Choose one of the questions below and answer it as completely as you can. Please keep in mind that I know the FACTS; your job is to analyze! (That does not mean that you should not include any facts;

just be selective.) The criteria upon which you will be graded will be choice of facts to support your answer, clearness of presentation of your answer, and clarity of thinking in your answer.

1. Augustus and Diocletian both founded their dynasties after a period of general unrest and reformed the system of the Roman Empire. How did the problems facing these two men differ? How were they similar? Were the reforms instituted by them successful in the long term? Why or why not?

2. Some emperors played a leading role in the military while others didn’t. After choosing and defining one good and one bad emperor from each category (that is,
1. one good and not military,
2. one bad and not military,

3. one good and military, and
4. one bad and military),
discuss the overall importance of the military to the well being of the Empire and the emperor’s function in that relationship. In your opinion, did the military rely on the
ruler? The ruler on the military? Neither? Both? Why?

3. Much is made of the “rise and fall” of the Roman Empire. Having now studied the history of this Empire, please define this term. That is, what was the rise and when was it? What was the fall and when was it? Do you think, as many historians hypothesize, that such a process is inevitable in the cycles of history?