Roman Empire Religion And Power

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Recommended: Contrast Judaism and Christianity

In the Roman empire, religion and government were tied together. As a result, leaders got their power and stayed in power, at least partially, due to their religious affiliation/position. If the leaders gained power through their religious affiliation, then it is in the leader's best interest for the religion to prosper; when the religion is doing well, they have more control over more people. The main threat to a religion not doing well, is another religion surpassing it. In this case, that religion is Christianity.
In about 30 B.C. Christianity started to spread around the Roman Empire. As discussed earlier, it is in the best interest of Roman leaders if their religion remained as the predominant religion. As a result, Roman leaders began

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