What happened to pagan temples in christian rome?

[Woadwarrior]

as well as the colosseum (was it in use still?)
????????

[Jona Lendering]

Many temples were converted into churches, like the Pantheon. Others slowly decayed and were used as quarries. The Colosseum was the castle of the Frangipani family.

[Theodosius the Great]

Theodosius I (the Great) closed them down in 391. Earlier in his reign he decided to preserve them as secular buildings and works of art. Many were destroyed by mobs with perhaps his tacit approval. Eventually, some of the surviving temples were converted into churches such as the Pantheon in Rome and the Parthenon in Greece.

The Colossum was still in use after Constantine's reign but the gladitorial games were banned a few decades later, although games involving the slaying of animals continued until the early 6th century. Two earthquakes caused massive damage to it in both the 5th and 6th centuries.




Theo

[Matthew]

According to Augustine, even before the Christianisation of the Roman Empire, Temples and other Pagan religious places were occasionally used as secular dwellings. I would not be surprised to find that some of the minor religious buildings were given over to this use.

Matthew James Stanham

[tlclark]

When I show the Parthenon in Athens for my students, I refer to it as the Cathedral of the Virgin Mary. :wink:

If you think about it, it has every right to that title as much as the Parthenon.

It was a pagan temple from 432 BCE to approximately 390 CE. It was a Christian church after that from then to well after the Ottoman conquest in the 15th C. So it was actually a Christian bldg about 300 years longer than it served as a pagan temple!

Travis

[stevesarak]

Theodosius I (the Great) closed them down in 391. Earlier in his reign he decided to preserve them as secular buildings and works of art. Many were destroyed by mobs with perhaps his tacit approval. Eventually, some of the surviving temples were converted into churches such as the Pantheon in Rome and the Parthenon in Greece.

The Colossum was still in use after Constantine's reign but the gladitorial games were banned a few decades later, although games involving the slaying of animals continued until the early 6th century. Two earthquakes caused massive damage to it in both the 5th and 6th centuries.



Theo

This is off topic, I'm posting it here so you'll see it.

Where did you get your helmet?

[Theodosius the Great]

According to Augustine, even before the Christianisation of the Roman Empire, Temples and other Pagan religious places were occasionally used as secular dwellings. I would not be surprised to find that some of the minor religious buildings were given over to this use.

Matthew James Stanham

Right, Matthew. The Senate could convene in public buildings like theaters or temples. In 44 BC, the Senate convened in the theater of Pompey on the Ides of March. Later it wasn't really necessary to use temples or theaters anymore with the rising use of basilicas which were built exclusively for secular government business.

This is off topic, I'm posting it here so you'll see it.

Where did you get your helmet?

Hi, Steve : Yes, this is an OT question so I'll just send you a PM :wink:



Theo