The fates of pagan temples in Christian Constantinople

An important aspect of the Christianization of the Later Roman Empire was the closure of pagan temples, followed by their destruction (a large-scale process in the eastern provinces) or conversion to churches (especially in Greece and Italy). Researchers into the field (e.g. Deichmann, Spier, Vaes) point to an ideological underpinning of the process that was often seen as a triumph of Christianity over paganism and, for temples transformed to churches (as in Athens or Syracuse), it may be interpreted as an assimilation by a newly converted community of its artistic heritage. We know from source records that a second-hand use of pagan temples by Christians was also practiced in Constantinople, although no clear archeological evidence for it has yet been discovered. The present article attempts to offer an analysis and preliminary interpretation of published sources (e.g. by Janin, Dagron, Berger), placing any conclusions in the context of the present knowledge on the subject. It seems that Byzantine temples suffered the combined fates prevalent in the eastern provinces and those observed in the West: some of them were demolished (the Zeus temple was pulled down and replaced by St. Mokios’ basilica, an act probably prompted by religious propaganda reasons), at least one sanctuary, dedicated to Poseidon, was, with probable small changes, turned into St. Menas’ church. In other instances, records speak of closed places of worship being put to other uses. This applies to the Acropolis compound, the religious center of the pre-Constantinian city. According to Malalas, the temple of Apollo-Helios was included as an annex to the Great Church complex, the shrine of Artemis was turned into a gambling house, that of Aphrodite served as a carriage depot. It was doubtless a debasement of what once were the city’s major sacred places. That they were not turned into churches was probably due to the fact that, first, there were ample new churches founded mainly by the emperor and, secondly, the lavish immigration into the city from the second half of the fourth century, for whom such buildings were not the source of local patriotic pride. Regardless of any difficulties in reconstructing the religious infrastructure of the pre- -Constantinian city and then its fate in Constantinople’s Christianization, it should be remembered that the memory of the once pagan temples existing in the city remained alive among inhabitants into the Middle Ages, contributing to an image of Christianity’s triumph in the city. Moreover, for several hundred years more, Constantinople’s skyline included at least four pagan temples (it is not known what they looked like and when they disappeared) which should be considered in any reconstruction of the panorama of New Rome early in its development