Spätantiker Staat und religiöser Konflikt: Imperiale und lokale Verwaltung und die Gewalt gegen Heiligtümer (review)

How did the persecuted become the persecutors? Scholarly debate over Christian persecution of “pagans” has intensified in the last forty years. This volume under review is composed of an introduction by the editor and eight articles (six in German and two in English) by scholars on the state’s role in violence against temples and shrines in late antiquity (especially the third through the middle of the fifth century) at both the local and imperial levels. These contributions developed out of a 2005 conference in Münster as part of the research project Kampf um Kultstätten. Sakraler Ort und religiöser Konflikt supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.

Johannes Hahn in the introduction (“Spätantiker Staat und religiöser Konflikt—Einleitende Bemerkungen”) provides a lucid overview of the scholarly debate and of the present contributions. Martin Wallraff examines “Die antipagane Maßnahmen Konstantins in der Darstellung des Euseb von Kaisareia” (“The Anti-Pagan Measures of Constantine in the Portrayal of Eusebius of Caesarea”).This interesting contribution, supported by excellent use of primary sources, reminds the reader to read Eusebius’s description of Constantine’s antipagan measures—such as his alleged law ending sacrifice—with care. Frank R. Trombley turns to “The Imperial Cult in Late Roman Religion (ca.A.D. 244–395): Observations on the Epigraphy” and examines the continuity of the imperial cult up through 395, including the burning of incense at altars under Theodosius I. Giorgio Bonamente examines “Einziehung und Nutzung von Tempelgut durch Staat und Stadt in der Spätantike” (“The Confiscation and Use of Temple Property by the State and City in Late Antiquity”) in a well-documented study and analyzes Constantine’s motivations for the liquidation of temple property as well as later such confiscations through 435. In a dynamically written contribution with close attention to sources, Eckhard Meyer-Zwiffelhoffer analyzes the role of provincial governors in the suppression of pagan cults (“Mala desidia iudicum? Zur Rolle der Provinzstatthalter bei der Unterdrückung paganer Kulte [von Constantin bis Theodosius II.”]) and concludes that governors often played no active role because of their sensitivity to local elites. Ulrich Gotter turns to the role of the Roman Empire in religious violence (“Zwischen Christentum und Staatsraison. Römisches Imperium und religiöse Gewalt”) and argues that the Christianization of the empire contributed to the use of violence at the local level. In “Für die Tempel? Die Gewalt gegen heidnische Heiligtümer aus der Sicht städtischer Eliten des spätrömischen Ostens,” Hans-Ulrich Wiemer presents a thorough study of Libanius’ oration in defense of the temples (Or. 30). Bryan Ward-Perkins explores archaeological evidence for the end of Roman paganism (“The End of the Temple: An Archaeological Problem”) and concludes that this approach is problematic and the window of time is too narrow for effective analysis. In “Gesetze als Waffe? Die kaiserliche Religionspolitik und die Zerstörung der Tempel” Johannes Hahn concludes the volume with an analysis of legal sources for imperial policy toward religion and the destruction of temples (especially the constitutions preserved in CTh 16.10) and ultimately argues that the context of the early-fifth century influenced the compilers of the Theodosian Code in the way they edited and compressed laws to fit the headings in the code.

The volume presents some very interesting studies that should provoke discussion over our understanding of the nature of state and religious relations in late antiquity (although it looks like little was added to the contributions since the 2005 conference). Each contribution has its own bibliography. The volume as a whole has a select index of names, places, and topics as well as a source index. This work should be intriguing to audiences interested in late-antique politics...