ef and church discipline, the
bishops also acquired considerable power in secular affairs. In the days
of persecution the Christians had regularly submitted legal differences
among themselves to the arbitration of their bishops, rather than resort
to the tribunals of state. Constantine the Great gave legal sanction to
this episcopal arbitration in civil cases; Arcadius, however, restricted
its use to cases in which the litigants voluntarily submitted to the
bishop's judgment. The bishops enjoyed no direct criminal jurisdiction,
although since the right of sanctuary was accorded to the churches, they
were frequently able to intercede with effect for those who sought asylum
with them. In the enforcement of moral and humanitarian legislation the
state called for the cooeperation of the bishops.

The influential position of the bishops as the religious heads of the
municipalities led to their being accorded a definite place in the
municipal administration. In protecting the impoverished taxpayers against
the imperial officers they were more effective than the "_defensores
plebis_." And in the days of the barbarian invasions, when the
representatives of the imperial authority were driven from the provinces,
the bishops became the leaders of the Roman population in their contact
with the barbarian conquerors.

III. SECTARIAN STRIFE

*Sectarianism.* The history of the church from Constantine to Justinian is
largely the history of sectarian strife, which had its origin in doctrinal
controversies. While the western church in general abstained from acute
theological discussions and adhered strictly to the orthodox or
established creed, devoting its energies to the development of church
organization, the church of the East, imbued with the Greek philosophic
spirit, busied itself with attempts to solve the mysteries of the
Christian faith and was a fruitful source of heterodoxy. Strife between
the adherents of the various sects was waged with extreme bitterness and
frequently culminated in riots and bloodshed. Toleration was unknown and
heretics, like pagans, were classed as criminals and excluded from
communion with the orthodox church. Of the many sects which arose in the
fourth and fifth centuries, two were of outstanding importance. These were
the Arians and the monophysites.

*Arianism.* Arianism had its rise in an attempt to express with
philosophical precision the relation of the three memb