Of all of the Empire's great accomplishments, it was perhaps nowhere weaker than in its
economy. The Romans took little interest in trade and by the time of the Empire were paying less
and less attention to agriculture as well. In almost every area, other peoples were the bedrock of
the Roman economy. So long as the Empire prospered, its weaknesses were not dangerous, but in the
third century, when the Empire was devastated by crises, the economy simply fell apart.
Diocletian and his successors were able to rescue Rome, but only at the price of transforming
it profoundly, and this was as true in economics as in other areas. Diocletian did not so much
innovate in these areas as he seized upon certain developments that were in their formative stages
and spread them widely and made them law. His actions touched every aspect of economics: coinage,
taxes, interest rates, labor, agriculture, industry, trade. In every area, the key word is
control, usually government control.
A couple of developments are worth special note. In the countryside we see in these years a
rapid spread of the institution of coloni. This may have begun in Africa, in the areas that
supplied grain to Rome, but even by Diocletian's time it had spread elsewhere. In order to ensure
a steady supply of grain, the Empire decreed that the estates would be worked by families who were
bound to the soil for life. Even before the Christian influence, emancipating slaves had become
fashionable, and in some areas there was a distinct labor shortage. The Empire was able to
compensate for this by use of coloni. At first, this may look like just another word for
slavery, but a colonus was given a particular plot of land to farm. Although he could never
leave it, likewise he could never be removed from it--could not be sold, as a slave could, nor
would his family ever be broken apart.
This practice spread widely in the fifth century, and we begin to see instances of whole
families entering into this condition voluntarily. As the barbarian invasions made life precarious
in some areas, people sought the protection of a powerful local noble. He got essentially free
labor for his estates, the coloni got land and at least some measure of safety. As often as
not, especially in Gaul and Italy, the colonus sought protection not from bloodthirsty
barbarians, but from Imperial tax collectors who were every bit as ruthless and more methodical.
And the great lord who took them in might himself be a Goth or Burgundian. This system was general
in western Europe (though there were significant local variations) by the seventh century and the
essential economic order of the European countryside was set for the next thousand years.
The other area that should be emphasized also concerns fixing people in their place. Here
again, the original impetus came from the Empire itself, only to spread generally in the West. In
order to ensure regular collection of taxes, a steady supply of goods to the Army, and the
production of certain key needs of government, Diocletian decreed that certain tradesmen and
others must be tied forever to their trade, and that their sons must follow them in it. Not only
were the farmers in Africa required to produce grain for the Army, but the captains of the ships
that transported the grain were also bound to their trade. Similar laws were issued regarding
armorers, masters of the Imperial mints, and so on. As political authority in the West fragmented,
the Gothic kings continued and extended this system, and their lordlings under them did likewise.
Diocletian and Constantine created a political system that was static and rigidly controlled.
It is easy to condemn such a system, yet it was infinitely preferrable to the terrible chaos that
had preceded it (ca. 230 to 285), and the system did in fact work. It was elaborated upon by the
Byzantines, but in essence it was a system that endured for another millennium--far longer than
the original Empire.
In the West, however, Diocletian's system worked for a time, but then fell apart in the face of
the barbarian invasions. It was a system that depended above all on Imperial direction, and that
melted away in the course of the fifth century.