Imperial Hegemony, part 3/3: Religion

The final important element of an Hegemonial might is its religion. It needs to be accepting of outsiders and recognisable to the masses. The Eight and Nine divines meet these requirements.

RELIGION

The Imperial religion is one of the few on Tamriel that can track its founding to a certain event. In the case of the Cyrodiilic pantheon, this was after Saint Alessia proclaimed the First Empire, and created a pantheon that was based of the one used by the Ayleids, and as a result, their slaves, at the time (predominantly Aedric) and the one that her Nordic allies worshipped (which was pro-man). The result was the Eight Divines, which quickly became the biggest religion in Cyrodiil, outgrowing the local Ayleid religion quickly. Important changes in the Cyrodiilic pantheon were the works of the Alessian Order, which saw a change in the worship of Akatosh, and a more aggressive stance towards non-adherers, the inclusion of Talos in the early Third Era, and the forced stop of Talos worship in the Fourth Era.

In the First Era, the Marukhati Selective, a sub-group within the Alessian Order, rewrote important aspects of the Cyrodiilic faith. These included a change in the persona of Akatosh (which may or may not be tied to mythopoeic events) and making him even more a prime deity, and a harder stance towards people not worshipping the Eight, with cases of violence against these people. While eventually, around the time of the disbandment of the Alessian Order, the aggressive attitude stopped, and the other members of the Eight regained their ancient importance, Akatosh' identity remained as it was after the Dance of the Selective.
The Second great change in the Eight Divines was when Tiber Septim was deified in Talos (at least, that is how the general populace sees it. In reality, Tiber Septim merged with Wulfharth and Zurin Arctus to form Talos), changing the Eight Divines into the Nine. Along with the start of the Talos Cult, the Imperial faith spread throughout Tamriel, becoming the biggest religion on the continent.
the most recent change in the pantheon was when the White-Gold Concordat prohibited Talos worship. While all Imperial institutions followed this new doctrine, Talos worship was still prominent in the remaining Imperial provinces under Thalmor rule, albeit mostly underground.

The Imperial religion is strange, compared to the Imperial politics and economy. While the Empire was incredibly fluent and changing politically and economically, giving Cyrodiil a greater adaptability, their religious doctrine stayed much the same ever since its founding.
However, this queerness might be its strength, as worshippers are rarely the subject of theological schisms.

The greatest strength of the Imperial Cult, however, is that it is not Imperio-centric. While some religions focus very much on the own race (the Temple, the Y'ffre cult, and the Yoku pantheon are examples of this), the Imperial faith has a place for all. Their gods are not predominantly pro-Imperial, although Akatosh has helped out the Imperials from time to time. The chief exception to this is Talos. Talos can be seen as a god centring on the own people. However, this does get a different shape. It should be clear by now that the Third Empire of Tamriel was more an Empire of Cyrodiil. Still, Tiber Septim would become a god of the Empire as a whole (although he was more popular in human provinces).

These elements of the Imperial faith give it its strength, and makes it very welcoming to outsiders. With the spread of the Imperial faith, Imperial culture and values are quick to follow, making it easier for them to export their ideas back to Cyrodiil, as well as making them feel Imperial, and reinforcing Imperial rule and law.

However, its strengths were also the downfall of the Imperial Cult. In times of need, there is n deity that will protect the people. While the Yokudans know the Hoonding that will help them in times of need, and the Dunmer had their living gods, the Imperials are left to their own religious accords. This was also a reason why the Imperial Cult would quickly lose its followers following the Oblivion Crisis and the collapse of the Third Empire. This loss of power of the Imperial Cult was furthered after the ban on Talos worship, leaving the followers of the Imperial faith without their personal god.