To answer this question it is necessary to first define „decline“ itself. In Addition this short paper will consider different aspects of Roman life, such as politics, culture and religion to decide if a decline happens in the third century in the Roman Empire.
2. Definition
2.1 Decline
Oxford defines the word ‚decline’ as follows: „A continuous decrease in the number, value, quality etc. of sth“ (Turnbull, 2010, p. 393).
Therefore it is important to consider, as mentioned, …show more content…
In Addition the emperor had enough resources to answer this letter as follows: “What words can I find to fit my hard luck, or how shall I upbraid as it deserves the hard constraint which is laid upon me? It ties me fast here, troubled my heart is, and beset by such anxiety; nor does it allow me to make haste to my Fronto, my life and delight, to be near him at such a moment of ill-health in particular, to hold his hands, to chafe gently that identical foot, so far as may be done without discomfort, to attend him in the bath, to support his steps with my arm.” (Rouse. 1908. p. 163). , which could be taken as a piece of evidence that there was not a political threat from outside nor from the inside of the empire.
Due to these two quotes we can conclude that the Roman empire seemed to be stable at the second century, regarding politics and cultural life.
This short paper will describe a decline as a synonym for changes in cultur, politics and religion of the Roman empire, which have a negative effect on the life of a Roman citizen and therefore reduces its quality or causes a shift in values. This includes any change which decreases the light-heartedness we saw in the previous quotes.
3. …show more content…
79). According to the Historia Augusta, he seemed to be an impressive giant of a man: „It is agreed, moreover, that often in a single day he drank a Capitoline amphora of wineand eat forty pounds of meat, or according to Cordus, no less than sixty.“ (Magie, 1921, P. 321). The Historia Augusta describes him not only as a beast, but also as being generous and close to his army: „Maximinus was the first man from the body of the soldiers and not yet a senator to be acclaimed Augustus by the army without a decree of the senate, and his son was made his colleague. And about the latter we shall tell later on the few things that we know. Now Maximinus was always clever enough not to rule the soldiers by force alone; on the contrary, he made them devoted to him by rewards and riches. He never took away any man's rations; he never let any man in his army work as a smith or artisan, which most of them are, but kept the legions busy only with frequent hunting.“ (Magie, 1921, P.