Pagan Religion in Antiquity | A Historical Label and Its Uses

In historical writing, pagan religion often refers to practices that late antique Christian authors and Roman officials grouped together under names such as pagani. The label tells us something about how those authors classified the people and practices around them. An agricultural manual, a Greek votive relief and a Roman law offer three different kinds of evidence for the religious life placed under that label. Augustine, City of God, Book I · Theodosian Code, 16.10.12–13

A name used from the outside

In Book I of City of God, Augustine answers people who blamed Christianity for the sack of Rome. He describes Christian sacred places giving refuge to people he distinguishes as Christian and pagan. The distinction is part of his argument about who was sheltered and whom he held responsible for the accusations. His use of the term records a Christian author’s way of classifying people in a particular dispute. To understand the practices at issue, other kinds of sources are needed. Augustine, City of God, Book I, chapters 1–2

Prayer and sacrifice on a Roman estate

Section 141 of Cato’s On Agriculture gives instructions for a rite of purification around the land. It calls for an opening prayer with wine to Janus and Jupiter, followed by a prayer to Mars. The prayer asks Mars to protect the household and keep disease, crop failure and other harms away. It also asks for healthy shepherds and flocks and for the grain and vines to flourish. The route around the property gives the rite a concrete connection to the people, animals and fields named in the prayer. Cato, On Agriculture 141, Loeb translation

Cato gives a procedure for one kind of estate rite. Its details help explain why assigning each god a single function can hide part of the evidence. In this text, Mars is addressed in a setting concerned with protection and agricultural well-being. The manual says how to carry out the rite and what to request. It gives less direct access to what every person present thought about the gods.

A dedication to a Greek hero

An Attic marble relief from the late fourth century BCE, held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, depicts a reclining hero at a meal with smaller worshippers approaching. The inscription addresses a physician. The museum places the relief in the context of honors paid to the dead at a hero’s precinct, which could involve offerings of food and drink and a feast in the hero’s honor. The relief records a dedication to a particular figure. It gives a different view of religious practice from Cato’s directions for a rite around a farm. Metropolitan Museum of Art, votive relief 57.42

What a late Roman prohibition can show

A law dated November 392 and preserved in the Theodosian Code forbids a range of acts. It lists slaughtering sacrificial victims, honoring household powers with fire, wine or scent, and offering lights, incense or garlands. A related law in 395 refers to earlier measures concerning pagans and heretics. The list of acts shows how imperial officials described the conduct they wanted to suppress. The legal text establishes what was prohibited and leaves the questions of enforcement and persistence in each place to other evidence. Theodosian Code, 16.10.12–13

Conclusion

The historical label pagan brings together practices whose purposes and settings can differ substantially. Cato’s account concerns an estate and the well-being of its household. The Attic relief concerns honors to a dead hero. The late Roman laws concern what the authorities wanted to stop. Reading each source in its own setting gives a clearer account of ancient religion than using the label as a name for a single faith.

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