As the Roman political and cultural elite converted to the locally held form of Christianity, they started exercising their authority and resources to influence the theology of other communities throughout the Roman Empire, sometimes by force. Bauer cites the First Epistle of Clement as an early example of the bishop of Rome interfering with the church of Corinth to impose its own proto-orthodox doctrine of apostolic succession, and to favour a certain group of local church leaders over another.
As the Roman elite adopted a locally practiced form of Christianity, they used their power and resources to alter the theological views of other communities within the Empire. Bauer illustrates this with an example from Clement's First Epistle, where the bishop of Rome imposed its proto-orthodox doctrine of apostolic succession on the Corinthian church and favored certain local leaders.