This third volume continues the comprehensive revision of this era, and
covers in detail the next fifty years; a very different period during
which the Empire came perilously close to total disintegration under the
pressure of foreign invasions and seemingly interminable civil war. The
economy also collapsed and with it the Imperial coinage, a desperate
situation which was only partially alleviated by the currency reform of
Aurelian undertaken late in his reign. The complexities of the mint
attributes in this chaotic period lacking as the do in almost instance
the name or initial of the responsible mint have been dealt with in
light of recent scholarship.