former greatness. Why had it declined? “So much sedition: Christians are so many”, i.e. people were deserting the pagan gods, and the officials no longer cared. The decline of the Empire was in striking contrast to the advance of the Church. The Church’s organization had spread through every province and to lands beyond. Disputes between Christians were brought to their own bishops, never before non-Christian magistrates. Christian charities helped, not only their own poor, but others besides. If