Christianity and the fall of Roman Empire

A Vast Kingdom Created by the Romans

A vast kingdom was created by the Romans. Its size at the time covered almost the entire continent of Europe, as well as portions of the Middle East and Africa. Romans’ unique organizational, admiration, and engineering abilities helped to create the Roman Empire.(Lim). They also had a military that was well-prepared and well-controlled, as well as a prosperous community. The region prospered under the leadership of military capable rulers. However, despite having the means to maintain control, the kingdom fell after almost a thousand years. (Barnes 28). Due to internal and external obstacles, the Roman Empire steadily began to fall. These difficulties range across the political, social, and fiscal spectrums. The change happened throughout many years until the point when its makeup was unrecognizable (Santosuosso 08).

The Rise of Christianity

One of the many social-political factors that added to the fall of the Roman Empire was the ascent of a new religion, Christianity (Vaage 11). The broaden Christian communication around the Roman Empire was enhanced by St. Paul who constructed Christian churches in Asia Minor and Greece. In the closing stages, he took his teaching to Rome itself. The new religion was monotheistic and ran counter to the conventional Roman religion, which was polytheistic. Inside the Roman Empire, Christianity was prohibited and Christians were rebuffed for a long time. As a source of amusement, Christians were fed to the lions in Ancient Rome (Ferrero 74).

The Spread of Early Christianity

The spread of early Christianity in all through the Roman domain depended on what it was not as opposed to what it was. At the time, Christianity started spreading through the Roman Empire; religion had cracked into the original Roman religion made of the many Roman Gods and mystery cults. These secret cults built followings on myths that concentrated on the cycle of death and restoration and guaranteed a superior existence in the wake of death. The dominant factions were the cults of Isis and Osiris, of Cybill and Adonis, and of Dionysus and Bacchus. These cults were inclusive; one could go along with them all and still be part of the principal religion (Vaage 18). However, each of these factions required sizable offerings from the cult members so just the rich could stand to go along with them. While the exceptionally well off would go along with them all just to be erring on the side of caution, the middle class would need to pick one and seek after the best, and the poor people would be not able to join any. Thus, the poor did not expect a great afterlife of any sort, and they were frantic for one, thus accelerating the spread of Christianity (Vaage 19).

Appeal of Christianity

Christianity varied from the gnostic religions, philosophies of life and cult factions in that it there was no money related charge to be part of it, it was supreme in its convictions and promised a life in the wake of death (Ferrero 74). In contrast, the secret cults were costly to go along with, they were non-exclusive, and did not promise a “genuine” life after death. This three aspect made Christianity a unifying force that was appealing to all levels of society. Its free to join feature, opened the doors for women, the poor and slaves who did not have significant disposable incomes. Possibly the most appealing part of Christianity was that it offered its devotees a genuine afterlife by promising them a better afterlife after a struggling life on earth. Further, it showed it was the main religion thus giving individuals relief realizing that they had picked accurately (Ferrero 76).

The Ascendancy of Christianity

The religion kept on spreading until it achieved a point where a third of the Roman citizens were Christians. This ascendancy of Christianity was quickened by Roman philosophies, the empires’ institutions, and, most importantly, by the Roman rulers, especially emperor Constantine (Barnes 28). Christianity lectured unity and loyalty to kindred individuals, which was painfully ailing in other famous factions of the day. Constantine saw this solidarity as an approach to reunite the Roman Empire and help to move the Romans from a collection of gatherings bound by cash and the sword into a firm and unified Empire (Digeser 528). After some time Christianity succeeded in entwining the divided gatherings, however, in the process, it gained a lot of control.

The Influence of Christianity on the Roman Empire

However, control picked up by Christianity was not absolute. In spite of the fact that there were a few instances of chapel authorities stating control over the Emperor, most of the time the different Emperors would curve the clergy to satisfy their objectives and spread the Emperor’s rendition of Christianity. Thus, despite the fact that the Church hypothetically overruled the empire, the Emperor controlled the congregation (Vaage 67).

The establishment of Christianity and Christian church as a unifying factor of the empire turned out to be essential to the point that it started to control the old political idea. Towards the declining times of Roman Empire, Christian religion spread quickly, and this got a further stimulus when the Roman ruler Constantine created a creed on the idea of Jesus, thus confirming Christianity as the state religion. Territory Constantine was a non-Christian himself. However, he gave Christians benefits (Barnes 54). He might not have seen how the agnostic cliques, including those of the rulers, were inconsistent with the new monotheistic religion, however, they were, and in time the old Roman religions missed out.

By supporting Christianity, the Roman state specifically undermined its religious conventions. Finally, at this point, Romans considered their sovereign a divine being. Nevertheless, the Christian confidence in one God, who was not the ruler, debilitated the authority and credibility of the Roman ruler (Vaage 76).

Christianity’s Control and the Fall of the Roman Empire

At that ideal moment, Christianity attacked agnosticism and took away its freedom, wrecking the center establishment of the Roman Empire. The Christian religion spread so quickly that soon it turned into the established religion of the Empire. The ruler, in conjunction with the clergy, practiced supreme authority and this helped the latter to be engaged with the dynamic legislative issue, thus interfering with the traditional Romans ruling authority (Santosuosso 586).

Constantine and later Emperors trying to advance the religion made it simpler for Christians to enter the political arena and gave tax reductions to Christian ministers. Individuals hoping to excel politically much of the time mishandled these privileges (Aaron). Tax privileges for the Christian clergymen meant more burden for the low-income taxpayers. High taxes collected from the citizen, prompted most of them to sell themselves into slavery; slaves did not need to pay expense and opportunity from charges was more alluring than individual freedom. The reduction of tax collections denied the empire the necessary funds to sustain the military and the imperial guards, which were essential for emperor rule(Santosuosso).

The Splitting of the Empire and Economic Conflicts

Constantine initiated another change that quickened the fall of the Roman Empire. He split the domain into two sections: the western half focused in Rome, and the eastern half ruled from Constantinople, a new city. Scholars likewise explain that Constantinople was built with a specific end goal to give a place to the youthful religion of Christianity to develop in a domain purer than that of degenerate Rome. The western segment spoke typically Latin and was Roman Catholic. The eastern territory communicated in Greek and was beneath the Eastern Orthodox division of the Christian church. After various time, the east developed, as the west collapsed. Splitting of the empire eased the manipulation of the military in the two sections creating political disputes, which escalated to economic conflicts.

This division of the empire to cater for the young Christian community in the eastern empire precipitated the economic ailment of the western empire. A decrease in farming yields in the western empire prompted higher food costs. The western portion of the realm had an expansive exchange shortage with the eastern half. The west obtained extravagance products from the east yet had nothing to offer in return. Shortage of liquid cash prompted the legislature to start creating more coins with less silver substance provoking inflation, which catalyzed the collapse of the empire.

The Weakness of the Rulers and the Rise of Christian Power

The dilapidated condition of the Roman Empire similarly flagged the weak point of the ruler. This condition increased toward the conclusion of the empire’s power. The disintegration of the imperial power urged the clerical experts to go into dynamic governmental issues. The fathers of the church started to aggregate increasingly control, and their involvement in political matters began to increase in cosmic extents (Ferrero 79). Leaders of the Christian faith turned out to be progressively influential, disintegrating the rulers’ authority. For instance, Bishop Ambrose debilitated to withhold the holy sacrament, thus, forcing Emperor Theodosius to do the will of the church. Since Roman civil and religious life were intertwined, Cristian leaders controlled the fortune of Rome, prophetic books advised pioneers what they expected to win wars, and heads were exalted; Christian religious convictions and fidelities clashed with the working of empire, thus weakening its grips on power (Barnes 91).

The Influence of Christianity on the Roman Empire’s Fall

With the growing weakness of the Roman rulers, they were unable to stop power assimilation by the Christian clergyman (Vaage 121). With the drop of the Roman territory, the political tradition and basics equally found themselves in disaster. This once more encouraged the expansion of the force of Christianity. It showed up as the representative of Roman convention and underscored the solidarity and respectability of the empire. Because of the breaking down of the Roman Empire and progressive decay of the imperial power, authority and power shifted from the palace to the church, and, in the course of time; the congregation turned into a hotbed of administrative issues. Pope and ministers tossed their weight for serious political purposeful publicity. The dominance marked the demise of the Roman Empire, The clergy was the genuine power, and the decision of all issues would originate from the Christian church (Ferrero 86).

Work cited

Aaron. “Causes And Effects Of The Popularization Of Christianity In The Roman Empire..” Anthologyoi.Com, 2006, http://anthologyoi.com/causes-and-effects-of-the-popularization-of-christianity-in-the-roman-empire/.

Barnes, Timothy. Constantine: Dynasty, Religion, and Power in the Later Roman Empire. N.p., 2013. Web.

Digeser, Elizabeth DePalma. “Constantine and the Christian Empire (Review).” Journal of Early Christian Studies 13.4 (2005): 527-528. Web.

Ferrero, Mario. “The Triumph of Christianity in the Roman Empire: An Economic Interpretation.” European Journal of Political Economy 24.1 (2008): 73-87. Web.

Lim, Richard. “The Later Roman Empire.” The Oxford Handbook of Roman Studies. N.p., 2012. Web.

Santosuosso, Antonio. “The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians - By Peter Heather.” Historian 69.3 (2007): 585-587. Web.

Vaage, Leif E. Religious Rivalries in the Early Roman Empire and the Rise of Christianity. Vol. 18. N.p., 2006. Web.