The Challenge of Religious Violence

For centuries, the phenomenon of religious violence was virtually unknown to the Roman empire: Roman officials understood the “persecution” and condemnation of Christians as necessary for maintaining law and order. They would have been at a loss if they had had to document cases of religious violence in their districts, just as members of the imperial consilium would also have been puzzled by such reports. Historians today—in contrast to early Christians—find it equally difficult to detect religious violence under the Principate. One might cite an incident in Lydian Kolyda, memorialized in an inscription in the second century. According to the brief report, a mob gathered during a festival in honor of Mes Motylleites, advanced with clubs and swords on a temple building identified as a basilica, attacked the temple slaves, and smashed the cult images. A striking case of religious violence in Roman Asian Minor, it seems. But the background of this event, the goals, and even the identity of the assailants are completely unknown: the dedicator of the expiatory inscription saw no reason to record them.

Criminology · Sociology · Psychology · Religion and Society Interactions