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Religious persecution
By persecuting group: Christians Jews Muslims Revolutionary France Atheists/anti-clericals in Mexico Soviet Union People's Republic of China
By strategy: Forced conversion Holy war Religious discrimination Religious fascism Religious intolerance Religious police Religious terrorism Religious violence Spiritual abuse
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Many adherents of the Ancient Roman religion were persecuted by Christians during the period after the death of Constantine and the reign of Julian, only to enjoy a respite for a number of years before the persecution resumed once again under Gratian and Theodosius I. Persecution in this sense may refer to unwarranted arrest, imprisonment, beating, torture, or execution. It also may refer to the confiscation or destruction of property, or incitement to hatred.

Contents 1 Persecution under Constantine and his sons 2 Persecution reversed under Julian 3 Religious toleration under Jovian, Valentinian and Valens 4 Renewal of Persecution under Gratian and Theodosius I 5 Pagan revival despite continued Persecution 6 Increasingly Draconian Laws finally drive Paganism underground 7 Example of the Christian Persecution of Pagans: Hypatia of Alexandria 8 References 9 Bibliography

In order to understand how Christianity was able to supplant Paganism we must go back to nearly the beginning of Christianity. At first, Christianity was primarily a response to the then-current practices of Judaism, but quickly began to respond to the existing Egyptian, Greek and Roman religions. Galerius was the first emperor to issue an edict of toleration for all religious creeds including Christianity. Although Constantine was the first emperor to convert to Christianity, albeit on his deathbed, he never legislated against Paganism. In fact, the Christian emperors down to Valentinian and Valens were not (except perhaps for Constantius) wholeheartedly devoted to the suppression of Paganism the way in which Christians would have liked them to be. Constantine continued, but was not the author, of the policy of toleration that Galerius had established. His legislation against magic and private divination were driven out of a fear that others might gain power through those means, as he himself had achieved power through the sound advice of Pagan soothsayers and this convinced him of the perspicacity of Pagan prophecy.^[1] His belief in Pagan divination is confirmed by legislation calling for the consultation of augurs after an amphitheatre had been struck by lightning in the year 320.^[2] Constantine explicitly allowed public divination as well as public Pagan practices to continue.^[3] Constantine also issued laws confirming the rights of flamens, priests and duumvirs.^[4]

The first emperor to put restrictions on the practice of Paganism was Constantine’s son, Constantius II. Constantius had been brought up by fanatical Christians who had free reign to indoctrinate him with their prejudices. These Christians naturally gained an inordinate amount of power that led to the implementation of their intolerant views on society.^[5] In the year 341, thought the urging of these powerful Christians, Constantius published a law that forbade the performance of Pagan sacrifices.^[6] No penalty was attached for the violation of this legislation and it seems to have been largely ignored.^[7] Due to the disturbances caused by Christians who were attempting to destroy ancient Pagan temples in the countryside, Constantius and his brother Constans were forced to issue a law for the preservation of the temples that were situated outside of city walls.^[8] Later the same year another law declared that all Pagan temples were to be closed and access to them forbidden.^[9] The desecration of Pagan tombs and monuments by Christians, however, apparently forced Constantius to enact another law that exacted a fine from those who were guilty of vandalizing them and placed the care of these monuments and tombs under the Pagan priests.^[10] The Pagans in the west, no longer able to bear Constantius’ persecution, revolted under Magnentius, who rose against and killed Constans. Magnentius revoked the anti-Pagan legislation of Constans and even permitted the celebration of nocturnal sacrifices. Three years later, in the year 353, Constantius defeated Magnentius and once again forbade the performance of the rituals.^[11] This law seems to have had little affect as we find Constantius once again legislating against Paganism in 356. Constantius now declared that anyone found guilty of attending sacrifices or of worshipping idols would be executed.^[12] It appears the magistrates were uncomfortable with carrying out this law, the law was largely ignored. In the year 357, Constantius celebrated his Vicennalia by visiting the city of Rome. Acting as the Pontifex Maximus, Constantius apparently conferred priesthoods on worthy individuals and confirmed privileges to the Vestal Virgins as well as subsidies to the Pagan cults.^[13] Constantius also enacted a law confirming the prerogatives of the Pagan priests.^[14] In spite of Pagan protests, however, Constantius removed the altar from the statue of Victory that stood in the Senate house because of the complaints of some Christian Senators. This was the altar where Romans had traditionally offered prayers for the welfare of the Empire and had pledged their allegiance to the Emperor for generations. Each Senator had traditionally made a sacrifice upon the altar before entering the Senate house. This altar was later restored, either silently, soon after Constantius’ departure, or by the emperor Julian.^[15] Constantius, sensing that he was now hated by many of his subjects, became suspicious and fearful and carried on an active campaign against magicians, astrologers and other diviners who might use their power to make someone else emperor.^[16] Constantius did not, apparently, attempt to stop the Christians from destroying and pillaging many of the ancient temples.^[17]

Julian, taking up the cause of the angry Pagans in the west, was raised to the throne during this persecution of Paganism. Although Julian believed that he was restoring the worship of the Gods his policies did more harm than good to the cause of Paganism. Julian was brought up as a Christian, being taught by a Christian tutor, and his ideas concerning religion were therefore based on the intolerance inherent in Christianity. When Julian finally converted to Paganism he became an anomalous sort of Pagan, taking in a large measure the intolerant spirit towards religion that monotheistic religions like Christianity particularly fostered. Julian seems to have believed that Pagans needed to unite themselves into one homogenous militant church modeled upon that of the Christians. He believed that the want of dogmatic teaching seriously crippled Paganism and attempted to organize the priests and other dignitaries of Paganism into one national cult under the supervision of the emperor. Julian organized elaborate rituals and attempted to set forth a clarified philosophy of Neo-Platonism that might unite all Pagans.^[18] Julian was devoted to divination and allowed his subjects to freely practice this art.^[19] If Julian had lived longer his disastrous Pagan policies, even if they had led to the demise of Christianity, would have caused internal dissension throughout the Empire as the numerous numbers of cults and creeds within Paganism competed for dominance.^[20] To his credit, Julian allowed religious freedom and avoided any form of actual compulsion. Even a stanch Christian such as Sozomen is forced to admit that Julian did not compel Christians to offer sacrifice nor did he allow the people to commit any act of injustice towards the Christian or insult them.^[21] Julian did, however, forbid Christian rhetoricians and grammarians to teach unless they consented to worship the Pagan deities.^[22] He probably did this because he knew from experience that they were likely to spread intolerant ideas, ideas that he himself seems to have absorbed. Julian required those who had abandoned the Gods to purify themselves before they were allowed the privilege of taking part in their worship once again. Julian compelled those who had been responsible for the destruction and pillaging of the temples to make restitution.

After the death of Julian, Jovian seems to have instituted a policy of religious toleration which avoided the extremes of Constantius and Julian.^[23] Under Valentinian and Valens this period of religious toleration continued. Pagan writers praise both of these emperors for their liberal religious policies.^[24] Valentinian, who ruled in the west, seems to have only been a halfhearted Christian as he avoided attending his inaugural ceremony by twenty-four hours in order to avoid an inauspicious day (the intercalary day of the bissextile year).^[25] Valentinian and Valens granted complete toleration for all cults at the beginning of their reign in 364.^[26] Valentinian even allowed the performance of nocturnal sacrifices, which had been previously prohibited due to the attempt of some people to practice unlawful divination under the cover of the night, after the proconsul of Greece appealed to him.^[27] Valentinian also confirmed the rights and privileges of the Pagan priests and confirmed the right of Pagans to be the exclusive caretakers of their temples.^[28] Valens, who was ruling in the east, was an Arian and was too engaged with fighting against the Orthodox Christians to bother much with the Pagans. In both the west and east severe laws were once again passed prohibiting private divination.^[29] Due to the over zealousness of the populace to stop harmful divination, the haruspices and augurs began to be afraid to show themselves in public. This led the emperors to formally authorize the practice of official and lawful divination by law in 371.^[30]

Upon the death of his father (Valentinian) in the year 375, Gratian began his actual reign at the age of sixteen. Six days after the death of Valentinian I, Gratian’s half brother, Valentinian II, who was only four years old, was also declared emperor. After the death of Valens, at the battle of Adrianople in 378, Gratian chose a Spaniard named Theodosius to succeed his uncle. Gratian had been educated by Ausonius who had praised his pupil for his tolerance. Upon the death of his father, Gratian came under the influence of Ambrose, the narrow-minded Christian bishop of Milan. Under the influence of this fanatical bishop, the imperial court became wholeheartedly devoted to the repression of Paganism.^[31] The machinations and intrigues of this intolerant conniving man were directly responsible for end of the period of religious tolerance that had existed since the time of Julian.^[32] Ambrose virtually proclaimed a war against Pagans, using his incendiary rhetoric to incite fanaticism in the emperors. Under the manipulation of Ambrose, Gratian dealt Paganism several deadly blows in 382.^[33] In this year, Gratian appropriated the income of the Pagan priests and Vestal Virgins, confiscated the personal possessions of the priestly colleges and ordered the removal of the altar of Victory.^[34] The colleges of Pagan priests also lost all their privileges and immunities. Gratian declared that all of the Pagan temples and shrines were to be confiscated by the government and that their revenues were to be joined to the property of the royal treasury.^[35] The outraged Pagan Senators responded by sending an appeal to Gratian, reminding him that he was still the Pontifex Maximus and that it was his duty to see that the Pagan rites were properly performed. They appealed to Gratian to restore the altar of Victory and the rights and privileges of the Vestal Virgins and priestly colleges. Gratian, at the urging of Ambrose, did not even grant an audience to the Pagan Senators. In response to being reminded by the Pagans that he was still the head of the ancestral religion, Gratian renounced the title and office of Pontifex Maximus under the influence of Ambrose, declaring that it was unsuitable for a Christian to hold this office. Gratian was quickly faced with a revolt from the outraged Pagans who raised a Spaniard named Maximus to the throne because he was more sympathetic to the Pagan cause.

Theodosius, who was reigning in the East, made no attacks upon Paganism during the lifetime of Gratian. Both Theodosius and Valentinian II formally recognized Maximus in the year 384. For a time, the Pagans enjoyed religious liberty once again and many distinguished Pagans rose to important offices in the state.^[36] The fact that the temples continued to be cared for and that Pagan festivals continued to be celebrated is indicated by a law of 386, which declared that care for the temples and festivals were the exclusive prerogative of the Pagans.^[37] This law also confirms the right of the priests to perform the traditional Pagan rites of the temples. In the year 387, Theodosius declared war on Maximus after Maximus had driven Valentinian II out of Italy. Maximus was defeated and executed and the anti-Pagan regulations of Gratian were apparently reinstated by Valentinian II. The emperor Theodosius, who had been reigning in the East, had been relatively tolerant towards Pagans in the early part of his reign.^[38] He is known to have appointed various Pagans to office in the earlier part of his reign. For example, he appointed the Pagan Tatianus as the praetorian prefect of Egypt.^[39] His tolerance for other religions is indicated by his order (in 388) for the reconstruction of a Jewish synagogue at Callicinum in Mesopotamia, which had been destroyed by a fanatical bishop and his Christian flock.^[40]

Only after what is commonly known as the “massacre” of Thessalonica (in 390) was Ambrose able to get Theodosius under his spell. Ambrose accomplished this by excommunicating Theodosius and thereby forcing him to obey him. After the death of Maximus, Valentinian II, under the aegis of Theodosius, once again assumed the office of emperor in the West. Valentinian II quickly fell under the narrow-minded spirit of the Christian bishop Ambrose. In spite of pleas from the Pagans, Valentinian II refused to restore the altar of the statue of Victory and the income to the priesthoods and Vestal Virgins.^[41] In the year 391, Valentinian II issued a law that not only prohibited sacrifices but also forbad anyone from visiting the temples.^[42] This again caused turbulence in the West. Valentinian II quickly followed this law with a second one, which declared that Pagan temples were to be closed, a law that was viewed as practically outlawing Paganism.^[43] The patience of the Pagans was exhausted by Valentinian’s stubborn intolerance and they summarily revolted, with the help of the Frank Arbogast, and proclaimed Eugenius emperor. With the death of Valentinian II, there was a jubilant outburst of Pagan enthusiasm throughout the west. The ancestral religious rites were once again performed openly and the altar of the statue of Victor was restored.^[44] Meanwhile, in the East, Theodosius was informed that he had been excommunicated by the sanctimonious Ambrose shortly after the massacre at Thessalonica in the year 390. Theodosius realized that he had been trapped by the slyness and craftiness of Ambrose. He was now forced to appease Ambrose in order to not alienate himself with his numerous Christian subjects. Theodosius could not satisfy Ambrose until he debased his office by submitting himself to Ambrose and agreeing to do penance. Theodosius’ penance apparently included his promise to adopt a new role as the champion of the Christian faith. In the year 392, Theodosius officially began to proscribe the practice of Paganism. This is apparently the time in which he authorized the destruction of many temples throughout the empire.^[45] Theodosius issued a comprehensive law that prohibited the performance of any type of Pagan sacrifice or worship in any place or any city.^[46] Theodosius even prohibited men from privately honoring their Lares with fire, their Genius with wine or their Penates with incense. Men were even prohibited from such trivial traditions as burning candles or incense and suspending wreaths in honor of the Gods. Theodosius also prohibited the practice of all forms of divination, even those forms of divination that were not harmful to the welfare of the Emperor, with this wide-ranging law. In 393, Theodosius was ready to begin his war against Eugenius and Arbogastes. The battle that ensued became, in essence, a battle for the survival of Paganism.^[47] The defeat of Eugenius by Theodosius in 394 led to the final separation of Paganism from the state. Theodosius visited Rome to attempt to convert the Pagan members of the Senate. Being unsuccessful in this, he angrily withdrew all state funds that had been set aside for the public performance of Pagan rites.^[48] From this point forward, state funds would never again be made available for the public performance of Pagan rites nor for the maintenance of the Pagan temples. Despite this setback on their religion, the Pagans remained outspoken in their demands for toleration.^[49] Many Pagans, sensing how unprofitable it was becoming to not convert to Christianity, simply pretended to convert as an obvious instrument of advancement.

Upon the death of Theodosius, a political crisis ensued, which the barbarians were quick to take advantage of by invading the empire on an unprecedented scale. During this disaster, many Christians became less certain of their religion and converted back to Paganism. Pagans, in their turn, became more aggressive and began to blame the Christians for the disasters affecting the empire.^[50] Despite the pleas of many Pagans for tolerance, Honorius and Arcadius continued the work of their father by enacting even more anti-Pagan laws in an attempt to stop this revival of Paganism. The fact that they had to keep repeating their threats by the enactment of numerous laws against the practice of Paganism indicates that their efforts did not succeed in stamping out the traditional Pagan rites, which continued to be practiced discreetly.^[51] During the early part of the reign of Honorius, Stilicho was able to exercise unlimited power over the west. Stilicho exercised moderation in his religious policies and enacted laws that were favorable to the Pagans. Consequently, during the time in which Stilicho held power, the Pagans enjoyed a brief respite from persecution. In the year 395, Arcadius declared that the solemn days of the Pagans were no longer to be included in the number of holidays.^[52] In the same year, another law was passed by Arcadius that prohibited anyone from going to a Pagan sanctuary or temple or of celebrating any kind of Pagan sacrifice.^[53] This law seems to have been targeted at those Christians who were converting back to Paganism as it specifically mentions “those who are trying to stray from the dogma of the catholic faith.” In the year 396, the privileges of Pagan priests and other clerics were officially revoked.^[54] In the same year, Arcadius ordered that Pagan temples standing in the country were to be destroyed without disorder or riot.^[55] This law seems to indicate that the number of Pagans in the cities was still too large for the Christians to openly destroy the temples that were located there. As a result, zealous Christians had to be content with destroying the Pagan temples that were located in rural areas where they could easily outnumber the Pagan inhabitants. The large number of Pagans in the east also seems to have forced Arcadius into allowing the ancient festivals and public games to continue.^[56] Meanwhile three laws were enacted in the west in the year 399, under the influence of Stilicho, which were relatively favorable to the Pagans. Due to the riots caused by fanatical Christians in their attempts to destroy the temples, the first of these laws protected the Pagan temples from the destruction of zealous Christian who pretended that they had been authorized by the government to destroy them.^[57] The second of these laws acknowledged the right of the people to continue to participate in the traditional banquets, shows, gatherings and amusements associated with the old Pagan religion; it did, however, forbid the public performance of any Pagan rites or sacrifice.^[58] The third law forbade the destruction of Pagan temples that had been cleared of forbidden things and ordered that they were to be kept in good repair.^[59] After the death of Stilicho, Honorius and the intolerant party in the state gained control and harsh laws against Paganism were once again enacted. In the year 408, Honorius enacted a new law which ordered that all statues and altars in the temples were to be removed and that the temple buildings and their income were to be appropriated by the government.^[60] This law also forbade the holding of any Pagan banquet or celebration in vicinity of the temples. The execution of this law was placed in the hands of the bishops. Two other laws decreed that buildings belonging to known Pagans and heretics were to be appropriated by the churches.^[61] Arcadius died in 408 and his eight-year-old son, Theodosius, was thereupon proclaimed emperor in the East. In the same year, Honorius enacted a law that prohibited anyone who was not Catholic from performing imperial service within the palace.^[62] Zosimus reports that Honorius was forced to repeal this law after one of his best officers, who happened to be a Pagan, resigned in protest.^[63] At the beginning of the year 409, Honorius enacted a law that punished judges and officials who did not enforce the laws against the Pagans.^[64] This law even punished men of rank who simply kept silent over any Pagan rite performed in their own city or district. The hopes of the Pagans were revived with the elevation of Attalus, at Rome, in the year 409. Alaric, however, soon tired of his puppet and Attalus was deposed in the summer of 410 when Honorius promised to negotiate a peace treaty. When these negotiations failed, due to the capricious nature of Honorius, Alaric took and sacked the city of Rome. This catastrophe shocked the entire Roman world. Both Christians and Pagans quickly began to blame each other for something that had hitherto been thought impossible. In this heated atmosphere, Honorius once again reiterated his anti-Pagan legislation.^[65]

Pagans could no longer afford to continue ignoring Christianity, as they now believed the fate of the Roman Empire was at stake. The increasing fanaticism and intolerance of the Christians inspired the Pagans to fight for their freedom of thought. There was apparently a large amount of Pagan literature circulating at this time that attributed the decline and demise of the Roman Empire to the Christians. Almost none of this literature has managed to survive, thanks to the fanatical Christians who did their best to destroy all works that disparaged their religion.^[66] There are numerous fragments extant of several Pagan historical works, such as the works of Eunapius and Olympiodorus, which indicate that Pagans were now openly voicing their resentment in writing. Even after the sack of Rome, in the year 410, the Pagans did not lose hope. Pagans believed that the recent decline of Rome had been caused by the neglect of the ancestral traditions. The Pagans still believed, however, that Rome’s future could be improved for the better if the ancient traditions were revived. This hope decreased with the passing years as misfortune after misfortune despoiled the Roman Empire and attempts to revive Paganism were obstructed by the Christians. One by one pieces of the empire were irretrievably lost. The island of Britain was permanently abandoned during the reign of Honorius. Gaul and Spain were gradually lost to various barbarian peoples, such as the Visigoths and Burgundians. Pannonia was abandoned and the Vandals took over Roman Africa.^[67]

Through all this the Pagan reaction seems to have grown increasingly stronger, as the emperors kept on expanding anti-Christian legislation. In the year 415, Honorius enacted yet another law that appropriated the Pagan temples throughout the Roman Empire to the government and ordered that all objects that had been consecrated for Pagan sacrifices were to be removed from public places.^[68] In 416, Honorius and Theodosius II ordered that Pagans would no longer be admitted to imperial service nor would they be allowed to receive the rank of administrator or judge.^[69] In 423, Theodosius II reiterated the previous laws against Pagans and declared that all Pagans who were caught performing the ancient rites would now have all their goods confiscated and be exiled.^[70] In August of the year 423, Honorius died and power was seized in the west by John, who had held the office of Primicerius Notariorum. John appears to have ushered in a period of religious toleration. John seems to have attempted to curb the power of ecclesiastics and the privileges of the church in an attempt to treat all people equally.^[71] In the year 423, Theodosius II published a law that demanded that Christians (whether they were really such or pretended to be so) were not to disturb Pagans who were living peaceably and doing nothing contrary to the law.^[72] In 425, Theodosius II sent an expedition to the west to depose John and establish Valentinian III as emperor of the west. After John was captured and executed, Valentinian III was proclaimed emperor in the city of Rome. While in the west, Theodosius II enacted two anti-Pagan laws in the year 425. The first of these stipulated that all Pagan superstition was to be rooted out.^[73] The second law barred Pagans from pleading a case in court and also disqualified them from serving as soldiers.^[74] Theodosius II then left Valentinian III to rule the west and returned to Constantinople.

The numerous laws against Paganism seemed to have had little effect in stamping out Paganism. Many people simply conformed outwardly and pretended to become Christian while secretly continuing to practice Paganism. The numerous laws against apostasy, that had been continuously promulgated since the time of Gratian and Theodosius, is evidence that the emperors were having a hard time even keeping Christians from going astray.^[75] In the year 426, Theodosius passed yet another law against Christian apostates, who converted to Paganism, and those who pretended to become Christian but in reality continued to perform Pagan sacrifices.^[76] All this legislation proved so ineffective that Theodosius II found it necessary to reiterate his prohibition against Pagan rites and sacrifices in 435, this time increasing the penalty to death.^[77] This law also ordered that all Pagan shrines, temples and sanctuaries that still existed were to be destroyed by the magistrates. Magistrates who failed to carry out this order were ordered to be punished with death. Even the threat of death, however, failed to eradicate Paganism as we find Theodosius legislating again, in 438, against Paganism and forbidding Pagan sacrifice once more.^[78] Theodosius threatens those who fail to comply with death and the confiscation of their property. It will be of interest to quote some of this law, as the Emperor explicitly admits that Pagan sacrifices were still being openly celebrated. We read:

Hence our clemency perceives the need of keeping watch over the Pagans and their heathen enormities, since by natural depravity and stubborn lawlessness, they forsake the path of true religion. They disdain in any way to perform the nefarious rites of sacrifice and the false errors of their baleful superstition by some means or other in the hidden solitudes, unless their crimes are made public by the profession of their crimes to insult divine majesty and to show scorn to our age. Not the thousand terrors of laws already promulgated nor the penalty of exile pronounced upon them deter these men, whereby, if they cannot reform, at least they might learn to abstain from their mass of their crimes and the multitude of their sacrifices. But their insane audacity transgresses continually; our patience is exhausted by their wicked behavior so that if we desired to forget them, we could not disregard them.^[79]

The continued vitality of Paganism led Marcian, who became emperor of the east in 450 upon the death of Theodosius II, to repeat earlier prohibitions against Pagan rites. Marcian decreed, in the year 451, that those who continued to perform the Pagan rites would suffer the confiscation of their property and be condemned to death. Marcian also prohibited any attempt to re-open the temples and ordered that they were to remain closed. In addition to this, in order to encourage strict enforcement of the law a fine of fifty pounds of gold was imposed on any judge or governor, as well as the officials under him, who did not enforce this law.^[80] However, not even this had the desired affect, as we find Leo I, who succeeded Marcian in 457, publishing a new law in 472 which imposed severe penalties for the owner of any property who was aware that Pagan rites were performed on his property. If the property owner was of high rank he was punished by the loss of his rank or office and by the confiscation of his property. If the property owner was of lower status he would be physically tortured and then condemned to labor in the mines for the rest of his life.^[81] Two more laws against Paganism, which may be from this period, are preserved in the Justinian Code.^[82] After the deposition of Avitus, who ruled as emperor of the West from 455 to 456, there seems to have been a conspiracy among the Roman nobles to place the Pagan general Marcellinus on the throne to restore Paganism; but it came to nothing.^[83] In the year 457, Leo I became the first emperor to be crowned by the Patriarch of Constantinople. Anthemius, one of the last Roman emperors of the west who ruled from 467 to 472, seems to have planned a Pagan revival at Rome.^[84] He was a descendant of Procopius, the relative of Julian. Anthemius gave Flavius Messius Phoebus Severus, a Pagan philosopher who was a close friend of his, the important offices of Prefect of Rome, Consul and Patrician. Anthemius placed the image of Hercules, in the act of vanquishing the Nemean lion, on his coins. The murder of Anthemius (by Ricimer) destroyed the hopes of those Pagans who believed that the traditional rites would now be restored.^[85] Shortly thereafter, in 476, the last emperor of Rome was deposed by Odoacer, who became the first barbarian king of Italy. In spite of this disaster, the Pagans made one last attempt to revive the Pagan rites. In 484, the Magister Militum per Orientum, Illus, revolted against Zeno and raised his own candidate, Leontius, to the throne. Leontius hoped to reopen the temples and restore the ancient ceremonies and because of this many Pagans joined in his revolt against Zeno.^[86] Illus and Leontius were compelled, however, to flee to a remote Isaurian fortress, where Zeno besieged them for four years. Zeno finally captured them in 488 and promptly had them executed.^[87] As a result of the revolt, Zeno instituted a harsh persecution of Pagan intellectuals. With the failure of the revolt of Leontius, some Pagans became disillusioned and many simply became Christian, or simply pretended to, in order to avoid persecution.^[88] The failure of their efforts to restore the traditional rites led many Pagans to completely lose confidence in Rome’s future. These men believed that the Roman Empire was now gone and irretrievable. The subjugation of the Roman Empire to Christianity became complete when the emperor Anastasius, who came to the throne in 491, was forced to sign a written declaration of orthodoxy before his coronation.

Main article: Hypathia of Alexandria

A prominent example of this persecution is the case of the philosopher Hypatia of Alexandria. Hypatia was the daughter of the mathematician Theon. She was one of the most learned individuals of her time. She taught and elucidated Greek mathematics and philosophy. She lectured widely in Athens and Alexandria. But her widespread popularity and intelligence, coupled with her complete lack of interest in Christianity, so irritated the Patriarch of Alexandria, Cyril, that his attacks on her inflamed a group of monks to murder her in the year 415. The cruelty of the method of her murder can be seen by the description of it by the historian Edward Gibbon:

"On a fatal day, in the holy season of Lent, Hypatia was torn from her chariot, stripped naked, dragged to the church, and inhumanly butchered by the hands of Peter the Reader and a troop of savage and merciless fanatics; her flesh was scrapped from her bones with sharp oyster shells, and her quivering limbs were delivered to the flames. The just progress of inquiry and punishment was stopped by seasonable gifts; but the murder of Hypatia has imprinted an indelible strain on the character and religion of Cyril of Alexandria."

It should be mentioned that, because of his relentless defense of orthodoxy Cyril is considered a saint by the Christian church, despite his persecutions.