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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 ...
The pagan historian Libanius wrote "this black robed tribe" were acting outside the law, but Brown says Theodosius did not enforce those laws. Theodosius voiced his support for the preservation of temple buildings, but passively legitimized the monk's violence by listening to them instead of correcting them, thereby failing to prevent the ...
Theodosius seems to have adopted a cautious policy toward traditional non-Christian cults, reiterating his Christian predecessors' bans on animal sacrifice, divination, and apostasy, while allowing other pagan practices to be performed publicly and temples to remain open.
Modern historians see this as an interpretation of history rather than actual history. Cameron writes that Theodosius's predecessors Constantine, Constantius, and Valens had all been semi-Arians; therefore, Christian literary tradition gave the orthodox Theodosius most of the credit for the final triumph of Christianity. [98] [99] [100] [note 1]
[19] [28] [29] The first anti-pagan laws by the Christian state started with Constantine's son Constantius II, [30] [31] who was an unwavering opponent of paganism; he ordered the closing of all pagan temples, forbade pagan sacrifices under pain of death, [19] and removed the traditional Altar of Victory from the Senate. [32]
In court documents released on Monday, the 50-year-old local man maintained his innocence of the 2017 killings and instead claimed that the murders were carried out by a pagan cult hijacked by ...
[1] [2] Theodosius dissolved the order of the Vestal Virgins in Rome, banned the pagan rituals of the Olympics in Ancient Greece and did nor punish nor prevent the destruction of antique Hellenistic temples, such as the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. With the death of Theodosius in 395, the Roman Empire was divided once more between his two sons.
Maternus Cynegius (died 388) was a Roman bureaucrat and close confidant of the emperor Theodosius I.He held the offices of praetorian prefect of the East (384–388) and consul (388), and has been widely blamed by historians for instigating the widespread destruction of pagan temples and shrines throughout the eastern Roman provinces.