THEODOSIUS I the Great with globe & Labarum 379AD Rare Ancient Roman Coin i55115

Bronze AE2 21mm (5.70 grams) Antioch mint: 379-395 A.D.
Reference: RIC 68a (Antiochia), C 18
 DNTHEODOSIVSPFAVG – Diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right.
 GLORIAROMANORVM Exe: ANT – Theodosius I standing, facing, holding labarum
and globe.

You are bidding on the exact item pictured,

Authenticity.

Royal/Imperial symbols of power

Ruling dynasties often exploit pomp and ceremony with the use of
regalia
:
crowns
,

robes,
orb (globe) and sceptres
, some of which are
reflections of formerly practical objects. The use of language mechanisms also
support this differentiation with subjects talking of "the crown" and/or of "the
throne
" rather than referring directly to
personal names and items.

Labarum of Constantine I, displaying the "Chi-Rho" symbol above.

The labarum  was a
vexillum
(military standard) that displayed
the "Chi-Rho"
symbol
☧
, formed from the first two
Greek letters
of the word "Christ" 
—
Chi
and
Rho
. It was first used by the
Roman emperor

Constantine I
. Since the vexillum consisted of
a flag suspended from the crossbar of a cross, it was ideally suited to
symbolize the
crucifixion
of
Christ
.

Later usage has sometimes regarded the terms "labarum" and "Chi-Rho" as
synonyms. Ancient sources, however, draw an unambiguous distinction between the
two.

Etymology

Beyond its derivation from Latin labarum, the etymology of the word is
unclear. Some derive it from Latin /labāre/ ‘to totter, to waver’ (in the sense
of the "waving" of a flag in the breeze) or laureum [vexillum] ("laurel
standard"). According to the
Real Academia Española
, the related
lábaro
is also derived from Latin labărum
but offers no further derivation from within Latin, as does the Oxford English
Dictionary.^[5]
An origin as a loan into Latin from a Celtic language or
Basque
has also been postulated. There is a
traditional Basque symbol called the
lauburu
; though the name is only attested from
the 19th century onwards the motif occurs in engravings dating as early as the
2nd century AD.

Vision of Constantine

A coin of Constantine (c.337) showing a depiction of his labarum
spearing a serpent.

On the evening of October 27, 312, with his army preparing for the
Battle of the Milvian Bridge
, the emperor
Constantine I
claimed to have had a vision
which led him to believe he was fighting under the protection of the
Christian God
.

Lactantius
states that, in the night before the
battle, Constantine was commanded in a dream to "delineate the heavenly sign on
the shields of his soldiers". He obeyed and marked the shields with a sign
"denoting Christ". Lactantius describes that sign as a "staurogram", or a
Latin cross
with its upper end rounded in a
P-like fashion, rather than the better known
Chi-Rho
sign described by
Eusebius of Caesarea
. Thus, it had both the
form of a cross and the monogram of Christ’s name from the formed letters "X"
and "P", the first letters of Christ’s name in Greek.

From Eusebius, two accounts of a battle survive. The first, shorter one in
the
Ecclesiastical History
leaves no doubt that
God helped Constantine but doesn’t mention any vision. In his later Life of
Constantine, Eusebius gives a detailed account of a vision and stresses that
he had heard the story from the emperor himself. According to this version,
Constantine with his army was marching somewhere (Eusebius doesn’t specify the
actual location of the event, but it clearly isn’t in the camp at Rome) when he
looked up to the sun and saw a cross of light above it, and with it the Greek
words
Ἐν Τούτῳ Νίκα
. The traditionally employed
Latin translation of the Greek is
in hoc signo vinces
— literally "In this
sign, you will conquer." However, a direct translation from the original Greek
text of Eusebius into English gives the phrase "By this, conquer!"

At first he was unsure of the meaning of the apparition, but the following
night he had a dream in which Christ explained to him that he should use the
sign against his enemies. Eusebius then continues to describe the labarum, the
military standard used by Constantine in his later wars against
Licinius
, showing the Chi-Rho sign.

Those two accounts can hardly be reconciled with each other, though they have
been merged in popular notion into Constantine seeing the Chi-Rho sign on the
evening before the battle. Both authors agree that the sign was not readily
understandable as denoting Christ, which corresponds with the fact that there is
no certain evidence of the use of the letters chi and rho as a Christian sign
before Constantine. Its first appearance is on a Constantinian silver coin from
c. 317, which proves that Constantine did use the sign at that time, though not
very prominently. He made extensive use of the Chi-Rho and the labarum only
later in the conflict with Licinius.

The vision has been interpreted in a solar context (e.g. as a
solar halo
phenomenon), which would have been
reshaped to fit with the Christian beliefs of the later Constantine.

An alternate explanation of the intersecting celestial symbol has been
advanced by George Latura, which claims that Plato’s visible god in Timaeus
is in fact the intersection of the Milky Way and the Zodiacal Light, a rare
apparition important to pagan beliefs that Christian bishops reinvented as a
Christian symbol.

Eusebius’ description of the labarum

"A Description of the Standard of the Cross, which the Romans now call the
Labarum." "Now it was made in the following manner. A long spear, overlaid with
gold, formed the figure of the cross by means of a transverse bar laid over it.
On the top of the whole was fixed a wreath of gold and precious stones; and
within this, the symbol of the Saviour’s name, two letters indicating the name
of Christ by means of its initial characters, the letter P being intersected by
X in its centre: and these letters the emperor was in the habit of wearing on
his helmet at a later period. From the cross-bar of the spear was suspended a
cloth, a royal piece, covered with a profuse embroidery of most brilliant
precious stones; and which, being also richly interlaced with gold, presented an
indescribable degree of beauty to the beholder. This banner was of a square
form, and the upright staff, whose lower section was of great length, of the
pious emperor and his children on its upper part, beneath the trophy of the
cross, and immediately above the embroidered banner."

"The emperor constantly made use of this sign of salvation as a safeguard
against every adverse and hostile power, and commanded that others similar to it
should be carried at the head of all his armies."

Iconographic career under Constantine

Coin of
Vetranio
, a soldier is holding two
labara. Interestingly they differ from the labarum of Constantine in
having the Chi-Rho depicted on the cloth rather than above it, and
in having their staves decorated with
phalerae
as were earlier Roman
military unit standards.

The emperor
Honorius
holding a variant of the
labarum – the Latin phrase on the cloth means "In the name of Christ
[rendered by the Greek letters XPI] be ever victorious."

Among a number of standards depicted on the
Arch of Constantine
, which was erected, largely
with fragments from older monuments, just three years after the battle, the
labarum does not appear. A grand opportunity for just the kind of political
propaganda that the Arch otherwise was expressly built to present was missed.
That is if Eusebius’ oath-confirmed account of Constantine’s sudden,
vision-induced, conversion can be trusted. Many historians have argued that in
the early years after the battle the emperor had not yet decided to give clear
public support to Christianity, whether from a lack of personal faith or because
of fear of religious friction. The arch’s inscription does say that the Emperor
had saved the
res publica
INSTINCTV DIVINITATIS
MENTIS MAGNITVDINE ("by greatness of mind and by instinct [or impulse]
of divinity"). As with his predecessors, sun symbolism – interpreted as
representing
Sol Invictus
(the Unconquered Sun) or
Helios
,
Apollo
or
Mithras
– is inscribed on his coinage, but in
325 and thereafter the coinage ceases to be explicitly pagan, and Sol Invictus
disappears. In his
Historia Ecclesiae
Eusebius further reports
that, after his victorious entry into Rome, Constantine had a statue of himself
erected, "holding the sign of the Savior [the cross] in his right hand." There
are no other reports to confirm such a monument.

Whether Constantine was the first
Christian
emperor supporting a peaceful
transition to Christianity during his rule, or an undecided pagan believer until
middle age, strongly influenced in his political-religious decisions by his
Christian mother
St. Helena
, is still in dispute among
historians.

As for the labarum itself, there is little evidence for its use before 317.In
the course of Constantine’s second war against Licinius in 324, the latter
developed a superstitious dread of Constantine’s standard. During the attack of
Constantine’s troops at the
Battle of Adrianople
the guard of the labarum
standard were directed to move it to any part of the field where his soldiers
seemed to be faltering. The appearance of this talismanic object appeared to
embolden Constantine’s troops and dismay those of Licinius.At the final battle
of the war, the
Battle of Chrysopolis
, Licinius, though
prominently displaying the images of Rome’s pagan pantheon on his own battle
line, forbade his troops from actively attacking the labarum, or even looking at
it directly.^[16]

Constantine felt that both Licinius and
Arius
were agents of Satan, and associated them
with the serpent described in the
Book of Revelation
(12:9).
Constantine represented Licinius as a snake on his coins.

Eusebius stated that in addition to the singular labarum of Constantine,
other similar standards (labara) were issued to the Roman army. This is
confirmed by the two labara depicted being held by a soldier on a coin of
Vetranio
(illustrated) dating from 350.

Later usage

Modern ecclesiastical labara (Southern Germany).

The emperor
Constantine Monomachos
(centre
panel of a Byzantine enamelled crown) holding a miniature labarum

The Chi Rho is one of the earliest

christograms

used by Christians. It is formed by superimposing the

first two letters in the Greek spelling of the word

Christ

(

Greek

 : "Χριστός" ), chi = ch and rho = r, in such a way to produce

the monogram

☧. The Chi-Rho symbol was also used by pagan Greek scribes to

mark, in the margin, a particularly valuable or relevant passage; the

combined

letters Chi and Rho standing for chrēston, meaning "good." Although not technically a cross, the Chi Rho invokes the crucifixion

of Jesus as well as symbolizing his status as the Christ. There is early

evidence of the Chi Rho symbol on Christian Rings of the third century.

The labarum (Greek:

λάβαρον) was a

(military standard) that displayed the "Chi-Rho"

symbol, formed from the first two

Greek letters

of the word "Christ"

(Greek:

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ, or Χριστός) — Chi (χ)

and Rho (ρ).

It was first used by the

Roman emperor

Constantine I

. Since the vexillum consisted of a flag suspended from

the crossbar of a cross, it was ideally suited to symbolize

crucifixion

. The Chi-Rho symbol was also used by Greek scribes to

mark, in the margin, a particularly valuable or relevant passage; the

combined letters Chi and Rho standing for chrēston, meaning

"good."

Flavius Theodosius ( 11 January 347 – 17 January 395),

also called Theodosius I and Theodosius the Great (Greek:

Θεοδόσιος Α΄ and Θεοδόσιος ο Μέγας), was

Roman

Emperor
from 379 to 395. Reuniting the eastern and western portions of the

empire, Theodosius was the last emperor of both the

Eastern

and

Western Roman Empire

. After his death, the two parts split permanently. He

is also known for making

Nicene

Christianity the official

state religion

of the Roman Empire.

 Career

Theodosius was born in

Cauca
, in

Hispania

(modern day

Coca
,

Spain
) or, more

probably, in or near

Italica
(Seville)^[2],

to a senior military officer,

Theodosius the Elder

.

He accompanied his father to

Britannia

to help quell the

Great Conspiracy

in 368. He was military commander (dux)

of Moesia
, a

Roman province on the lower

Danube
, in 374.

However, shortly thereafter, and at about the same time as the sudden disgrace

and execution of his father, Theodosius retired to Spain. The reason for his

retirement, and the relationship (if any) between it and his father’s death is

unclear. It is possible that he was dismissed from his command by the emperor

Valentinian I

after the loss of two of Theodosius’ legions to the

Sarmatians

in late 374.

The death of Valentinian I in 375 created political

pandemonium. Fearing further persecution on account of his family ties,

Theodosius abruptly retired to his family estates where he adapted to the life

of a provincial aristocrat.

From 364 to 375, the Roman Empire was governed by two

co-emperors, the brothers

Valentinian I

and

Valens
; when

Valentinian died in 375, his sons,

Valentinian II

and

Gratian
,

succeeded him as rulers of the Western Roman Empire. In 378, after

Valens
was

killed in the

Battle of Adrianople

, Gratian appointed Theodosius to replace the fallen

emperor as co-augustus for the East. Gratian was killed in a rebellion in

383, then Theodosius appointed his elder son,

Arcadius
,

his co-ruler for the East. After the death in 392 of Valentinian II, whom

Theodosius had supported against a variety of usurpations, Theodosius ruled as

sole emperor, appointing his younger son

Honorius

Augustus as his co-ruler for the West (Milan,

on 23 January 393) and defeating the usurper

Eugenius
on

6 September 394, at the

Battle of the Frigidus

(Vipava

river, modern Slovenia

) he restored peace.

 Family

By his first wife, the probably Spanish

Aelia Flaccilla

Augusta, he had two sons,

Arcadius

and

Honorius

and a daughter, Aelia

Pulcheria

; Arcadius was his heir in the East and Honorius in the West. Both

Aelia Flaccilla and Pulcheria died in 385.

His second wife (but never declared Augusta) was

Galla

, daughter of the emperor

Valentinian I

and his second wife

Justina

. Theodosius and Galla had a son Gratian, born in 388 who died young

and a daughter Aelia

Galla Placidia

(392–450). Placidia was the only child who survived to

adulthood and later became an Empress; a third child, John, died with his mother

in childbirth in 394.

 Diplomatic

policy with the Goths

The

Goths
and their

allies (Vandali,

Taifalae
,

Bastarnae

and the native

Carpi

) entrenched in the

provinces

of Dacia
and

eastern Pannonia Inferior

consumed Theodosious’ attention. The Gothic crisis was so

dire that his co-Emperor Gratian relinquished control of the

Illyrian

provinces and retired to

Trier
in

Gaul to let

Theodosius operate without hindrance. A major weakness in the Roman position

after the defeat at

Adrianople

was the recruiting of

barbarians

to fight against other barbarians. In order to reconstruct the Roman Army of the

West, Theodosius needed to find able bodied soldiers and so he turned to the

most capable men readily to hand: the barbarians recently settled in the Empire.

This caused many difficulties in the battle against barbarians since the newly

recruited fighters had little or no loyalty to Theodosius.

Theodosius was reduced to the costly expedient of shipping

his recruits to Egypt

and replacing them with more seasoned Romans, but there were still switches of

allegiance that resulted in military setbacks. Gratian sent generals to clear

the dioceses

of Illyria (Pannonia

and

Dalmatia

) of Goths, and Theodosius was able finally to enter

Constantinople

on 24 November 380, after two seasons in the field. The final

treaties with the remaining Gothic forces, signed 3 October 382, permitted large

contingents of primarily

Thervingian

Goths to settle along the southern

Danube
frontier

in the province

of Thrace
and

largely govern themselves.

The Goths now settled within the Empire had, as a result of

the treaties, military obligations to fight for the Romans as a national

contingent, as opposed to being fully integrated into the Roman forces.

However, many Goths would serve in Roman legions and others, as

foederati
,

for a single campaign, while bands of Goths switching loyalties became a

destabilizing factor in the internal struggles for control of the Empire.

In 390 the population of Thessalonica rioted in complaint

against the presence of the local Gothic garrison. The

garrison commander

was killed in the violence, so

Theodosius ordered the Goths to kill all the spectators in the circus as

retaliation

;

Theodoret
,

a contemporary witness to these events, reports:

the anger of the Emperor rose to the highest pitch, and

he gratified his vindictive desire for vengeance by unsheathing the sword

most unjustly and tyrannically against all, slaying the innocent and guilty

alike. It is said seven thousand perished without any forms of law, and

without even having judicial sentence passed upon them; but that, like ears

of wheat in the time of harvest, they were alike cut down.

In the last years of Theodosius’ reign, one of the emerging

leaders of the Goths, named

Alaric
,

participated in Theodosius’ campaign against

Eugenius
in

394, only to resume his rebellious behavior against Theodosius’ son and eastern

successor, Arcadius

, shortly after Theodosius’ death.

 Civil

wars in the Empire

After the death of

Gratian
in

383, Theodosius’ interests turned to the

Western Roman Empire

, for the usurper

Magnus Maximus

had taken all the provinces of the West except for Italy.

This self-proclaimed threat was hostile to Theodosius’ interests, since the

reigning emperor

Valentinian II

, Maximus’ enemy, was his ally. Theodosius, however, was

unable to do much about Maximus due to his still inadequate military capability

and he was forced to keep his attention on local matters. However when Maximus

began an invasion of Italy in 387, Theodosius was forced to take action. The

armies of Theodosius and Maximus met in 388 at Poetovio and Maximus was

defeated. On 28 August 388 Maximus was executed.

Trouble arose again, after Valentinian was found hanging in

his room. It was claimed to be a suicide by the

,

Arbogast

. Arbogast, unable to assume the role of emperor, elected

Eugenius
, a

former teacher of rhetoric. Eugenius started a program of restoration of the

Pagan

faith, and sought, in vain, Theodosius’ recognition. In January 393, Theodosius

gave his son

Honorius

the full rank of Augustus in the West, citing Eugenius’

illegitimacy.

Theodosius campaigned against Eugenius. The two armies faced

at the

Battle of Frigidus

in September 394.

The battle began on 5 September 394 with Theodosius’ full frontal assault on

Eugenius’ forces. Theodosius was repulsed and Eugenius thought the battle to be

all but over. In Theodosius’ camp the loss of the day decreased morale. It is

said that Theodosius was visited by two "heavenly riders all in white"

who gave him courage. The next day, the battle began again and Theodosius’

forces were aided by a natural phenomenon known as the

Bora
,

which produces cyclonic winds. The Bora blew directly against the forces of

Eugenius and disrupted the line.

Eugenius’ camp was stormed and Eugenius was captured and soon

after executed. Thus Theodosius became the only emperor.

 Art

patronage

Theodosius oversaw the removal in 390 of an Egyptian

obelisk
from

Alexandria to Constantinople. It is now known as the

obelisk of Theodosius

and still stands in the

Hippodrome

, the long

racetrack

that was the center of Constantinople’s public life and scene of

political turmoil. Re-erecting the monolith was a challenge for the technology

that had been honed in the construction of

siege

engines
. The obelisk, still recognizably a

solar symbol
,

had been moved from Karnak

to

Alexandria

with what is now the

Lateran obelisk

by

Constantius II

). The Lateran obelisk was shipped to Rome soon afterwards,

but the other one then spent a generation lying at the docks due to the

difficulty involved in attempting to ship it to Constantinople. Eventually, the

obelisk was cracked in transit. The white

marble
base is

entirely covered with

bas-reliefs

documenting the Imperial household and the engineering feat of

removing it to Constantinople. Theodosius and the imperial family are separated

from the nobles among the spectators in the

Imperial box

with a cover over them as a mark of their status. The

naturalism of traditional Roman art in such scenes gave way in these reliefs to

conceptual art

: the idea of order, decorum and respective ranking,

expressed in serried ranks of faces. This is seen as evidence of formal themes

beginning to oust the transitory details of mundane life, celebrated in Pagan

portraiture
.

Christianity had only just been adopted as the new state religion.

The Forum Tauri in Constantinople was renamed and redecorated

as the

Forum of Theodosius

, including a

column

and a

triumphal arch

in his honour.

 Nicene

Christianity becomes the state religion

Theodosius promoted Nicene Trinitarianism within Christianity

and Christianity within the Empire. On 27 February 380, he declared "Catholic

Christianity" the only legitimate imperial religion, ending state support for

the traditional Roman religion.

 Nicene

Creed

In the 4th century, the

Christian Church

was wracked with controversy over the divinity of

Jesus

Christ
, his

relationship to God

the Father, and the nature of the

Trinity
. In

325, Constantine I

convened the

Council of Nicea

, which asserted that Jesus, the Son, was equal to the

Father, one with the Father, and of the same substance (homoousios in

Greek). The council condemned the teachings of the theologian

Arius
: that the

Son was a created being and inferior to God the Father, and that the Father and

Son were of a similar substance (homoiousios in Greek) but not identical

(see

Nontrinitarian

). Despite the council’s ruling, controversy continued. By the

time of Theodosius’ accession, there were still several different church

factions that promoted alternative

Christology

.

 Arians

While no mainstream churchmen within the Empire explicitly

adhered to Arius

(a presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt) or his teachings, there were those who

still used the homoiousios formula, as well as those who attempted to

bypass the debate by merely saying that Jesus was like (homoios in Greek)

God the Father, without speaking of substance (ousia). All these non-Nicenes

were frequently labeled as

Arians

(i.e., followers of Arius) by their opponents, though they would not

have identified themselves as such.

The Emperor Valens had favored the group who used the

homoios formula; this

theology

was prominent in much of the East and had under the sons of Constantine the

Great gained a foothold in the West. Theodosius, on the other hand, cleaved

closely to the

Nicene

Creed
which was the interpretation that predominated in the West and was

held by the important

Alexandrian church

.

 Establishment

of Nicene Orthodoxy

On 26 November 380, two days after he had arrived in

Constantinople, Theodosius expelled the non-Nicene bishop,

Demophilus of Constantinople

, and appointed

Meletius

patriarch of Antioch, and

Gregory of Nazianzus

, one of the

Cappadocian Fathers

from

Antioch

(today in Turkey), patriarch of Constantinople. Theodosius had just been

baptized, by bishop

Acholius of Thessalonica

, during a severe illness, as was common in the

early Christian world.

On 27 February 380 he,

Gratian
and

Valentinian II

published an edict in order that all their subjects should

profess the faith of the bishops of Rome and Alexandria (i.e., the Nicene

faith). The move was mainly a thrust at the various beliefs that had arisen out

of Arianism, but smaller dissident sects, such as the

Macedonians

, were also prohibited. The exact text of this decree, gathered

in the Codex Theodosianus XVI.1.2, was:

It is our desire that all the various nations which

are subject to our Clemency and Moderation, should continue to profess that

religion which was delivered to the Romans by the divine Apostle Peter, as

it has been preserved by faithful tradition, and which is now professed by

the Pontiff Damasus and by Peter, Bishop of Alexandria, a man of apostolic

holiness. According to the apostolic teaching and the doctrine of the

Gospel, let us believe in the one deity of the Father, the Son and the Holy

Spirit, in equal majesty and in a holy Trinity. We authorize the

followers of this law to assume the title of Catholic Christians; but as

for the others, since, in our judgment they are foolish madmen, we decree

that they shall be branded with the ignominious name of heretics, and shall

not presume to give to their conventicles the name of churches. They will

suffer in the first place the chastisement of the divine condemnation and in

the second the punishment of our authority which in accordance with the will

of Heaven we shall decide to inflict.

(Henry

Bettenson, Documents of the Christian Church, Oxford University

Press, 1967, 2nd. (1st. 1943), p. 22).

In May 381, Theodosius summoned a new ecumenical council at

Constantinople (see

First Council of Constantinople

) to repair the schism between East and West

on the basis of Nicean orthodoxy.

"The council went on to define orthodoxy, including the mysterious Third Person

of the Trinity, the Holy Ghost who, though equal to the Father, ‘proceeded’ from

Him, whereas the Son was ‘begotten’ of Him."

The council also "condemned the Apollonian and Macedonian heresies, clarified

church jurisdictions according to the civil boundaries of dioceses and ruled

that Constantinople was second in precedence to Rome."

With the

death of Valens

, the Arians’ protector, his defeat probably damaged the

standing of the Homoian faction.

 Conflicts

with Pagans during the reign of Theodosius I

 Death

of Western Roman Emperor Valentinian II

On 15 May 392,

Valentinian II

was found hanged in his residence in the town of

Vienne
in

Gaul. The Frankish

soldier and Pagan

Arbogast

, Valentinian’s protector and

magister militum

, maintained that it was suicide. Arbogast and Valentinian

had frequently disputed rulership over the Western Roman Empire, and Valentinian

was also noted to have complained of Arbogast’s control over him to Theodosius.

Thus when word of his death reached Constantinople Theodosius believed, or at

least suspected, that Arbogast was lying and that he had engineered

Valentinian’s demise. These suspicions were further fueled by Arbogast’s

elevation of a Eugenius

, pagan official to the position of Western Emperor, and the veiled

accusations which Ambrose

, the Bishop of Milan, spoke during his funeral oration for

Valentinian.

Valentinian II’s death sparked a civil war between Eugenius

and Theodosius over the rulership of the west in the

Battle of the Frigidus

. The resultant eastern victory there led to the final

brief unification of the Roman Empire under Theodosius, and the ultimate

irreparable division of the empire after his death.

 Proscription

of Paganism

For the first part of his rule, Theodosius seems to have

ignored the semi-official standing of the Christian bishops; in fact he had

voiced his support for the preservation of temples or pagan statues as useful

public buildings. In his early reign, Theodosius was fairly tolerant of the

pagans, for he needed the support of the influential pagan ruling class. However

he would in time stamp out the last vestiges of paganism with great severity.

His first attempt to inhibit paganism was in 381 when he reiterated

Constantine’s ban on sacrifice. In 384 he prohibited

haruspicy

on pain of death

, and unlike earlier anti-pagan prohibitions, he made

non-enforcement of the law, by Magistrates, into a crime itself.

In 388 he sent a prefect to Syria, Egypt, and Asia Minor with

the aim of breaking up pagan associations and the destruction of their temples.

The

Serapeum

at Alexandria was destroyed during this campaign.

In a series of decrees called the "Theodosian decrees" he progressively declared

that those Pagan feasts that had not yet been rendered Christian ones were now

to be workdays (in 389). In 391, he reiterated the ban of

blood sacrifice

and decreed "no one is to go to the sanctuaries, walk

through the temples, or raise his eyes to statues created by the labor of man".

The temples that were thus closed could be declared "abandoned", as Bishop

Theophilus of Alexandria

immediately noted in applying for permission to

demolish a site and cover it with a Christian church, an act that must have

received general sanction, for

forming crypts of churches, and temples forming the foundations

of 5th century churches appear throughout the former Roman Empire. Theodosius

participated in actions by Christians against major Pagan sites: the destruction

of the gigantic Serapeum

of Alexandria by soldiers and local Christian citizens in 392,

according to the Christian sources authorized by Theodosius (extirpium malum),

needs to be seen against a complicated background of less spectacular violence

in the city:

Eusebius

mentions street-fighting in Alexandria between Christians and

non-Christians as early as 249, and non-Christians had participated in the

struggles for and against

Athanasius

in 341 and 356. "In 363 they killed
Bishop George for repeated acts of pointed outrage, insult, and pillage of the
most sacred treasures of the city."

By decree in 391, Theodosius ended the subsidies that had

still trickled to some remnants of Greco-Roman civic Paganism too. The

eternal fire

in the Temple of

Vesta

in the

Roman

Forum
was extinguished, and the

Vestal Virgins

were disbanded. Taking the

auspices

and practicing

witchcraft

were to be punished. Pagan members of the

Senate

in Rome appealed to him to restore the

Altar of Victory

in the Senate House; he refused. After the last

Olympic Games

in 393, it is believed that Theodosius cancelled the games

although there is no proof of that in the official records of the Roman Empire,

and the reckoning of dates by

Olympiads

soon came to an end. Now Theodosius portrayed himself on his coins holding the

labarum
.

The apparent change of policy that resulted in the "Theodosian

decrees" has often been credited to the increased influence of

Ambrose
,

bishop of Milan

. It is worth noting that in 390 Ambrose had excommunicated

Theodosius, who had recently given orders which resulted in the

massacre

of 7,000 inhabitants of

Thessalonica

,

in response to the assassination of his military governor stationed in the city,

and that Theodosius performed several months of public penance. The specifics of

the decrees were superficially limited in scope, specific measures in response

to various petitions from Christians throughout his administration.

Some modern historians question the consequences of the laws

against pagans.

 Death

Theodosius died, after battling the vascular disease

oedema

, in Milan

on 17 January 395. Ambrose organized and managed Theodosius’s lying in state in

Milan. Ambrose delivered a

panegyric

titled De Obitu Theodosii

before Stilicho

and Honorius

in which Ambrose detailed the suppression of heresy and paganism by Theodosius.

Theodosius was finally laid to rest in Constantinople on 8 November 395.