According to historian Brown, (2012) a major contributing factor in the fall of the Roman Empire was the advent and rise of a new religion, Christianity. Unlike the largely polytheistic (many gods) Roman religion, the Christian religion was monotheistic (believed in one God). Through the Edict of Milam in 330 C.E., Constantine legalized Christianity, in effect making it a state religion by 380 C.E (Lieu, North and Rajak, 2013). Through these declarations, the wide persecution of Christians, which was the norm in ancient Rome, came to an end and Christianity was tolerated as Pelikan, (2014) documents. This tolerance, dovetailed with the spread of the new religion, would mark the end of the Roman Empire.
Christians in ancient Rome where widely persecuted under Nero in 64 C.E when Rome was burned in a great inferno. The Christians were not only blamed but were also accused of committing incest and of eating blood and human beings (McGrath, 2011). The persecution of Christians would continue under Domitian in 95 CE and Diocletian in 284 CE, with the latter being a massive campaign aimed at wiping out the Christians. This persecution was herald by incidences of perceived Christian rebellion against the Roman Empire.
With the enactment of the Edict of Milan and the subsequent tolerance towards Christianity however, the Traditional Roman belief systems and values faded away as McGrath, (2011) observes. Consequentially, the power of the Emperor was significantly reduced since Christians held to their monotheistic belief. The Emperor at this time, was referred to as a god king. Furthermore, the glory of the Empire shifted to the sole Deity of the Christians, a fact that accelerated the loss of glory of the Empire.
In the years preceding Constantine’s Edict, Christianity was used as a tool to ascend to power in the empire due to its growing popularity (Lenski, 2012). Judicial, political, military and religious leaders where all Christians. The newly instituted papacy also became increasingly involved in political affairs. With this spread of Christianity, came difficulties in governance and an erosion of the cultural aspects of the Roman Empire.
Albeit the path from Paganism to Christianity in ancient Rome faced some challenges, it is during Constantine’s rule that the onset Roman Christianity is traced. At this point however, the roman Emperors vastly controlled religion because religious appointments such as the appointment of Bishops was their role. As Church leaders became influential in the empire, their Christian beliefs contrasted with that of the empire, a fact that contributed to the Empires collapse as Bury, (2013) opines.
Conclusively, Christianity played a significant role in the downfall of the Roman Empire. However, historians argue that the new Christian religion in ancient role was one, among many factors that led to the collapse of Rome. Among associated factors are political, economic and military factors.
References
Brown, P. (2012). Through the Eye of a Needle: Wealth, the Fall of Rome, and the Making of Christianity in the West, 350-550 AD. Princeton University Press.
Bury, J. B. (2013). History of the Later Roman Empire, Vol. 2: From the Death of Theodosius I to the Death of Justinian. Courier Corporation.
Lenski, N. (2012). The Cambridge companion to the age of Constantine. Cambridge University Press.
Lieu, J., North, J., & Rajak, T. (2013). The Jews among pagans and Christians in the Roman Empire. Routledge.
McGrath, A. E. (2011). Christian theology: An introduction. John Wiley & Sons.
Pelikan, J. (2014). The Excellent Empire: The Fall of Rome and the Triumph of the Church. Wipf and Stock Publishers.
