Persecution of religion in ancient Rome

As the Roman Republic, and later the Roman empire, expanded, it came to include people from a variety of cultures, and religions. The worship of an ever increasing number of deities was tolerated and accepted. The government, and the Romans in general, tended to be very tolerant towards most religions and cults. However a select few religions were not widely accepted, and on occasion even persecuted.

Druids

Druids were seen as essentially non-Roman: a prescript of Augustus forbade Roman citizens to practice "druidical" rites. Pliny reports [Pliny's Natural History xxx.4.] that under Tiberius the druids were suppressed —along with diviners and physicians— by a decree of the Senate, and Claudius forbade their rites completely in AD 54 [Suetonius, "The Twelve Caesars", Life of Claudius [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Claudius*.html#25 "paragraph 25"] ] .

Judaism

While Judaism was largely tolerated, it was on occasion subject to (mostly) local persecution.

Tiberius [Suetonius, "The Twelve Caesars", Life of Tiberius [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Tiberius*.html#36 "paragraph 36"] ] forbade Judaism in Rome, and Claudius expelled them from the city. However the passage of Suetonius is ambigous: "Because the Jews at Rome caused continuous disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus he [Claudius] expelled them from the city" [Suetonius, "The Twelve Caesars", Life of Claudius [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Claudius*.html#25 "paragraph 25"] ] . "Chrestus" has been identified as another form of "Christus"; the disturbances may have been related to the arrival of the first Christians, and that the Roman authorities, failing to distinguish between the Jews and the early Christians, simply decided to expel them all.

Christianity

As Christianity began to spread throughout the empire it was initially largely left in peace.

Suetonius mentions passingly that: " [during Nero's reign] Punishments were also inflicted on the Christians, a sect professing a new and mischievous religious belief" [Suetonius, "The Twelve Caesars", Life of Nero [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Nero*.html#16 "paragraph 16"] ] but he doesn't explain for what they were punished.

Tacitus reports that after the Great Fire of Rome in AD 64 some in the population held Nero responsible Tacitus, "Annals" ] and that to diffuse blame, he targeted and blamed the Christians .

The religion of the Christians and Jews was monotheistic in contrast to the polytheism of the Romans. The Romans tended towards syncretism, seeing the same gods under different names in different places of the Empire. This being so, they were generally tolerant and accommodating towards new deities and the religious experiences of other peoples who formed part of their wider Empire."A History of the Church", Philip Hughes, Sheed & Ward, rev ed 1949, vol I chapter 6. [http://www.ewtn.com/library/CHISTORY/HUGHHIST.TXT] ] This general tolerance was not extended to religions that were hostile to the state nor any that claimed exclusive rights to religious beliefs and practice.

By its very nature the exclusive faith of the Jews and Christians set them apart from other people, but whereas the former group was in the main contained within a single national and racial grouping, the latter was active and successful in seeking converts for the new religion and had universal claims not limited to a single geographical area. Whereas the original Hebrew scriptures taught that "the gods of the gentiles are nothing", the Greek Septuagint translation of that same passage, used by the early Christian Church, asserted that "all the gods of the heathens are devils." ["The Greek Septuagint translated into English", psalm 95:5, translated by Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton, 1851. Jerome would follow the Greek text rather than the Hebrew when he translated the Latin Vulgate edition of the bible. The "devils" epithet would still appear in bibles up until the end of the 20th century when the consensus reverted back to the original Hebrew text for modern translations] The same gods whom the Romans believed had protected and blessed their city and its wider empire during the many centuries they had been worshipped were now demonized [ A modern Christian writes that the gods of the pagans are "in fact fallen angels (otherwise known as devils)...And that is what the pagans, then as now, serve as "gods" ", Roy H. Schoeman, "Salvation is from the Jews", Ignatius Press, 2003, ISBN 0-89870-975-x] by the early Christian Church. ["Devil Worship", Catholic Encyclopedia, 1908 Edition. [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04767a.htm] ] The modern Church takes a much less antagonistic stance to non-Abrahamic faiths. see Dignitatis Humanae and Nostra Aetate]

Whereas the religion of the Jews could theoretically be contained within their own nation state and pose no threat to the wider Empire, it was not so with the early Christian community which was perceived at times to be an intrinsically destabilising influence ["Julian the Apostate and His Plan to Rebuild the Jerusalem Temple", Jeffrey Brodd, Biblical Archaeology Society, Bible Review, Oct 1995.] and threat to the peace of Rome, a "religio illicita". The pagans who attributed the misfortunes of Rome and its wider Empire to the rise of Christianity, and who could only see a restoration by a return to the old ways ["The Memorial of Symmachus". [http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/ambrose_letters_02_letters11_20.htm#Letter17] ] , were faced by the Christian Church that had set itself apart from that faith and was unwilling to dilute what it held to be the religion of the "One True God". ["Letter of Ambrose to the Emperor Valentinian", The Letters of Ambrose Bishop of Milan, 384AD, retrieved 5th May 2007. [http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/ambrose_letters_02_letters11_20.htm] ]

After the initial conflicts between the state and the new emerging religion during which early Christians were periodically subject to intense persecution, Gallienus issued an edict of toleration for all religious creeds including Christianity, a re-affirmation of the policy of Alexander Severus.

Constantine and his conversion

Constantine was the first emperor to convert to Christianity, having been baptized on his deathbed, and he legislated against non-Catholic religions by the withdrawal of all privileges that favoured them in comparison to Christianity. ["Constantine The Great", Catholic Encyclopedia, 1908, [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04295c.htm] ] ["The Codex Theodosianus On Religion", XVI.v.1, 4 CE. [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/codex-theod1.html] ] Constantine continued the policy of toleration that Galerius had established. ["Edict of Milan", 313CE. [http://gbgm-umc.org/UMW/Bible/milan.stm] ] He "continued to pay his public honors to the Sun", on coins that showed him jointly with Sol, whereas other imperial coins showed the Christian Chi-Rho sign, [MacMullan 1984:44.]

Whilst the seeds of future persecution by the state may been seen in his more belligerent utterances regarding the old religion, the restrictions placed on divination and the pillaging of the temples, attacks by Christians an pagan worship pre-date state support, passive or otherwise. [The Spanish bishops in AD 305 decreed that anyone who breaks idols and gets killed at it does not formally count as a martyr as the provocation is too blatant: R. MacMullen, "Christianizing the Roman Empire", 1986, Yale University Press.]

Constantine legislated against magic and private divination, but this was driven out of a fear that others might gain power through those means, as he himself had achieved power through the sound advice of Pagan soothsayers, convincing him of the perspicacity of Pagan prophecy. [Zosimus 2.29.1-2.29.4, Theodosian Code 16.10.1. Laws against the private practice of divination had been enacted ever since the time of the emperor Tiberius. The fear of a rival had led many emperors to be severe against those who attempted to divine their successor. ] His belief in Pagan divination is confirmed by legislation calling for the consultation of augurs after an amphitheatre had been struck by lightning in the year 320. [Theodosian Code 16.10.1] Constantine explicitly allowed public divination as well as public Pagan practices to continue. [Theodosian Code 9.16.1-9.16.3.] Constantine also issued laws confirming the rights of flamens, priests and duumvirs. [Theodosian Code 12.1.21, 12.5.2]

Constantine had a complex attitude towards morality; he killed both his son and wife (the consensus view of ancient sources), destroyed the Temple of Aphrodite in the Lebanon, [J. Kirsch, "God Against the Gods", Viking Compass, 2004.] and ordered the summary execution of eunuch priests in Egypt because they transgressed his moral norms.Even if Constantine had desired to Christianize the state, expediency dictated otherwise; it is estimated that Christians formed only a small portion of the population, being a fifth part in the West and the half of the population in a large section of the East. [C. G. Herbermann & Georg Grupp, "Constantine the Great", Catholic Encyclopedia, 1911, New Advent web site.] He therefore limited himself in the main to the pillaging of pagan templesR. MacMullen, "Christianizing The Roman Empire A.D.100-400, Yale University Press, 1984, ISBN 0-300-03642-6] , to derogatory and contemptuous comments relating to the old religion; writing of the "obstinacy" of the pagans, of their "misguided rites and ceremonial", and of their "temples of lying" contrasted with "the splendours of the home of truth". A Christian historian also records that he had some pagan temples torn down. ["he razed to their foundations those of them which had been the chief objects of superstitious reverence" http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.txt] During the course of his life he progressively became more Christian and turned away from any syncretic tendencies he appeared to favour at times and thus demonstrating, according to his biographers, that "The God of the Christians was indeed a jealous God who tolerated no other gods beside him. The Church could never acknowledge that she stood on the same plane with other religious bodies, she conquered for herself one domain after another". [C. G. Herbermann & Georg Grupp, "Constantine the Great", Catholic Encyclopedia, 1911, New Advent web site.]

Christianization of the Roman Empire

Persecution under Constantine's sons

The first emperor to put restrictions on the practice of Paganism was Constantine's son, Constantius II. Constantius was an unwavering opponent of paganism; and in the year 353 ordered the closing of all pagan temples and forbade sacrifices under pain of death. His maxim was: "Cesset superstitio; sacrificiorum aboleatur insania" (Let superstition cease; let the folly of sacrifices be abolished). [C. G. Herbermann & Georg Grupp, "Constantine the Great", Catholic Encyclopedia, 1911, New Advent web site.] [According to Libanius Constantius was effectively under the control of others who unwisely inspired him to end pagan sacrifices:"Libanius Oration" 30.7, For the Temples, [http://www.tertullian.net/fathers/libanius_pro_templis_02_trans.htm] ] Constantius's actions signaled the beginning of the era of formal persecution by the state of paganism. [J. Kirsch, "God against the Gods", p200, Viking Compass, 2004.] ["The Codex Theodosianus On Religion", XVI.x.4, 4 CE. [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/codex-theod1.html] ] but these edicts could not be rigidly executed due the strength of paganism. ["Flavius Julius Constantius", Catholic Encyclopedia, 1914, [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/16027c.htm] ] [Ammianus (Res Gestae 9.10, 19.12) 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.]

Due to the disturbances caused by Christians who were attempting to destroy ancient Pagan temples in the countryside, Constantius and his brother Constans were forced to issue a law for the preservation of the temples that were situated outside of city walls. [Theodosian Code 16.10.3] Later the same year another law declared that all Pagan temples were to be closed and access to them forbidden. [Theodosian Code 16.10.4] The desecration of Pagan tombs and monuments by Christians, however, apparently forced Constantius to enact another law that exacted a fine from those who were guilty of vandalizing them and placed the care of these monuments and tombs under the Pagan priests. [Theodosian Code 9.17.2] Magnentius rebelled against and killed Constans. Although he used Christian symbols on his coins, he revoked the anti-pagan legislation of Constans and even permitted the celebration of nocturnal sacrifices. Three years later, in the year 353, Constantius defeated Magnentius and once again forbade the performance of the rituals. [Theodosian Code 16.10.5] This law seems to have had little effect as we find Constantius once again legislating against Paganism in 356. Constantius now declared that anyone found guilty of attending sacrifices or of worshipping idols would be executed. [Theodosian Code 16.10.6] Constantius removed the Altar of Victory in the Senate house because of the complaints of some Christian Senators. This altar had been installed by Augustus in 29 BCE; each Senator had traditionally made a sacrifice upon the altar before entering the Senate house. This altar was later restored, either silently, soon after Constantius' departure, or by the emperor Julian. [Sheridan, J.J., "The Altar of Victor – Paganism's Last Battle." L'Antiquite Classique 35 (1966): 186-187.] [ Constantius, sensing that he was now hated by many of his subjects, became suspicious and fearful and carried on an active campaign against magicians, astrologers and other diviners who might use their power to make someone else emperor: Theodosian Code 9.16.4, 9.16.5, 9.16.6] Constantius did not, apparently, attempt to stop the Christians from destroying and pillaging many of the ancient temples. [Ammianus Marcellinus Res Gestae 22.4.3; Sozomen Ecclesiastical History 3.18.]

No matter what the imperial edicts declared in their fearfull threats, the vast numbers of pagans, and the passive resistance of pagan governors, rendered them largely impotent in their application [D. Bowder, "The Age of Constantine and Julian",1978] however the effects of policy were enough to contribute to a widespread trend towards Christian conversion, though not enough to make paganism extinct. Official orders may have established an understanding that actual persecution would be tolerated, but in the first century of official Christianity it did not generally organize it though its members did encourage the emperor to take even more extreme measures in their zeal to stamp out paganism, e.g. in the aftermath of the of the abolition of sacrifices. Firmicus Maternus, a convert to Christianity, would urge: "Paganism, most holy emperors, must be utterly destroyed and blotted out, and disciplined by the severest enactments of your edicts, lest the deadly delusion of the presumption continue to stain the Roman world" and "How fortunate you are that God, whose agents you are, has reserved for you the destruction of idolatry and the ruin of profane temples." [J. Kirsch, "God Against the Gods", p201, Viking Compass, 2004] The edicts which legislated against pagans, beginning with Constantius, would in time have an unfavourable influence on the Middle Ages and become the basis of the much-abused Inquisition. [C. G. Herbermann & Georg Grupp, "Constantine the Great", Catholic Encyclopedia, 1911, New Advent web site.]

Persecution stopped under Julian

Julian witnessed the assassination of his father, brother and other family members by the guards of the imperial palace; rightly or wrongly, he blamed this brutal act on the Emperor Constantius, who passed himself off as an outstanding Christian. The Christian faith was thus definitively discredited in his eyes. Upon becoming emperor, Julian decided to restore paganism, the ancient Roman religion, while reforming it in the hope of making it the driving force behind the empire. ["Deus Caritas Est", Encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI, 2006 [http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20051225_deus-caritas-est_en.html] ] Julian's religious beliefs were syncretic and he was an initiate of at least three mystery religions. But Julian's religious open-mindedness did not extend to Christianity due to its belief that it had an exclusive perspective on religious truth. Being the "only true religion", Christianity was opposed to, and fundamentally incompatible with, the more inclusive syncretism of paganism. ["Julian the Apostate and His Plan to Rebuild the Jerusalem Temple", Jeffrey Brodd, Biblical Archaeology Society, Bible Review, Oct 1995.] [Julian was a nephew of Constantine and received a Christian training but the murder of his father, brother and two uncles, in the aftermath of Constantine's death, he attributed to Constantius and by association to Christians in general. This antipathy was deepened when Constantius executed Julian's only remaining brother in 354AD.: "FLAVIUS CLAUDIUS JULIANUS", Karl Hoeber, Catholic Encyclopedia 1910, retrieved 13 May 2007. [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08558b.htm] After childhood Julian was educated by hellenists and was attracted to the teachings of neoplatonists and the old religions.]

As Emperor, Julian sought to turn the tide in the attempted suppression of non-Christian religions. [Julian's training in Christianity influenced his ideas concerning the revival and organisation of the old religion, shaping it into a more coherent body of doctrine, ritual and liturgy. with a hierarchy under the supervision of the emperor.: "FLAVIUS CLAUDIUS JULIANUS", Karl Hoeber, Catholic Encyclopedia 1910, retrieved 13 May 2007. [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08558b.htm] Julian organized elaborate rituals and attempted to set forth a clarified philosophy of Neo-Platonism that might unite all Pagans.(Ammianus Res Gestae 22.12)] Julian allowed religious freedom and avoided any form of actual compulsion. The Christian Sozomen acknowledges that Julian did not compel Christians to offer sacrifice nor did he allow the people to commit any act of injustice towards the Christians or insult them. [Sozomen Ecclesiastical History 5.5 [http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/26025.htm] ] However, no Christian was allowed to teach or study the ancient classical authors, "Let them keep to Matthew and Luke", thus ending any chance they had of a professional career. [Ammianus Res Gestae 25.4.20 [http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/ammianus_25_book25.htm] ] The Jewish historian and theologian Jacob Neusner writes: "It was only after the near catastrophe of Julian's reversion to paganism that the Christian emperors systematically legislated against paganism so as to destroy it." [R. Kirsch, "God against the Gods", Viking Compass, 2004.]

Renewal of persecution under Gratian and Theodosius I

Upon the death of his father, Gratian came under the influence of Ambrose who became his chief advisor, ["Gratian", Catholic Encyclopedia, 1909. [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06729c.htm] ] ["Letter of Gratian to Ambrose", The Letters of Ambrose Bishop of Milan, 379AD. [http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/ambrose_letters_01_letters01_10.htm] ] and active steps to repress Paganism were taken. [Theodosian Code 2.8.18-2.8.25, 16.7.1-16.7.5] The influence of Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, was a significant force that brought to an end a period of widespread, if unofficial, religious tolerance that had existed since the time of Julian. [Zosimus (4.35) indicated that change occurred in Gratian's character when he fell under the influence of evil courtiers.] "In the long truce between the hostile camps", writes historian Samuel Dill "the pagan, the sceptic, even the formal, the lukewarm Christian, may have come to dream of a mutual toleration which would leave the ancient forms undisturbed but such men, living in a world of literary and antiquarian illusions, know little of the inner forces of the new Christian movement." [R. Kirsch, "God Against the Gods", Viking Compass, 2004.] [Samuel Dill, Roman Society in the Last Century of the Western Empire", 2d rev ed. , Meridian New York, 1958, p26.] In 382, Gratian appropriated the income of the Pagan priests and Vestal Virgins, confiscated the personal possessions of the priestly colleges and ordered another removal of the Altar of Victory. [Sheridan, J.J., "The Altar of Victory – Paganism's Last Battle." L'Antiquite Classique 35 (1966): 187.] [Ambrose Epistles 17-18; Symmachus Relationes 1-3.] 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. [Theodosian Code 16.10.20; Symmachus Relationes 1-3; Ambrose Epistles 17-18.]

Theodosius I, who was reigning in the East, made no attacks upon Paganism during the lifetime of Gratian. After what is commonly known as the "massacre" of Thessalonica (in 390) Ambrose excommunicated Theodosius for sanctioning the deed. Thereafter he had greater influence with a penitent Theodosius. After the death of Maximus, Valentinian II, under the aegis of Theodosius, once again assumed the office of emperor in the West. 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. [Ambrose Epistles 17, 18, 57.] In the year 391, Valentinian II issued a law that not only prohibited sacrifices but also forbade anyone from visiting the temples. [Theodosian Code 16.10.10] 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. [Theodosian Code 16.10.11] .

In the year 391 in Alexandria in the wake of the great anti-pagan riots "busts of Serapis which stood in the walls, vestibules, doorways and windows of every house were all torn out and annihilated..., and in their place the sign of the Lord's cross was painted in the doorways, vestibules, windows and walls, and on pillars."

Rome was more pagan than Christian up until the 390's; Gaul, Spain and northern Italy, in all but the urban areas, were pagan, save Milan which remained half pagan. In the year 392, Theodosius officially began to proscribe the practice of Paganism. This is the time in which he authorized the destruction of many temples throughout the empire. [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, q.v. Grindle, Gilbert. The Destruction of Paganism in the Roman Empire. (1892): 29-30.] Theodosius issued a comprehensive law that prohibited the performance of any type of Pagan sacrifice or worship, even within the privacy of a person's own home. [Theodosian Code 16.10.12] Theodosius prohibited men from privately honoring their Lares with fire, their Genius with wine, or their Penates with incense. Men were prohibited from such traditions as burning candles or incense and suspending wreaths in honor of the deities. Theodosius also prohibited the practice of all forms of divination, even those forms of divination that were not considered harmful to the welfare of the Emperor, with this wide-ranging law. Paganism was now proscribed, a "religio illicita". [Studies in Comparative Religion", "The Conversion of the Roman Empire, Philip Hughes, Vol 3, CTS.]

In 393, Theodosius was ready to begin his war against Eugenius and Arbogastes. The battle that ensued became, in essence, a battle for the survival of Paganism. [Zosimus 4.53-4.55, 4.58.] The defeat of Eugenius by Theodosius in 394 led to the final separation of Paganism from the state. Theodosius visited Rome to attempt to convert the Pagan members of the Senate. Being unsuccessful in this, he withdrew all state funds that had been set aside for the public performance of Pagan rites. [Zosimus 4.59] From this point forward, state funds would never again be made available for the public performance of Pagan rites nor for the maintenance of the Pagan temples. Despite this setback on their religion, the Pagans remained outspoken in their demands for toleration. [Symmachus Relatio 3.] Many Pagans simply pretended to convert as an obvious instrument of advancement.

"Theodosius was not the man to sympathise with the balancing policy of the Edict of Milan. He set himself steadfastly to the work of establishing Catholicism as the privileged religion of the state, of repressing dissident Christians (heretics) and of enacting explicit legal measures to abolish Paganism in all its phases."." [Studies in Comparative Religion, "The Conversion of the Roman Empire, Philip Hughes, Vol 3, CTS.]

Examples of the destruction of pagan temples in the late fourth century, as recorded in surviving texts, describes Martin of Tours' attacks on holy sites in Gaul [ [http://www.users.csbsju.edu/~eknuth/npnf2-11/sulpitiu/lifeofst.html#14 Life of St. Martin ] ] , the destruction of temples in Syria by Marcellus [Edward Gibbon, "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire", ch28] the destruction of temples and images in, and surrounding, Carthage, the Patriarch Theophilus who seized and destroyed pagan temples in Alexandria ["Theophilus", Catholic Encyclopedia, 1912, New Advent Web Site.] , the levelling of all the temples in Gaza and the wider destruction of holy sites that spread rapidly throughout Egypt. This is supplemented in abundance by archaeological evidence in the northern provinces (for which written sources hardly survive) exposing broken and burnt out buildings and hastily buried objects of piety. The leader of the Egyptian monks who participated in the sack of temples replied to the victims who demanded back their sacred icons: "I peacefully removed your gods...there is no such thing as robbery for those who truly possess Christ.

According to a Christian historian "Paganism was now dead", though pagans survived and would continue to do so for another three centuries, mainly outwith the towns -- "rustics chiefly - pagani." [Studies in Comparative Religion, "The Conversion of the Roman Empire, Philip Hughes, Vol 3, CTS.] Edward Gibbon wrote: "The generation that arose in the world after the promulgation of the Imperial laws was attracted within the pale of the Catholic Church: and so rapid, yet so gentle, was the fall of paganism that only twenty-eight years after the death of Theodosius the faint and minute vestiges were no longer visible to the eye of the legislator." [Gibbons quotes the decree (16.10.22):'The pagans who remain, although we believe there are none, etc' and adds (note 67), in characteristic style, 'that the younger Theodosius was afterwards satisfied that his judgement had been somewhat premature': "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Edward Gibbon, Chapter 28]

Survival of polytheism

Whilst "Paganism, with Theodosius dies, never to rise again", according to a Christian historian committed pagans continued, wherever possible, to practice their faith discreetly or under cloak of common festivals and by keeping within the letter of the law if not its spirit [ Edward Gibbon, "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire", ch28.] , more commonly in the countryside, hence they are called "rustics - the pagani".Upon the death of Theodosius, in 395, the Empire was divided between his two incompetent sons. Political crisis ensued; over the next several decades, the defence of the Empire gradually collapsed. During this prolonged disaster, some Christians became less certain of their religion and converted back to the old religion. Pagans blamed the Christians for the disasters affecting the empire. [Eunapius reflects some of the Pagan attitudes of this period in his writings.] Despite the pleas of many Pagans for tolerance, Honorius and Arcadius continued the work of their father by enacting even more anti-Pagan laws to stop any revival of Paganism. The fact that they had to keep repeating their threats by the enactment of numerous laws against the practice of Paganism indicates that their efforts did not succeed in stamping out the old religion, which continued to be practiced discreetly. [Theodosian Code 16.5.41, 16.5.42, 16.5.51, 16,10.15, 16.10.17, 16.10.19] During the early part of the reign of Honorius, Stilicho was able to exercise unlimited power over the west. Stilicho exercised moderation in his religious policies and enacted laws that were favorable to the Pagans. Consequently, during the time in which Stilicho held power, the Pagans enjoyed a brief respite from persecution. In the year 395, Arcadius declared that the solemn days of the Pagans were no longer to be included in the number of holidays. [Theodosian Code 2.8.22] In the same year, another law was passed by Arcadius that prohibited anyone from going to a Pagan sanctuary or temple or of celebrating any kind of Pagan sacrifice. [Theodosian Code 16.10.13] This law seems to have been targeted at those Christians who were converting back to Paganism as it specifically mentions "those who are trying to stray from the dogma of the Catholic faith." In the year 396, the privileges of Pagan priests and other clerics were officially revoked. [Theodosian Code 16.10.14] In the same year, Arcadius ordered that Pagan temples standing in the country were to be destroyed without disorder or riot such that they could not be used for religious rites away from gaze of the authorities. [Theodosian Code 16.10.16, 15.1.36] The large number of Pagans in the east also seems to have forced Arcadius into allowing the ancient festivals and public games to continue but without religious rites that formed an essential part of the old religion. [Theodosian Code 15.6.1, 15.6.2]

Meanwhile three laws were enacted in the west in the year 399, under the influence of Stilicho, which were relatively favorable to the Pagans. Due to the riots caused by Christians in their attempts to destroy the temples, the first of these laws protected the Pagan temples from the destruction of zealous Christians who pretended that they had been authorized by the government to destroy them. [Theodosian Code 16.10.15] The second of these laws acknowledged the right of the people to continue to participate in traditional banquets, shows, gatherings and amusements once associated with the old Pagan ways; it did, however, forbid the public performance of any Pagan religious rites or sacrifice, an intrinsic part of a religion supported by custom rather than by argument. [Edward Gibbon, "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire", ch28.] [Theodosian Code 16.10.17] The third law forbade the destruction of Pagan temples that had been cleared of forbidden things and ordered that they were to be kept in good repair even though the purpose for which they were first built was now prohibited. [Theodosian Code 16.10.18] After the death of Stilicho, Honorius and his party in the state gained control and harsh laws against Pagans were once again enacted.

At the turn of the century St Augustine would exhort his congregation in Carthage to smash all tangible symbols of paganism they could lay their hands on "for that all superstition of pagans and heathens should be annihilated is what God wants, God commands, God proclaims!" -- words uttered to wild applause, and possibly the cause of religious riots resulting in sixty deaths. It is estimated that pagans still made up half of the Empire's population.

In the year 407 a decree was issued to the west from Rome: "If any images stand even now in the temples and shrines...., they shall be torn from their foundations...The temples situated in cities or towns shall be taken for public use. Altars shall be destroyed in all places.

In the year 408, Honorius enacted a new law which ordered that all statues and altars in the temples were to be removed and that the temple buildings and their income were to be appropriated by the government. [Theodosian Code 16.10.19] This law also forbade the holding of any banquet or celebration in vicinity of the temples that was being used by pagans in the countryside as a pretext and cover for religious celebrations. [Edward Gibbon, "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire", ch28, note 54.] The execution of this law was placed in the hands of the bishops. Two other laws decreed that buildings belonging to known Pagans and heretics were to be appropriated by the churches. [Theodosian Code 16.5.43; Constitutiones Sirmondianae 12.]

Arcadius died in 408 and his eight-year-old son, Theodosius was thereupon proclaimed emperor in the East. In the same year, Honorius enacted a law that prohibited anyone who was not Catholic from performing imperial service within the palace. [Theodosian Code 16.5.42] Zosimus reports that Honorius was forced to repeal this law after one of his best officers, who was a Pagan, resigned in protest. [Zosimus 5.46; Theodosian Code 16.5.42.] At the beginning of the year 409, Honorius enacted a law that punished judges and officials who did not enforce the laws against the Pagans. [Theodosian Code 16.5.46] This law even punished men of rank who simply kept silent over any Pagan rite performed in their own city or district. The hopes of the Pagans were revived with the elevation of Attalus, at Rome, in the year 409. Alaric, however, soon tired of his puppet and Attalus was deposed in the summer of 410 when Honorius promised to negotiate a peace treaty. When these negotiations failed, Alaric took and sacked the city of Rome. This catastrophe shocked the entire Roman world. Coming so soon after the proscription of the old religions Pagans began to blame Christianity and the neglect of the traditional rites for something that had hitherto been thought impossible. In this heated atmosphere, Honorius once again reiterated his anti-Pagan legislation. [Theodosian Code 16.5.51] Augustine's City of God is an answer to these charges. [Marcus Dodds, Preface to "The City of God", WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1890.] Little of this class of literature written from a pagan perspective has survived, some of which was due to Christians who destroyed works they considered to be contrary to their religious beliefs ["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:R. MacMullen, "Christianity & Paganism in the Fourth to Eighth Centuries", p4, Yale University Press,1986] whilst other works they failed to preserve in preference to their own religious writings and the availability of scarce resources. The transmission path of all such literature has been described as a "differentially permeable membrane" that "allowed the writings of Christianity to pass through but not of Christianity's enemies".."Our sole copy of the sole work about political good sense by the person arguably best able to deliver it to us from classical antiquity, Cicero," writes Ramsay MacMullen, "was sponged out from the vellum to make room for the hundredth copy of Augustine's meditation on the psalms." [Ramsay MacMullen, "Christianity and Paganism in the Fourth to Eighth Centuries", Viking and Compass, 1997.] The only fragments of Julian's "Against the Galileans" that have survived Christian censorship appear in a refutation by Bishop Cyril of Alexandria. ["R. Kirsch, "God Against the Gods", p279, Viking and Compass, 1997.] By the time Augustine had published the early books that comprised "The City of God" he describes how pagan authors in North Africa felt it too dangerous to publish their refutations and Augustine writes nothing to reassure them about this threat. [Augustine of Hippo, "The City of God", Book 5, chapter 26.] There are numerous fragments extant of several Pagan historical works, such as the works of Eunapius and Olympiodorus, which indicate that Pagans were openly voicing their resentment in writing.

Some Pagans would appear to have continued to practice their faith when circumstances permitted, as the emperors continued issuing laws. In the year 415, Honorius enacted yet another law that appropriated the Pagan temples, even though they were no longer used for their intended purpose, and ordered that all objects that had been consecrated for Pagan sacrifices in the past were to be removed from public places. [Theodosian Code 16.10.20]

In 416, Honorius and Theodosius II ordered that Pagans would no longer be admitted to imperial service nor would they be allowed to receive the rank of administrator or judge. [Theodosian Code 16.10.21] In 423, Theodosius II reiterated the previous laws against Pagans and declared that all Pagans who were caught performing the ancient rites would now have all their goods confiscated and be exiled but at the same time seemingly indicating that there were few pagans left [Edward Gibbon, "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, ch 28, note 67.] : "The pagans who remain, although we believe there are none.." [Theodosian Code 16.10.22, 16.10.23, 16.8.26.] In August of the year 423, Honorius died and power was seized in the west by John, who had held the office of Primicerius Notariorum. John appears to have ushered in a period of religious toleration. John seems to have attempted to curb the power of ecclesiastics and the privileges of the church in an attempt to treat all people equally. [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 John the Primicerius.] In the year 423, Theodosius II published a law that demanded that Christians (whether they were really such or pretended to be so) were not to disturb Pagans who were living peaceably and doing nothing contrary to the law. [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.] In 425, Theodosius II accompanied an expedition to the west to depose John and establish Valentinian III as emperor of the west. After John was captured and executed, Valentinian III was proclaimed emperor in the city of Rome. Theodosius II enacted two anti-Pagan laws in the year 425. The first of these stipulated that all Pagan superstition was to be rooted out. [Theodosian Code 16.5.63] The second law barred Pagans from pleading a case in court and also disqualified them from serving as soldiers. [Constitutiones Sirmondianae 6] Theodosius II then left Valentinian III to rule the west and returned to Constantinople.

The numerous laws against Pagans seems to have had only limited immediate effect in stamping out the old religion. Many people simply conformed outwardly and pretended to become Christian while secretly continuing to practice their beliefs. The numerous laws against apostasy, that had been continuously promulgated since the time of Gratian and Theodosius, is evidence that the emperors were having a hard time even keeping Christians from going astray. [Theodosian Code 16.7.1, 16.7.2, 16.7.3, 16.7.4, 16.7.5, 16.7.6; Justinian Code 1.7.2.] In the year 426, Theodosius II made it illegal for Christian apostates to convert to the old religion, and against those who pretended to become Christian but continued to perform Pagan sacrifices. [Theodosian Code 16.7.7] He found it necessary to reiterate his prohibition of Pagan rites and sacrifices in 435, this time increasing the penalty to death. [Theodosian Code 16.10.25. Theodosius II married Eudocia, the daughter of a Pagan sophist named Leontius, who herself patronized various Pagans including Cyrus of Panopolis and the poet Nonnus. ] This law also ordered that all Pagan shrines, temples and sanctuaries that still existed were to be destroyed by the magistrates. Magistrates who failed to carry out this order were ordered to be punished with death. In 438 Theodosius legislated again, forbidding Pagan sacrifice once more. [Corpus Legum Novellarum Theodosii 2.3] Theodosius seems to admit that Pagan sacrifices were still seemingly being openly celebrated in places. It reads:

"Hence our clemency perceives the need of keeping watch over the Pagans and their heathen enormities, since by natural depravity and stubborn lawlessness, they forsake the path of true religion. They disdain in any way to perform the nefarious rites of sacrifice and the false errors of their baleful superstition by some means or other in the hidden solitudes, unless their crimes are made public by the profession of their crimes to insult divine majesty and to show scorn to our age. Not the thousand terrors of laws already promulgated nor the penalty of exile pronounced upon them deter these men, whereby, if they cannot reform, at least they might learn to abstain from their mass of their crimes and the multitude of their sacrifices. But their insane audacity transgresses continually; our patience is exhausted by their wicked behavior so that if we desired to forget them, we could not disregard them." [Corpus Legum Novellarum Theodosii 2.3]

Final decline of organized paganism in the 5th century

The continued vitality of pagans led Marcian, who became emperor of the east in 450 upon the death of Theodosius II, to repeat earlier prohibitions against Pagan rites. Marcian decreed, in the year 451, that those who continued to perform the Pagan rites would suffer the confiscation of their property and be condemned to death. Marcian also prohibited any attempt to re-open the temples and ordered that they were to remain closed. In addition to this, in order to encourage strict enforcement of the law a fine of fifty pounds of gold was imposed on any judge or governor, as well as the officials under him, who did not enforce this law. [Justinian Code 1.11.7] However, not even this had the desired affect, as we find Leo I, who succeeded Marcian in 457, publishing a new law in 472 which imposed severe penalties for the owner of any property who was aware that Pagan rites were performed on his property. If the property owner was of high rank he was punished by the loss of his rank or office and by the confiscation of his property. If the property owner was of lower status he would be physically tortured and then condemned to labor in the mines for the rest of his life. [Justinian Code 1.11.8]

Two more laws against Paganism, which may be from this period, are preserved in the Justinian Code. [These laws (Justinian Code 1.11.9, 1.11.10) do not give any date nor do they mention the emperors who promulgated them. ] After the deposition of Avitus, who ruled as emperor of the West from 455 to 456, there seems to have been a conspiracy among the Roman nobles to place the Pagan general Marcellinus on the throne to restore Paganism; but it came to nothing. [Sidonius Epistle 1.11.6]

In the year 457, Leo I became the first emperor to be crowned by the Patriarch of Constantinople. Anthemius, one of the last Roman emperors of the west who ruled from 467 to 472, seems to have planned a Pagan revival at Rome. [Photius Bibliotheca cod. 242] He was a descendant of Procopius, the relative of Julian. Anthemius gave Flavius Messius Phoebus Severus, a Pagan philosopher who was a close friend of his, the important offices of Prefect of Rome, Consul and Patrician. Anthemius placed the image of Hercules, in the act of vanquishing the Nemean lion, on his coins. The murder of Anthemius (by Ricimer) destroyed the hopes of those Pagans who believed that the traditional rites would now be restored. [Marcellinus Chronicle s.a. 468] Shortly thereafter, in 476, the last emperor of Rome 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 Orientum, Illus, revolted against Zeno and raised his own candidate, Leontius, to the throne. Leontius hoped to reopen the temples and restore the ancient ceremonies and because of this many Pagans joined in his revolt against Zeno. [Photius Bibliotheca cod. 242] 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. [Theophanes Chronographia s.a. A.M. 5976-5980; John Malalas Chronicle 15.12-15.14.]

As a result of 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, in order to avoid persecution. [There continued to be a sufficient number of Pagans 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.] The subjugation of the Roman Empire to Christianity became complete when the emperor Anastasius, who came to the throne in 491, was forced to sign a written declaration of orthodoxy before his coronation.

The caverns, grottoes, crags and glens that once were used for the worship of the 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". [R. MacMullen, "Christianity and Paganism in the Fourth to Eighth Centuries", Yale University Press, 1997.]

"The triumph of Catholic Christianity over Roman paganism, heretical Arianism [and] pagan barbarism", asserts Hillgarth [J.N Hillgarth,ed "Christianity and Paganism 350-750,:The Conversion of Western Europe", rev ed, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1986.] "was certainly due in large part to the support it received, first from the declining Roman state and later from the barbarian monarchies". [R. Kirsch, "God Against the Gods", p278, Viking Compass, 1997.]

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 one singly, 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", had equated Christianity with intolerance and paganism with tolerance. "It is difficult to overestimate the influence of Gibbon's interpretation on subsequent scholarship." [H.A.Drake, "Lambs into Lions", p. 8]

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". [H.A.Drake, "Lambs into Lions", p. 5]

Legacy for Christianity

The example of Constantine, Theodosius and Justinian, who were seen as "godly emperors (...) serving the church and crushing its enemies", was cited repeatedly by Christian author who endorsed religious persecution. [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.] 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. [John Coffey (2000), "Persecution and Toleration in Protestant England 1558-1689", Studies in Modern History, Pearson Education, p. 49]

This also goes 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. [Thomas J. Shahan & E. Macpherson, "Charlemagne", The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume III. Published 1908 [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03610c.htm] ] 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 whatever sort. [Ramsay MacMullen, "Christianity & Paganism in the Fourth to Eighth Centuries", Chap 1:16,"Persecution", ISBN 0-300-07148-5]

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 12th of 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" ["POPE JOHN PAUL II ASKS FOR FORGIVENESS", (MARCH 12, 2000), fetched 16th april 2007 [http://www.sacredheart.edu/pages/12654_pope_john_paul_ii_asks_for_forgiveness_march_12_2000_.cfm] ]

ee also

*Religion in ancient Rome
*Religio illicita
*Hypatia of Alexandria
*Christianization

References

Bibliography

*H.A.Drake, "Lambs into Lions: explaining early Christian intolerance", Past and Present 153 (1996), 3-36, [http://past.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/153/1/3 Oxford Journals]
*Ramsay MacMullen, "Christianizing the Roman Empire: AD 100-400" (1989)
*——, "Christianity and Paganism in the Fourth to Eighth Centuries" (1997) ISBN 0-3000-8077-8