The experiences of illumination and glorification are not only at the core of Christianity but also became the centre of the Hellenic Civilization of the Roman Empire, (sometimes known to us as the Eastern Empire).  That Empire made the Orthodox faith part of its law, similar, in a way, Romanides points out, to the way American citizens are now being legally protected from quack doctors and their cures:  "Religions and dogmas which lead away from illumination and glorification were not only considered dangerous for salvation, but also were not conducive to producing the kind of citizens who could help transform society."  Unfortunately, the Frankish conquerors of the Romans in the West did not understand these experiences of purification, illumination, glorification, and perfection in Christ, as neither did the sole teacher and theologian on whom they based their Christian and Biblical interpretations, St. Augustine. Their interest being territorial conquest and rule, they did not have any great spiritual motivation to find out anything about past traditions and interpretations.  When, around the 12th century, the Frankish Latin Christians began to discover the writings of the Eastern Roman fathers, they adapted their interpretation of them into their standard Augustinian template, making the original meaning of these essential teachings inaccessible.