I was looking up on Vesta and the temple's sacred fire being kept alive for centuries by Vestal Virgins, and that the flame should never let to die, and if it did it's a bad omen for the city and the empire, and the Virgin/s responsible for that would be severely punished. And to make a new fire, you can not simply take a flame from another source, but it has to be 'clean' straight from the sun as the source, for that some sort of glass magnifier was to be used. Since the flame is supposed to be 'eternal', I wondered what happened to it, and came to know that Theodosius I ended the College of Vestals and basically killed the fire, and for some reason it really made me pissed (He's already one of my least favourite emperor). I don't have any Theodosius coins, but have a couple of Vesta,
The two reasons why rome fell: Gratian removing the altar of victory = Battle of Adrianople - Eastern army gets destroyed | Battle of Frigidus - Western Army gets destroyed Theodosius killing the eternal flame that protects the city = Rome gets sacked If this wasnt enought to restore your faith into our lord Jupiter Optimus Maximus while reading this I dont know what can
While it may seem silly and maybe brushed off as superstition, deep down the Roman society still had strong beliefs to their native gods, the true Roman gods that they've been worshiping for centuries, after all why should the average citizen follow some cult from a far off province just because the emperor had a dream. Messing with the beliefs of the people is never a good idea, infact this is in part why Rome had massive success in expanding, even Pliny wrote that when the Roman army was preparing for a siege of a city, the Roman priests would call for the local deity's help and offer proper treatment, if not better treatment of the said deity under Roman rule, Judea being the exception). I'm sure the actions of some of these monotheistic emperors would've certainly broken the spirit and the last remaining hope of the Romans, which was already being waned by the shifting of the empire's capital to Ravenna and Constantinople, and the sacking of 410 AD pretty much sealed the deal.
But But But.... This coin of Theodosius says that he Restored the Republic.... Theodosius I. AE2. 379-383 AD. Rome. DN THEODO-SIVS PF AVG, pearl diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right / REPARATIO-REIPVB, Emperor standing facing, head left, holding Victory on globe in left hand and raising kneeling, turreted woman, with right hand. Mintmark SMRB Are you telling me that emperors used their coins for propaganda?!?!
Interesting concepts in the thread. Gibbon also blamed Christianity for the loss of martial vigor amongst the youths of the empire. As one can tell from the vast array of local religious types on Roman provincial coins, the Romans went out of their way to support local tradition, with Greek myths celebrated in the Koine Greek speaking lands, city protectresses such as Tyche invoked, and Egyptian motifs in Alexandria. As mentioned above Judaea was one of the exceptions as they had destroyed two Roman legions in the early stages of the revolt in Flavian times.
