This left invaders from outside the empire. Fortunately candidates for this role were few, since in the decades leading up to their civil war Rome and the Italians had done an effective job of beating up any potential foreign threats. Gaul was too disorganized to mount an invasion, and there currently were no large tribal movements that might cause one. Though independent, Egypt was politically a mess and lacked the will and the means to intervene in Roman affairs. Parthia was at this time a remote country with little interest in Roman affairs. Indeed, the two empires had not yet even properly
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