军队堕落与罗马帝国三世纪危机

Degeneration of the army and the Third-Century Crisis in the Roman Empire

导致罗马帝国三世纪危机的原因很多 ,但军队的堕落是重要原因。军队发动内战 ,动辄废立皇帝 ,性质已经发生了根本改变。军队忙于内战 ,疏于边防 ,选择能够给予他们最多战利品的人作皇帝 ,使帝国长时间遭受血腥内战和外族入侵的折磨。持续不断的内战中 ,军队像侵略者一样劫掠城市 ,罗马帝国陷入无政府状态。三世纪危机对罗马帝国是致命的打击 。

Various factors led to the third-century crisis, but the degeneration of the army was a prime reason for the crisis. The nature of the army had changed by starting civil war and making or unmaking emperors very often. The army chose the emperor by violence and supported those who would promise them greatest spoils to be emperors. The Empire suffered both bloody civil wars and foreign invasions for a long time. The soldiery used their weapons to overthrow the emperors and to place their commanders on the throne in the third century. During the ensuing civil wars, soldiers looted the towns as if they were invaders, and the Empire was drifting into anarchy. The third century crisis had a fatal impact upon the Empire and since then the Empire began to decline.