was the case for certain pagans for whom not just the holidays but even the spec-
tacles and games in the Circus Maximus in Rome, along with their ritual Pompa
Circi, as well as the statuary and physical adornments, “lent religious sustenance”
(Curran 2000: 259). Certainly, the amount of religious feeling experienced by the
participants at the public ludi and civic festivals varied; some attendees, pagan and
Christian alike, felt nothing akin to “religion” as they filed past the traditional gods
of the Roman pantheon, intent on observing the games and spectacles. For some,
the religious element was overshadowed by simple excitement or civic pride. Yet this
religious element was noticeable to Christian clergy; the sermons of late Roman
Christian bishops indicate that the games and civic festivals, and not just the reli-
gious ceremonies and rituals, still held pagan meanings and hence Christians should
avoid them (see, for example, Jon Chrysostom Contra ludos et theatra [PG 56,
253– 60]; Salvian De gubernatione Dei6.129 –30 [PL53, cols. 120 –1]; and for
Augustine, Markus 1990: 107–23). I emphasize this fact since it indicates that to
a significant number of Christian authorities and laypeople, as well as pagans, the
holidays and festivals of the public calendar, as well as the games and spectacles, formed
part of what we can call the public religious koine.
Not surprisingly, and in no small part because of the pagan public cults’ broad
appeal, Christian emperors through the mid-fourth century tended to follow the reli-
gious policy established by Constantine; by and large, they focused on and restricted
or prohibited the most offensive element of these cults, namely animal sacrifice, but
continued to support and fund the pagan holidays, ceremonies, and games associ-
ated with the Roman state cults until the last decade of the fourth century; games
and circuses continued even later than this date (see “Emperors on Religious Koine
and Religious Dissent,” below).
One key reason for the ongoing imperial support for the public religious koine
was the continued attraction of the imperial cult; the reformed cult of the Second
Flavians flourished in Rome, in north Africa, and throughout the provinces through
the fourth century. Here, too, Constantine had set a precedent; in his reply to a
request from the town of Hispellum in Umbria (CIL11.5265) for an imperial cult
center, he established a flamen(priest) and games (ludiand circenses), but he stipu-
lated that superstitiobe absent from this cult. What he meant by superstitioat the
time is a matter of some debate (Salzman 1987: 172– 88; Grodzynski 1974: 36 – 60),
but even if he had intended to prohibit blood sacrifice, Constantine and his succes-
sors continued their support for the traditional Roman ceremonies and games. It
remained an honor to serve as a flamenin the imperial cult throughout the fourth
century, and we find Christian flamineseven into the fifth century in Gaul (Diehl,
ILCV391) and into the Vandal period in Africa (Chastagnol and Duval 1974: 87–118),
although by the late sixth century, we cannot be certain if the flaminesare honor-
ing the Roman emperor or the Vandal king. Nonetheless, only after 386 cewere
restrictions placed on Christians so that they were no longer allowed to attain the posi-
tion of chief civil priest (archierosyna) (CTh12.1.112). The provincial assemblies,
whose delegates were called sacerdotes provinciae, continued as well; their principal
religious role was to arrange games at a temple dedicated to Rome and the emperor
(Cecconi 1994: 83 –106).
112 Michele Renee Salzman