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

protect all festivities that were traditionally celebrated in relation to the temple, so
long as sacrifice did not take place.
This law may have been a highly innovative compromise between militant
Christians who were threatening the structures of temples and images of gods and
those on the other side who sought their preservation on religious or civic grounds.
As such, it appears to be fortuitous that the version of the law that has survived, was
destined for the dux who would have been responsible for law and order in the region.
CTh. 16.10.9 of 25 May 385 was addressed to Cynegius, Praetorian Prefect of
the East and, like CTh. 16.10.7, dealt essentially with divination. 299 The law ordered
that no one “shall assume the audacity of performing sacrifices, so that by the
inspection of the liver and the presage of the entrails… he may obtain the hope of a
vain promise, or … worse, he may learn the future by an accursed consultation.” A
“very bitter punishment” was to be applied to such people in the expectation that they
would not perform such rites. The law finished with a summary of prohibitions, i.e.
attempts to “explore the truth of present or future events.” 300 This law is more specific
in terms of the prohibition of divination, but arguably less so in terms of its
punishments. With regards to the punishment, it should be noticed that in this later
law the sentiment expressed by Theodosius was that the punishment should be viewed
as preventative, rather than a punishment delivered simply because the law had been
broken. Such a difference would have had no effect in practice on anyone actually
breaking the law, but the sentiment behind it does appear to be important.
299 Honoré’s (1998) 52-53 E5
300 ne quis m ortalium ita faciendi sacrificii sum at audaciam , ut inspectione iecoris extorum que praesagio
v anae spem prom issionis accipiat v el, quod est deterius, futura sub execrabili consultation e cognoscat.
acerbioris etenim inm inebit supplicii cruciatus eis, qui contra v etitum praesentium v el futurarum rerum
explorare tem ptav erint v eritatem .
268