Military Reforms of Diocletian - Roman Imperial Army DOCUMENTARY

[Music] constant play invasion political upheaval and economic failure during Rome's crisis of the third century burned away the principles created by Augustus while the Imperium Romanum was resilient enough to survive the years of turmoil and emerge out of the other side of the tunnel catastrophic defeats such as those at aperture center Desa proves that the Imperial Army was becoming obsolete so three emperors of rome Gallienus Diocletian and constantine began the laborious process of reforging the military into a stronger more versatile force shoutout to brilliant for sponsoring this video we're happy to be partners with brilliant as this educational platform and our channel share similar values do you know someone who likes to ask how does the refrigerator work or how do I solve this puzzle or maybe even what is quantum computing if so we've got just the thing for you spread the love of knowledge and learning to your loved ones by gifting them brilliant this really excites us because it's such a fun way to nurture curiosity build confidence and develop problem-solving skills crucial to school job interviews or their career brilliant thought-provoking content breaks up complexities into bite-sized understandable chunks that will lead them from curiosity to mastery go to brilliant dot org slash kings as generals and grab a gift subscription to help your loved ones finish their day a little smarter to understand the fundamental change which the Imperial Roman army experienced we must take a look at the political context behind that shift the Roman Empire had been ruled by a single man the Emperor for almost three centuries however since the very beginning many or gusty either chose to rule jointly with a colleague to spread the burden and secure the succession or has been forced to recognize another individuals rule over a part of the Empire this system worked well during the peaceful Pax Romana the third century proves that such a massive territory under such pressure could not be ruled effectively by a single person the fact was made brutally clear in the political fragmentation which led to the emergence of the separatist pal marine and Gallic empires the former split from the greater Empire after Valerians defeat and capture at odessa in 260 and the latter broke away when the Gallic legions lost faith in the central authorities abilities who protect them leading to posthumous coming to power as a self-proclaimed resti to toggle erm restorer of gaul both situations showed a troubling fact there must be more than one emperor when Diocletian seized the throne in 284 the practice of having more than one man in charge became formalized with the short-lived tetrarchy system this allowed for centers of power to emerge each of which could respond quicker to external threats fragmentation of power also occurred on the provincial level and throughout the late empire old regions of the principle were increasingly subdivided with that context in mind let's move on to the reorganization which led to the late Roman army our account will begin with the Empire's ruler during some of the most dire years in Roman history Valerians lesser-known son Publius Luke Aeneas Ignatius Gallienus it is important to remember that there was no single moment which transformed Rome's legions into the Imperial Army of Late Antiquity as it was a continuous process at some point perhaps in the late - 50s but definitely by - 6:1 Gallienus began requisitioning cavalry from across the central section of the empire still under his control eventually this amounted to a large mounted reserve army of 30,000 controlled by Gallienus or his best commander Hori olace often used to reinforce threatened legions wherever danger was approaching we only have limited details about this centralized cavalry force but the presence of veteran mountain mauritania in Javanese Ostrow nyan horse archers legionary cavalry and mounted Dalmatian tribesmen are attested to its subsequent victories against Germanic tribes indicates that despite the Cavalry's haphazard nature it was highly competent in order to serve its intended purpose as a reserve located at a strategic Nexus which could move anywhere in good time Galliano's based his new imperial mounted core at medial Arnhem modern-day Milan it was placed there to defend Italy from attack through the Alps and if called upon could write north into Gaul or east into the Balkans far more easily than from another base while Gallienus his cavalry was defeated later in the to 60s and the Emperor himself was assassinated in 268 some scholars argue that the creation of this force served as the direct predecessor and inspiration for later changes others do not agree with this view but it is clear that Gallienus laid the foundations for a dual system of Imperial defense stationary armies would guard a specific point while a purposefully created mobile force could move where it was needed with this baseline template to work from Diocletian came to the throne in 284 and ended the crisis of the 3rd century he intensified reconstruction efforts at many ruined frontier fortresses and also created at least 20 new reconstituted legions probably smaller ones with a strength of around 1,000 men each however one of the Emperor's longest lasting changes was to the provincial system which was reorganized to cater solely towards the maintenance and convenience of a new Roman army after decades civilian and military authority was finally separated forever with new provincial governors the Vicari slowly being reduced to handling civilian administration in their appointed regions to command the provincial troops Diocletian created a new military position known as the Ducks root of the medieval European title of Duke professional military officers were appointed to the position in which they controlled to the armies of a single region frontier LeMay or a larger area if the Emperor deemed it necessary for example there was a military commander in one of the Gallic provinces known as the ducks per Gallia Belgica he controlled all of the local garrison forces in the provinces which were Roman Gallia Belgica this system was far less rigid than the old provincial one mainly because areas of jurisdiction were far more fluid an emperor during the dominant could respond to the requirements of the situation at hand appointing one supreme commander over an entire point of attack near the borders and consolidating armies under one leader rather than having to rely on several equal commanders working together the reconfiguration of Rome's government and military initiated by Diocletian was continued by his eventual successor Constantine the Great however the progression is so seamless that we often have trouble distinguishing which Emperor did what what we know is that between Constantine's victory at the Milvian bridge and the year 325 the late Roman army was made however we unfortunately have very few sources on such a crucial period in military history the key fact is that under Constantine's long rule two distinct military forces developed armies on the frontier limit on a and the mobile field armies committed 10 seas limit on a inherited the legacy of the old Roman legions and auxiliar they were garrisoned on the borders and were used as a static defensive army much like those forces had been in centuries past misunderstandings of the ancient sources led to a popular belief that limit on a were low quality and badly armed but this view has begun to change in recent years though they certainly possessed inferior status to their counterparts in the Akama 210 seas limit on a contingents were often detached to supplement the field armies on Payne then to be known as pseudo committed ten seas therefore it is almost certain that the garrison troops were not just a disorganized rabble but a highly trained army in their own right a sub formation of limit on a garrison troops worthy repent cease so-called soldiers on the riverbank though it isn't entirely clear if this was just another term for frontier armies or a different force ultimate command of the various limit on a frontier units lay with the Dux appointed to that region as mentioned before such contingents could be split up consolidated and reorganized depending on the situation possibly evolving from galle enos's massed cavalry army and diocletian's personal elite Comitatus units were the second component of late Roman military organization various mobile field armies known as the committed tendencies much like they're less formalized predecessor komiteh tenses armies were each based at a central location deep within Roman territory far away from the vulnerable frontiers this was a much-needed change under the old defensive system if Rome's enemies were able to pass any single part of the Imperial border it would take the Empire a long time to shift forces from other sectors to defeat them in that time an enemy force could inflict substantial damage on the economic and social fabric of the assailed area and which therefore weakened it in the future with komiteh Tennessee standing ready to act behind the frontier however an internal Roman army was ready to march in the Empire's defense at any moment without need for significant reorganization although they are shown to be highly mobile armies committed tensest units however highly trained they might have been possessed more infantry than cavalry and were also sustained by a slow baggage train like most armies an army of this kind was physically capable of moving at the same speed as any other force rather than being a licensing fast reserve the crucial difference lay in the connections that various earliest units had to the land around them province fixed legions in the Principate period performed so many civilian administrative functions on top of their army role that their removal would cause serious disruption in the evacuated area this is one of the factors which initially led to the use of sub legionary vex alati oneís by the end of the second century and the committed tendencies were just a logical growth of these more flexible ideas emperors could now freely move a large army around the strategic chessboard without worrying about administrative leak rippling areas of the empire or depriving the frontiers of Garrison's while doing so much like the earlier legionary system commit attends his forces were made up of several tiers and types of unit moreover they were stationed in the Empire's boundaries depending on what a particular area needed areas of particular importance would have a larger committed census for instance a late 4th century document known as the no titia dignity Atem or the list of offices informs us that a quiet command such as that held by the commies or count of tiger Tania might be assigned as few as five units to man its local field army to vex Alessio committed tendencies to auxilia palutena and one unit of pseudo committed tendencies in contrast to this negligible strength the western roman field army in italy commanded by the magister militant had a massive total of 44 different units it was made up of 5x alati of palutena one vex Latia committed texas eight Leggio palutena 22 auxilia palutena 5 Leggio committed census and two detachments of studio committed tenses with that it is worth discussing terminology for a moment what were these different late unit types and what role did they play firstly vex alati Oh in this context refers to units of about 500 to 600 cavalry rather than detachments of any kind from larger legions secondly when discussing auxilia in the late empire we are speaking of a very different unit than the stereotypical skirmisher of the principle which replaced the republic's well it is in fact there seems to be little difference in armament and tactics between the legions and auxilia in this period both were heavy infantry forces each about 1,000 to 1,200 strong far smaller than in previous eras thirdly is to clarify the term palutena this phrase translates roughly as palace troops in latin and they were accordingly highly prestigious units which served as the highest-quality cavalry and infantry in all of the committed tenses of the roman empire we see late Rome as a period of decline which generally gives rise to the image of a late Roman soldier as an inferior unit however these palatini forces in particular were extremely formidable Julian's clash against the allamani in 357 illustrates this well when the Roman right-wing cavalry was driven away by the Germans it is likely that the entire flank would have collapsed if not for the two units of Xillia palutena the kanuti and branti who bravely held the line against overwhelming numbers until reinforcements arrived after the Battle of Milvian bridge in 312 ad the victorious constantine finally dissolves the Maxentius supporting praetorian guard this put an end to the institution who had often played such a pernicious role in determining Imperial politics throughout the centuries since they first murdered Caligula in 41 the position of Praetorian prefect was deprived of almost all of its power opening up a vacuum which constantine filled with a new Imperial Guard the scholar palatini who were answerable to the Emperor and often served closely with the Akama to ten seas in battle despite being a separate entity whilst defending the Emperor at his household the average scale a Guardsman would be on foot however in order to accompany their emperor in his command role on an active battlefield scollay were also elite cavalry men who served a tripartite role protecting the Empire's ruler advising him about the best course of action and being his elite reserve units of the new late Roman Imperial Guard are described in the noticia dignity Tata and included the scholar Scutari orem Sagat arora a unit of elite horse archers and the scholar Scutari orem kleban ree a contingent made up of highly trained super heavy cavalry just as late Roman military organization was being reconfigured towards a more purposefully defensive focus far greater emphasis was also being placed into the construction strengthening and maintenance of increasingly formidable fortifications within Imperial borders such as military bases and cities than had been the case previously sites for new bases were chosen solely for their defensive merit walls were higher thicker and often included artillery platforms towers projects it outward from the walls allowing defenders to shoot and throw missiles across the entire length of any attackers line gateways into this new generation of fortresses were lesser in number and narrower in width but were always stronger and more easily defended by a garrison defensive trenches tended to be larger and shaped with a flat bottom rather than the v-shape they had been during the principal parallel with this development curtain walls began construction beginning in the late third century these would protect many of the Empire's threatened provincial towns and cities from any attack which might breach the newly vulnerable frontier reflecting the uncertainty of the age competition between rival cities may also have played a part in the construction of fortifications picture the craftsmen and construction workers of one city looking across the river and seeing their rival with a superior wall that naturally would not do and so they would probably compete to be the better defended stronger fortifications of this kind reflected a less confident Imperial Roman army attacks on military bases and civilian centers was now a real possibility and it was not a certainty that even if the military managed to meet the invaders in battle that they would win the late Roman Empire especially when it came to its military was a time of pragmatism and maintenance a time when the obsolete methods of the Empire during its Universal Pax Romana were replaced by what was necessary to keep the Empire alive in an age of increasing danger Casius do famously said that rome after Marcus Aurelius descended from a kingdom of gold to one of iron and rust however without these reforms Rome would undoubtedly have fallen centuries earlier than it eventually did our series on the Roman armies will continue all the way to 1453 so make sure you are subscribed to our Channel and have pressed the bell button we would like to express our gratitude to our patreon supporters and channel members who make the creation of our videos possible now you can also support us by buying our merchandise via the link in the description this is the kings and Generals channel and we will catch you on the next one

Channel: Kings and Generals

Views: 555,462

Keywords: Diocletian, reforms, military reforms, roman army, documentary, Gallienus, Constantine, limitanei, comitatenses, dux, vicarii, ancient rome, roman empire, full documentary, kings and generals, ancient history, history lesson, roman legion, history documentary, military history, historia civilis, world history, history channel, animated historical documentary, documentary film, animated documentary, decisive battles, late roman empire

Id: _QLl1Z0fPgs

Length: 18min 32sec (1112 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 30 2020