accession day of the emperor (CTh2.18.19). In 395 ce, under the sons of Theo-
dosius, Arcadius and Honorius, the pagan holidays were explicitly removed from the
calendar and abolished (CTh2.8.22).
Such legal action did not take effect immediately, nor did it mean that laypeople,
pagan and Christian, did not continue to celebrate certain rituals and ceremonies
attached to the traditional pagan public holidays. Popular holidays like, for ex-
ample, the Lupercalia and the Saturnalia continued to be widely celebrated long after
they were no longer officially recognized as public religious holidays by the state
(Salzman 1990: 239 – 46). Moreover, the laws undermining the legal standing of the
pagan holidays did not affect at all the legal status of the games and circuses; most
of these had never been, legally speaking, “holidays” on which court actions had to
be halted. Hence, they could be continued as public “entertainments,” a view already
articulated by laws as early as 342 ce.
The logic of the imperial position on games and circuses is expressed succinctly
in a code issued by Theodosius’ sons, the emperors Arcadius and Honorius, in
399 ce:Just as we have already abolished profane rites by a salutary law, so do we not allow
the festal assemblies of citizens and the common pleasure of all to be abolished. Hence
we decree that, according to ancient custom, amusements [voluptates] shall be furnished
to the people, but without any sacrifice or any accursed superstition, and they shall
be allowed to attend the festal banquets whenever public vows so demand. (CTh16.10.17)Laws did restrict the ludiinsofar as their celebration was not allowed on Christian
holidays, like Sunday and Easter, now given official status as public holidays (CTh
15.5.5, 425 ce; 2.8.23, 399 ce; 2.8.24, 400 –5 ce).
But much did continue as before. Gladiatorial combat (unsuccessfully forbidden
by Constantine as early as 325 ce) continued at Rome probably until 438 ce, well
after the emperor Honorius closed the gladiatorial schools in 399 ce. Wild beast
fighting and hunting persisted much longer, at least until 523 ce. Chariot racing
survived in Rome even later; the last recorded races in the Circus Maximus were
held under Totila in 549 ce(Salzman 1990: 237).
Although the ludiand circensescontinued into the Christian empire of the late
fourth and fifth centuries, scholars have debated how much of the pagan elements
of the earlier religious koinepersisted. I have argued that the religious dimension of
these games varied, depending on the attitudes, background, and beliefs of the par-
ticipants. To the diminishing number of pagans who attended these games, there
may still well have been religious meaning, even if the age-old rituals, like animal
sacrifice, were gone. However, official imperial propaganda, expressed so clearly by
the Theodosian Code, tried to put an end to the religious meaning of the games, as
they also did, by the 390s, to the religious meaning of private rituals for the dead
and the household Lares. In their efforts to undermine a religious koinefor pagans
and Christians, as in their attempts to legislate a uniform Christianity with no room for
dissenting views, emperors were encouraged, supported, and at times manipulated
by Christian authorities; most important in urban contexts were the bishops.
Religious Koineand Religious Dissent 121