Per una interpretazione critica della crisi del III secolo
In: Forma Aperta - Ricerche di storia, culture, religioni: 3, 2022
DOI: 10.48255/9788891322722.02
This paper deals with the theoretical concept of crisis in the historiographical debate and its applicability to some period of the Roman History, namely the III century AD. Traditionally, the timeframe between at least 235 and 284 has been labelled as a dire crisis of the Roman Empire, but more recent scholarship (since the end of the 20th century) has gradually changed the interpretation of such period, preferring the more neutral definition of transition or transitional phase. In this work, some Marxian interpretative tools are put forward in order to gain a satisfactory definition of crisis. Subsequently, the applicability of this model to the Roman case is tested. The outcome aims at demonstrating that the traditional definition of crisis, if accompanied by a methodological awareness, is still the best tool to describe and understand the difficult decades of the III century.