Many adherents of Roman religion have been persecuted, mainly by Christians. Persecution 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. Religion in ancient Rome combined several different cult practices and embraced more than a single set of beliefs. ... Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament writings of his early followers. ...

When Constantine became the sole Roman Emperor in 323, Christianity became the official religion of the empire. Religion and state now intertwined, the early Roman Church with full official backing, turned to the pagans and began to persecute them. After the death of Constantine in 337, two of his sons, Constantius and Constans took over the leadership of the empire. Constans, ruler of the western provinces, was, like his father, a Christian. In 341, he decreed that all pagan worship and sacrifice should cease; warning those who still persisted in the practice of paganism with the threat of the death penalty. Constantine has many usages: People called Constantine Rulers called Constantine Constantine I (emperor), commonly known as Constantine the Great Constantine II (emperor) Constantine III (usurper) Constantine III (emperor) Constantine IV Constantine V Constantine VI Constantine VII Constantine VIII Constantine IX Constantine X Constantine XI Constantine I of Armenia Constantine II... Roman Emperor is the title historians use to refer to rulers of the Roman Empire, after the epoch conventionally named the Roman Republic. ... Events July 3 - Battle of Adrianople: Constantine defeats Licinius, forcing Licinius to retreat to Byzantium. ... Paganism is a catch-all term which has come to bundle together (by extension from its original classical meaning of a pre-Christian religion) a very broad set of not necessarily compatible religious beliefs and practices that are usually, but not necessarily, characterized by polytheism and, less commonly, animism. ... Events February 6 - Julius is elected pope. ... Constantius can refer to a number of Roman emperors: Constantius Chlorus - emperor 305-306 Constantius II - emperor 337-361 Constantius III - co-emperor in 421 This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Bronze coin bearing the profile of Constans Flavius Julius Constans (AD 320 - January 18, 350), was a Roman emperor who ruled from 337 to 350. ... Events The Council of Encaenia is held in Antioch. ... Capital punishment, also referred to as the death penalty, is the judicially ordered execution of a prisoner as a punishment for a serious crime, often called a capital offense or a capital crime. ...

Constans was killed in 350, and soon after his brother became the sole emperor of the entire empire three years later. Constantius, also a Christian, decreed that all pagan temples in the empire be immediately closed. He warned that anyone who dared still offer sacrifices of worship to the once-revered gods and goddesses in these temples were to be put to death. Similarly, any governor to refused to enforce this decree was also to be punished. Events January 18 - Magnentius proclaimed Emperor by the army in Autun. ...

But it wasn't just the emperors who persecuted the pagans. Lay Christians took advantage of these new anti-pagan laws by destroying and plundering the temples. Theologians and prominent ecclesiastics soon followed. One such example is St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan. When Gratian became Roman emperor in 375, Ambrose, who was one of his closest educators, persuaded him to further suppress paganism. The emperor, at Ambrose's advice, confiscated the properties of the pagan temples; seized the properties of the vestal virgins and pagan priests, and removed the statue of the Goddess of Victory from the Roman Senate. Theology is literally rational discourse concerning God (Greek θεος, theos, God, + λογος, logos, rational discourse). By extension, it also refers to the study of other religious topics. ... Saint Ambrose, Latin Sanctus Ambrosius, Italian SantAmbrogio (circa 340 - April 4, 397), bishop of Milan, was one of the most eminent fathers of the Christian church in the 4th century. ... Location within Italy Piazza della Scala Milan (Italian: Milano; Milanese dialect: Milán) is the main city in northern Italy, and is located in the plains of Lombardy, the most populated and developed Italian region. ... For the 12th century canon lawyer, see Gratian (jurist). ... The Roman Senate (Latin, Senatus) was a deliberative body which was important in the government of both the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. ...

When Gratian delegated the government of the eastern half of the Roman Empire to Theodosius the Great in 379, the situation became worse for the pagans. Theodosius prohibited all forms of pagan worship and allowed the temples to be robbed, plundered, and ruthlessly destroyed by monks and other enterprising Christians. For the 12th century canon lawyer, see Gratian (jurist). ... Flavius Theodosius (Cauca [Coca-Segovia], Spain, January 11, 347 - Milan, January 17, 395), also called Theodosius I and Theodosius the Great, was a Roman emperor. ... Events January 19 - Theodosius I is elevated as Roman Emperor at Sirmium. ...

A prominent example of this persecution is the case of the philosopher Hypathia of Alexandria. Hypathia 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: Hypatia of Alexandria Hypatia of Alexandria (in Greek: Υπατία) (?370–415) was a neo-Platonic philosopher, mathematician, and teacher who lived in Alexandria, then a Greek settlement. ... Aelius Theon was a mid-1st millennium Alexandrian sophist and author of a collection of preliminary exercises (pro-gymnasmata) for the training of orators. ... The Acropolis in central Athens, one of the most important landmarks in world history. ... The Patriarch of Alexandria is the bishop of Alexandria, Egypt. ... Cyril I (376 – June 27, 444), surnamed The Pillar of Faith, was Pope of Alexandria. ... Events The Visigoths leave Gallia Narbonensis and relocate in Spain Wallia becomes king of the Visigoths. ... Edward Gibbon. ...

"On a fatal day, in the holy season of Lent, Hypathia 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 Hypathia 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 and, as an obvious corollary, his zealous destruction of heretics and infidels (such as Hypathia), Cyril is considered a saint by the early Christian church. The word orthodoxy, from the Greek ortho (right, correct) and doxa (thought, teaching), is typically used to refer to the correct theological or doctrinal observance of religion, as determined by some overseeing body. ...