Roman town militia

What if one of the roman emperors introduced a militia for the city of Rome, for defensive means.
It would be quite a shock for the roman lifestyle, but on the other hand Rome had a huge population, so already a small percentage of inhabitants would generate a strong force able to protect and defend the town.

I know there are some problems. No emperor would like to see the people armed and then interfere with his politics, as well as the senate or the praetorian guard.

But even if the risk would be high for the ruling classes, the benefit for the population would be clear at least in the last days of the Empire. When the Visigoths sacked Rome in 410 they were only 30.000 against a population of nearly one million.
 
One of the most striking aspects of the fall of Rome era, was that the population would do literally nothing to defend themselves. They wouldn't man the walls. It was someone else's business.

At the same time most of the people were fleeing from the tax collector and his something like 110% tax rate for peasants. Even the wealthy classes would try to work out a better deal with the barbarians than with their government.

The government wasn't able to raise a native army, and tried to hire barbarians instead, but in their end their interests diverged and the government was ended.
The Emperor was often living in breathtaking isolation from reality, with advisors who would fawn over them, and literally worship any official pronouncements and laws they wrote.
 
Top