Hello, and welcome to the history of Rome, episode 93, The Markomanic Wars.

The victory over Parthia had been a double-edged sword.

On the one hand, Rome had proven to their enemies that, whether or not the rumors were true

that the empire was slipping into decline, for the moment, it was still the premier political,

economic and military force in the Western world.

But on the other hand, the legions of a videoscashes, legions that had been so decisive

improving that point, had brought the devastating Antonine plague back home with them.

Thus, Rome so recently reestablished Aura of Invincibility was immediately shattered

by an epidemic that hastened the pace of the empire's decline.

In the end, it seems that labor shortages, famines, and underman legions were the only

permanent spoils of war won by Rome in the conflict with Parthia.

While these ill-effects were not so immediately felt that the triumph over Parthia could be called

a peric victory, the conquest of the east definitely wound up a close cousin, as it was,

after all, costly to the point of negating all benefit.

Arcas had spent the years of the Parthian War in Rome, running every other part of the

empire, while hostilities unfolded in the east.

I didn't mention this last week, but just as the new emperors were forced to deal with

the immediate crisis of a Parthian invasion of Armenia, they were also forced to deal

with two other crises right in their own backyard.

In 162, after less than a year on the throne, the Tiber flooded, causing extensive damage

to the capital and triggering catastrophic food shortages.

Hunger and panic gripped the city, and both Marcus and Lucius, who was still in Italy

...