Quoted By:
392 CE: On 8th November, the Emperor Theodosius outlaws all non-Christian rituals and names them "superstitions of the Gentiles" ("gentilicia superstitio"). New full scale persecutions against the Gentiles. The Mysteries of Samothrace are ended and the priests slaughtered. In Cyprus the local bishops, "Saints" Epiphanius and Tychon, destroy almost all the ancient temples on the island and exterminate thousands of Gentiles. The local Mysteries of Aphrodite are ended. Theodosius' edict declares: "the ones that won't obey pater Epiphanius have no right to keep living on the island". The Gentiles in Petra, Aeropolis, Rafia, Gaza, Baalbek and other cities of the Middle East revolt against the Emperor and the Church.
393 CE: The Pythian, Aktian and Olympic Games are outlawed as part of the “Hellenic idolatry". Christians sack the Temples of Olympia.
395 CE: Two new edicts (22nd July and 7th August) lead to new persecutions against the Gentiles. Rufinus the eunuch, Prime Minister of the Emperor Flavius Arcadius, directs the hordes of baptised Goths (led by Alaric) to the country of the Hellenes. Encouraged by Christian monks, the barbarians sack and burn many cities (Dion, Delphi, Megara, Corinth, Pheneos, Argos, Nemea, Lycosoura, Sparta, Messene, Phigaleia, Olympia and others), slaughter or enslave scores of Greeks and burn their temples. Among others, they burn the Eleusinian Sanctuary to the ground together with its priests who had taken refuge inside (including the hierophant of Mithras Hilarius).
