Editing Paganism (section)

=== Modern history ===
==== Early Modern Renaissance ====
[[File:Celebrazione del 2777 Natale di Roma - Pietas Comunità Gentile 2.jpg|thumb|Celebration of the 2777th [[Natale di Roma]] at the [[Circus Maximus]]]]
Interest in reviving [[ancient Roman]] religious traditions can be traced to the [[Renaissance]], with figures such as [[Gemistus Pletho]] and [[Julius Pomponius Laetus]] advocating for a revival,<ref name="marre" /> when [[Renaissance magic]] was practiced as a revival of [[Greco-Roman magic]]. Gemistus Plethon, who was from Mistras (near the [[Mani Peninsula]]—where paganism had endured until the 12th century) encouraged the Medici, descendants of the Maniot Latriani dynasty, to found the [[Platonic Academy (Florence)|Neoplatonic Academy]] in [[Florence]], helping to spark the [[Renaissance]].
In addition Julius Pomponius Laetus (student of Pletho) established the [[Roman academies|Roman academy]] which secretly celebrated the [[Natale di Roma]], a festival linked to the [[foundation of Rome]], and the birthday of [[Romulus]].<ref>Raphael Volaterranus, in his Commentaries presented to [[Julius II]], declared that the enthusiasms of these initiates were "the first step towards doing away with the Faith" (Pastor IV 1894:44).</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=La 'conguira' degli umanisti: Platina e Pomponio Leto |url=http://www.castelsantangelo.com/tl_3a.asp |work=Castel Sant'Angelo |publisher=castelsantangelo.com |access-date=25 November 2013 |location=Rome |language=Italian |archive-date=3 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203003347/http://www.castelsantangelo.com/tl_3a.asp |url-status=dead}}</ref> The Academy was dissolved in 1468 when [[Pope Paul II]]  ordered the arrest and execution of some of the members, [[Pope Sixtus IV]] allowed Laetus to open the academy again until the [[Sack of Rome (1527)|Sack of Rome]] in 1527.

After the [[French Revolution]], the French lawyer [[Gabriel André Aucler]] (mid 1700s–1815) adopted the name '''Quintus Nautius''' and sought to [[Modern paganism|revive paganism]], styling himself as its leader. He designed [[religious clothing]] and performed pagan rites at his home. In 1799, he published ''La Thréicie'', presenting his religious views. His teachings were later analyzed by [[Gérard de Nerval]] in ''[[Les Illuminés]]'' (1852).{{Sfn|Lamoureux|1843|p=397}}
Admiring [[ancient Greece]] and [[ancient Rome]], Aucler supported the [[French Revolution]] and saw it as a path to restoring an ancient republic.{{sfn|Gaume|1856|p=208}} He took the name Quintus Nautius, claimed Roman priestly lineage, and performed [[Orphic]] rites at his home.{{sfn|Gérardin|1974|p=226}} His followers were mainly his household.{{sfn|Lamoureux|1843|p=397}} In 1799, he published ''La Thréicie'', advocating a revival of paganism in France, condemning Christianity, and promoting [[Pythagoreanism|universal animation]].{{sfn|Merkin|2014a|p=257}}

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 mythology as a distorted version of Christian truths.<ref name="Franklin 2017 p. 413">{{cite book |last=Franklin |first=J.H. |title=Jean Bodin |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-351-56179-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DkQrDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA413 |access-date=2023-01-24 |page=413}}</ref> [[Nicolas Fabri de Peiresc]] saw the pagan [[religions of Africa]] of his day as relics that were in principle capable of shedding light on the historical paganism of Classical Antiquity.<ref>"It would be a great pleasure to make the comparison with what survives to us of ancient {{sic|hide=y|reason=Miller used lower case; verified with online copy found in search results.|paganism}} in our old books, in order to have better [grasped] their spirit." Peter N. Miller, "History of Religion Becomes Ethnology: Some Evidence from Peiresc's Africa" ''Journal of the History of Ideas'' 67.4 (2006) 675–96.[http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/journal_of_the_history_of_ideas/v067/67.4miller.html]</ref>

==== Late Modern Romanticism ====
The 19th century also saw much scholarly interest in the reconstruction of pagan mythology from folklore or fairy tales. This was notably attempted by the [[Brothers Grimm]], especially [[Jacob Grimm]] in his ''Teutonic Mythology'', and [[Elias Lönnrot]] with the compilation of the ''[[Kalevala]]''. The work of the Brothers Grimm influenced other collectors, both inspiring them to collect tales and leading them to similarly believe that the fairy tales of a country were particularly representative of it, to the neglect of cross-cultural influence. Among those influenced were the Russian [[Alexander Afanasyev]], the Norwegians [[Peter Christen Asbjørnsen]] and [[Jørgen Moe]], and the Englishman [[Joseph Jacobs]].<ref>Jack Zipes, ''The Great Fairy Tale Tradition: From Straparola and Basile to the Brothers Grimm'', p. 846, {{ISBN|0-393-97636-X}}</ref>

Romanticist interest in non-classical antiquity coincided with the rise of [[Romantic nationalism]] and the rise of the [[nation state]] in the context of the [[1848 revolutions]], leading to the creation of ''[[national epic]]s'' and [[national myth]]s for the various newly formed states. Pagan or folkloric topics were also common in the [[musical nationalism]] of the period. Paganism resurfaces as a topic of fascination in 18th to 19th-century [[Romanticism]], in particular in the context of the literary [[Celtic Revival|Celtic]], [[Slavic reconstructionism|Slavic]] and [[Viking Revival|Viking]] revivals, which portrayed historical [[Celtic polytheism|Celtic]], [[Slavic paganism|Slavic]] and [[Germanic polytheism|Germanic]] polytheists as [[noble savage]]s.{{rquote|right|Great God! I'd rather be<br />A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;<br />So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,<br />Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;<br />Have sight of [[Proteus]] rising from the sea;<br />Or hear old [[Triton (mythology)|Triton]] blow his wreathèd horn.|[[William Wordsworth]], "[[The World Is Too Much with Us]]", lines 9–14}}

In Italy, with the fall of the [[Papal States]] the process of [[Italian unification]] fostered [[anti-clerical]] sentiment among the intelligentsia. Intellectuals like archaeologist [[Giacomo Boni (archaeologist)|Giacomo Boni]] and writer [[Roggero Musmeci Ferrari Bravo]] promoted the restoration of Roman religious practices.<ref name="giudice">{{cite journal |last=Giudice |first=Christian |year=2012 |url=https://www.academia.edu/9521300 |title=Pagan Rome was Rebuilt in a Play: Roggero Musmeci Ferrari Bravo and the Representation of Rumon |journal=The Pomegranate |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=212–232 |doi=10.1558/pome.v14i2.212 |issn=1743-1735}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Buscemi |first=Francesco |year=2019 |chapter=The Sin of Eating Meat: Fascism, Nazism and the Construction of Sacred Vegetarianism |editor1-last=Gentilcore |editor1-first=David |editor2-last=Smith |editor2-first=Matthew |title=Proteins, Pathologies and Politics: Dietary Innovation and Disease from the Nineteenth Century |location=London |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |page=144 |isbn=978-1-350-05686-2}}</ref> In 1927, philosopher and esotericist [[Julius Evola]] founded the [[Gruppo di Ur]] in Rome, along with its journal ''Ur'' (1927–1928), involving figures like [[Arturo Reghini]]. In 1928, Evola published ''[[Imperialismo Pagano]]'', advocating Italian political paganism to oppose the [[Lateran Pacts]]. The journal resumed in 1929 as ''Krur''.

A mysterious document published in ''Krur'' in 1929, attributed to orientalist [[Leone Caetani]], suggested that Italy's [[World War I]] victory and the rise of [[fascism]] were influenced by Etruscan-Roman rites.<ref>{{cite web |first=Sandro |last=Consolato |date=18 October 2017 |title=La Grande Guerra degli esoteristi |url=https://www.tempi.it/la-grande-guerra-degli-esoteristi/ |work=Tempi |language=it}}</ref>