slavish tokens of subjection with which they resisted him had so little serious consequence," that even heathen honours were of fered to this zealous Christian emperor after his death.15 § 79. TOTAL SUPPRESSION OF PAGANISM IN THE EAST.-ITS STRUGGLE IN THE WEST AFTER THEODOSIUS. Rüdiger, 1. c. p. 70 ss. Beugnot, 1. c. ii. 1 ss. Paganism was at present only an external ceremonial, which retained its hold upon a few noble spirits with a feeling of patriotism; but with the mass, it was kept up merely from unreflecting custom or superstitious fear. Almost with all, however, its ancient doctrine was obliged to sink under the pressure of new ideas. Hence the victory of Christianity over paganism inter 14 Comp. the narrative Prudent. in Symmachum, i. 409 ss. Especially from 609 ss.: Adspice, quam pleno subsellia nostra senatu A different account, and one more accordant with later phenomena, is given by Zosimus, iv. 59, in his representation of the effect of Theodosius's discourse in the senate: Μηδενὸς δὲ τῇ παρακλήσει πεισθέντος, μηδὲ ἑλομένου τῶν ἀφ ̓ οὔπερ ἡ πόλις ᾠκίσθη παραδεδομένων αὐτοῖς πατρίων ἀναχω ρῆσαι, καὶ προτιμῆσαι τούτων ἄλογον συγκατάθεσιν (ἐκεῖνα μὲν γὰρ φυλάξαντας ἤδη διακοσίοις καὶ χιλίοις σχεδὸν ἔτεσιν ἀπόρθητον τὴν πόλιν οἰκεῖν· ἕτερα δὲ ἀντὶ τούτων ἀλλαξαμένους τὸ ἐκβησόμενον ἀγνοεῖν)· τότε δὴ ὁ Θεοδόσιος βαρύς νεσθαι τὸ δημόσιον ἔλεγε τῇ περὶ τὰ ἱερὰ καὶ τὰς θυσίας δαπάνῃ, βούλεσθαί TE TAÛTA TEPLEXEÎV K. T. X. (That is to say, the usurper Eugenius had given back again the legacies of the heathen sanctuaries (see note 3) which had been confiscated by Gratian. See Ambros. ep. 57. ad Eugenium). The consequence, Zosim. v. 38; "Ore Oeodóσios ò æpeoßútns, the Εὐγενίου καθελὼν τυραννίδα, τὴν Ρώμην κατέλαβε, καὶ τῆς ἱερᾶς ἀγιστείας ἐνεποίησε πᾶσιν ὀλιγωρίαν, τὴν δημοσίαν δαπάνην τοῖς ἱεροῖς χορηγεῖν ἀρνησάμε νος, ἀπηλαύνοντο μὲν ἱερεῖς καὶ ἱέρειαι, κατελιμπάνετο δὲ πάσης ἱερουργίας τὰ τεμένη. 15 Beugnot, i. 487. Hence the heathen poet Claudinus, de tertio Consulatu Honorii, v. 162 ss., who lived at this time, represents the death of the emperor as an ascent to the gods. 1 Orosius, hist. vi. 1: Deum quilibet hominum contemnere ad tempus potest, nescire in totum non potest. Unde quidam, dum in multis Deum credunt, multos Deos indiscreto timore finxerunt. Sed hinc jam vel nally dead, could not be matter of doubt; although the former often carried on the contest more by external means than by its inward power. Many heathens could not resist the external The maxime, cum auctoritate veritatis operante, tum ipsa etiam ratione discutiente, discessum est. Quippe cum et philosophi eorum-unum Deum auctorem omnium repererunt, ad quem unum omnia referrentur; unde etiam nunc pagani, quos jam declarata veritas de contumacia magis quam de ignorantia convincit, cum a nobis discutiuntur, non se plures Deos sequi, sed sub uno Deo magno plures ministros venerari fatentur. Restat igitur de intelligentia veri Dei per multas intelligendi suspiciones confusa dissensio, quia de uno Deo omnium paene una opinio est. heathen said (Augustini enar. in Psalm. 96, § 12): Non colimus mala daemonia: Angelos quos dicitis, ipsos et nos colimus, virtutes Dei magni et ministeria Dei magni. The heathen grammarian, Maximus of Madaura, writes to Augustine (August. ep. 43): Olympum montem Deorum esse habitaculum, sub incerta fide Graecia fabulatur. At vero nostrae urbis forum salutarium numinum frequentia possessum nos cernimus et probamus. Equidem unum esse Deum summum sine initio, sine prole, naturae ceu patrem magnum atque magnificum, quis tam demens, tam mente captus neget esse certissimum? Hujus nos virtutes per mundanum opus diffusas multis vocabulis invocamus, quoniam nomen ejus cuncti, proprium videlicet, ignoramus. Nam Deus omnibus religionibus commune nomen est. Ita fit, ut dum ejus quasi quaedam membra carptim variis supplicationibus prosequimur, totum colere profecto videamur. No one could endure that the Christian martyrs should be preferred to these deities, qui conscientia nefandorum facinorum, specie gloriosae mortis,-dignum moribus factisque suis exitum maculati reperiunt. Sed mihi hac tempestate propemodum videtur bellum Actiacum rursus exortum, quo Aegyptia monstra in Romanorum Deos audeant tela vibrare, minime duratura. In Macrobii (about 410) Saturnalium, i. 17. A Praetextatus (comp. § 78, note 6,) declares the sun to be the one supreme God. Si enim sol, ut veteribus placuit, dux et moderator est luminum reliquorum, et solus stellis errantibus praestat; ipsarum vero stellarum cursus ordinem rerum humanarum-pro potestate disponunt:. -necesse est, ut solem, qui moderatur nostra moderantes, omnium, quae circa nos geruntur, fateamur auctorem. Et sicut Maro, cum de una Junone diceret, Quo numine laeso, ostendit, unius Dei effectus varios pro variis censendos esse numinibus; ita diversae virtutes solis nomina Diis dederunt; unde ev Tò Tâv sapientum principes prodiderunt. 2 Chrysostomus de s. Babyla contra Julianum et gentiles, § 3, (Opp. ed. Montf. ii. 540), ὑπ ̓ οὐδενὸς ἐνοχληθεῖσά ποτε τῆς Ἑλληνικῆς δεισιδαιμονίας ἡ πλάνη ἀφ' ἑαυτῆς ἐσβέσθη, καὶ περὶ ἑαυτὴν διέπεσε, καθάπερ τῶν σωμάτων τὰ τηκηδόνι παραδοθέντα μακρᾷ, καὶ μηδενὸς αὐτὰ βλάπτοντος αὐτόματα φθείρεται, καὶ διαλυθέντα κατὰ μικρὸν ἀφανίζεται. 3 Augustinus in Evang. Joannis, tract. 25, § 10: Quam multi non quaerunt Jesum nisi ut illis faciat bene secundum tempus! Alius negotium habet, quaerit intercessionem clericorum: alius premitur a potentiore, fugit ad ecclesiam: alius pro se vult interveniri apud eum, apud Y advantages presented by it. Few were ready to suffer for their religion. But it is true, that in this manner also the number of merely external Christians was increased-men who still entertained heathen modes of thought and disposition; and the value of Christianity was by no means so generally manifested in the practices of its confessors as before." In the empire of the east (Arcadius 395-408, Theodosius II. till 450), which was less disturbed from without, the ordinances of Theodosius against paganism could be strictly enforced. Crowds of monks were sent about through the provinces with full power from the emperors, for the purpose of destroying all traces of idolatry.7 Even misdeeds and murders were allowed to quem parum valet: ille sic, ille sic: impletur quotidie talibus ecclesia. Vix quaeritur Jesus propter Jesum. cf. Id. de catechizandis rudibus, c. 17. Hieronymus comm. in Isaiam, lib. xvii. : Quod sequitur: Et venient ad te curvi, qui detraxerant tibi (Es. lx. 14), de his debemus intelligere, qui non voluntate, sed necessitate sunt Christiani, et metu offensae regnantium timentibus animis inclinantur. * Augustini enarr. in Psalm. 141, § 20: Quis eorum comprehensus est in sacrificio, cum his legibus ista prohiberentur, et non negavit? Quis eorum comprehensus est adorare idolum, et non clamavit, non feci, et timuit ne convinceretur? Tales ministros Diabolus habebat. He then contrasts with them the steadfastness of the Christian martyrs. Chrysostom, de. s. Babyla, § 7, says of the heathen priests, μâxou deσTor καὶ τῶν εἰδώλων δὲ αὐτῶν τοὺς βασιλεῖς θεραπεύουσι, and describes the neglected state in which the temples, altars, and images of the gods were in consequence, under Christian emperors. 5 Thus Augustinus, enarr. in Psalm. 25, § 14, makes a heathen reply: Quid mihi persuades ut Christianus sim? Ego fraudem a Christiano passus sum, et nunquam feci falsum mihi juravit Christianus, et ego numquam. Chrysostom, in i. epist. ad Tim. hom. x. § 3, (Opp. xi. 602) : Οὐδεὶς ἂν ἦν εἰ Ελλην, εἰ ἡμεῖς ὦμεν Χριστιανοί, ὡς δεῖ.—Οὐδεὶς πρόσεισιν. οἱ γὰρ διδασκόμενοι πρὸς τὴν τῶν διδασκάλων ἀρετὴν ὁρῶσι, καὶ ὅταν ἴδωσι καὶ ἡμᾶς τῶν αὐτῶν ἐπιθυμοῦντας,—τοῦ ἄρχειν, τοῦ τιμᾶσθαι, πῶς δυνήσονται θαυμάσαι τὸν Χριστιανισμόν ; Ὁρῶσι βίους ἐπιληψίμους, ψυχὰς γηΐνας κ. τ. λ. Cod. Theod. xvi. 10, 13 ss. By L. 14 their privileges were taken from the priests. 7 So Chrysostom (Theodoret. v. 29), μαθὼν τὴν Φοινίκην ἔτι περὶ τὰς τῶν δαιμόνων τελετὰς μεμηνέναι, ἀσκητὰς μὲν ζήλῳ θείῳ πυρπολουμένους συνέλεξε, νόμοις δὲ αὐτοὺς ὁπλίσας βασιλικοῖς, κατὰ τῶν εἰδωλικῶν ἐξέπεμψε τεμένων. These voμo are without doubt, Cod. Theod. xvi. 10, 16, A.D. 399: Si qua in agris templa sunt, sine turba ac tumultu diruantur. cf. Chrysostom epistt. 28, 51, 53, 54, 55, 59, 69, 123, 126, 221. Chrysostom worked in the same way in other countries also. See Procli (Episc. Constantinop. 434-446) laudatio S. Jo. Chrys. (orat. xx. in Combefisii nov. auctarium, i. 468): In Epheso artem Midae nudavit, in Phrygia Matrem pass unheeded by the emperors; such as the horrible murder of the female philosopher Hypatia in Alexandria (416). The new platonic philosophers at Athens, and among them even the celebrated Proclus (†485), were forced to conceal themselves most carefully, because they rejected Christianity. As early as 423, all visible traces of paganism had disappeared in the east.10 It was otherwise in the west, notwithstanding the want of all living attachment to paganism in this quarter of the world also. So little hold had it on the minds of the people that even in Rome, its continued centre, where many families of note were still heathen, and many of the highest places were still occupied by heathens," sacrifices were totally discontinued, after the cost of public oblations had ceased to be defrayed by the state. Under the feeble reign of Honorius (395-423), the earlier laws against paganism still remained in force, and were even increased by the addition of several new enactments; but the emperor was obliged at times to limit their operation,12 to acknowledge heathen priests as public officers, 13 and to put a check to the destruction of temples, for the sake of preserving some degree of 14 quae dicebatur deorum sine filiis fecit, in Caesarea publicani meretricia honoris vacu despoliavit, in Syria Deum impugnantes Synagogas evacuavit, in Perside verbum pietatis seminavit. Socrates, vii. 15. Damascius, ap. Suidam s. v. Hypatia. The article Hypatia of Alexandria in E. Münch's vermischte hist. Schrifte, Bd. 1, Ludwigsburg 1828, 8. 9 Vita Procli scriptore Marino, ed. J. A. Fabricius, Hamb. 1700, 8. His 18 ἐπιχειρήματα κατὰ Χριστιανών are contained and refuted in Johannis Philoponi libb. 18, de aeternitate mundi (graece ex Trincavelli officina, Venet. 1535, fol. lat. vert. Joh. Mahatius, Lugd. 1557, fol.) 10 Theodosius ii. in Cod. Theodos. xvi. 10, 22. (A.D. 423): Paganos, qui supersunt, quanquam jam nullos esse credamus, promulgatarum legum jamdudum praescripta compescant. 11 Thus Florentinus, 397, and Flavianus, A.D. 399, were praef. urbis, Valerius Messala, 396, Praef. praet. Italiae, Atticus Consul, 397, (Beugnot ii. 6). Praefecti urbis were Rutilius Numatianus, 413, Albinus, 414, Symmachus, A.D. 418: Praef. praet. Ital. 429, Volusianus (1. c. p. 127). 12 Honorius had issued in the year 408 the law, Cod. Theod. xvi. 5, 42 Eos qui Catholicae sectae sunt inimici, intra palatium militare prohibemus. Nullus nobis sit aliqua ratione conjunctus, qui a nobis fide et religione discordat. But when he afterwards wished to nominate the heathen Generidus commander in Rhoetia, the latter did not undertake the office ἕως ὁ βασιλεὺς, αἰδοῖ τε ἅμα καὶ χρείᾳ συνωθούμενος, ἔπαυσεν ἐπὶ πᾶσι τὸν μόμον, ἀποδοὺς ἑκάστῳ, τῆς αὐτοῦ ὄντι δόξης, ἄρχειν τε καὶ στρα τεύεσθαι. Zosimus, v. 46. 13 Cod. Theod. xii. i. 166, ad Pompejanum Procons. Africae, A.D. 400. 14 The African bishops resolved at the Concil. Africanum, A.D. 399, to tranquility. The struggle, however, between Christianity and paganism often proceeded here and there to acts of violence, in which the one party prevailed at one time, the other at another. 15 As the heathens had always been accustomed to lay the blame of all misfortune on the Christians; so, since the west of Europe had been inundated by barbarous people, and even Italy had been several times devastated by such hordes, they were especially loud in declaring all these disasters to be punishments sent by the gods,16 and in predicating the speedy downfall make the following propositions to the emperors, Can. 25 (Cod. Eccl. Afric. c. 58. Mansi, iii. p. 766): ut reliquias idolorum per totam Africam jubeant penitus amputari-et templa eorum, quae in agris vel in locis abditis constituta nullo ornamento sunt, jubeantur omnimodo destrui. Can. 27 (Cod. Afric. c. 60): ut quoniam contra praecepta divina convivia multis in locis exercentur, quae ab errore gentili attracto sunt -vetari talia jubeant, &c. But after this Honorius, A.D. 399, enacted two laws of an opposite character, Cod. Theodos. lib. xvi. tit. 10, 1. 17: Ut profanos ritus jam salubri lege submovimus, ita festos conventus civium et communem omnium laetitiam non patimur submoveri. L. 18: Aedes, inlicitis rebus vacuas, nostrarum beneficio sanctionum, ne quis conetur evertere. 15 Regarding the destruction of temples which Martin, bishop of Tours, A.D. 375-400, undertook, with violent opposition on the part of the heathen, see Sulpic. Severus de vita b. Martini, c. 13-15. In Anaunia, a valley of the Rhoetian Alps, the missionaries Sisinnius, Martyrius, and Alexander, were horribly murdered, A.D. 397, by the heathens dur ing the Pagan festival of the Ambarvalia, and the church built by them destroyed. See Acta SS. (ad. d. 29 Maj.) Maji, T. vii. p. 38. In Suffecte, in Africa, the Christians had demolished a statute of Hercules, and the heathens killed sixty of them for it (August. ep. 268, ad Suffectanos). How at Calama, in Numidia, the heathens, during one of their festivals in the year 408, attacked the church there, and persecuted the Christians, may be seen in Augustin. ep. 202, ad Nectarium. 16 When the Gothic king Rhadegaisus, 405, broke into Italy, the heathens said (Augustin. de civ. Dei, v. 23), quod ille diis amicis protegentibus et opitulantibus, quibus immolare quotidie ferebatur, vinci omnino non posset ab eis, qui talia diis Romanis sacra non facerent, nec fieri a quoquam permitterent. When Rome was subsequently besieged by Alaric, 409 (Sozom. ix. 6), ἀναγκαῖον ἐδόκει τοῖς ἑλληνίζουσι τῆς συγκλήτου, θύειν ἐν τῷ Καπιτωλίῳ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ναοῖς. And Zosimus, v. 41, asserts ὁ δὲ Ἰννοκέντοις τὴν τῆς πόλεως σωτηρίαν ἔμπροσθεν τῆς οἰκείας ποιησάμενος δόξης, λάθρα ἐφῆκεν αὐτοῖς ποιεῖν ἅπερ ἴσασιν. Comp. Beugnot, ii. 55. Zosimus, iv. 59 : τοῦ θυηπολικοῦ θεσμοῦ λήξαντος, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων, ὅσα τῆς πατρίου παραδόσεως ἦν, ἐν ἀμελείᾳ κειμένων, ἡ Ρωμαίων ἐπικράτεια κατὰ μέρος ἐλαττωθεῖσα, βαρβάρων οἰκητήριον γέγονε, ἢ καὶ τέλεον ἐκπεσοῦσα τῶν οἰκητόρων εἰς τοῦτο κατέστη σχήματος, ώστε μηδὲ τοῦς τόπους, ἐν οἷς γεγόνασιν αἱ πόλεις, ἐπιγινώσκειν. |