Wars of the 3rd Century

For half a century the Roman Empire nearly tore itself apart. Some twenty-six emperors rose and fell in fifty years, most murdered by their own troops; a Persian king captured a Roman emperor alive; a plague emptied the cities; and the empire splintered into three as the breakaway Gallic and Palmyrene realms broke away. That Rome survived at all was the work of a succession of hard soldier-emperors who dragged it back from the brink.

12 battles · 1,750,000 dead