denounced as the result of idolatry, had spread to the adorers of Christ. Far from imposing a far-reaching reform on the profane world, the Church itself had become corrupted by imitating the profane world; it began to resemble an imperial administration, and the factions which tore it asunder were much more moved by an appetite for power than by religious reasons.
It has often been asked whether Christianity was not the cause, or at least one of the principal causes, of the fall of Rome. Gaston Boissier combats this opinion by endeavouring to show that the decadent movement observed after Constantine is the continuation of a movement which had existed for some time, and that it is not possible to see whether Christianity accelerated or retarded the death of the ancient world.[1] That amounts to saying that the extent of the conservation was enormous; we can, by analogy, imagine what would follow from a revolution which brought our official Socialists of to-day into power. Institutions remaining almost what they are to-day, all the middle-class ideology would be preserved; the middle-class state would dominate with its ancient abuses; if economic decadence had begun, it would be accentuated.
Shortly after the Christian conquest, the barbarian invasions began. More than one Christian wondered whether an order in conformity with the principles of the new religion was not at length to appear; this hope was all the more reasonable as the barbarians had been converted on coming into the Empire, and because they were not accustomed to the corruption of Roman life. From the economic point of view, a regeneration might be hoped for, since the world was perishing beneath the weight of urban exploitation; the new masters, who had coarse rural manners, would not live as great lords, but as heads of large demesnes; perhaps, therefore, the earth would
- ↑ Gaston Boissier, La Fin du paganisme, livre iv. chap. iii.
