The First Missionary War, Chapter 7
by Michael Routery
previous chapter - table of contents - next chapter
The Sack of Rome
In 410, the culminating event, that shattered the remains of the old pagan ways in the ancient capital, occurred with the capture and pillaging of Rome by the Visigothic chief, Alaric. Many said that the Gods were finally punishing the city for the abandoning of their worship. While Alaric's forces laid siege to the city, the Etruscans, apparently still keeping their old traditions, suggested that the prefect undertake certain conjuring rituals which they said had saved the city of Narni. To work, it was said, that such rites had to be official, paid for by the government and be participated in by the Senate. The prefect was tempted but felt compelled to consult with the pope, who said he would go along with it if they took place in secret, which brought the plans to an end. Perhaps the pope wasn't completely confident in his own God. At any rate Alaric entered the city but died, shortly afterwards, supposedly buried in a temporarily diverted river bed, in Calabria, along with the golden horde he had looted from the city. Afterwards there was a brief relaxation against the anti-pagan laws and the pagan 'colleges' were allowed to return including the dancers of Cybele as well as diviners and fortune-tellers. But by 415 the laws were back in force; and in 416 pagans were forbidden from the military, from the administration and from the judiciary. Over-all, the old culture was shattered and many ancient senatorial families finally converted.32 The western empire was rapidly crumbling, cities were nearly abandoned and in this vacuum, the pope, i.e. the bishop of Rome, was asserting himself, more and more, as a direct political force in Italy.
Around this time a law was passed finally challenging the festivals and the games that were so at the center of Greco-Roman social life. In Rome, the festivals were celebrated with games that included horse and chariot races, theatrical productions and banquets, as well as, the brutal gladiatorial fights. The Games had been instituted in the desire to foster Life, the bounties of nature invoked for both the private individual and the city. Just to give an idea of how important they were in Rome, almost the entire of month of April was dedicated to games, first the Megalensian games to honor Cybele from April 4 through the 10th, then the Ludi Ceriales, in honor of Ceres the grain goddess from April 12 to the 19th, and then the Floralia, dedicated to Flora, the flower goddess, who was a patroness of prostitutes, from April 28 to May 3rd, a time said to be marked with especial 'licentiousness'. In July, there were week-long games dedicated to Apollo and the Sun. The Roman Games were celebrated from September 4th to the 19th and were dedicated to the sky father, Jupiter. In early November, the Plebeian games were celebrated, also, dedicated with a great feast to Jupiter. In December the Saturnalia took place, dedicated to Saturn, a deity, originally, associated with the sowing of winter grain but celebrated with a carnivalesque topsy turvy setting aside of social rules, where slaves were served by their masters and a Lord Of Misrule was elected. It was also a time of gift exchange which would be incorporated into Christmas.
To destroy the festival games, the financing of the temples was banned along with the seizing of their properties and assets, thereby eliminating the ability to finance the festivals. This law gave the bishops the power to stop 'any kind of pagan celebration' and to 'prevent these practices'. In Gaul, Bishop Maurilius of Angers set fire to a forest where the people met to celebrate a week-long 'bacchanalian' festivity.33 The banquets were also banned. Rites retreated into private homes. Excavations in Rome have revealed a house where pagans gathered to celebrate nighttime banquets in honor of Dionysus, Sabazius, Venus, Hecate and other deities. At some point the house had been abandoned after being attacked by Christian vigilantes.34 The Olympic games were also included in the bans for they also had their roots in sacred festivities. The festivals died with difficulty and in several cases the Church was forced to appropriate them and Christianize them where it proved impossible to root them out. In 434, Leontius, a prefect of Constantinople attempted to continue the Olympic games across the Bosporus from the capital, but, he met with furious opposition, in the person of the abbot of a monastery, in the vicinity, by the name of Hypatius. This was the same abbot who lead his monks around the countryside cutting down the holy groves in the rural sanctuaries of Bithynia along the mountainous Black Sea coast. But the fanatic monks couldn't hope to cut down every tree in this deeply forested area where rural people reverenced trees, and even today the area is still called the Sea of Trees and tree honoring continues under a Muslim veneer. An edict in 435 ordered the destruction of any remaining temples; its interesting that significant numbers remained. By the end of the century 'inquisitors' were still finding some.
Notes to this chapter
32. Chuvin
33. Turcan, p.326
34. Ibid.
previous chapter - table of contents - next chapter