How Did Religion Cause The Decline Of The Roman Empire

There is more than one opinion on the cause of the fall of Rome. Religion, politics, and economic factors have been said to be the cause of the decline of the Roman Empire (Andrews). The traditional Roman religion was slowly replaced. A new way of thinking and a different set of values changed the way Romans looked at the Emperor. The introduction of a different religion was the beginning of the end of the Empire. When Constantine I, or Flavius Valerius Constantinus became Emperor, he believed Jesus Christ helped him win his battles (Mark). “Throughout his life, Constantine ascribed his success to his conversion to Christianity and the support of the Christian God” (Nicol). Constantine the Great was an Emperor who allowed Christianity to spread in Rome (The Fall of the Roman Empire). Before Constantine, wealthy Romans persecuted poor Romans because of their Christian beliefs (Mark). However, Constantine put an end to this. He told all of the wealthy people that they had to stop persecuting the poor Romans because of their beliefs.
At one time, Romans were united by having a common religion. As Christianity became the religion of the state, Roman values and thinking changed. The policy of tolerating monotheistic religion led to Christianity being the official state of religion in the Empire …show more content…
“By approving Christianity, the Roman state directly undermined its religious traditions” (The Fall of the Roman Empire). First, Christianity taught people to only believe in one god. This was very different from the traditional Roman religion of worshipping many gods. Second, in the traditional religion, Romans treated their Emperor as a god. The new religion told Romans they should not worship an Emperor as a god, as they once had. Therefore, with the rise of Christianity, the Emperor had less power over the Empire since the Romans no longer believed the Emperor was a god (The Fall of the Roman