Julian II (the Apostate) and his policies

[Theodosius the Great]

the purge of 337 killed most of the family off, and child emperors became the root of much evil when, instead of adoption of strong sons, the troops demanded a dynastic line, even though such weaklings like Honorius or Valentinian III became emperor! In the end, these weakling gave rise to strong men behind the throne, Romans, euneuchs then, barbarians later. And what had to follow did of course follow - at one point the powerless figurehead called emperor was sent home to his mommy, and the generalissimo became to first post-Roman king. Exit Western Empire.

Vortigern, you're not attibuting the fall of the West to the aftermath of 337 AD, are you ? Afaik, the army was still in good shape all the way until the battle of Adrianople. So, Valens is where the decline of the empire starts, imo.

That was not the way of the religion of the ancient world, being more formal and in the duty of the state, but tolerant, interchangable and empty in a certain way. No chance to go back to the old times, no chance to get back the affairs of this world in the centre of focus. The future was not his and the ancient world had to die (or was already dead).

If you read enough history (not just about Rome) you will see that great calamities always change society. Calamities like the Third Century Crisis changed how pagans saw and practiced religion. Religious attitudes certainly changed after the Black Death of the 14th century in Europe. Things are ever changing, never static.

~Theo