History of European Morals From Augustus to Charlemagne (Vol. 2 of 2)

History of
European Morals
From Augustus to Charlemagne
William Edward Hartpole Lecky, M.A.
Ninth Edition
In Two Volumes
Vol. 2.
London
Longmans, Green, And Co.
1890

The Asiatic Churches had already perished. The Christian faith, planted in the dissolute cities of Asia Minor, had produced many fanatical ascetics and a few illustrious theologians, but it had no renovating effect upon the people at large. It introduced among them a principle of interminable and implacable dissension, but it scarcely tempered in any appreciable degree their luxury or their sensuality. The frenzy of pleasure continued unabated, and in a great part of the Empire it seemed, indeed, only to have attained its climax after the triumph of Christianity.