The religious panorama of the Roman Empire

Abstract

While traditional Roman religion was more about orthopraxy than orthodoxy, the emergence of Christianity challenged non-Christian intellectuals of the later empire to respond to issues of personal devotion to the gods and the role of theurgy as well as divine unity. This is exemplified in this paper through an examination of Aelius Aristides, Marcus Aurelius, Apollonius of Tyana, Saturninius Secundus Sallustius, Iamblichus, and Proclus. Not only was their thought a reaction to Christianity but also influenced its development.