Theodosius Bans Pagan Worship

In 391 and 392 AD, the Roman emperor Theodosius I issued a series of laws that banned traditional pagan sacrifices and worship across the empire. A decade earlier, in 380 AD, he had declared Nicene Christianity the official religion of the Roman state. The new laws went much further. They forbade sacrifices, visiting pagan temples and worshipping statues of the old gods, both in public and in private homes, and imposed heavy penalties on those who broke them. The decrees marked a turning point in the history of Greece and the Roman world. The worship of the Olympian gods, which had shaped Greek life for well over a thousand years, was now illegal. Many temples were closed, and some were destroyed by zealous Christians, including the great Serapeum in Alexandria in 391 AD. Others were later converted into churches, which helped preserve buildings such as the Parthenon and the Temple of Hephaestus in Athens. Pagan beliefs and practices did not disappear overnight, especially in rural areas, but Christianity became the dominant faith.