The term ‘third century crisis’ was once bandied about widely to explain the complex series of disasters (or near-disasters) and recoveries experienced by the Roman Empire in the third century. The term is no longer popular, but the third century was, nonetheless, a period of enormous upheaval. Emperors were assassinated with alarming regularity, usurper emperors sprang up everywhere, and the Empire split, with breakaway empires in Gaul, in the east under the Palmyrene Empire, in Britain, and in Egypt. Only strong leadership would save the Empire – and it was not until very late in the century that the upheavals were finally resolved under the hand of Diocletian, who would devise a radical solution to prevent the Empire from sliding into a similar state again.
The first third of the century was relatively stable. The emperor Severus Alexander, who had fought successfully against the Sassanid Persians, now attempted to use diplomacy and bribes to secure peace, but this alienated the army and he was assassinated
