Introduction

This chapter discusses the pattern of conflict in the first three centuries and how serious this was for the western empire. It entails an examination of some key issues. Such as shifting patterns of agricultural production; the changing character of the urban and rural landscapes, including settlement and population decline; abandonment of land; the increasing burden of decurions; their 'metamorphosis' into ecclesiastical officials; reduced civic patronage; and militarization of elites. State revenue, with the exception of mineral wealth – gold and silver – and of course booty, was agricultural across the Roman empire, generated within the city-state framework of 'circumscribed' self-government. The enormity of the Roman empire – from Scotland to North Africa, and western Britain to Iraq –v was such that it is not possible to reconstruct anywhere near the full picture based on material and textual sources.