? 
Constantius ordered the closing of all pagan temples. This led to the destruction of many temples in the eastern empire. [McCabe, 1939, 79]
353
A law added wives, children, and servants of clergy to the clergy's tax exemption. [Valantasis, 267]
355
Christian bishops were exempted from ever being tried in secular courts. [Ellerbe, 27]
c.356
"Those who claimed to be the genuine followers of Christ denounced the Arian Emperor and bishops as spawn of the devil and fought their adherents with fire and sword." [McCabe, 1939, 79]
356
Emperor Constantius II renewed the death sentence for practicing pagan religions. [McCabe, 1939, 75, 79]
357
If a Christian converted to Judaism his property was to be confiscated. [Valantasis, 273]
366
Damasus, a deacon under Pope Liberius, took an oath not to recognize another pope while Liberius was alive. After the emperor exiled Liberius, Damasus broke his oath and served Anti-pope Felix II.
After Liberius died, his supporters elected Ursinus pope. That election was violently overturned by supporters of Damasus. After winning the struggle to succeed Liberius, Damasus became an ardent advocate of papal supremacy. [McBrien, 62-64]
The CE ("Pope St. Damasus I") alleges that it was the supporters of Ursinus who initiated the violence.
"The emperor Valentinian I intervened in support of Damasus and banished Ursinus for a time to Cologne...."[Cross, 370]
"The high level of violence in this period has been largely ignored by historians, but a close reading of the sources shows that almost every vacant bishopric gave rise to murder and intimidation as rival candidates fought for the position." [Freeman, 2009, 67]
372
A law ordered the confiscation of Manichaean meeting places and punishment for Manichaean teachers. [Engh, 93]
374
[St.] Ambrose was appointed bishop of Milan (Mediolanum) before he was baptized. [Freeman, 2009, 67]
377
A law exempted clergy from public service. [Valantasis, 267. See also 313 & 319.]
c.378
Bishop of Rome [St.] Damasus I held a synod which ruled that "the Bishop of Rome should not be compelled to appear in court...." [Johnson, 1976, 99]
379
[St.] Ambrose persuaded Roman Emperor Gratian to outlaw Arianism in the west. [Delaney, 33]
380
Roman emperor Theodosius I ("The Great"),
- made Christianity the official state religion.
- began enacting repressive laws to punish non-Christians.
- made paganism and pagan rites illegal, and abolished the pagan priesthood.
- granted privileges to Christian clergy, banned activities on Sunday, and made Christmas and Easter legal holidays.
- confiscated Arian Christian churches and banned their meetings.
- removed Arian-leaning bishops from their offices or forced them to conform, and systematically banished Arian believers (even though there were many in Constantinople).
- forbade Apollonarians to call their leaders "bishop" or "clergy." He also decreed the death penalty for Manichaean monks.
- defined Christians as believers in the Trinity and declared non-Christians insane and subject to divine and imperial vengeance.
- burned the books of heretics.
[Bokenkotter, 62; Engh, 97; Grant, 272-273; Jenkins, 122-123; Wikipedia, "Timeline of Christian Missions"; www.stopthereligiousright.org/theodosius.htm ]
381
Emperor Theodosius I,
- "made 'heresy' a crime against the state." [Pagels, 1988, 62]
- "made it illegal to disagree with the Church." [Ellerbe, 28]
- "ordered that no Manichaean of either sex should be able to bequeath or inherit any property." [Freeman, 2009, 104; Engh, 93]
- decreed that the Holy Spirit was divine, thus creating the Holy Trinity and expanding the Nicene Creed. He declared Homoeans, Homoiousians, and Arians heretical and ordered their churches handed over to Trinitarians. He probably did this for political reasons, because there was no consensus on the nature of the Holy Spirit. Like Constantine before him, Theodosius wanted to put a stop to the endless disputes, and just as before, he failed at this. [Freeman, 2005, 193]
- called a council of pro-Nicene bishops, the First Council of Constantinople. The council apparently affirmed Theodosius' decree regarding the Holy Spirit, but no record of that exists. The council also decreed that Christians who lapsed into paganism forfeited their right to make a will. [Freeman, 2005, 193; www.stopthereligiousright.org/theodosius.htm ]
Theodosius' edicts "confirmed the emperor as the definer and enforcer of orthodoxy." [Freeman, 2005, 194]
381
Nectarius was appointed bishop of Constantinople before he had been baptized. [Freeman, 2009, 311]
382
At the urging of [St.] Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, Emperor Theodosius I ordered the pagan statue removed from the Roman Senate, "the revenues of the pagan temples be confiscated to the State, and the privileges of the priests be annulled." [McCabe, 1939, 81]
382
Theodosius made membership in some Manichaean sects a capital crime, and made it illegal to support Manichaean monks. He also used a system of informers to police the pagans. [Freeman, 2009, 104; www.stopthereligiousright.org/theodosius.htm ; Engh, 93-94; Jenkins, 123]
383
Emperor Theodosius I decreed that Eunomians and other kinds of "heretical" congregations were forbidden to assemble or to build places of worship. Another decree six months later confiscated their property and expelled all Eunomian clergy. [Freeman, 2009, 140]
384
Theodosius I made divination from chicken entrails a capital crime. Other pagan practices were also outlawed, such as burning incense, torch bearing processions, wearing garlands, and offerings of wine. Household gods were outlawed. Magistrates' failure to enforce the law was also criminalized. [ www.jesusneverexisted.com ]
384-385
Theodosius I ordered his Prefect Cynegius, with the cooperation of local bishops and monks, to destroy the temples and shrines of the pagans in Greece and Asia Minor. [www.stopthereligiousright.org/theodosius.htm, citing Gibbon, v.3, ch. 28]
385
The first execution of a heretic by Christians occurred in Spain, when Bishop Priscillian of Avila was executed. The trial of Priscillian and other heretics set a new precedent. It was the first time a secular court had convicted Roman citizens on religious grounds. Priscillian was then denied a hearing by Bishop [St.] Ambrose at Milan and by Pope [St.] Damasus I at Rome. He appealed to Emperor Maximus at Trier and was sentenced to death. [McCabe, 1939, 86; Catholic Encyclopedia, "St. Ambrose" and "Inquisition"; Engh, 98]
388
Theodosius I prohibited public discussion of any religious topic. [Ellerbe, 28; Freeman, 2009, 120; Grant, 272-273; Valantasis, 269]
388
Bishop [St.] Ambrose of Milan "compelled" Theodosius I to allow a bishop, who had burned down a synagogue in Callinicum on the Euphrates, to remain unpunished. He wrote: "The maintenance of civil law is secondary to religious interest." His hold on Theodosius is likely the reason for the severity of the laws against pagans, including the destruction of their temples. [Grant, 273; Johnson, 1976, 104-105]
It was illegal for Jews to build new synagogues. They were not allowed to own Christian slaves. [Engh, 94]
388
A law forbid intermarriage between Christians and Jews. This crime was to be punished the same as adultery.[Valantasis, 273]
388
A law ordered that Apollonarians in particular and all other heretics be barred from all human contact. [Valantasis, 269]
388
Theodosius I sent a prefect to destroy the temples in Egypt and Syria. [www.stopthereligiousright.org/theodosius.htm]
389
Theodosius outlawed the use of non-Christian calendars and dating methods.[www.stopthereligiousright.org/theodosius.htm]
390
By this year Emperor Theodosius I had a system of religious persecution in place. [Jenkins, 122-123]
390
Thessalonika had a large Hippodrome for chariot races. The garrison of the city (composed of Goths) was commanded by one Butheric. Butheric imprisoned a popular charioteer for a sex crime. When the charioteer failed to appear at the next race, the crowd rioted and murdered Butheric and several other officers. After receiving the news, Theodosius ordered retribution. "... 7,000 may have died." [Freeman, 2009, 121-122; Bokenkotter, 63;Catholic Encyclopedia, "Theodosius I"; McCabe, 1939,77]
390
A law forbade women with short hair to enter a church. [Engh, 94; Valantasis, 267]
390
A law set minimum age limits for church offices and prohibited remarried women from any office. [Valantasis, 267-268]
391
Theophilus, Patriarch of Alexandria, closed a pagan temple in Alexandria and destroyed several other temples. The pagans rioted and some Christians were killed. Theophilus led a Christian mob, which destroyed the temple of Serapis. He later built a church on the ruins. The CE says that Theophilus was gifted intellectually but also was violent and unscrupulous. The Serapeum was said to be the largest place of worship in the world. It also was part of the famous Alexandrian library, which held 700,000 scrolls. [Catholic Encyclopedia, "Theophilus"; Johnson, 1976, 98; Ellerbe, 46; Pollard and Reid, 282, 298]
391
Theodosius closed all pagan temples and criminalized Pagan worship." [Grant, 273]
391
A law barred heretics from making a will or inheriting. [Valantasis, 270]
392
"... the law restricting monks to the deserts was repealed, allowing them to join the renewed destruction of pagan shrines." [Freeman, 2009, 124]
392
Private worship or any activity associated with pagan rites were criminalized. Local authorities had the right to search private homes for pagan objects, and punishment for violators could result in confiscation of their homes. Pagan gods officially became demons and pagans were called minions of Satan. Despite these harsh laws, some pagan rituals were adopted by Christians. This practice was deemed acceptable by [St.] Jerome when done for a Christian purpose. [Engh, 91; Freeman, 2009, 124; Valantasis, 272]
393
"The Olympic Games, held every four years in honour of Zeus, and by now well over a thousand years old, were celebrated for the last time in 393." [Freeman, 2009, 124]
393
Jewish marriage laws became invalid. [Valantasis, 273]
396
Pagan priests lost their privileges, their incomes went to the army and their property to the state. The authorities made little or no attempt to protect pagan institutions from militant Christians. [Johnson, 1976, 98; Valantasis, 270]
397-398
"There is another form of temptation, even more fraught with danger. This is the disease of curiosity ... It is this which drives us to try and discover the secrets of nature, these secrets which are beyond our understanding, which can avail us nothing, and which man should not wish to learn." [St. Augustine, quoted by Freeman, 2009, 169, citing Confessions, Book X, Ch.35]
398
The Fourth Council of Carthage forbade bishops to read the books of gentiles. [Ellerbe, 48]
398
"Manichaeans were expelled from Rome and threatened with exile from all Roman territory." [Engh, 94]