09-03-2006, 09:41 PM
Quote:. The only thing we can argue over is to what degree and how long it took - but it did happen. Paganism was too amorphous to accomplish such a feat.
Theo
Well, there really wouldn't have been a need to unite pagans behind a common belief system. Unlike the Christians, they didn't vehemently badger each other over theological concepts.
At that particular time, I don't think there were enough Christians in the Empire that uniting them would in turn unite the Empire. I believe the key thing Constantine did by accepting Christianity was that he essentially brought them into the fold. They were a troublesome lot, often at odds with good Roman social behavior. Constantine removed the wall between Christian and non-Christian so that there was, in theory, less the Christian could bang his fist against. Sometimes people will fight against an obstruction (in this case the division between Christian and non-Christian) just because it is there. Jim Morrison used to comment that if there weren't any police guarding the stage during his performances, the audience wouldn't try to get up on the stage. Perhaps Constantine understood this behavior.
I think this is the way Constantine attempted to unite the Empire. On paper, the Christians were no longer the creepy people who conversed in hidden dark corners, fought "the man", or were pushed to martyrdom by going against the grain of Imperial policy. Uniting the Christians behind a common belief (ala Nicea) only sought to end the in-fighting with themselves so that they could be on an equal footing with their pagan counterparts.
Michael Paglia
