Persecution of pagans under Theodosius I information
Late 4th century Roman religious persecution
The persecution of pagans under Theodosius I began in 381, after the first couple of years of his reign as co-emperor in the eastern part of the Roman Empire. In the 380s, Theodosius I reiterated the ban of Constantine the Great on animal sacrifices, prohibited haruspicy on animal sacrifice, pioneered the criminalization of magistrates who did not enforce anti-pagan laws, broke up some pagan associations and destroyed pagan temples.
Between 389 and 391 he issued the "Theodosian decrees", which established a practical ban on paganism;[1] visits to the temples were forbidden, the remaining pagan holidays were abolished, the sacred fire in the Temple of Vesta in the Roman Forum was extinguished as the Vestal Virgins were disbanded, and auspices and witchcraft were deemed punishable offenses. Theodosius refused to restore the Altar of Victory in the Senate House, as requested by pagan Senators.
In 392 he became emperor of the whole empire (the last one to be so). From this moment until the end of his reign in 395, while pagans remained outspoken in their demands for toleration,[2][3] he authorized or participated in the destruction of many temples, holy sites, images and objects of piety throughout the empire[4][5][6][page needed][7][page needed][8] in actions by Christians against major pagan sites.[9] He issued a comprehensive law that prohibited any public pagan ritual[10] and was particularly oppressive of Manicheans.[11] He is likely to have suppressed the Ancient Olympic Games, whose last record of celebration is 393.[12]
^Theodosian Code (Book 16, Title. 10, .11)
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^Gibbon 1776–89, ch. 28.
^MacMullen 1984.
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^MacMullen 1984, p. 90.
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