How Did Religion Lead To The Fall Of The Roman Empire

Throughout the history of the Roman Empire, government and religion were always closely tied together. Government led the empire while religion unified the people. When Christianity began to grow and spread, Emperor Constantine I legalized it and later, Emperor Theodosius I issued an edict making it the only religion of the Empire. When the pagans, or people who didn’t believe in the Christian God acted out, Theodosius went into action and eradicated the pagan gods and practices. Despite having a successful reign and being the last sole emperor of the Roman Empire, Theodosius split the Empire between his sons and that led to the fall of Rome. During his reign as emperor, Theodosius I promoted Christianity as Rome’s official religion and eradicated pagan religions, and at …show more content…
On February 28, 380 A.D, Theodosius released an edict “prescribing a creed that was to be binding on all subjects.” This creed was the Nicene Creed that states belief in “One God… One Lord, Jesus Christ… and the Holy Ghost.” The edict commanded all people “to walk in the way of the religion given by Peter to the Romans.” Theodosius tried to get all of the people to convert to Christianity and forget other religions besides it. Instead of trying to spread the religion by preaching it, Theodosius chose to make the religion the religion of the Empire. In addition, Theodosius said “Those who hold the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to be one godhead in equal majesty are Catholic Christians. Others are heretics who will be struck by the divine vengeance as well as by the imperial action undertaken according to heaven's arbitration.” By doing so, Theodosius may have created organization, but he also created unrest and rebellion. Those who did not want to be Christians didn’t have a choice. This led to the uprising of emperors in the West that tried to rebel against Theodosius I and his