ABSTRACT
The great age of prosperity in the Roman empire came to an end in the third century AD in a period of upheaval and confusion, marked by invasion from beyond the frontiers, particularly in Europe, by ‘barbarians’, eager to grab a share of the wealth they knew was accumulated there. Whatever the causes, the consequent drying up of surplus funds in the provincial cities, or the willingness of the local wealthy to spend their money on city embellishment, led to a decline and cessation in worthwhile building projects, as we have seen at Palmyra. The number of public works undertaken in the Empire in general dwindled to virtually nothing by the middle of the third century AD. Eventually some stability returned, but it is significant that the first important new building at Rome was the construction of the massive and extensive circuit of walls by Aurelian in 270-1 AD; these were to remain the city’s main line of defence for more troubled centuries to come. Provincial cities exposed to barbarian attack also had to construct or renew their defences, often restricting the area within them compared with the earlier urban area. Athens demolished the structures in the agora after the damaging incursion of the Heruls in 267 to create a clear zone in front of the new fortifications, the so-called Valerian wall, hastily assembled from the debris of the demolished structures.
