Ancient Roman Temple’s Discovery Offers Faith Lesson

Sculpture of Constantine from neck up against the backdrop of a blue sky with a white cloud — Constantine was the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity, but he still embraced pagan practices [Picture courtesy of Pixabay]

For archaeologists, what’s old is new. Finds from archaeological digs and expeditions turn up centuries-old items and structures which allow a better understanding and new perspective of man’s past. The recent discovery of an ancient Roman temple from the fourth century A.D. offers a glimpse into the early years of Christianity in the Roman empire and a faith lesson for today’s believers.

What Was Found

This past summer, a team led by Dr. Douglas Boin, a history professor at St. Louis University, uncovered three walls of a monumental structure appearing to be an ancient pagan Roman temple. The dig took place in Spello, Italy, a famous medieval hilltop city north of Rome. Using underground imaging, the archaeologists pinpointed the temple ruins underneath a modern parking lot.

The Historical Context

The ruins Boin’s team located date back to the fourth century AD when Constantine reigned over the Roman Empire. Constantine, who ruled from AD 306-337, is perhaps best known for being the first emperor to convert to Christianity. The son of a Roman father and a Greek, Christian mother, Helena, Constantine’s conversion took place around 312 AD after he was already in power.

Constantine put his professed faith into action to improve the treatment of believers in the empire. In 313 AD, the year after his conversion, he met in Milan with his colleague and rival, Licinius, to co-author the Edict of Milan. This decree allowed Christians, previously persecuted, to pursue their faith without oppression. In addition, Constantine financed various building projects for churches to help the spread of his faith throughout the empire.

Why Dig In Spello?

A letter from Emperor Constantine to the locals of Spello, spurred Boin and his team to focus their efforts on that town. Constantine’s letter, found in the 18^th century inscribed in Spello’s town hall, permitted the residents of Spello to forgo traveling to attend a religious festival out of the area if they would build a temple to his “divine ancestors.”

Street view of Spello, an ancient medieval town — The ancient medieval hilltop town of Spello, Italy was the site for the archaeological dig [Picture courtesy of Pixabay.]

The divine ancestors to which the emperor referred in his letter were his family, the Flavians. Constantine’s full name was Gaius Flavis Valerius Constantinus. Following Julius Caesar’s death, Romans worshipped emperors and their families as divine, a practice known as the Imperial Cult or the Cult of the Emperor.

Emperor Worship And Christianity

Why encourage an imperial cult when the Roman ruler was Christian? Dr. Boin explains that things did not change overnight when Constantine converted to Christianity. A transition period took place from Roman imperial theology to Christianity. It was not until 380 AD that Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire.

During this transition, lines became blurred and imperial cult worship and Christianity co-existed. In fact, as Boin points out, evidence from other locations in the Roman world points to Christian rulers supporting imperial cult practices.

Prior to this summer’s dig, however, historians had no idea about the size of the physical sites associated with this imperial cult worship. Researchers indicate the ruins in Spello constitute the largest such temple found to date. This major discovery, as Boin characterizes it, is the biggest evidence ever of imperial cult worship under a Christian ruler.

View of statue of Emperor Constantine from mid-chest up — While Constantine worked to spread Christianity, he still encouraged Imperial Cult worship [Picture courtesy of Pixabay]

Faith Lesson For Today

Although the US has no official religion, other countries view it as a Christian nation. Nevertheless, other types of worship occur here, and citizens are free to have no religion at all. Believers are assailed by secular beliefs and practices. A parallel exists with the Roman empire under Constantine’s rule. Although professing to be a Christian, Constantine indulged in line-blurring with the society of his day. But the God of the Christian faith expressly states line-blurring is not acceptable in Exodus 20:3. His believers are to “Worship no God but me.”

The important archaeological find in Spello is not only intellectually interesting from a historical standpoint, but it provides an important faith lesson. People tend to blend the old familiar past and societal norms with newly accepted faith practice and thus blur lines. Unlike the Spello imperial cult practice temple ruins, this unacceptable combination is better off buried and not dug up.