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> Early Roman Empire had a polytheistic religions in common. It expanded its power after monotheism. No, it didn’t “expand its power after monotheism”. The Rom
by Mediterraneo10 7y ago
> Early Roman Empire had a polytheistic religions in common. It expanded its power after monotheism.
No, it didn’t “expand its power after monotheism”. The Roman Empire didn’t even begin its official flirtation with Christianity until well into the 4th century CE. However, most historians consider the Roman Empire to have been in its waning days then, as it never fully recovered from all the shocks of the 3rd century. The full extent of Rome’s power happened under paganism and well before Christianity was anything more than a small, persecuted sect.
- SketchySeaBeast 7y agoI suppose you could possibly argue for the Eastern Empire? Maybe? But then that's still built upon the core of the original polytheistic structure, and I don't think it's a strong argument that Christianity played into it. If anything Christianity seems to cause a problem for organized military - after Rome we don't see an organized, professional military for another thousand years. People may think of "the crusades", but let's be honest, the majority of that was really more a rag-tag rabble causing trouble, rather than any sort of organized and united fighting force.
- slothtrop 7y agoFor the Eastern it was arguably 1000 AD. I guess I misspoke. It's religion and not monotheism. The Origins of Political Order does a better job of conveying what I was attempting to convey.