SPELLO, ITALY—Cosmos Magazine reports that a monumental Roman temple dated to the fourth century A.D. has been discovered less than 100 miles north of Rome in the town of Spello. “It will significantly aid in the understanding of the ancient town, the ancient townscape, and city society in the later Roman Empire because it shows the continuities between the classical pagan world and early Christian Roman world that often get blurred out or written out of the sweeping historical narratives,” said Douglas Boin of Saint Louis University. He explained that the emperor Constantine (reigned A.D. 306–337), who converted to Christianity circa A.D. 312, instructed the people of the town of Spello to build a temple in honor of his ancestors, and to worship them there. “Things didn’t change overnight,” Boin explained, resulting in an imperial cult dedicated to the family of a Christian ruler. “It’s so weird and I love that we can bring it to light,” he concluded. Christianity eventually became the official religion of the Roman Empire in A.D. 380, decades after the death of Constantine the Great. To read about the Arch of Constantine, go to "A Monumental Imperial Biography."
