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Pagans and Paganism in the Age of the Sons of Constantine

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The Sons of Constantine, AD 337-361

Part of the book series: New Approaches to Byzantine History and Culture ((NABHC))

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Abstract

This chapter establishes that the 340s and 350s were of paramount importance for the development of the traditional cults and their relation to Christianity and the increasingly Christian empire. Their impact extended beyond Constantius II’s death and is key to our understanding of Julian’s reaction and the further history of ancient religions. The chapter addresses the following issues. Firstly, it reviews the imperial religious legislation and its impact, and relates it to Church policy, in order to outline the confines in which pagan cults still could exist and be practised. Secondly, it assesses Christian intolerance and violence to illustrate to what extent paganism came under pressure in different parts of the empire. Thirdly, with a focus on paganism itself, it surveys religious beliefs and practices among pagans in the West and East, to reveal the diversity, and identify common trends, in what we usually term “paganism”, suggesting a uniform movement. Finally, the focus will be on pagan perceptions and constructions: how did pagan thinkers, for the most part looking back from the time after Constantius II, depict pagan life and cult under Christian emperors, and to what extent did they shape a distinct pagan identity to cope with Christian challenges? This examination reappraises whether “paganism” was rather an invention of their Christian opponents or something pagans sought to define themselves.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Cf. Clark 2004: 8–12.

  2. 2.

    North 2005; Cameron 2011; Jones 2014: 1–8.

  3. 3.

    North 1992; Cameron 2011: 19–20.

  4. 4.

    E.g. Curran 2000: 193.

  5. 5.

    Leppin 1999.

  6. 6.

    North 1992: 187.

  7. 7.

    Cf. Markus 1990: 8–15; Maxwell 2012: 852, 857.

  8. 8.

    E.g. Clark 2004: 14; North 2005: 126; Bowes 2008: 10–11.

  9. 9.

    Euseb., Vit. Const. 4.25.1. See Barnes 1989: 322–325; Chuvin 1990: 30–35; Jones 2014: 16–17.

  10. 10.

    Cod. Theod. 16.10.2. Cf. Sozom., Hist. eccl. 3.17.

  11. 11.

    For the nature of the Theodosian Code see Matthews 2000.

  12. 12.

    For anti-pagan legislation see Salzman 1990: 205–209; Leppin 1999: 466–475; Curran 2000: 181–193; Sandwell 2005: 90–97.

  13. 13.

    Cod. Theod. 16.10.4, directed to the Praetorian Prefect in Italy and Africa, Flavius Taurus.

  14. 14.

    Leppin 1999: 473–474.

  15. 15.

    Cf. Maxwell 2012: 862.

  16. 16.

    Lib., Or. 18.114, 24.36, 30.6–7; Sozom., Hist. eccl. 5.5.5; Barnes 1989: 325–328.

  17. 17.

    Julian., Ep. 21 (Loeb; Ep. 60 in Belles Lettres); Amm. Marc. 22.11.6–8; Socrates, Hist. eccl. 3.2; Sozom., Hist. eccl. 5.7; Theodoret, Hist. eccl. 3.18. Hahn 2004: 66–71.

  18. 18.

    Symm., Relat. 3.7; Ambrose, Ep. 18.32.

  19. 19.

    Cod. Theod. 16.10.3, issued in 342 to the Urban Prefect of Rome.

  20. 20.

    For the influence of religion on the appointment of imperial officials see Barnes 1989: 312–321; Leppin 1999: 463–465.

  21. 21.

    Cod. Theod. 6.4.12. Cf. Vanderspoel 1995: 108. Cf. the case of the pagan philosopher Eustathius, who was elected by Constantius for an embassy to Persia (Eunap., VS 6.5.2–10; Amm. Marc. 17.5.15).

  22. 22.

    Symm., Relat. 3.7; Amm. Marc. 16.10. Salzman 2002: 189–190.

  23. 23.

    Cf. Barnes 1989: 325–326.

  24. 24.

    Cod. Theod. 9.16.4, further 9.16.5–6.

  25. 25.

    Amm. Marc.19.12; cf. Lib., Ep. 37; Or. 14.15–19. Barnes 1998: 91–92; Sandwell 2005: 114–116.

  26. 26.

    Lib., Ep. 37, 77, 112; Amm. Marc. 14.1.2; 14.7.7; 19.12.12 and 19; Claudius Mamertinus 23.4. Cf. Sandwell 2005: 119–120.

  27. 27.

    Lib., Or. 14.15–19 and 41–43, 1.27 and 201; Julian., Ep. 36.423c (Loeb; Ep. 42 in Belles Lettres).

  28. 28.

    Euseb., Vit. Const. 3.57; 4.23–25, 75.

  29. 29.

    Cf. Kahlos 2009: 69–72.

  30. 30.

    Firm. Mat., Err. prof. rel. 16.4; 28.6.

  31. 31.

    For Christian violence against pagans see Hahn 2004, 2011: 237–241.

  32. 32.

    Julian., Or. 7.228b–c; Julian., Ep. 19 (Loeb; Ep. 79 in Belles Lettres).

  33. 33.

    Lib., Or. 1.27; 14.15–19; 14.41–43; 18.23; 30.6–7; Ep. 819.

  34. 34.

    Hahn 2004: 54.

  35. 35.

    Shepardson 2014: 58–67.

  36. 36.

    Barnes 1989: 326–329; Leppin 1999: 476–477.

  37. 37.

    See Barnes 1989: 328; Hahn 2011: 238–239.

  38. 38.

    Bowes 2008: 20–48.

  39. 39.

    For Libanius, see now Cribiore 2013.

  40. 40.

    Cf. Siniossoglou 2010.

  41. 41.

    For the early Christian debate on animal sacrifice see Ullucci 2012.

  42. 42.

    Amm. Marc. 19.10.1–4; Eunap., VS 10.6.3. Cf. Lib., Ep. 1351.

  43. 43.

    Julian., Ep. 19 (Loeb) (Ep. 79 in Belles Lettres).

  44. 44.

    Bradbury 1995.

  45. 45.

    Bradbury 1995: 332–341; Rives 2011.

  46. 46.

    Amm. Marc. 22.12.6–7, 25.4.17, Lib., Or. 12.80, 18.170. Ullucci 2012: 147–148.

  47. 47.

    Salzman 1990.

  48. 48.

    Markus 1990: 107–110; Bradbury 1995: 353–354.

  49. 49.

    For the Mithras cult see Beck 2006; for the Roman adoption of foreign cults see Salzman 2002: 63–64.

  50. 50.

    See now Tanaseanu-Döbler 2013.

  51. 51.

    Athanassiadi and Frede 1999; North 2010; Mitchell and Van Nuffelen 2010.

  52. 52.

    Mitchell 2010.

  53. 53.

    For regional variation in paganism see, e.g., North 1992; Hahn 2004.

  54. 54.

    Claudius Mamertinus 23.4–6.

  55. 55.

    Lib., Or. 13.1–2, 13, 18.114, 24.36, 30.6–7. See further Himer., Or. 41.8.

  56. 56.

    Drinkwater 1983. See, for instance, Lib., Or. 14.41–43; 18.114.

  57. 57.

    E.g. Them., Or. 1.2d–3a, 8a–c; 2.25a, 29a, 34b–d; 3.48b–c; 4.55d, 61a. We may add here that Libanius scourged the pagan sophist Bemarchius for employing his oratory to praise a new church building erected by Constantius (Or. 1.39).

  58. 58.

    For Ammianus’ stance on religious matters see Barnes 1998: 79–94; Jones 2014: 111–112.

  59. 59.

    Symm., Relat. 3.3 and 7.

  60. 60.

    Salzman 2002: 61–68.

  61. 61.

    CIL 6.45; Salzman 2002: 62–63. For widespread sacrificial activity in Rome see also Ambrose, Ep. 18.31.

  62. 62.

    Cf. Bowersock 1990; North 1992, 188–189; Stenger 2009.

  63. 63.

    Julian., Ep. 35.375c (Loeb; Ep. 78 in Belles Lettres); 58.400c–d (Loeb; Ep. 98 in Belles Lettres). For the notion of Hellenic religion see also Julian’s letter to Arsacius (Ep. 22, Loeb; Ep. 84a in Belles Lettres). Note, however, the debate about the authenticity of the letter to Arsacius: Van Nuffelen 2002; Bouffartigue 2005.

  64. 64.

    Lib., Or. 13.1–2. See further 14.69; 17.1–2; 62.8. Stenger 2014.

  65. 65.

    Eunap., VS 6.5.3; 10.6.3. See also Lib., Or. 1.27.

  66. 66.

    Cf. North 1992: 189; North 2005: 137; Kahlos 2007: 18–19.

  67. 67.

    Brown 1992; Bowes 2008: 10–11; Maxwell 2012: 864–865; Jones 2014: 42–44.

  68. 68.

    Markus 1990: 30.

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  1. Institut für Klassische Philologie, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany

    Jan R. Stenger

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  1. Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK

    Nicholas Baker-Brian

  2. Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK

    Shaun Tougher

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Stenger, J.R. (2020). Pagans and Paganism in the Age of the Sons of Constantine. In: Baker-Brian, N., Tougher, S. (eds) The Sons of Constantine, AD 337-361. New Approaches to Byzantine History and Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-39898-9_14

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