The Rise Of Christianity And The Fall Of The Roman Empire

The fall of the Roman Empire coincides with the rise of Christianity, which leads many historians to argue that Christianity played a part in the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The religion of Christianity is believed to be one of the greatest inventions of Rome, but it had some debilitating effects. Christianity caused destruction of roman culture, the church having power in government, and intolerance of other religions. The Edict of Milan legalized Christianity in 313, and Christianity became the state church of the Roman Empire with the Edict of Thessalonica in 380 AD; these broke down the traditional Roman values system(cole). Christian values were completely contrary to Roman polygamist values. Romans and their Gods valved the present life, gods reward people who were strong, brave, heroic. Christianity, had a focus on a meek and mild existence in exchange for a glorious afterlife , which was contrary to the European values in general. Christianity destroyed the Heart of Rome; Rome went from a brutal, war society to a peaceful, loving society(Cole). Christianity made many Roman citizens, in general, into antiwar people ,which made it difficult to defend Rome against Germanic tribes .
To the point that, Christian church leaders started taking the emperors' powers. With Theodosius' law of A.D. 392, which made pagan cults illegal, Catholic priests obtained all sorts of privileges; including that of being judged by their own bishops in the case of criminal offences. For example, St. Ambrose, having the whole weight of his powerful and fearless personality into the struggle, compelled the aging Theodosius to yield to the demands of the Church(Gibbon). St. Ambrose's victory can be considered final in so far as paganism was