The Famous ‘Altar of Victory Controversy’ in Rome

The belief that a part of Roman aristocracy did not remain inactive in the face of the anti-pagan measures at the end of the fourth century dominated modern historiography. It is rooted particularly in the twentieth-century studies because of the conviction—typical in a climate of cold war—that great ideologies can divide the world into power blocs by polarizing the collective imagination. Relying largely on the accounts of Christian sources and particularly of Rufinus of Aquileia, scholars saw conflict between pagans and Christians everywhere: in the spread of contorniates, in the restoration of public buildings and temples, in the taurobolia celebrated in the inscriptions of the Vatican Phrygianum, and in the celebration of the Classical and pagan past in the Saturnalia. To the aristocratic reaction were attributed not only forms of propaganda and ideology but also pronounced political opposition, such as the encounter that took place at the River Frigidus between the forces of Theodosius and the “last pagan army of the ancient world.”

Altar · Ancient history · Art · Political science · Politics · Victory · Classics · Historical and Religious Studies of Rome · History · Law · Philosophy · Reformation and Early Modern Christianity

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