The Idols Overthrown

Many nations and cities throughout the whole realm of his subjects still held their empty idols in fear and veneration, and this led them to disregard the teachings of the Christians and to cling to their ancient customs and to the ways and feasts of their fathers. So it seemed necessary to the emperor to instruct the governors to put down their superstitious rites of worship. He thought this would be easily done if he could bring the people to despise their temples and the images in them. To carry out this plan he needed no military help, for Christian men of the palace went from city to city carrying imperial letters. The people were moved to stay quiet by fear that if they resisted these edicts, they, their children and their wives would come to harm. The temple wardens and the priests, with no backing from the crowd, brought out their most precious treasures, and the images said to have fallen from heaven; and through these attendants the offerings were brought out of the shrines and the hidden recesses of the temples. Places that had been closed before, and known only to the priests, were opened to anyone who wished to go in. Images made of precious material, and anything else of value, were purified by fire and became public property. The bronze statues of skilled workmanship were carried to the city named after the emperor and set up there as ornaments, where they can still be seen in public places, such as the streets, the hippodrome and the palaces. Among them were the statue of Apollo that stood at the seat of the oracle of the Pythian priestess, the statues of the Muses from Helicon, the tripods from Delphi, and the much praised Pan which Pausanias the Spartan and the Greek cities had dedicated after the war against the Medes. [a]

As for the temples, some were stripped of their doors, others of their roofs, and others were neglected and left to fall into ruin, or were destroyed. The temple of Asclepius at Aegae, a city of Cilicia, and that of Venus at Aphaca, near Mount Lebanon and the river Adonis, were at that time undermined and completely destroyed. Both of these temples had been most highly honored and revered by the ancients. The people of Aegae used to say that those among them who were weak in body were freed from their diseases because the demon appeared by night and healed them. And at Aphaca it was believed that when a certain prayer was spoken on a set day, a fire like a star came down from the top of Lebanon and sank into the nearby river; they said this was Urania, for that is what they call Aphrodite. The emperor’s efforts succeeded fully, as far as he had hoped. When the people saw the objects of their former reverence and fear boldly thrown down and stuffed with straw and hay, they were led to despise what they had once venerated and to blame the mistaken belief of their ancestors. Others, envious of the honor the emperor showed to Christians, thought it necessary to copy what their ruler did. Others gave themselves to examining Christianity, and through signs, dreams, or conversations with bishops and monks, became convinced that it was better to become Christians. [d]

From that time on, nations and citizens gave up their former belief of their own accord. At that time a port of Gaza called Maiuma, where superstition and the ancient ceremonies had been admired until then, turned to Christianity as one, with all its inhabitants. To reward their piety, the emperor thought them worthy of the greatest honor: he gave the place the rank of a city, which it had not had before, and named it Constantia. So he honored the spot for its piety by giving it the name of the dearest of his children. For the same reason, the town of Constantine in Phoenicia is known to have received its name from the emperor. But it would not be convenient to record every case of this kind, for many other cities at about this time went over to religion of their own accord, and without any command from the emperor destroyed the temples and statues near them and built houses of prayer.