5 September
394 A.D. a major
battle and victory went to Emperor Theodosius I, otherwise known as “Theodosius
the Great.”
Christianizing features in the
Roman Empire began with Constantine the Great. “In this sign, conquer” became a
well-known phrase from his time. He favored Christianity and promoted it. The Roman bureaucracy was full of
non-Christian pagans. The Christian majority was in the East: Asian, Bythynia,
Pontus, parts of Armenia, and North Africa. Constantine’s successors continued
the policy of favoring Christians until Julian the Apostate ascended the
throne.
Julian the Apostate sought to
restore pagan religion and culture. But, he died and Emperor Gratian assumed
the throne, adopting a program “more ruthless in the treatment of paganism”
(498). Gratian refused the title Pontifex Maximus (senior priest of the
Roman religion, essentially, an all-inclusive set of pluralistic deities). Further, he cut off subsidies for the Roman
cults. Things were looking down for the old religionists.
Theodosius I became the Emperor
of the eastern portion of the Roman Empire, based in Constantinople. His was another “ruthless brand of
Christianity” (499). At the prompting of Milan’s bishop, St. Ambrose, he
“passed harsh laws making it treason to offer any kind of sacrifice, removing
all idols, and fining anybody who visited a pagan temple.”
By the way, Mr. (Bp) Ambrose
would also chide, chastise and refuse communion to Theodosius without public
repentance after Mr. Theodosius slaughtered 100s of Corinthians in Macedonia,
but that’s an aside.
Paganism, like all cherished
worldviews, was not going away easily. In 392, Eugenius (a supposed Christian),
ascended to the throne in Rome. He rode
off to battle with the eastern Emperor, Theodosius.
The two sides engaged in battle
at the Frigidus River, south of the Alps. Eugenius’ troops had their battle
banners unfurled with “Hercules” as their patron-deity. Theodosius’ forces won on 5 September 394 A.D.
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