Decline of Greco-Roman Polytheism - Timeline

Timeline

• 313 By the Edict of Milan, Constantine and Licinius establish toleration of Christianity.
• 329-335 Constantine orders destruction of Hellenic temples at Didyma, Mt. Athos, Aigeai, Baalbek etc. According to pagan rhetor Libanius (Address to Theodosius, Pro Templis, 6 and 37), Constantine I "did not bring any change to the traditional worship... one could notice that all rituals were performed properly" and "he did not prohibit sacrifices". According to Zosimus (book 2 of his "History"), Constantine erected two pagan temples in his capital, Constantinople.
• 361-363 Emperor Julian, the last pagan Emperor, proclaims restoration of Hellenic worship.
• 389-391 Theodosian decrees, Christianity becomes official state religion of the Roman Empire.
• 415 Mob-killing of Hypatia.
• 440 to 450 All Hellenic monuments, altars and Temples of Athens, Olympia, and other Greek cities are destroyed. As German historian Gregorovius, in his "History of Athens" says, the pagan monuments of Athens and Greece were the best preserved among other monuments in the late Roman Empire.
• 529 Emperor Justinian closes the Academy of Athens. Some of the remaining Academy members--"whose occupation was gone" according to J.B. Bury—flee to Ctesiphon, the capital of the Sassanid emperor Khosrau I. Modern historians such as Blumental and A. Cameron claim that the Academy continued to exist for almost 50–60 years after 529.
• 651 Harran conquered by the Arabs. Sabians, to some degree descendants of Hellenic tradition, are considered monotheists and as such are permitted to survive. The Nabatean Agriculture was said by Maimonides to have been an accurate record of the beliefs of the Sabians in the Harranian area.
• 804 Hellenes of Laconia, Greece, resist the attempt of Tarasius, Patriarch of Constantinople, to convert them to Christianity.