How did the Edict of Milan contribute to the growth and longevity of the Roman Empire?

Question

broskishelleh · Answer

The Edict of Milan made it legal to practice Christianity openly in the Roman Empire. It did not make Christianity the official religion nor did it reunite the Roman Empire. Christianity would not become the official religion for the empire until the Edict of Thessalonica. It's not until the Battle of Chrysopolis that Constantine I would become sole emperor of the Roman Empire. He would still need to reconquer parts to. 

The Edict of Milan made it so that Christianity was legal to practice in the Empire and it reaffirmed the importance of religion in the Roman Empire. Without it Christianity might not have ever become such a big religion It's arguable that the Edict played a role in the official dividing up of the empire in to Eastern and Western halves with to capital and that this played a role in the fall of the western half. It's also arguable that it played a role in establishing the eastern half of the empire and that this helped keep the Roman Empire through the Byzantium Empire.