war and religion

Prior to the rise of Christianity and Islam there were wars between groups of people who had different religious beliefs, but the wars had more to do with power, land, and tribal identity than with religion. For example, the Romans and the Barbarians worshipped different gods, but when they fought they were more concerned with land and wealth than with forcing their beliefs on one another. It should be noted that even though the spread of monotheism led to more intense religious violence, a case can be made that it also helped to reduce tribal violence.