Christianity
and the Dark Age:
Rome had been able
to resist, defeat and conquer barbarians for a thousand years.
What was different
after the triumph of Christianity?
Thanks to Constantine's "religious revolution" and
the establishment of a state-endorsed Christian Church, the manpower that might have defended the
empire was drawn increasingly into the ranks of the priesthood.
The Church offered "the officer class" an alternative
career to that of the marching camp or frontier garrison, one superior
in rewards of status, wealth and power – and all in safety
and comfort. Not for nothing did the Church model its hierarchy
on that of the army; it was a fine career for a bright young Roman
who preferred to fight the hordes of Satan to the horsemen of Germany
or Asia.
The example was set
from the top, where the Christian bishops established mind
control
over the weak and superstitious scions of dynastic monarchy. Most
of the 4th century emperors had little in common with the military
strongmen who had frequently seized power a century earlier. The
feeble sons of Constantine were followed by the equally feeble
sons
of Valentinian and Theodosius. Tutored from infancy by scheming
churchmen, these vicious and 'pious' adolescent emperors essentially
waged civil war on their own subjects. The one bright exception – Julian – who
jettisoned his purported Christianity the moment he became Augustus,
was assassinated (probably by a
Christian
soldier) within three years.
The Roman patrician
class moved wholesale into the higher ranks of the Church when
financial penalties made it prudent, and penal legislation made
it imperative, to abandon paganism. By and large, the bishops of
western Europe were the old Roman aristocracy wearing a new hat.
With imperial approval, the Church expropriated for its own purposes
more and more of the wealth of the empire – yet ultimately
it became indifferent to the fate of the empire; Holy Mother Church
was all that mattered.
With the willingness
of the Roman elite to engage the invader seriously eroded, the
only
alternative defender was the hired barbarian, one under increasingly
autonomous tribal chiefs. When these mercenaries failed, the
enemy
was bribed into a temporary quiescence. A degenerate age used the
accumulated wealth of a millennium to buy time – and
then spent that time on building a plethora of churches, on convening
protracted councils to resolve hairsplitting nuances of theology,
and to the persecution of internal dissent.
|
19th century
view of Vandals sacking Rome 455.
|
Too
Convenient to be True...
Classic
image of "rape and pillage". The melodrama
hides the insidious and corrosive influence of
the Church on several generations of weak-minded
Roman princes.
It is
now clear that the migrating tribes, often desperate
and on the verge of starvation, had a code of morality
and humanity superior to the degenerate Romans.
With wagons and cattle, their movement was less
of an "onslaught" than a pitiful trek... |
|
Hardy perennial:
Blaming the Barbarians
"Real-life
barbarians (were) eager to settle down and savor the fruits of
civilization: to defeat the enemy, tax him, visit his doctors,
marry his daughters."
R. Wright (Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny)
The Christians have always lied – and one of their biggest
lies remains that of "blaming the barbarians" for the
destruction of ancient civilization which they themselves caused.
Young
Lions – or
Effete Fools?
– 13 Christian
Emperors who ruined the world
(Ages
on Accession & Death)
House
of Constantine – Scramble for Power
Constantine
I (307 - 337) – 34 (west) 52 (whole
empire). With less than 5% of his subjects professing
to be Christian, endorsed Christianity as the
most favoured religion. Though his Council of Nicaea
was ever after hailed as the lodestone of Catholic
Orthodoxy, Constantine himself died an Arian (at
65).
Constantine II (337 - 340) – 21.
On accession in Gaul, freed the fiery "Trinitarian" Bishop
Athanasius from exile and allowed him to return
to Alexandria, causing problems for his brother Constantius
II. Killed at 24 in battle with brother Constans,
trying to seize more territory.
Constans I (337 - 350)– 17.
Under influence of Athanasius, banned pagan
sacrifice and waged campaign against Donatists in
North Africa. Called Council of Serdica to deal with
Arianism. He sold government posts to the highest
bidder; was murdered by his army chief at 30.
Constantius
II (337 - 361)– 20.
On accession, he murdered many of his own family.
Early in life influenced by Bishop
Arius and his supporters.
"Vain & stupid...
he bankrupted the courier service by frequent calls
for Church Councils." (Ammianus).
Terrified
of sorcery, he persecuted “all the soothsayers
and the Hellenists.” Monks were exempted from
public obligations shortly before his death at 44.
Julian – 29.
(360-363).
Assassinated at 32.
In vain, attempted to restore religious
tolerance and the 'old' gods.
|
House of Valentinian – Retreat
into "Piety"
Valentinian I (364
- 375) – 43 On
Julian's murder, (& death of Jovian), this
stolid soldier made emperor. Issued edict forbidding
pagan officers to command Christian soldiers.
He was impressed by Ambrose, whom he made
praetorian prefect of Italy, governor of Milan
and bishop. Little interested in religion but hostile
to the old pagan aristocracy, which cleared
the way for Christian ascendancy. Died in a fit
of anger, at 54.
His biggest
mistake was making his obtuse brother Valens (364
- 378) co-ruler in the east (at 36). A zealous
Arian, Valens ordered mass book-burning and
persecution of non-Christians throughout the
Eastern Empire. His arrogance led him to defeat by
the Goths in 378 (aged 50).
Gratian (367 -383)– 8 Tutored
by Ausonius, a Christian poet from Gaul. No interest
in the rigours of military life; withdrew his capital
from Trier to the relative safety of Milan; held
in contempt by army; murdered at 24 by Magnus
Maximus (usurper emperor of western provinces). Catspaw
of Ambrose while he lived (abolished
Vestal Virgins, removed Altar of Victory). Preferred
hunting to ruling.
Valentinian II (375
-392) – 4 (Regent: Empress Justina ).
This child prince relied on Ambrose to negotiate
with Maximus and remained a pawn in the power struggle
between the Catholic bishop & his Arian mother.
Intervention by Theodosius saved his throne, only
to leave him under the thumb of generalissimo Arbogastes.
Refused appeal to restore Altar of Victory. Murdered
(suicide?) at 19.
House
of Theodosius – Dissolute and Dissolution
Theodosius
I (379 - 395) – 32 Sacked
from the army by Valentinian I for cowardice;
his seniority led a desperate 19 year old Gratian
to appoint him co-ruler for the east after death
of his uncle Valens. After a near-death experience
at 34, he emerged as Catholic fanatic. Manipulated
by Ambrose he issued draconian anti-pagan
laws (any disagreement with Christian dogma
was declared "insane"). Libraries
looted and burned. Temples closed and burned. Appointed
general Stilicho as 'governor' in the west for
his younger son Honorius. Died at 49. Disastrous
legacy.
Arcadius (395 - 408) – 18 Ruled
ineffectually under praetorian prefects Tatian, Rufinus
and Anthemius, chamberlain Eutropius (who appointed John
Chrysostom patriarch) and forceful wife Eudoxia
(who deposed Chrysostom). 'Withdrew' on her death,
rarely leaving palace. Urged the Goths to invade
Italy to save his own skin. Compensated for weak
character with pious acts of religious intolerance (ordered
that paganism be treated as "high
treason" and any remaining temples be demolished);
died at 31.
Honorius (395 - 423) – 10 Murdered
his protector, the brilliant general Stilicho, in
408, out of petulance and envy, paving the way for
capitulation to German tribes migrating into Spain,
Visigoths into sw Gaul, and the loss of Britain.
The feckless and timid youth abandoned Milan and
Italy to the Goths while he cowed in Ravenna.
Stirred himself to call a synod of bishops and rule
in favour of Boniface against rival pope Eulalius
and tried to get Theodosius to return Illyricum sees
to papal authority. A synod in Carthage declared
the study of pagan books prohibited and issued
an approved "canon" of the Church.
Honorius died at 38.
Theodosius II (408 - 450) – 7 (Regent:
sister Empress Pulcheria) Early life dominated
by his resolute and pious sister, his ambitious and
pious wife Eudoxia, and the prefect Anthemius
(who built the walls of Constantinople). Many edicts
of intolerance in his name. When he eventually
escaped female fetters, Theodosius disastrously gave
in to Hun demands for ever more gold and conceded
to the Vandals a fully independent kingdom in North
Africa. Meanwhile, concentrating on really important
matters, he convened the Council at Ephesus in 449
("The Robber Council") and declared for
the monophysitic position that "Christ
had only one nature and it was divine" – alienating
Pope Leo I. This infamous book-burner died
at 49 – falling from his horse! The Codex
Theodosianus preserved his name.
Valentinian III (425 - 455) – 6 (Regent:
Empress Galla Placidia). Owed his throne to
intervention of Theodosius II in western politics.
A religious fanatic, under the influence
of astrologers, he was subservient in turns to his
mother, generalissimo Aetius and to Pope Leo I. He
murdered Aetius, the last able general in the west,
and was himself murdered at 36. Lost the provinces
of Africa, part of Spain, much of Gaul.
The last
Western Emperors barely ruled Italy itself.
|
|
The melodrama
is familiar enough: barbarians "pouring in" ... Rome sacked ...
havoc wreaked everywhere. Words like "horde" and "onslaught" are
bandied about, conjuring up images of a human flood of bloodthirsty
and predatory warriors, hell-bent on rape and pillage. The only
light, we are asked to believe, comes from the flickering lamps
of Christian monks in remote fastnesses, keeping alive the dim
flame
of civilization until a bright new dawn, centuries into the future.
To put things in perspective,
in 410, the Visigoths of Alaric (a Christian) actually pillaged
Rome for three days before withdrawing. A generation later,
in 455, Gaiseric (a Christian) and his Vandals spent just fourteen
days in the city, taking what they could.
The conventional
'wisdom' is a travesty, written by the winning side. The barbarians
in the
3rd and 5th centuries AD – like the barbarians of the
1st century AD or 2nd century BC – had wanted a share of
the good life, not the common ruination of everyone.
What was different in
the age of Constantine and Theodosius, compared to the age of Augustus
and Hadrian, was the degenerate nature of the Roman state
which opposed them.
The barbarians, in the
passage of centuries, had learnt from the empire: the practical
skills of agriculture and horticulture; the value of armour; the
exercise of power within a framework of law; even a version the
new Christian religion of the Romans.
But the empire, for
its part, had turned in on itself, had wasted its energies on the
indulgences of a theocratic tyranny, had narrowed its vision,
had ruined itself – a process that began with Constantine
and his plans of a Christian dynasty.
The
Assault upon Paganism
Most of the
5th century emperors were remarkably young – an inevitable
consequence of combining the notion of hereditary monarchy with
the principal
that violence was a legitimate instrument of policy.
Spending their
days at court, replete with wig and face make-up, the simple-minded
young
monarchs – with a bishop at their
ear– displayed their 'martial prowess' by issuing
increasingly vindictive edicts against heretics and unbelievers.
At a time when
a regeneration of the legions was most urgent, the Church/State
apparatus devoted ever more resources to the persecution of its
own people.
Bishop Ambrose,
in particular, "guided" no fewer than four monarchs,
all of whom were complicit in the disintegration of the western
empire.
As they laboured tirelessly (but in luxury) over such pressing
issues as to whether Christ was actually God and just how virtuous
was virginity, the provinces were taxed into destitution, the
soldiers went unpaid, and barbarian raids went unopposed.
Throughout the 4th and
5th centuries, seemingly limitless funds poured into the coffers
of the Church – though actually that revenue was extracted
from a diminishing tax-base as citizens fled the towns to avoid
the rapacious tax collectors.
The "bonanza" intensified
the ferocious infighting that had always characterised
Christianity – Catholic versus Arian, Donatist versus Orthodox,
Alexandria versus Constantinople, Milan versus Rome. In every
imperial court – and there were now several – a coterie
of bishops, female regents and eunuchs vied for influence and
power.
Christianity,
far from unifying the Roman world with a single faith, rent division
and civil conflict throughout the empire. Yet the fanatical
intolerance rampaged on, with increasingly more severe rescripts.
Again and again, the
pagan religions and the 'philosophies' (that is rational thought
and science) were criminalized with the severest
of penalties. The repetition of the legislation itself gives evidence
that the populace of the empire had to be brought kicking and screaming
to the Church of Christ.
Yet every measure designed
to crush and stamp out non-Christian belief met with renewed resistance,
disaffection from the imperial cause and civil commotion.
In time, many would
prefer the more tolerant rule of a barbarian king to the adolescent
fanatics in Milan, Ravenna or Constantinople.
The campaign to wipe
out heterodox opinion realized its zenith with the reign of Theodosius
I late in the 4th century. Barely a decade later, the city of Rome
fell to the barbarians. The parasitic Christian religion had fatally
weakened the host body; yet as the western empire died, the psychosis
of "Christian Faith" had already migrated to the newcomers.
Copyright © 2005
by Kenneth Humphreys.
Copying is freely permitted, provided credit is given to the author and no
material herein is sold for profit.
|
