A Source Book for Ancient Church History - Mirrors

461tended inevitably to separate ecclesiastically as well as politicallythe two divisions of the Empire. As the emperors of the Eastattempted to use dogmatic parties in the support of a politicalpolicy, the differences between the Church of the East, under theRoman Emperor, and the Church of the West, where the imperialauthority had ceased to be a reality, became manifest in a schismresulting from the Monophysite controversy and the attempt toreconcile the Monophysites.Chapter I. The Church At The Beginning Of ThePermanent Separation Of The Two Parts Of TheRoman EmpireAlthough Theodosius the Great had been the dominating powerin the government of the Empire almost from his accession in379, he was sole ruler of the united Roman Empire for only a fewmonths before his death in 395. The East and the West becamehenceforth permanently divided after having been united, sincethe reorganization of the Empire under Diocletian in 285, foronly three periods aggregating twenty-eight years in all. Theimperial authority was divided between the sons of Theodosius,Arcadius taking the sovereignty of the East and Honorius that ofthe West. Stilicho, a Vandal, directed the fortunes of the Westuntil his death in 408, but the Empire of the East soon began totake a leading part, especially after the barbarians commenced toinvade the West about 405, and to establish independent kingdomswithin the boundaries of the Empire. The German tribesthat settled within the Empire were either Arians when theyentered or became such almost immediately after; this Arianismhad been introduced among the West Goths from Constantinopleduring the dominance of that creed. The Franks alone of all [421]