Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-27007772-20140611204941/@comment-27033815-20150324120510

That is a good point. I could almost bet that the Aldmeri Dominion realized that when the worship of Talos was banned, some of the people of the Empire would be mad. They would turn to rebel, hurting the Empire.

Although you got to remember that the Empire wasn't that weakened by the war, if the player joined the Legion. There was only three "Legions" sent, which is almost like sending three regiments in the US civil war. (It's not really that many troops, in the whole game of war-ish way.)