causes nine years later. After the worrisome year of 69, the Empire had another 409 years to go.
Fast forward to 238 A.D. This was the Year of the Six Emperors. Maximus Thrax had been emperor for three years. The historians note he was unpopular with everyone. He invented false accusations against his enemies, killed innocent men, and sought wealth in the ruin of others. A revolt against Maximus began in the North African provinces. Some hotheads murdered a tax collector there and proclaimed the local governor, Gordian I, as emperor. Gordian was 80 years old so he made his son Gordian II his co-emperor. The Roman Senate went along with this. But the governor of a neighboring province had a grudge against the Gordians and marched his army against them. When Gordian I heard his son was killed in battle, he committed suicide.
Meanwhile Maximus Thrax, who was in Serbia and still considered himself to be emperor, started marching on Rome with his army to punish the Senate. To protect themselves, the Senate elected two of their fellow senators as co-emperors. The people were not happy with these two and insisted on Gordian I's grandson, also named Gordian, being made heir to the throne.
Maximus was having troubles along the route to Rome. His own troops got fed up with him and murdered him. Back in Rome, the two senator-emperors could not agree. Their bodyguards got sick of their arguing and murdered them. Now young Gordian became Gordian III, the sixth emperor of the year. Since Gordian III was only 13, his aadvisors were the real power behind the throne. Gordian III ruled for six years and died in Iraq under mysterious circumstances while campaigning with the Roman Army, always a dangerous place to be.
Dear reader, I hope you're able to keep all of this straight. I only bring it up because it was on this day in 238 that the army of the Gordians I and II was defeated. There would be 67 more emperors in the next 237 years. There were some good ones such as Constantine the Great, and several who only lasted a few days. The Roman Empire split into eastern and western halves in 395 A.D., and after the collapse of the western half, the eastern empire, known as the Byzantine Empire held on until 1453 when the Ottoman Empire took over. The Ottomans lasted till 1918, which feels like only yesterday.
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| If the a Roman Empire was dropped on the United States |
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