Imperial Christianization in Corinth: 300-600 AD
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Date
2010-06
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The Ohio State University
Abstract
Despite Greece’s longstanding traditions of paganism in late antiquity, the city of Corinth seems to have experienced a top-down process of Christianization— where the government led the process of transition from paganism to Christianity, basically converting this costal town. Although it is evident that practice of paganism continued in Corinth, this paper suggests a new form of Christianization—that of "imperial Christianization" which pressured citizens to convert to Christianity based on the faith of the Emperor, imperial edicts, economic funding and building projects. The archaeological findings in Corinth explain that this idea of imperial Christianization prevented the pagans present in Corinth to rebuild the classical and Roman temples following earthquakes which ruined them in the early 400s, therefore removing the authoritarian pagan presence at the temples (in priests and local leaders) and pushing imperial Christianity.
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Keywords
Christianization, Corinth