The Roman Empire From Severus To Constantine -

By the time of Constantine’s death in 337 AD, the Roman Empire was unrecognizable from the one Severus had inherited. The Mediterranean world had shifted from a pagan, Rome-centered principate to a Christian, East-leaning autocracy. This "Late Antiquity" set the stage for the Byzantine Empire in the East and the eventual rise of medieval Europe in the West.

Severus shifted the empire’s power base away from the Senate and toward the military. While this provided short-term stability, it created a dangerous precedent. His successors, including the notorious , expanded citizenship to nearly all free inhabitants of the empire (the Constitutio Antoniniana ), primarily to increase tax revenue for a ballooning military budget. However, the dynasty ended in chaos with the assassination of Alexander Severus in 235 AD, triggering a half-century of near-total collapse. The Crisis of the Third Century (235–284 AD)

Recognizing that the empire’s wealth and threats were now in the East, he moved the capital to Byzantium, renaming it "New Rome" (Constantinople). Conclusion

The silver content of Roman coins dropped to nearly zero.