That’s the trouble with the lead-poisoning theory, it’s one of those things where you can describe all the issues as the net result of poison. The rise of the

That’s the trouble with the lead-poisoning theory, it’s one of those things where you can describe all the issues as the net result of poison. The rise of the church always interests me in this story. As I understand it, Christianity was a kind of rebellious liberalizing movement which the state ultimately tried to coopt (Constantine). It’s pre-state adoption was a movement away from more brutal practices, such as crucifixion. Eventually it developed into a competing power structure.