What attracts you to Late Rome?

[Timianus]

My understanding was that religion was initially important in Roman society but belief in the old gods was undermined by hellenic philosophic speculation. A western civ teacher said religion meant very little to the romans (I believe he was referring to those of the early Imperial period). Occasionally they'd just pour out a libation.

I disagree. The whole construct as "religion" being separate from civic or public life is a western convention. Religion was the state and the state was religion. Rome was great because the gods had blessed it and the princeps or dominus lead because they were blessed with good fortune and victory. This was one of the reasons why Rome was always trying to expand; its leaders needed to show divine favor through military victory.

You are talking about a select elite that even could engage in "hellenic philosophic speculation." Also, if you study neoplatonism, you will see that many of the ideas of Christianity came from that tradition. Also, the whole reason that Christians were persecuted was because they failed to participate in the imperial cult worship.

The importance of religion can be verified by the sheer number of "cult" religions that prospered during the late imperial period.

With all due respect, your western civ teacher was flat out wrong and sounds like an unreformed Gibbonite.