Persecution of Pagans by the Christian Roman Empire

The persecution of pagans by the Christian Roman Empire began late in the reign of Constantine the Great, when he ordered the pillaging and the tearing down of some temples.^[1][2][3] The first anti-Pagan laws by the Christian state started with Constantine's son Constantius II,^[4][5] who was an unwavering opponent of paganism; he ordered the closing of all pagan temples, forbade Pagan sacrifices under pain of death,^[2] and removed the traditional Altar of Victory from the Senate.^[6] Under his reign ordinary Christians started vandalizing many of the ancient Pagan temples, tombs and monuments.^{[7][8][9][10]}

From 361 till 375, Paganism was relatively tolerated, until three Emperors, Gratian, Valentinian II and Theodosius I, under Bishop of Milan Saint Ambrose's influence, reinstituted and escalated the persecution.^[11][12] Under pressure from the zealous Ambrose, Theodosius issued the infamous 391 "Theodosian decrees," a declaration of war on paganism,^[12][13] the Altar of Victory was removed again by Gratian, the Vestal Virgins were disbanded, and access to Pagan temples was prohibited.

Constantine I turns against Paganism

Main article: Constantine I turn against Paganism

The first episodes of persecution of Paganism in the history of the Roman Empire started late in the reign of Constantine the Great, with his orders for the pillaging and tearing down of pagan temples; ^[1][2][3] earlier on his reign he had prohibited the construction of new temples^[14] but tolerated the practice of Pagan sacrifices.^[15]

Beginning of anti-Pagan laws

Main article: Christian persecution of paganism under Constantius II

A cult statue of the divinized Augustus, disfigured by a Christian cross carved into the emperor's forehead.

The actions of Constantius II, who reigned from 337 till 361, marked the beginning of the era of formal persecution against Paganism by the Christian Roman Empire, with the emanation of laws and edicts which punished Pagan practices.^[4][5]

From the 350s, new laws prescribed the death penalty for those who perform or attended Pagan sacrifices, and for the worshipping of idols;^[16] temples were shut down,^[2][5] and the traditional Altar of Victory was removed from the Senate.^[6] There were also frequent episodes of ordinary Christians destroying, pillaging, desecrating, vandalizing many of the ancient Pagan temples, tombs and monuments.^{[7][8][9][10]}

The harsh imperial edicts had to face the vast following of paganism among the population, and passive the resistance of governors and magistrates.^{[2][17][18][19]} The anti-Pagan legislation, beginning with Constantius, would in time have an unfavourable influence on the Middle Ages and become the basis of the much-abused Inquisition.^[20]

Restoration and tolerance from Julian till Valens (361-375)

Main article: Restoration and tolerance of Paganism from Julian till Valens

Under the sole rule of Julian the Apostate from 361-363, Paganism saw an attempt at restoration; while from 363 till 375, during the reigns of Jovian, Valens and Valentinian I, it was relatively tolerated.

Saint Ambrose's influence

Saint Ambrose lobbying against paganism

Main article: Persecution of Paganism under the influence of Saint Ambrose

Under the influence of Ambrose, emperors Gratian, Valentinian II and Theodosius I carried on a persecution of Paganism.^{[11][12][21][22]} Under Ambrose's zealous pressure, Theodosius issued the infamous 391 "Theodosian decrees," a declaration of war on paganism,^[12][13] and the Altar of Victory was removed by Gratian. Ambrose, Gratian, Valentinian and Theodosius rejected requests to restore the Altar.

Gratian: Seizing of Pagan's wealth and privileges

Main article: Gratian#Repression of Paganism

Gratian, under the influence of his chief advisor the Bishop of Milan Ambrose,^[23][24] took active steps to repress Pagan worship.^[1][25] In 382, Gratian appropriated the income of the Pagan priests and Vestal Virgins, confiscated the possessions of the priestly colleges and ordered the Altar of Victory removed again.^[26][27] The colleges of Pagan priests also lost all their privileges and immunities. Gratian declared that all of the Pagan temples and shrines were to be confiscated by the government and that their revenues were to be joined to the property of the royal treasury.^[28]

Valentinian II

In 388 Valentinian II assumed the office of Emperor in the Western Roman Empire.

Valentinian II, advised by Ambrose, and in spite of pleas from the Pagans, refused to restore the Altar of Victory to the Senate House, or their income to the priests and Vestal Virgins.^[29] In the year 391, Valentinian II issued a law that not only prohibited sacrifices but also forbade anyone from visiting the temples.^[30] This again caused turbulence in the West. Valentinian II quickly followed this law with a second one, which declared that Pagan temples were to be closed, a law that was viewed as practically outlawing Paganism.^[31]

War on paganism by Theodosius (381-395)

Main article: Christian persecution of paganism under Theodosius I

Saint Ambrose and Emperor Theodosius, Anthony van Dyck.

The Christian persecution of paganism under Theodosius I began in 381, after the first couple of years his reign in the Eastern Roman Empire. In the 380s, Theodosius I reiterated Constantine's ban on Pagan sacrifice, prohibited haruspicy on pain of death, pioneered the criminalization of Magistrates who did not enforce anti-Pagan laws, broke up some pagan associations and destroyed Pagan temples.

Between 389-391 he emanated the infamous "Theodosian decrees," which established a practical ban on paganism;^[31] visits to the temples were forbidden,^[30][32] remaining Pagan holidays abolished, the eternal fire in the Temple of Vesta in the Roman Forum extinguished, the Vestal Virgins disbanded, auspices and witchcraft punished. Theodosian refused to restore the Altar of Victory in the Senate House when asked to do so by Pagan Senators.

In 392 he became emperor of the whole empire (the last to do so). From this moment till the end of his reign in 395, while Pagans remained outspoken in their demands for toleration,^[33][34] he authorized or participated in the destruction of many temples, holy sites, images and objects of reverence throughout the empire.^{[1][35][36][37][38]} participated in actions by Christians against major Pagan sites.^[39] He issued a comprehensive law that prohibited any Pagan ritual even within the privacy of one's home,^[2] and was particularly oppressive of Manicheans.^[40] Paganism was now proscribed, a "religio illicita."^[41] He likely suppressed the Ancient Olympic Games; the last record of the Olympics being celebrated in ancient Rome is from 393.^[42]

Persecution after Theodosius I till the Empire fall

Main article: Christian persecution of paganism after Theodosius I until the fall of the Roman Empire

Ivory diptych of a priestess of Ceres, still in fully classical style, ca 400: the "idol" was defaced and thrown in a well at Montier-en-Der (later an abbey) where it was found. (Musée de Cluny)

Christian persecution of paganism after Theodosius I until the fall of the Roman Empire involved a long series of emperors, from both the Eastern and Western parts of the Empire, and ranged from 395 till 476.

Anti-Pagan laws were instated throughout this period, by emperors including Arcadius, ^{[43][44][45][46][47]} Honorius,^[48][49][50] Theodosius II,^[51][52] Marcian^[53] and Leo I the Thracian. The reiterations of the bans, especially on Pagan religious rites and sacrifices, and the increases in the penalties, indicated that the "Pagan" religion had still many followers.^[54][55] Significant support for Paganism was still present among Roman nobles,^[56] senators, magistrates,^[57] imperial palace officers,^[58] and other officials,^[57] who often protested or failed to enforce the edicts.

"Paganism" continued to be practiced by a large portion of the population, although the Pagans increasingly had to worship their gods undercover in order to comply formally with the edicts.^[59] There were many who pretended to convert to Christianity while secretly continuing Pagan practices,^[60] and many Christians converted back to Paganism; numerous laws against apostasy were promulgated and penalties increased from those in the time of Gratian and Theodosius.^{[61][62][63][64]} Pagans openly voiced their resentment in historical works, such as the writings of Eunapius and Olympiodorus; some writers blamed the Christian hegemony for the 410 Sack of Rome. Christians destroyed almost all such Pagan political literature, and threatened to cut off the hands of any copyist who dared to make new copies of the offending writings.^[65][66]

Laws declared that buildings belonging to known Pagans and heretics were to be appropriated by the churches.^[67][68][69] St. Augustine exhorted his congregation in Carthage to smash all tangible symbols of paganism they could lay their hands on.^[68] The persecution was somewhat reduced in some periods under the influence of the high-ranking general Stilicho^{[59][70][71][72]} and under the "usurper" Joannes Primicerius;^[73] a revival was attempted by Anthemius from 467.^[74][75]

After the Fall of the Roman Empire

Persecution by Eastern Emperor Zeno

Shortly thereafter, in 476, the last emperor of Rome, Romulus Augustulus, was deposed by Odoacer, who became the first "barbarian" king of Italy. In spite of this disaster, the Pagans made one last attempt to revive the Pagan rites. In 484, the Magister militum per Orientem, Illus, revolted against Eastern Emperor Zeno and raised his own candidate, Leontius, to the throne. Leontius hoped to reopen the temples and restore the ancient ceremonies; as such, many Pagans joined in his revolt against Zeno.^[74] Illus and Leontius were compelled, however, to flee to a remote Isaurian fortress, where Zeno besieged them for four years. Zeno finally captured them in 488 and promptly had them executed.^[76]

Following the revolt, Zeno instituted a harsh persecution of Pagan intellectuals. With the failure of the revolt of Leontius, some Pagans became disillusioned and many became Christian, or pretended to do so, in order to avoid persecution.^[77] The subjugation of the Roman Empire to Christianity became complete when the emperor Anastasius I, who came to the throne in 491, was required to sign a written declaration of orthodoxy before his coronation.

Appropriation by Pope Gregory I

The caverns, grottoes, crags and glens that had once been used for the worship of the Pagan gods were now appropriated by Christianity: "Let altars be built and relics be placed there" wrote Pope Gregory I, "so that [the pagans] have to change from the worship of the daemones to that of the true God."^[78][79]

Pagan persecution in "barbarian" monarchies

"The triumph of Catholic Christianity over Roman paganism, heretical Arianism [and] pagan barbarism," asserts Hillgarth^[80] "was certainly due in large part to the support it received, first from the declining Roman state and later from the barbarian monarchies."^[81]

Evaluation and legacy

Except for the most recent literature, for at least the last 200 years historical scholarship has followed a conceptual scheme in which the persecution of those Mediterranean religions that we now label "paganism" was seen as the result of the religious intolerance inherent in the monotheistic Christian faith. By the very nature of their belief in a single almighty God, so it is concluded, Christians were unable to tolerate the existing beliefs in a variety of Gods. The classic expression of this view occurs in the work of Edward Gibbon, who, in his Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, equated Christianity with intolerance and paganism with tolerance. "It is difficult to overestimate the influence of Gibbon's interpretation on subsequent scholarship."^[82]

However, "while there is obviously some truth in the proposition that intolerance follows from the rejection of other gods that lies at the core of monotheistic belief," this alone could neither explain why pagans had previously persecuted Christians, nor why there were "important voices for moderation in the early Christian community."^[83] As H.A. Drake writes: "Gibbon skirts a serious problem: for three centuries prior to Constantine, the tolerant pagans who people the Decline and Fall were the authors of several major persecutions, in which Christians were the victims. ...Gibbon covered this embarrassing hole in his argument with an elegant demur. Rather than deny the obvious, he adroitly masked the question by transforming his Roman magistrates into models of Enlightenment rulers — reluctant persecutors, too sophisticated to be themselves religious zealots."^[84]

Peter Garnsey strongly disagrees with those who describe the attitude of the "plethora of cults" that are labelled 'Paganism' as "tolerant" or "inclusive."^[85] What Ramsay MacMullen wrote, that in its process of expansion, the Roman Empire was "completely tolerant, in heaven as on earth"^[86] (with the notable exceptions of the Jews, Christians and Druids), is for Garnsey a simple "misuse of terminology."^[87] The foreign Gods were not tolerated, but made subject together with their communities when they were conquered. The Romans "cannot be said to have extended to them the same combination of disapproval and acceptance which is toleration."^[87]

Other scholars explain this apparent contradiction by indicating that Pagans were tolerant to any religion in their midst that tolerated and respected Paganism itself. Even in the early days of Christianity however, this was not the case. Christians refused to honor any of the Roman gods, causing a general mistrust of their religion and disruption of the pax Romana or Roman Peace. In this regard the intolerance of monotheistic religious may explain both their own persecution, and their persecution of others.

Legacy for Christianity

Main article: Christian debate on persecution and toleration

The example of Constantine, Theodosius and Justinian, who were seen as "godly emperors (...) serving the church and crushing its enemies," has been cited repeatedly by Christian authors who endorsed religious persecution.^[88] When Louis XIV of France issued the Edict of Fontainebleau in 1685, revoking the Edict of Nantes and persecuting the schismatic Christian Huguenots, he was saluted as a 'new Constantine' by Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet.^[89]

This also holds true for the later medieval Emperor Charlemagne, who in September, 774, decided that the Saxons (Westfali, Ostfali, and Angrarii) must be presented with the alternative of baptism or death.^[90] and is also reported as having 4,500 pagan Saxons beheaded in the Massacre of Verden. According to the historian Ramsay MacMullen, a council of bishops at Toledo in 681 called on civil authorities to seize and behead all those guilty of non-Christian practices of any sort.^[91]

The Christian view shifted away from an endorsement of religious persecution in the 17th century. The first Christian church to grant adherents of other Christian denominations freedom of worship was the Church of England, with the Act of Toleration 1689 (still retaining some forms of religious discrimination and with the notable exception of Catholics).

The Catholic Church issued the decree "Dignitatis Humanae" that fully embraced the right of every human person to religious freedom, as part of the Vatican II council, on the seventh of December 1965. On 12 March 2000 Pope John Paul II prayed publicly for forgiveness because "Christians have often denied the Gospel; yielding to a mentality of power, they have violated the rights of ethnic groups and peoples, and shown contempt for their cultures and religious traditions"^[92]

Notes and references

1. ^ ^{a b c d} R. MacMullen, "Christianizing The Roman Empire A.D.100-400, Yale University Press, 1984, ISBN 0-300-03642-6
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f} "A History of the Church," Philip Hughes, Sheed & Ward, rev ed 1949, vol I chapter 6.[1]
3. ^ ^{a b} Eusebius Pamphilius and Schaff, Philip (Editor) and McGiffert, Rev. Arthur Cushman, Ph.D. (Translator) NPNF2-01. Eusebius Pamphilius: Church History, Life of Constantine, Oration in Praise of Constantine quote: "he razed to their foundations those of them which had been the chief objects of superstitious reverence"
4. ^ ^{a b} Kirsch, J. (2004) God against the Gods, pp. 200-1, Viking Compass
5. ^ ^{a b c} "The Codex Theodosianus On Religion," XVI.x.4, 4 CE
6. ^ ^{a b} Sheridan, J.J. (1966) The Altar of Victor – Paganism's Last Battle. in L'Antiquite Classique 35 : 186-187.
7. ^ ^{a b} Ammianus Marcellinus Res Gestae 22.4.3
8. ^ ^{a b} Sozomen Ecclesiastical History 3.18.
9. ^ ^{a b} Theodosian Code 16.10.3
10. ^ ^{a b} Theodosian Code 9.17.2
11. ^ ^{a b} Byfield (2003) pp. 92-4 quote:

    In the west, such [anti-Pagan] tendencies were less pronounced, although they had one especially powerful advocate. No one was more determined to destroy paganism than Ambrose, bishop of Milan, a major influence upon both Gratian and Valentinian II. [...] p. 94 The man who ruled the ruler - Wether Ambrose, the senator-bureaucrat-turned-bishop, was Theodosius's mentor or his autocrat, the emperor heeded him--as did most of the fourth-century church.

12. ^ ^{a b c d} MacMullen (1984) p. 100 quote:

    The law of June 391, issued by Theodosius [...] was issued from Milan and represented the will of its bishop, Ambrose; for Theodosius--recently excommunicated by Ambrose, penitent, and very much under his influence⁴³--was no natural zealot. Ambrose, on the other hand, was very much a Christian. His restless and imperious ambition for the church's growth, come what might for the non-Christians, is suggested by his preaching.

    See also note 43 at p.163, with references to Palanque (1933), Gaudemet (1972), Matthews (1975) and King (1961)
13. ^ ^{a b} King (1961) p.78
14. ^ Gerberding, R. and J. H. Moran Cruz, Medieval Worlds (New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004) p. 28.
15. ^ Peter Brown, The Rise of Christendom 2nd edition (Oxford, Blackwell Publishing, 2003) p. 60.
16. ^ Theodosian Code 16.10.6
17. ^ Catholic Encyclopedia (1914) Flavius Julius Constantius
18. ^ Ammianus Marcellinus Res Gestae 9.10, 19.12. quote summary: Ammianus describes Pagan sacrifices and worship taking place openly in Alexandria and Rome. The Roman Calendar of 354 cites many Pagan festivals as though they were still being openly observed. See also the descriptions of Pagan worship in the following works: Firmicius Maternus De Errore Profanorum Religionum; Vetus Orbis Descriptio Graeci Scriptoris sub Constantio.
19. ^ Bowder, D. (1978) The Age of Constantine and Julian
20. ^ C. G. Herbermann & Georg Grupp, "Constantine the Great," Catholic Encyclopedia, 1911, New Advent web site.
21. ^ Roldanus (2006) p.148
22. ^ Hellemo (1989) p.254
23. ^ "Gratian," Catholic Encyclopedia, 1909
24. ^ "Letter of Gratian to Ambrose," The Letters of Ambrose Bishop of Milan, 379 AD.[2]
25. ^ Theodosian Code 2.8.18-2.8.25, 16.7.1-16.7.5
26. ^ Sheridan, J.J., "The Altar of Victory – Paganism's Last Battle." L'Antiquite Classique 35 (1966): 187.
27. ^ Ambrose Epistles 17-18; Symmachus Relationes 1-3.
28. ^ Theodosian Code 16.10.20; Symmachus Relationes 1-3; Ambrose Epistles 17-18.
29. ^ Ambrose Epistles 17, 18, 57.
30. ^ ^{a b} Theodosian Code 16.10.10
31. ^ ^{a b} Theodosian Code 16.10.11
32. ^ Routery, Michael (1997) The First Missionary War. The Church take over of the Roman Empire, Ch. 4, The Serapeum of Alexandria
33. ^ Zosimus 4.59
34. ^ Symmachus Relatio 3.
35. ^ Grindle, Gilbert (1892) The Destruction of Paganism in the Roman Empire, pp.29-30. Quote summary: For example, Theodosius ordered Cynegius (Zosimus 4.37), the praetorian prefect of the East, to permanently close down the temples and forbade the worship of the deities throughout Egypt and the East. Most of the destruction was perpetrated by Christian monks and bishops,
36. ^ Life of St. Martin
37. ^ Gibbon, Edward The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, ch28
38. ^ Catholic Encyclopedia (1912) article on Theophilus, New Advent Web Site.
39. ^ Ramsay McMullan (1984) Christianizing the Roman Empire A.D. 100–400, Yale University Press, p.90.
40. ^ "The First Christian Theologians: An Introduction to Theology in the Early Church," Edited by Gillian Rosemary Evans, contributor Clarence Gallagher SJ, "The Imperial Ecclesiastical Lawgivers," p68, Blackwell Publishing, 2004, ISBN 0631231870
41. ^ Hughes, Philip Studies in Comparative Religion, The Conversion of the Roman Empire, Vol 3, CTS.
42. ^ Kotynski, p.3. For more information about the question of this date, see Kotynski.
43. ^ Theodosian Code 2.8.22
44. ^ Theodosian Code 16.10.13
45. ^ Theodosian Code 16.10.14
46. ^ Theodosian Code 16.10.16, 15.1.36
47. ^ Theodosian Code 15.6.1, 15.6.2
48. ^ Gibbon, Edward The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, ch28, note 54.
49. ^ Theodosian Code 16.5.42
50. ^ Theodosian Code 16.10.19
51. ^ Theodosian Code 16.5.63
52. ^ Constitutiones Sirmondianae 6
53. ^ Justinian Code 1.11.7
54. ^ Theodosian Code 16.7.7
55. ^ Justinian Code 1.11.8
56. ^ Sidonius Epistle 1.11.6
57. ^ ^{a b} Theodosian Code 16.5.46
58. ^ Zosimus 5.46
59. ^ ^{a b} Gibbon, Edward The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, ch28
60. ^ This law (Theodosian Code 16.10.24) is interesting because it officially recognizes the fact that there were many people who only pretended to be Christian.
61. ^ Theodosian Code 16.5.51
62. ^ Theodosian Code 16.7.1, 16.7.2, 16.7.3, 16.7.4, 16.7.5, 16.7.6
63. ^ Justinian Code 1.7.2.
64. ^ Theodosian Code 16.10.25
65. ^ MacMullen, Ramsay (1986) Christianity & Paganism in the Fourth to Eighth Centuries, Yale University Press, p.4 quote: "non Christian writings came in for this same treatment, that is destruction in great bonfires at the center of the town square. Copyists were discouraged from replacing them by the threat of having their hands cut off
66. ^ Kirsch, R. (1997) God Against the Gods, p.279, Viking and Compass
67. ^ Constitutiones Sirmondianae 12.
68. ^ ^{a b} MacMullen, R. Christianizing The Roman Empire A.D.100-400, Yale University Press, 1984, ISBN 0-300-03642-6
69. ^ Theodosian Code 16.5.43
70. ^ Theodosian Code 16.10.15
71. ^ Theodosian Code 16.10.17
72. ^ Theodosian Code 16.10.18
73. ^ A law in the Theodosian Code (16.2.47) refers to a tyrant who issued edicts in opposition to the church. This tyrant (i.e. usurper) is most likely to be identified with Joannes the Primicerius.
74. ^ ^{a b} Photius Bibliotheca cod. 242
75. ^ Marcellinus Chronicle s.a. 468
76. ^ Theophanes Chronographia s.a. A.M. 5976-5980; John Malalas Chronicle 15.12-15.14.
77. ^ Pagans were still sufficiently numerous during the reign of Justinian for a law to be published, in 527 (Justinian Code 1.5.12), which barred Pagans from office and confiscated their property.
78. ^ The modern Church takes a much less antagonistic stance to non-Abrahamic religions. See Dignitatis Humanae and Nostra Aetate
79. ^ R. MacMullen, "Christianity and Paganism in the Fourth to Eighth Centuries," Yale University Press, 1997.
80. ^ J.N Hillgarth, ed. "Christianity and Paganism 350-750,:The Conversion of Western Europe", rev. ed., University of Pennsylvania Press, 1986.
81. ^ R. Kirsch, "God Against the Gods," p. 278, Viking Compass, 1997.
82. ^ H.A.Drake, Lambs into Lions, p. 8
83. ^ H.A.Drake, Lambs into Lions, p. 5
84. ^ H.A.Drake, Lambs into Lions, p. 7: Drake refers to Gibbons, Decline and Fall, Chapter XVI, Part 2; online text from Project Gutenberg
85. ^ Garnsey 1984: 24
86. ^ quoted after Garnsey 1984: 25
87. ^ ^{a b} Garnsey 1984: 25
88. ^ John Coffey (2000), Persecution and Toleration in Protestant England 1558-1689, Studies in Modern History, Pearson Education, p. 31; O. O'Donovan (1996), The Desire of the Nations: Rediscovering the Roots of Political Theology, esp. ch. 6.
89. ^ John Coffey (2000), Persecution and Toleration in Protestant England 1558-1689, Studies in Modern History, Pearson Education, p. 49
90. ^ Thomas J. Shahan & E. Macpherson, "Charlemagne," The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume III. Published 1908 [3]
91. ^ Ramsay MacMullen, "Christianity & Paganism in the Fourth to Eighth Centuries," Chap 1:16, "Persecution," ISBN 0-300-07148-5
92. ^ "POPE JOHN PAUL II ASKS FOR FORGIVENESS," (MARCH 12, 2000), fetched 16 April 2007 [4]

See also

• History of persecutions by Christians
• Pentarchy
• History of Christianity
• Religious persecution in the Roman Empire