Roman Emperors Rise To Power Analysis

The Roman political system revolved around the emperor. Being the central head of the government, effectiveness of the emperor was key in determining the successfulness of the empire. In the third-century, many of these emperors were selected and deposed of by the army and the power begun to switch from politics to the military. Armies played key roles in determining who ascended to power and this can be seen in the conflict between Philip and Decius, Carinus and Diocletian, as well as emperors such as Tacitus, Florian and Probus. These emperors rise to power through the backing and strength of an army throughout the third-century. The two pairs Philip the Arab and Decius, and Carinus and Diocletian were the two best examples of how an army was used to gain power. Philip was a praetorian prefect that became emperor in 244 CE. His ideas of Roman power and ‘Romanness’ was what kept the Roman people and its armies allied with him. Within five years after he gains power, a revolt occurs within the empire. He entrusts the urban prefect Decius to deal with the problem and sends him to put down the rebellion. After the insurrection was handled, Decius was proclaimed emperor by his troops. With a successful military accomplishment, the army claimed and supported his case for the throne. This forced Philip to march his army North to fight Decius and assert his dominance to maintain …show more content…
The armies rose up and were moving to become their own entity with the power to not only choose the next emperor, but also to decide how long their reign would be before an inevitable mutiny occurred. With the conflicts between Philip and Decius, and Carinus and Diocletian tied with the mutinies of Tacitus, Florian and Probus, all were situations in which the army played a role in the state of an emperor’s power. In all, the army played a significant role in the selection and deposition of emperors throughout the third