did the Romans actually understand what was causing them so much difficulty in the third century?

you know how in the third century the Roman empire kept getting invaded because the Romans were too busy infighting, to defend the boarder, which only fueled their belief that the emperor of the the moment needed to be replaced?

you know how in the third century the money in the roman empire became progressively less valuable because successive emperors were causing inflation by minting too many coins?

well did any body at the time understand either of those things?