Did the Roman Empire have freedom of religion?

Answer 1

The Roman Empire had relative freedom of religion throughout most of the pagan era, before the reign of Constantine the Great, apart from the persecutions of Christians during 249-251, 257 and 303-311 CE. Evidence of this includes:

* Justin Martyr wrote two Apologies to the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius (137-161CE), explaining Christian belief, but does not seem to have risked his life or liberty in doing so. * In his work Ad Scapulam, Tertullian described how, around 185 CE, all the Christians of a town in Asia presented themselves to the Proconsul Arrius Antoninus and demanded the privilege of martyrdom. The proconsul told them that if they wished to die, they could hang themselves or throw themselves from the precipices. He had no interest in their religion, nor in persecuting them. * Eusebius (History of the Church) claimed that Emperor Philippus (Philip the Arab) was a Christian, in the middle of the third century. Whether or not this is true, Philip was certainly very interested in Christianity. During the transition of the empire to Christianity, there was complete freedom of religion for Christians, but life became increasingly difficult for pagan worshippers. The Christian emperor, Theodosius banned public worship of the pagan gods in 391 CE. Finally, in 395 CE, Emperor Theodosius issued an edict in the Theodosian Code: "We decree that no one shall have the right to approach any shrine or temple whatsoever, or to perform abominable sacrifices in any place or time whatsoever. All persons, therefore, who try to deviate from the dogma of the Catholic Church shall hurry to observe ...". The penalties could be the confiscation of land and property, or even execution. Henceforth, there was to be no freedom of religion in the Roman Empire.