Religion in an Empire - Strength or Weakness

In late 4^th century Rome became Christian, using monotheism as a tool of the empire. This tool, however useful for controlling mass people groups, introduced doubts as to the Emperors right to supreme authority over. Could plague, loss in battle, and sickness is a result of an unfaithful leader? Supreme authority was given from God, but was it right for a mere man to possess such control?  Despite the questions, a common religious theme throughout the Empire provided a common moral standard across the lands. When the Muslim invaders advanced towards Rome with the Arab-Byzantine wars from the late 7^th to 11^th centuries, the Empires morals, faith, and society as a whole were instantly threatened. Likewise, the reality of a strictly Christian society was a menace to Islam.

            Regardless of cultural and faith based differences, both religious empires sought to expand their empire and find new converts. Two religious groups, each claiming to know the single way to eternal salvation, cannot exist side by side in harmony. For centuries, these two empires would engage in battles of faith, of money, and for simply the power to be proven correct in battle. When the Muslims took over Constantinople, they converted what had been the largest church in the world, Haggia Sophia, into a Islamic Temple. Hoping to simply repurpose a grand space, they ended up creating tension among their own people, inspiring hatred in their enemies, and starting a drama that would unfold for centuries to come. Two single minded faiths can not coexist. The Jihads and crusades were both sides’ ways of spreading their saving message and gaining new lands for their respective “gods". Both sough for a single truth, and both instead found battle and internal conflict. 

            Despite the noble intentions found by gaining new converts and acquiring land to honor ones faith, the fact remains that brining in new peoples with foreign ideas, is a threat to the stability of a nation. Rome experienced social upheaval when they tried being a solidly Christian nation, but yet continued their tradition of allowing anyone in an acquired city to become a citizen. Yes, that new citizen had to convert, but their original ideology did not instantly changed. This caused the delicate balance of an Empire that covered most of modern world of the time, to experience unbalance. The periphery was supposed to be supported by the metrapole, but it only served as a symbolic gesture of what was. Similarly the Muslims were threatened by millions of new converts and the ideas that came with bringing in people who had not been raised Muslim. Both states were caught between the undeniable desire to gain land and people, and the impending problems caused by such gains.

           

            Perhaps religion, for all its benefits, runs the risk of causing imperial collapse. Religion only works when all in a group agree. When one tries to add outsiders, with no regard to whether they actually feel similarly, integral internal issues arise. Maybe religion is not something that can be forced on people. Maybe it’s something each much choose for himself. If only Rome had realized that and been a bit more wary with their acceptance. What if Islam had killed instead of converted? We will never know what could have been, but what we do know, is that for a time each empire was strengthened, and renewed by devotion to their gods. However, in time, as religious zeal left them, and when they became religious only in name, they failed to remain unified and collapsed. Faith is not something one can do halfheartedly.