The Destruction of the Pagan Temples

[Stanley]

The Destruction of the Pagan Temples
In AD 385, Theodosius directed Cynegius, his praetorian prefect in the east, to enforce the prohibition of sacrifice for the purpose of divination (CTh. XVI.10.9). Exceeding his mandate, Cynegius began to suppress the temples, themselves, including the temple of Jupiter at Apamea in Syria. Its destruction is described in the Historia Ecclesiastica (V.21) of Theodoret. So hard was the stone and so massive the columns, each some twenty-six feet in circumference and held together with iron and lead clamps, that the prefect despaired of pulling them down. But then, as if by divine inspiration, a local man suggested that the foundation of three of the columns be undermined and replaced by timber beams, which then could be burned.
"When their support had vanished the columns themselves fell down, and dragged the other twelve with them. The side of the temple which was connected with the columns was dragged down by the violence of their fall, and carried away with them. The crash, which was tremendous, was heard throughout the town."
The bishop destroyed the other pagan shrines in his diocese, and Cynegius proceeded to Egypt.
It was then, in AD 386, that Libanius made an impassioned plea that Theodosius preserve the pagan temples. Four years earlier, the emperor had decreed (CTh. XVI.10.8) that the temple at Edessa in upper Mesopotamia, "in which images are reported to have been placed which must be measured by the value of their art rather than by their divinity," remain open. It was destroyed nevertheless, even though it was as great a marvel as the Temple of Serapis, "which I pray may never suffer the same fate." Libanius argues that the destruction of the temples, which have been erected "with so much toil and time, labour and expense," is not only detrimental to society but a foolish loss of the emperor's own property, which, if not used as intended, could serve in some other way, perhaps for the collection of taxes. He pleads, too, for toleration and the preservation of the temples against the predation of Christian monks, who
"...hasten to attack the temples with sticks and stones and bars of iron, and in some cases, disdaining these, with hands and feet. Then utter desolation follows, with the stripping of roofs, demolition of walls, the tearing down of statues and the overthrow of altars, and the priests must either keep quiet or die. After demolishing one, they scurry to another, and to a third, and trophy is piled on trophy, in contravention of the law. Such outrages occur even in the cities, but they are most common in the countryside...Temples, Sire, are the soul of the countryside: they mark the beginning of its settlement, and have been passed down through many generations to the men of today. In them the farming communities rest their hopes for husbands, wives, children, for their oxen and the soil they sow and plant. An estate that has suffered so has lost the inspiration of the peasantry together with their hopes, for they believe that their labour will be in vain once they are robbed of the gods who direct their labours to their due end. And if the land no longer enjoys the same care, neither can the yield match what it was before, and, if this be the case, the peasant is the poorer, and the revenue jeopardized."
Pro Templis (Oration XXX.8-10)
The rural shrines give hope to the farm laborer by allowing him to pray for his crops. As a result, the land is more productive, the peasant not impoverished, and the landlord's yield increased. And yet they were ordered demolished in AD 399, "For when they are torn down and removed, the material basis for all superstition will be destroyed" (CTh. XVI.10.16).
In AD 401, the last remnants of the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, built to house the great cult image of Artemis and regarded as one of the seven wonders of the world, were plundered by John Chrysostom, the patriarch of Constantinople, its marble burned in lime kilns to make cement and the stone robbed for the construction of other buildings. Before his conversion, John had studied rhetoric and law and been a pupil of Libanius.