Practice Quiz

CLEP Western Civ I

Category - Ancient Rome

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How did the rise of Christianity contribute to the decline of the Roman Empire?
  1. The growing number of Christians in the empire encouraged outside armies to invade so that they could persecute and kill the Christians; if the Christians hadn’t been present, the armies would not have felt compelled to invade.
  2. The influence of Christianity compelled Roman emperors to cede some of the powers to the church papacy, and the popes eventually overpowered the emperors.
  3. The Christian belief that a person’s goodness in life determines whether he or she can go to Heaven discouraged many Christian citizens from fighting for the empire because they feared that it would compromise their places in the afterlife.
  4. Christianity remained divisive among the citizens of the empire, and the social fracturing between Christians and non-Christians made it easier for outside armies to mount successful invasions.
  5. The laws of Christianity forbid empire-building.
Explanation
Answer: C - The doctrine of the Christian faith emphasized the need for its practitioners to live a “good” and faithful life on Earth in order to ascend to Heaven after death. Subsequently, Christian citizens of the Roman Empire became less willing to engage in warfare on behalf of the Roman state. The Roman Empire did maintain a military, but it was not as formidable as it had once been. A succession of attacks from the Visigoths, Vandals, Huns, and Franks, among others, in addition to a reduced army, contributed to the decline of the Roman Empire.
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