The Altar of Victory

Paper Summary:

This paper covers the arguments made by Symmachus, a polytheist leader, and Bishop Ambrose, a powerful early Christian, over the removal of the altar to Victory, a Roman goddess, from the senate house in Rome. The paper discusses the way in which the debate represented the last great struggle between Christians and polytheists (pagans) over state control.

From the Paper:

"The debate of 384 in Rome over the presence of the pagan altar of Victory in the senate house showed the final great struggle in Rome between paganism and Christianity. The pagans and the Christians, represented in letters to the emperor Valentinian II by Prefect of the City of Rome Quintus Aurelius Symmachus and the bishop of Milan, Ambrose, respectively, quarreled over whether to put back the recently removed altar, which was essentially the last great artifact demanding governmental adherence to pagan beliefs, and also whether to resume state financing of the Vestal Virgins and pagan priests, the most sacred public religious figures for the pagans. The two writers, in their attempts to persuade the young emperor, base their arguments mostly on historical or familial precedent, but ultimately, the most important aspect of the debate was the religion of the emperor himself."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Croke and Harries, Religious Conflict in Fourth-Century Rome (Australia: Sydney University Press, 1982), chapter 2, pages 28-30.
• Ambrose, as quoted in Judge, "Religious Conflict in Fourth-Century Rome" (Australia; Sydney University Press, 1982)
• Symmachus, as quoted in Judge, "Religious Conflict,"
• Ambrose, as quoted in Judge, "Religious Conflict,"

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