eggplant:

I really appreciate how you introduced me to an aspect of third century Roman history I had been unaware of, especially how a Baal worshipping cult overthrew the old Roman religion. (Although Elagabalus was unsuccessful, Emperor Aurelian succeeded half a century later.)

It had been difficult for me to understand how Christianity could conquer the Roman Empire all by itself, and how Christianity could be perceived as thoroughly Roman afterward. The answer is that it was a priest of Baal who raped a Vestal Virgin while he was Emperor. The old Roman religion was violated, and yet the religion of sun worship was a hated foreign violator. The obvious answer for an aggrieved Roman would be to look for an existing resistance movement against Baal worship, and that resistance movement already existed in Judaism and Christianity. And Christianity had the obvious advantage for a Roman patriot that he didn’t need to circumcise himself. (In such a context, it shouldn’t be surprising how the name “Lucifer” gained diabolical overtones.)

The Roman Empire didn’t fall in the fifth century, nor did it fall with the rise of Christianity. The Roman Empire fell in 218 to a viciously crafted religious coup d’etat. After 218, the Empire existed, but the empire ceased to be Roman. After 218, the Roman Empire and its state religion became a carcass to be fought over by adherents of other religions.

Is the antoninianus coming soon? Let’s do what we can to make sure it doesn’t happen.