Late Antique Legislation on Pagans

PI: Dr. Dr. Peter Riedlberger

Duration: 01/2015-12/2015

Project Description:

In the late antique Law Codes we encounter several constitutions on the pagans, and more specifically on pagan practices such as sacrifices. The huge majority of these laws are anti-pagan. The Christianization of the Roman Empire has always been a major research focus, and particularly in the last few years, with major research projects focusing on the intellectual debate as well as the physical destruction of pagan buildings. My research goals are far more modest. I simply want to provide an analysis of these constitutions according to the methods of Roman Law, e.g. an exegetical interpretation. Many historians have worked on these constitutions, but few legal historians have so far.