Roman Religion/Imperial Cult in Byzantine Empire?

Was there any chance that the Byzantine Empire could have remained a strong base for the Roman polytheism/Imperial cult even after Christianity was tolerated, and then accepted? Perhaps, the spread of Christianity is restricted to certain parts of the Empire, while others keep the old religion.

Maybe, Christianity takes over, but some form of syncretism allows the continuation of the idea of the Emperor being Godlike? Maybe a merger of Pope and Emperor?
 
I know that's not what you want but this sort of Pope-Emperor merger is already OTL.

There's even a specialized term for it: Caesaropapism. Alot of Orthodox states, considering the relative weakness of the Patriarchs compared to the authority claimed by the Patriarch of Rome/Pope, had this balance where the "Protector of the Faith"/Emperor ended up as the dominant partner in the relationship between Church and State.
 
I guess the question becomes: were the Roman Emperors literally seen as Gods (which makes more sense under polytheism, anyway), or just as God-ordained?

The interesting aspect of the former is that while Christianity itself does have some form of a Holy Trinity, this was all literally supposed to be one person- Jesus. Yet, an Emperor, born to two human beings, and quite often taking power through military force being a God is a contradiction to that idea.
 
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I guess the question becomes: were the Roman Emperors literally seen as Gods (which makes more sense under polytheism, anyway), or just as God-ordained?
Neither of those. They were seen as God's maximum representative on Earth and were a divine figure (Equal to the Apostles etc.), although not gods themselves.
 

Marc

Donor
Was there any chance that the Byzantine Empire could have remained a strong base for the Roman polytheism/Imperial cult even after Christianity was tolerated, and then accepted? Perhaps, the spread of Christianity is restricted to certain parts of the Empire, while others keep the old religion.

Maybe, Christianity takes over, but some form of syncretism allows the continuation of the idea of the Emperor being Godlike? Maybe a merger of Pope and Emperor?

Then it isn't the Byzantine empire, but something else. Paraphrasing myself, (bad habit sorry), the Eastern Roman Empire after 300 CE, became a millennial fusion of Hellenism, Christianity, and the East.
 
Honestly, I think you could have the Emperor achieve quasi-divine status, in a sort of mimicry of Akenaten of Egyptian fame, or reminiscent of the Mandate of Heaven concept. It would be a bit peculiar, but it might be as simple as an import of the concept from China.

Lets say we have a No-Mohammed scenario, one that leads to a Roman Sri Lanka, Socotra, and Yemen - essentially an arm of the Empire that like in AoM stretches eastwards. (I'm a fan of an oddly naval arm of the Empire, in contrast to the Empire proper).

Historically there are comparisons of China to the Romans (Daqin - Great China) but having the Chinese and Daqin/Fulin interact by sea would be a major moment for world history in that timeline. Assuming some sort of continuous interaction (perhaps a 'String of Pearls' approach, including the aforementioned territories alongside OTL Singapore, and an embassy in Taiwan/Hong Kong/Macau/Beijing) there could be massive transfers of information both ways. The Romans can provide knowledge of the West, and if the Chinese and Romans recognise each other as equals, you could even go so far as to have mutually recognised 'tributary territories'. Who knows. Its China and Rome in contact.

One of these concepts, essentially the Mandate of Heaven resting on the resting Roman Empire could be imported, perhaps even by accident attributed to the Roman Emperor by the Chinese in writing/address, and then included in the Imperial Titles.
 
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