AHC/WI: Preventing the Rot in the Roman Legions

Would it be enough to prevent the rise of the Severans? Or were the causes deeper then that? And, if it could be prevented, how much difference would it make to the Crisis of the Third Century, assuming the plagues and barbarian invasions still happen roughly as IOTL?
 
What rot are you referring to?

Well, I'm going on the History of Rome podcast here, so if I'm totally off-base, please let me know. (I'm working on learning more about Roman history, but I have a long way yet to go.) But Mike Duncan - who seems to know what he's talking about - says that, following "Enrich the Soldiers, Scorn All Other Men" Caracalla, the Roman Legions started to basically expect to be continuously bribed to remain loyal to the man in charge. As a result, defense of the Empire against the barbarian incursions of the 3rd century become even harder then it had to be, because a) the exorbitant donatives needed to keep the troops in line drained the rest of the economy dry, and b) troops were constantly declaring their commander Imperator because they thought he'd give them more money then the current guy, and went off to fight a civil war instead of defend the frontier.
 
Mike Duncan does indeed do a pretty good job of describing the situation. I do think that the idea that the military as a whole expected to be continuously bribed is a bit of an exaggeration, but the problem of donatives and related currency the basement is definitely a noteworthy example of the probles the empire faced during that time. However, I would say they're more of a symptom that a cause.

I just say that simply having a more stable civil administration at this time would avoid much of the issue. For example, one of my favorite POD's is the idea of Alexander Severus not being assassinated. If we can get a few decades out of him, we avoid much of that political and economic instability, we avoid army after army needing donatives.

In the end, I would say that the problems were more economic and political than military. Consider, after all, what got Alexander Severus assassinated in the first place: he negotiated with the enemy rather than fight. Clearly, and army that would rather risk their lives than except a negotiated peace has the necessary martial virtues to maintain an empire. In fact, as you progress through Duncan's podcast, you will see many of these barracks emperors and their legions focus more on defending the empire that actually wedding there civil wars. Maximinus Thrax and Postumus are notable examples. It almost seems that the military was the least rotten component of the Roman government at that time.
 
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