11-21-2010, 12:57 AM
Quote:The Roman empire for me ended when Theodosius outlawed the pagan polytheïstic mother religion of Rome and the Christians took over
The first part is nonsense. Government toleration was still the norm under him. All he did was ban some of the more garish public festivals, symbols, and rituals of paganism. Bloody gladitorial fights continued unabated. Some other pagan rituals could still be practiced openly, especially in places away from the cities.
As for the second part, Theodosius made Christianity the state religion which just means he changed its long held de facto status to de jure. No doubt the religion's new status was accompanied by expanded Church building and promulgation of Christian laws. But that's the extent of his religious policy regarding Christianity's external relations.
From a more secular point of view I suppose the end of his reign would mark a good turning point from classical to late antiquity since Theodosius's empire still retained its classical borders - Britain, the Rhine frontier, etc...
Quote:I think your find that the old Roman religions had been outlawed a number of decades before Theodosius I came to the purple. Constantine I started the ball rolling, his son Constantius II almost bankrupted the messenger service with the amount of Christian religious meetings he called and enthusiastically carried on his fathers work in Christianising the Roman Empire. Valentinian I and Valens effectively put the coffin lid on, whilst Theodosius nailed it down.
I don't think this is entirely right either. Yes, Constantine started the ball rolling and his sucessors gradually brought his policies to their logical conclusion. But I don't read about entire religions being banned until the reign of Justinian. Under him it was illegal to practice paganism even in private. Of course by then there were very few pagans still around. Constantine and his sucessors, IIRC, just banned pagan practices (e.g. public sacrifices, divination, etc..) and closed state-owned temples. It's another modern myth that paganism was persecuted out of existence. It just couldn't survive without government support to keep propping it up.
~Theo
Jaime
