OT Re: FW: OT Re: FW: Dinosaur Calendar Project

[Tim Williams <tijawi@yahoo.com>]

dale mcinnes <wdm1949@hotmail.com> wrote:


> I don't disagree with your pronouncement that the Roman Empire was 
> pushing for Christianity but the reasons were quite intriguing. I
> read that a long term stategy had been developed to wrestle control 
> from the other competetive Pagan groups by replacing them in the 
> Senate, one after the other. A brilliant stategy if true. Surrounding 
> the Emperors one by one by an ever growing circle of Christian 
> Senators. 


Hmmm... this sounds like complete tripe.  Emperor Constantine I was the first 
Roman emperor to convert to Christianity, and all his successors were 
Christians prior to taking office (with the sole exception of the pagan emperor 
Julian).  


Besides, most of the Roman emperors of the 3rd and 4th centuries spent hardly 
any time (if any at all) in the city of Rome, the home of the Senate.  They 
were soldiers, and had little interest in the Senate or its politics.  These 
emperors spent their reigns either campaigning out in the field, or in imperial 
residences outside of Italy; Constantine himself founded Constantinople as his 
official residence.  


In the 5th century, there were western Roman emperors (including puppet 
emperors installed by barbarian chieftains) that preferred not to lead armies, 
and were holed up in the Italian city of Ravenna, at the mouth of the Adriatic. 



Cheers

Tim