Persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire
Persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire began during the reign of Constantine the Great (r. 306–337) in the military colony of Aelia Capitolina (Jerusalem), when he destroyed a pagan temple for the purpose of constructing a Christian church. Christian historians alleged that Hadrian (2nd century) had constructed a temple to Aphrodite on the site of the crucifixion of Jesus on Golgotha hill in order to suppress Jewish Christian veneration there. Constantine used that to justify the temple's destruction, saying he was simply reclaiming the property.
- Capital
- Constantinople
- Capital
- Constantinople
- Ravenna
- Comment
- enPersecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire began during the reign of Constantine the Great (r. 306–337) in the military colony of Aelia Capitolina (Jerusalem), when he destroyed a pagan temple for the purpose of constructing a Christian church. Christian historians alleged that Hadrian (2nd century) had constructed a temple to Aphrodite on the site of the crucifixion of Jesus on Golgotha hill in order to suppress Jewish Christian veneration there. Constantine used that to justify the temple's destruction, saying he was simply reclaiming the property.
- CommonLanguages
- Gothic language
- Latin language
- Vulgar Latin
- CommonName
- enItaly
- enPrefecture of the Orient
- ConventionalLongName
- enKingdom of Italy
- enPraetorian prefecture of the East
- Currency
- Solidus (coin)
- Date
- enAugust 2021
- Depiction
- Era
- enLate Antiquity
- enLate Antiquity and Early Middle Ages
- EventEnd
- enreorganization into themata
- GovernmentType
- Monarchy
- Has abstract
- enPersecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire began during the reign of Constantine the Great (r. 306–337) in the military colony of Aelia Capitolina (Jerusalem), when he destroyed a pagan temple for the purpose of constructing a Christian church. Christian historians alleged that Hadrian (2nd century) had constructed a temple to Aphrodite on the site of the crucifixion of Jesus on Golgotha hill in order to suppress Jewish Christian veneration there. Constantine used that to justify the temple's destruction, saying he was simply reclaiming the property. From 313, with the exception of the brief reign of Julian, non-Christians were subject to a variety of hostile and discriminatory imperial laws which were theoretically valid across the whole empire, some threatening the death penalty, but not necessarily directly resulting in action. None seem to have been effectively applied empire-wide. For example, in 341, Constantine's son Constantius II enacted legislation forbidding pagan sacrifices in Roman Italy. In 356, he issued two more laws forbidding sacrifice and the worship of images, making them capital crimes, as well as ordering the closing of all temples, but there is no evidence of judicial killings for illegal sacrifices before Tiberius Constantine (r. 578–582), and many temples remained open into the reign of Justinian I (r. 527–565). Despite official threats, sporadic mob violence, and confiscations of temple treasures, paganism remained widespread into the early fifth century continuing in parts of the empire into the 600s. During the reigns of Gratian, Valentinian II and Theodosius I anti-pagan policies and their penalties increased but scholars continue to debate how much the laws were enforced. By the end of the period of Antiquity and the institution of the Law Codes of Justinian, there was a shift from the generalized legislation which characterized the Theodosian Code to actions which targeted individual centers of paganism. The gradual transition towards more localized action, corresponds with the period when most conversions of temples to churches were undertaken: the late 5th and 6th centuries. Chuvin says that, through the severe legislation of the early Byzantine Empire, the freedom of conscience that had been the major benchmark set by the Edict of Milan was finally abolished. Non-Christians were a small minority by the time of the last western anti-pagan laws in the early 600s. Scholars fall into two categories on how and why this dramatic change took place: the long established traditional catastrophists who view the rapid demise of paganism as occurring in the late fourth and early fifth centuries due to harsh Christian legislation and violence, and contemporary scholars who view the process as a long decline that began in the second century, before the emperors were themselves Christian, and which continued into the seventh century. This latter view contends that there was less conflict between pagans and Christians than was previously supposed.
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- enPraetorian Prefectures of the Roman Empire 395 AD.png
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- enPraetorian Prefectures of the Roman Empire . The Praetorian Prefecture of the East is in grey.
- enThe Kingdom of Italy in 480 AD.
- Is primary topic of
- Persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire
- Label
- enPersecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire
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- enOdoacer
- Legislature
- Roman Senate
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- www.academia.edu/3165829
- grbs.library.duke.edu/article/view/4491
- www.bavlionline.org/articles/julians_pagan_revival_and_the_decline_of_blood_sacrifice.pdf
- www.roman-emperors.org/theo1.htm
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- Category:320s establishments in the Roman Empire
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- en(Ἐπαρχότης τῶν πραιτωρίων τῆς Ανατολῆς)
- enPraetorian prefecture of the East
- enPrefecture of the Orient
- Nation
- enthe East Roman Empire
- NativeName
- en(Ἐπαρχότης τῶν πραιτωρίων τῆς Ανατολῆς)
- enRegnum Italicum
- Reason
- enThere is no such page range in Brown 1997. Is this the wrong year?
- Religion
- Arianism
- Chalcedonian Christianity
- SameAs
- 4tCLa
- Förföljelser av hedningar i Romarriket
- m.0gl0hkc
- Pakanoiden vainot Rooman valtakunnassa
- Penindasan kaum pagan pada kekaisaran Romawi akhir
- Persecució dels pagans
- Persecución a los paganos en el Imperio romano tardío
- Persecutio adversus paganos in Imperio Romano
- Persecution del paganos per le Imperio Roman Christian
- Persécution des païens dans l'Empire romain tardif
- Persecuzioni ai danni dei pagani nell'Impero romano
- Perzekuce pohanů v pozdní antice
- Q7170074
- Διώξεις ειδωλολατρών στην ύστερη Ρωμαϊκή αυτοκρατορία
- Переслідування язичників в християнській Римській імперії
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- آزار و اذیت مشرکان در اواخر امپراتوری روم
- اضطهاد الوثنيين في الإمبراطورية الرومانية المتأخرة
- SeeAlso
- Huneric
- Massacre of Thessalonica
- Status
- Vassal state
- StatusText
- enVassal state of the Eastern Roman Empire
- Subdivision
- Praetorian prefecture
- Subject
- Category:320s establishments in the Roman Empire
- Category:323 establishments
- Category:490s disestablishments in the Roman Empire
- Category:491 disestablishments
- Category:Constantine the Great
- Category:Persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire
- Category:Religion in the Roman Empire
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- Wikipage page ID
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- YearEnd
- 493
- 7
- YearLeader
- 476
- YearStart
- 337
- 476
