The existence, and significance, of a ‘Third-Century Crisis’ in the Roman Empire has long been debated by historians and archaeologists alike. Indeed, the ‘Third-Century Crisis’ or its consequences are often seen as the dividing line between the early Roman Empire and the late Roman Empire.
On the one hand, there is compelling evidence that profound transformations in society and the economy took place in the course of the third century. On the other hand, many apparent shifts in social and economic life during the third century have been questioned on both historical and archaeological grounds, and the extent of social or economic problems regarded as doubtful. Examples of communities and local economies that seem to have gone on unimpeded can be found across the Empire, and the chronology and importance of the material changes involved, if any, are often debatable.
Even when significant differences in social organisation, economic production and material culture occurred within the third century, it is debatable to what extent these differences can be characterised as crises, let alone the same crisis. It might be argued that the political and economic transformations of the Empire in the fourth century were of similar depth and geographical scope. This raises the fundamental question of what constitutes a crisis in the Roman Empire, whether to contemporaries – and, if so, to which contemporaries – or to twenty-first-century historians or archaeologists.
The ‘Third-Century Crisis’ is, therefore, an interpretative hypothesis rather than a given fact. It might well have existed, and it might well have had wide-ranging consequences, but one cannot simply assume either its existence or its significance without a close consideration of evidence from across the Roman world. Moreover, what is meant by the term ‘crisis’ and, if a crisis did occur, its scope and chronology, also need careful consideration, based on archaeological and textual evidence rather than assumptions.
It is in this context that the fourth Aguntum workshop, whose proceedings are published in this volume, was on the topic of the ‘Third-Century Crisis’, addressing empire-wide transformations using archaeological data. The ‘Third-Century Crisis’ is especially pertinent to Aguntum, an early imperial municipium in modern Austria, where the monumental centre of the town, including its forum, seems to have been destroyed by fire at this time. The causes of the blaze are unknown at present, but as no restoration took place afterwards, its consequences were enduring. This is, reasonably, interpreted by the excavators as an indication of economic crisis in the urban community, on the grounds that the municipal authorities would have rebuilt such an important area as soon as they were able to do so. The apparent poverty on behalf of the urban elite that the lack of such rebuilding implies may be of importance for understanding the wider economy, as the local economy of Aguntum was based in part on the rich mineral deposits in its vicinity. The town was, therefore, linked into economic networks wider than its immediate agricultural hinterland, and its economic decline might inform us of more widespread economic transformations. Whether those transformations need necessarily indicate decline is less clear-cut – they could simply indicate that different sources of minerals were being accessed or that trade patterns had shifted to favour other settlements.
Nevertheless, while occupation within the town continued – it was the seat of a fourth-century bishop, attesting its continued administrative importance –, apparently shortly after the city-centre fire occurred, increased activity is attested at hilltop settlements in the same locality, notably Lavant, just to the east of Aguntum. The settlement at Lavant also had a fourth-century church and replaced Aguntum as the episcopal centre in the fifth century. This probably denoted a fundamental re-emphasis of the settlement pattern, with settlement in this area becoming decentralised, foreshadowing even more profound societal and economic transformations in late antiquity. However, both Aguntum and Lavant were occupied until the start of the seventh century, as there is textual evidence that both were destroyed during warfare in 610 ce.
Aguntum and its surroundings provide, therefore, an apparently clear case of crisis in the third century and its consequences. Rather than discuss this one town alone, the thirteen contributors to this volume seek to place it within its broader imperial context by showing that, while the third century was a time of crisis for some, other provinces, regions and settlements were unaffected by this and even prospered.
In practice, this is achieved – after a brief preface by the editors – in a series of studies considering different areas and sites within the Western Empire. These demonstrate the pattern of contrasting trajectories, ranging from dramatic decline to continued prosperity. For example, P. Marko stresses diversity within the same region in ‘Good Times, Bad Times? An Overview of Findings on the 3rd Century in the Territory of Flavia Solva/Wagna’, and A. Nüsslein recognises a similar pattern of regional variability in ‘The 3rd Century Between Meuse and Rhine (Alsace and Lorraine, France): Contrasting Situations in the Rural World’.
Methods vary from the use of purely archaeological analysis to an interdisciplinary perspective. For example, L. Arioli and A. Breda discuss ‘Brescia and its Territory: Settlement Transformations and the 3rd Century Crisis’, using material culture, and doubt whether this can be correlated closely with textual sources. By contrast, S. Beal examines ‘Attack of the Herulians: Disaster Response in 3rd Century Athens’, integrating written and archaeological sources, and crediting the somewhat tenuous textual sources for the Herulian attack of 267 ce. Despite this, similarities can be seen between the conclusions of both papers. Arioli and Breda as well as Beal stress the variability seen between different locations in the same region, and this emphasis on intra-regional and even intra-site patterning is a consistent theme of the volume.
Although most of the papers suggest that third-century decline has been exaggerated in past scholarship, in ‘Das 3. Jh. im Umland von Iuvavum – eine Krisenzeit? Numismatische Evidenz – Archäologischer Befund – Interpretation’ U. Schachinger, R. Kastler and F. Lang argue for the possibility of a genuine and wide-ranging crisis, affecting both town and countryside. Rather than just considering a binary opposition of decline versus prosperity, the volume overall offers, therefore, a more nuanced perspective on the third century than has often been present in previous scholarship.
An especially interesting regional study in this respect is that by J.A. Pintado on ‘Crisis before the “Crisis”: the Decline and Fall of the Cities of the Hispania Tarraconensis at the End of the High Empire’. Pintado alerts readers to the possibility that some regions or even whole provinces had suffered crises prior to the third century. This puts the novelty of abrupt decline in perspective, casting the crisis of the third century into a different light. Likewise, G. Somma, C. Faller and H. Steiner discuss ‘Nuove ricerche sull'insediamento romano e medievale di Littamum (San Candido–Innichen) 2013–2018’, emphasising the lack of evidence for a third-century crisis in Littamum, but alerting readers to some evidence for a transformation of settlement activity during the fourth century.
Although characterised by broad regional studies, the volume also includes papers investigating specific sites with the same questions in mind. S. Benguerel uses high-precision dendrochronology impressively to date maintenance and disuse in ‘Tasgetium: Von der Kleinstadt zum Kastell’. M. Bottos and G. Tasca discover evidence for third-century settlement decline, but possibly flourishing small rural centres in ‘The Crisis of the 3rd Century ad in the Territory of Iulia Concordia: the Roman villa of Gorgaz (San Vito al Tagliamento)’, and R. Grüßinger and A. Willmitzer consider the much-discussed case of ‘Die Colonia Ulpia Traiana/Xanten im 3. Jh. n. Chr.’, highlighting the existence of an intriguing, and massive, fourth-century fortification post-dating the supposed late third-century destruction of the town. In the last of these more specific case studies I. Mader and S. Jäger-Wersonig discuss another key site, ‘Die zivile Siedlung Vindobona im 3. Jh. n. Chr.’, which seems to have undergone decline in the third century.
Combining these case studies with wider regional studies suggests that large towns declined relatively compared to smaller settlements, which achieve a new prominence from the third century. This casts new light both on the third century and on similar processes continuing far into late antiquity. The latter observation prompts one to search for the origins of the characteristic components of the late antique world in the evidence analysed in the volume. Doing so highlights the relative absence of sustained discussion here of religious transformations. The one exception is M. Handy, who alone focuses his attention on religious transformation, in ‘Fortbestand oder Niedergang? Lokalkult oder Reichsreligion? Zum Kult des Iuppiter Dolichenus im 3. Jh. n. Chr.’. This might be considered a flaw of the volume, which, while it is a discussion of settlement, rather than ritual or burial, could be considered to underestimate the extent to which ritual behaviour and religious belief are important in understanding Roman-period settlements throughout the Empire.
Likewise, given the specific research question with which the editors began the volume, a general conclusion might have been helpful. Nevertheless, this is largely compensated for by an excellent overview from K. Strobel in the last paper in the book, considering ‘Die sogenannte Reichskrise des 3. Jh.s n. Chr. im Spiegel historischer, regionaler und lokaler Diversität: Grundlagen einer historisch-archäologischen Quellenkritik’. In the light of archaeological evidence, Strobel calls for a regional view, encompassing both decline and survival. This seems justified by the evidence amassed here.
Overall, this volume is an up-to-date and wide-ranging review of archaeological, and to some extent textual, evidence for and against considering the third century as characterised by a fundamental crisis in the Roman world. There is much here that is about renewal and continuity as well as decline and disuse. Its western emphasis, while explicable in terms of the Aguntum workshop from which it derives, nevertheless begs the question of what was happening in the eastern provinces. Perhaps that would be a good subject for a companion volume. In wholly western terms, the evidence considered is also somewhat uneven; one cannot help but note the absence of anything from Britain to compare with the wider picture presented from other provinces.
However, the editors are to be commended for bringing together such an interesting and informative series of studies. These offer significant and innovative contributions to ongoing debates about the ‘Third-Century Crisis’ in particular, the frequency and nature of crises in the Roman Empire in general, and the origins of settlement forms and settlement patterns that might be considered typical of late antiquity.
