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Fabian Vergara
Kimberly Lark
English 134
November 9, 2015

Towards the end of the Roman Empire, Church and State constantly clashed. Knowing that you
could die, having faith meant having perseverance. Knowing this, if I were to have lived in the
dark ages and had the ability to choose between a bishop, a monk, or a king, I wouldve been a
King. Being a King meant that I had absolute power giving me more political, life, and
influential options.
Unlike the other two choices which require religion, my decisions on how to run a proper
empire would have happened regardless of my moral standpoint. This gives me the ability to run
the empire in three ways, morally good, bad, and neutral. As a good emperor, I would have been
able to pass laws that benefit all. Fair taxes, proper treatment for all classes, and giving the
ability to believe in whatever your heart desired. This would have given me the largest support of
the State and its people. This is something that Constantine ended up doing which gave him his
long lasting appeal. As a neutral emperor my choices would have been the least biased. I would
have had the ability to expand the empire in areas that did not deal with religion, having full
support from the State with an average support by the people. Of course, because it was a
common practice, I could have created chaos. Taxes would have been high, plundering would
happen often, and any religion other than the Roman religion would be banished. Anyone who
challenged the law, would be crucified. This would have given me full support of the state with

little to no support coming from the citizens. The problem with this route would have been that
my empire potentially became short-lived. I would have also had the choice to run the empire
with deception. My story could have said that I believed in the Roman God, when in reality I was
an Atheist or Agnostic. As an emperor, you are also given more chances to relocate. For whatever
reason, if I decided to relocate, I could. I could move the capital from one point to another with
very little problem so long as I kept it rational. If, for some reason, I stepped down from the
throne, wealth would have kept me in a high statues. Although, you did have choices as a Monk
and as a Bishop, the list of choices does not compare to that of a king.