Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's very reasonable. But there was a slow collapse of the economy that is an intermediate cause in the chain of events that is central to the fall. You can speculate what caused that collapse, that in turn caused the fall and there are also many causes to consider, but again, there is one intermediate cause that is Christianism. The religion altered several aspects of the economy: slavery, commerce and lending. No…
If you blame Christianity, what about all of Constantine's other major changes? Was it the Tetrarchy? The formation of Constantinople? The restructuring of the government or military? The introduction of a new currency? All monumental changes that had about as much of an effect as the change of religious policy. I'm no fan of Christianity, but the claim that it was central to the fall always comes off as somewhat laz…
It's the Economy, Steve. In particular, if you discourage commerce, you're playing with fire in an empire with such an extension.
I'm no fan of Christianity, but the claim that it was central to the fall always comes off as somewhat lazy.
I thought I'd added enough nuance. The three aspects I mentioned are not trivial and can be connected directly. In fact, it's not something that just occured to me, there's abundant literature on them and are considered most probable causes by a lot of scolars.