Editing Theodosius I (section)

====End of paganism====
The picture of Theodosius as "the most pious emperor", who presided over the end of paganism through the aggressive application of law and coercion – a view which [[Robert Malcolm Errington|R. Malcolm Errington]]  says "has dominated the European historical tradition almost to this day" – was first written by Theodoret who, in Errington's view, had a habit of ignoring facts and cherry picking.{{sfn|Errington|1997|p=409}} In the centuries following his death, Theodosius gained a reputation as the champion of orthodoxy and the vanquisher of paganism, but modern historians see this as a later interpretation of history by Christian writers rather than actual history.{{sfn|Errington|2006|pp=248–249}}{{sfn|Cameron|p=74}}{{sfn|Hebblewhite|loc=chapter 8}}{{Efn-lr|Cameron explains that, since Theodosius's predecessors [[Constantine I|Constantine]], [[Constantius II|Constantius]], and [[Valens]] had all been [[semi-Arian]]s, it fell to the orthodox Theodosius to receive from Christian literary tradition most of the credit for the final triumph of Christianity.{{sfn|Cameron|p=74 (and note 177)}} Numerous literary sources, both Christian and even pagan, attributed to Theodosius – probably mistakenly, possibly intentionally – initiatives such as the withdrawal of state funding to pagan cults (this measure belongs to [[Gratian]]) and the demolition of temples (for which there is no primary evidence in the law codes or  archaeology).{{sfn|Cameron|pp=46–47, 72}} Theodosius has long been associated with the ending of the Vestal virgins, but twenty-first century scholarship asserts they continued until 415 and suffered no more under Theodosius than they had since Gratian restricted their finances.{{sfn|Testa|2007|p=260}}

Theodosius also probably did not discontinue the [[ancient Olympic Games]], whose last recorded celebration was in 393. Archeological evidence indicates that some games were still held after this date.<ref name="Perrottet2004">{{cite book|author=Tony Perrottet|title=The Naked Olympics: The True Story of the Ancient Games|url=https://archive.org/details/nakedolympicstru00perr|url-access=registration|access-date=1 April 2013|year= 2004|publisher=Random House Digital, Inc.|isbn=978-1-58836-382-4|pages=[https://archive.org/details/nakedolympicstru00perr/page/190 190]–}}</ref><ref>Hamlet, Ingomar. "Theodosius I. And The Olympic Games". Nikephoros 17 (2004): pp. 53–75.</ref> {{ill|Sofie Remijsen|nl}} says there are several reasons to conclude the Olympic games continued after Theodosius I, and came to an end under [[Theodosius II]], by accident, instead. There are two extant scholia on Lucian that connect the end of the games with a fire that burned down the temple of the [[Temple of Olympian Zeus, Athens|Olympian Zeus]] during Theodosius II's reign.<ref name="Remijsen">{{cite book |last1=Remijsen |first1=Sofie |title=The End of Greek Athletics in Late Antiquity |date=2015 |publisher=Cambridge University Press}}</ref>{{rp|49}} }}

An increase in the variety and abundance of sources has brought about the reinterpretation of religion of this era.{{sfn|Kahlos|p=2}} According to Salzman: "Although the debate on the death of paganism continues, scholars ...by and large, concur that the once dominant notion of overt pagan-Christian religious conflict cannot fully explain the texts and artifacts or the social, religious, and political realities of Late Antique Rome".<ref name="Sághy">''Pagans and Christians in Late Antique Rome: Conflict, Competition, and Coexistence in the Fourth Century''. United Kingdom, Cambridge University Press, 2016. {{ISBN?}}</ref>{{rp|2}}

Scholars agree that Theodosius gathered copious legislation on religious subjects, and that he continued the practices of his predecessors, prohibiting sacrifices with the intent of divining the future in December of 380, issuing a decree against heretics on 10 January 381, and an edict against [[Manichaeism]] in May of that same year.{{Sfn|Kienast|pp=323–326|loc="Theodosius I"}}<ref name="Tilley1996">{{cite book |editor1-last=Tilley |editor1-first=Maureen A. |title=Donatist Martyr Stories The Church in Conflict in Roman North Africa |date=1996 |publisher=Liverpool University Press |isbn=978-0-85323-931-4}}</ref>{{rp|xxiv}} Theodosius convened the [[First Council of Constantinople]], the second [[ecumenical council]] after Constantine's [[First Council of Nicaea]] in 325; and the Constantinopolitan council which ended on 9 July.{{Sfn|Kienast|pp=323–326|loc="Theodosius I"}} What is important about this, according to Errington, is how much this 'copious legislation' was applied and used, which would show how dependable it is as a reflection of actual history.{{sfn|Errington|1997|p=398}}

Brown asserts that Christians still comprised a minority of the overall population, and local authorities were still mostly pagan and lax in imposing anti-pagan laws; even Christian bishops frequently obstructed their application.{{sfn|Brown|2012|p=639}} Harries says, "The contents of the Code provide details from the canvas but are an unreliable guide, in isolation, to the character of the picture as a whole".{{sfn|Harries|Wood|1993|pp=95|loc="Introductory Note"}} Previously undervalued similarities in language, society, religion, and the arts, as well as current archaeological research, indicate paganism slowly declined, and that it was not forcefully overthrown by Theodosius I in the fourth century.<ref name="OHLA-2015">''The Oxford Handbook of Late Antiquity''. United Kingdom, Oxford University Press, 2015.</ref>{{rp|xv}}

Maijastina Kahlos writes that the fourth century Roman empire contained a wide variety of religions, cults, sects, beliefs and practices and they all generally co-existed without incident.{{sfn|Kahlos|p=3}} Coexistence did occasionally lead to violence, but such outbreaks were relatively infrequent and localized.{{sfn|Kahlos|p=3}} [[Jan N. Bremmer]] says that "religious violence in Late Antiquity is mostly restricted to violent rhetoric: 'in Antiquity, not all religious violence was that religious, and not all religious violence was that violent'".<ref name="Bremmer">{{cite book|author-last=Bremmer|author-first=Jan N. |editor1-last=Raschle |editor1-first=Christian R. |editor2-last=Dijkstra |editor2-first=Jitse H. F. |title=Religious Violence in the Ancient World From Classical Athens to Late Antiquity |date=2020 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-84921-0|chapter=2}}</ref>{{rp|9}}

The Christian church believed that victory over "false gods" had begun with Jesus and was completed through the conversion of Constantine; it was a victory that took place in heaven, rather than on earth, since Christians were only about 15–18% of the empire's population in the early 300s.<ref name="Stark1996">{{cite book |last1=Stark |first1=Rodney |title=The Rise of Christianity: A Sociologist Reconsiders History |date=1996 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-02749-4 |edition=1st}}</ref>{{rp|7}}{{sfn|Brown|2012|p=xxxii}} Brown indicates that, as a result of this "triumphalism," paganism was seen as vanquished, and Salzman adds that judging by the sheer number of laws, heresy was a much higher priority than paganism for Christians in the fourth and fifth centuries.{{sfn|Brown|1993|p=90}}{{sfn|Brown|1998|pp=634, 640, 651}}<ref name="Salzman2">{{cite journal |last=Salzman |first=Michele Renee |title=The Evidence for the Conversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity in Book 16 of the 'Theodosian Code' |journal=Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte |volume=42 |issue=3 |date=1993 |pages=362–378 |jstor=4436297}}</ref>{{rp|375}}

Lavan says Christian writers gave the narrative of victory high visibility, but that it does not necessarily correlate to actual conversion rates. There are many signs that a healthy paganism continued into the fifth century, and in some places, into the sixth and beyond.<ref name="Boin">Boin, Douglas. A Social and Cultural History of Late Antiquity. United Kingdom, Wiley, 2018.</ref>{{rp|108–110}}{{sfn|Cameron|pp=4, 112}}{{sfn|Lavan|Mulryan|2011|p=8}}<ref name="Irmscher">{{cite journal|last=Irmscher |first=Johannes|year=1988|title=Non-christians and sectarians under Justinian: the fate of the inculpated |publisher=Parcourir les Collections |journal=Collection de l'Institut des Sciences et Techniques de l'Antiquité|volume=367|pages=165–167|url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/ista_0000-0000_1988_ant_367_1_1722}}</ref>{{Rp|165–167}}<ref name="Mulryan"/>{{rp|41, 156}} According to Brown, Christians objected to anything that called the triumphal narrative into question, and that included the mistreatment of non-Christians. Archaeology indicates that in most regions away from the imperial court, the end of paganism was both gradual and untraumatic.<ref name="Mulryan"/>{{rp|156, 221}}<ref name="Sághy"/>{{rp|5, 41}} The ''Oxford Handbook of Late Antiquity'' says that "Torture and murder were not the inevitable result of the rise of Christianity."<ref name="OHLA-2015"/>{{rp|861}} Instead, there was fluidity in the boundaries between the communities and "coexistence with a competitive spirit."<ref name="Sághy"/>{{rp|7}} Brown says that "In most areas, polytheists were not molested, and, apart from a few ugly incidents of local violence, Jewish communities also enjoyed a century of stable, even privileged, existence."{{sfn|Brown|2012|p=643}}

While conceding that Theodosius's reign may have been a watershed in the decline of the old religions, Cameron downplays the role of the emperor's 'copious legislation' as limited in effect, and writes that Theodosius did 'certainly not' ban paganism.{{sfn|Cameron|pp=60, 65, 68–73}} In his 2020 biography of Theodosius, Mark Hebblewhite concludes that Theodosius never saw or advertised himself as a destroyer of the old cults; rather, the emperor's efforts to promote Christianity were cautious,{{sfn|Errington|2006|p=251}} 'targeted, tactical, and nuanced', and intended to prevent political instability and religious discord.{{sfn|Hebblewhite|loc=chapter 8}}