Religious Intolerance in the Later Roman Empire - Bad request ...

account of the day of Easter, which we celebrate in the depths of our hearts.”) If it was
indeed connected to the recent inter Christian riots in Rome, it may indicate their
desire to diffuse the situation and was symbolic of the authorities desire to indicate
that, as far as the government was concerned, the destructive events surrounding the
disputed election were now at an end, those involved were forgiven and released and
were aware of Imperial munificence.
CTh. 8.8.1 is of indeterminate date; the text indicates that it was issued on 21
April at Trier and during the joint consulship of the emperors and that could mean
368, 370 or 373. It was issued to Florianus, Governor of Venetia who is otherwise
unknown. 39 The law ordered that no Christian could be “sued by tax collectors on the
Day of the Sun, which has long been considered holy.” Valentinian ordered “peril
against any person who should dare to commit this offence.” 40 No similar protections
were offered for Jews or pagans on their holy days. This law, rather like CTh. 9.40.8
and 9.38.3 appears to be of more benefit to the prestige of Christianity (in that
immunity from tax collectors was allowed to adherents of that faith for one day of the
week) than of much practical benefit to individual Christians or to the Church in
general since Christian tax payers would still have been liable to pay same amount of
tax as before the law, but of course, only on one (or more) of the other six days of the
week. 41
CTh. 11.36.20 of 8 July 369, issued to Claudius proconsul of Africa, is another
law issued for a specific purpose. 42 It ordered that a certain Chronopius, an ex-bishop,
because he had violated procedure by appealing against a decision of a court, should
pay a fine of fifty pounds of silver. It appears that Chronopius had been convicted of
some offence by a council of seventy bishops; he seems to have appealed that
39 Florianus PLRE 1.367
40 die solis, qui dudum faustus habetur, nem inem christianum ab exactoribus v olum us conv eniri, contra eos,
qui id facere ausi sint, hoc nostri statuti interdicto periculum sancientes
41 For the inability of clerics to prevent or mitigate the demands of the Imperial tax collectors see Brown
(1992) 147-148
42 Petronius Claudius 10 PLRE 1.208
103