03-01-2013, 09:24 PM
Quote:It was only after Constantine's victory over Licinius in 323 that he started on an openly anti-'pagan' policy: not only promoting Christians but acting against traditional practices, banning oracles and private sacrifice, dismantling temples, melting down cult statues for coinage and so on. This was a shock at the time - Barnes (2011) cites the anti-Christian poet Palladus (redated to the early 4th century): "Hellenism everywhere is dead".
Simple explanation: Constantine needed the money to pay off his supporters. The switch in religions gave him the perfect excuse for looting the pagan temples. This idea is nothing new. When Caesar conquered Rome, he funded his operations by confiscating the $ in the Temple of Jupiter. Henry the 8th did the same thing when he shut down the monasteries and appropriated their "donations."
There are some who call me ......... Tim?
