History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire — Volume 3

Edward Gibbon · 1782 (written); 1845 (revised)

passage 67 of 469 · Chapter XXVII: Civil Wars, Reign Of Theodosius.—Part I. > Chapter XXVIII: Destruction Of Paganism.—Part II. (4/8)

↪ you wandered here via “rescript on Christian persecution” — the connecting lines are tinted below

in brief

At Alexandria, Theophilus’ attacks on Serapis spark violence between pagans and Christians; after Theodosius’ rescript, Christians demolish the temple, pillage the library, and a soldier topples Serapis’ idol publicly.

religious institution, (Diodor. Sicul. tom. i. l. i. p. 31, edit. Wesseling,) and the same order is observed in Plutarch’s Treatise of Isis and Osiris; whom he identifies with Serapis.]

40 (return) [ Ammianus, (xxii. 16.) The Expositio totius Mundi, (p. 8, in Hudson’s Geograph. Minor. tom. iii.,) and Rufinus, (l. ii. c. 22,) celebrate the Serapeum, as one of the wonders of the world.]

41 (return) [ See Mémoires de l’Acad. des Inscriptions, tom. ix. p. 397-416. The old library of the Ptolemies was totally consumed in Caesar’s Alexandrian war. Marc Antony gave the whole collection of Pergamus (200,000 volumes) to Cleopatra, as the foundation of the new library of Alexandria.]

42 (return) [ Libanius (pro Templis, p. 21) indiscreetly provokes his Christian masters by this insulting remark.]

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topics: crowds, mobs, and public opinion · martyrdom and holy death · religious persecution and toleration

History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire — Volume 3 · Edward Gibbon · 1782–1845