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Anti-pagan legislation reflects what Brown calls "the most potent social and religious drama" of the fourth-century Roman empire. [157]: 640 From Constantine forward, the Christian intelligentsia wrote of Christianity as fully triumphant over paganism. It didn't matter that they were still a minority in the empire, this triumph had occurred in ...
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 Triumph of Christianity over Paganism, a painting by Gustave Doré (1899). Paganism is commonly used to refer to various religions that existed during Antiquity and the Middle Ages, such as the Greco-Roman religions of the Roman Empire, including the Roman imperial cult, the various mystery religions, religious philosophies such as Neoplatonism and Gnosticism, and more localized ethnic ...
The attempt of Emperor Julian the Apostate (reigned in 361—363) to restore pagan worship in the empire, while ultimately a policy failure, restored security to pagans. His immediate successors (from 363 until 375), under the reigns of Jovian , Valens and Valentinian I , had a policy of relative religious toleration towards paganism.
In the 17th century, the description of paganism turned from a theological aspect to an ethnological one, and religions began to be understood as part of the ethnic identities of peoples, and the study of the religions of so-called primitive peoples triggered questions as to the ultimate historical origin of religion. Jean Bodin viewed pagan ...
The pagan religions had still many followers but they were increasingly obliged to keep under cover to formally comply with the edicts. [ 12 ] [ 13 ] [ 14 ] Significant support for paganism was present among Roman nobles, [ 15 ] senators, magistrates, [ 16 ] imperial palace officers, [ 17 ] and other officials.
Despite some common similarities, contemporary pagan movements are diverse, sharing no single set of beliefs, practices, or religious texts. [3] Scholars of religion may study the phenomenon as a movement divided into different religions, while others study neopaganism as a decentralized religion with an array of denominations.
The descriptive use of the term religious persecution is rather difficult. Religious persecution has occurred in different historical, geographical and social contexts since at least antiquity. Until the 18th century, some groups were nearly universally persecuted for their religious views, such as atheists, [37] Jews [38] and Zoroastrians. [39]