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8
JanSłomka
tionispoenamnaemopatitur—“Nobodyshouldbepunishedfortheir
thoughts.”Therulesetthelimitsfortheapplicationoflawandkeptthe
powerofthestateontheoutsideofthecitizen—thestatehadnopower
overone’sinnerpart,thesoulorhumanthoughts.
Religion.ThestatementthatChristianityisareligionseemsanobvious
onetoday
,butearlyChristians,especiallybeforeConstantine,werereluc-
tanttoapplythistermtothemselves.Apologistsevenopposedincluding
Christianitytoreligionsanddefineditaseitherthetruephilosophy(Jus-
tin)ortheperfectlaw(Tertullian);theyfirmlyrenouncedanyassociation
withreligionscontemporarywiththem.AndthatishowChristianswere
perceivedfromtheoutside:oneofthestandardaccusationsappearingin
anti-Christiantextsofthefirstthreecenturieswasthatofatheism.
Infact,forancientRomereligionmeantfirstofallcult—external
and,mostofall,publicworshippingofagod,gods,ordeities.Theques-
tionofdoctrine,thatis,orthodoxy—aconceptthatisfundamentalfor
Christianity—waspracticallyirrelevantforreligionsorcultspracticed
withintheRomanEmpire.Therefore,whatwetodaydescribeasreligious
syncretismwasanobviousphenomenon:mutualpermeationofdiferent
cults,participationinceremoniesdevotedtodiferentgodsdependingon,
forexample,theplaceofstay—whensomeonearrivedinatownwhere
alocalgodwasworshipped,theysimplyjoinedinandwereneverasked
aboutthesubstanceoftheirfaith.Thesituationlookeddiferentformys-
teryreligions.However,theydonotfallwithinthescopeofoursubject.
Thus,Romanreligionsconsistedofasetofritesandassuch,theyhad
animportantplaceinpubliclife.Anyonewhorefusedtoparticipatein
thoseriteswouldautomaticallyexcludethemselvesfrompubliclife.
TheRomanauthoritiesbasicallyacceptedandappreciatedsuchastate
ofplay
,butsimultaneouslyonehastonoticeanevolutionwhichtook
placealreadyintheeraoftheEmpire.Fromtheverybeginning,Roman
emperorsdefinedthemselvesasdivus,divine,yet,overthe1standthe
2ndcenturies,theygenerallydidnotinterfereinreligiouscults.Obvi-
ously
,theyexercisedcertaincare,orrathercontroloverthem:starting
withAugustus,emperorstookoverthetitleofpontifexmaximusfrom
Romanpriests.Inthe3rdcenturyAD,however,theemperorsrealised
whatpowerthereligiousauthoritymayhave,andtheybegantolookat
thereligiousunityasanimportantbindingelementtoprovideforthe
unityoftheenormousEmpire.Theconstructionoftheomcialcultofthe
Empirewaslaunched.ItcannotbeexcludedthattheRomanemperors
followedtheexampleoftheeasternempires,mainlyPersia,whoseinflu-
encewasgrowingandwherethestatereligion(Zoroastrianismofthe3rd
andthe4thcenturies)playedanessentialroleinthelegitimisationand
consolidationofpower.
