Grade 6 Spring — The Classical World and Late Antiquity to ~500 CE: Late Rome and Byzantium, Han China, Mauryan and Gupta India, Sasanian Persia, Aksum and Early Ghana, Classical Maya and Teotihuacan — Whose 'Fall'? Whose Golden Age? Whose Living Descendants?
History · CUL
G6
hist.g6.s.cul.theodosian_christianization_state_religion
Analyze the Theodosian establishment of Nicene Christianity as Roman state religion 380 CE — Edict of Thessalonica + ban on polytheist sacrifices 391 CE + the death of Hypatia of Alexandria 415 CE — per Ramsay MacMullen and Bart Ehrman scholarship
Trace the Roman Empire's transformation from polytheist religious pluralism (with Christianity as one minority religion c. 200 CE) through Constantine's toleration 313 CE, to Theodosius's Edict of Thessalonica 380 CE establishing Nicene Christianity as state religion AND the ban on polytheist sacrifices 391 CE; analyze the consequences for non-Christian communities — Jews of the diaspora, polytheists, mystery-cult practitioners, philosophers (Hypatia's death 415 CE); use MG-9 Humanity-FIRST throughout.
Mastery threshold
90%
Min instances
12
Typical minutes
45
Spaced intervals (days)
1, 3, 7, 14, 30, 60
Common misconceptions
- Believing all Romans were Christian by 380 CE — actual estimates suggest ~50-60% Christianization at Theodosius's edict per Stark/Hopkins demographic models
- Treating Christianity-becoming-state-religion as inevitable rather than a contested 90-year process with reversal under Julian 361-363 CE