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A new film taking place in the latter years of the Roman Empire is being released:Rachel Weisz stars in religious epic "Agora"Sounds like an interesting topic. We don't get enough movies made about this period of time. However, I can't help but think this movie is the same liberal crap that we've seen in the past. From the article:
There is also no question as to what side the filmmakers are on. The Christians in "Agora" are more preoccupied with slaughtering than spirituality and the only truly principled character is Hypatia the atheist, who may have come close to proving that the Earth revolves around the sun 1,200 years before Johannes Kepler. She is the only one who never sacrifices her unwavering "faith," in reason and intellectual freedom, for personal gain.
You mean the atheist here is the "hero"? Brilliant concept, one that we haven't seen in movies like Kingdom of Heaven. The Christians are the villains? Never seen that before, either.I wouldn't mind if movies such as this were not "pro-religion". But why do they always have to be anti-religion? Hollywood anachronism, yet again.
I thought Copernicus said that about the earth and sun.About the Christians, and I don't mean to stir the pot, but didn't Theodosius order the destruction of the library at Alexandria anyway (along with all temples)? Hollywood will never get it right. They will blame all Chrisitianity rather than an individual.
Hmmm….I don't think I had ever heard that Theodosius destroyed the Alexandria library. I thought it would have been done under some other group, such as the Vandals, that occupied the territory in the 5th century.
Demolition of the Idolatrous Temples at Alexandria, and the Consequent Conflict between the Pagans and Christians.Soc. Ecclesiastical Histories 5.16
At the solicitation of Theophilus bishop of Alexandria the emperor issued an order at this time for the demolition of the heathen temples in that city; commanding also that it should be put in execution under the direction of Theophilus. Seizing this opportunity, Theophilus exerted himself to the utmost to expose the pagan mysteries to contempt. And to begin with, he caused the Mithreum to be cleaned out, and exhibited to public view the tokens of its bloody mysteries. Then he destroyed the Serapeum, and the bloody rights of the Mithreum he publicly caricatured; the Serapeum also he showed full of extravagant superstitions, and he had the phalli of Priapus carried through the midst of the forum. The pagans of Alexandria, and especially the professors of philosophy, were unable to repress their rage at this exposure, and exceeded in revengeful ferocity their outrages on a former occasion: for with one accord, at a preconcerted signal, they rushed impetuously upon the Christians, and murdered every one they could lay hands on.
Thus this disturbance having been terminated, the governor of Alexandria, and the commander-in-chief of the troops in Egypt, assisted Theophilus in demolishing the heathen temples. These were therefore razed to the ground, and the images of their gods molten into pots and other convenient utensils for the use of the Alexandrian church; for the emperor had instructed Theophilus to distribute them for the relief of the poor. All the images were accordingly broken to pieces, except one statue of the god before mentioned, which Theophilus preserved and set up in a public place; ?Lest,? said he, ?at a future time the heathens should deny that they had ever worshiped such gods.?
See alsohttp://www.roman-emperors.org/theo1.htm#N_49_I believe he is also the Emperor who issued the edict to stop the Olympic Games in 394, but that's debateable. That may have occured at a latter date by someone else in the 5th century when the temples at Olympia were destroyed.
Ok, I guess you're on to something. Looks like it was potentially a series of actions that led to the library's end – Caracalla's attack of the city (3rd cent.), the actions of Theodosius and Theophilus, and later actions by Arabs in the 7th century. http://books.google.com/books?id=k9ipHYpQ47IC&printsec=frontcover&dq=library+alexandria&ei=lRgYSo2KF4bAMoHZpKcJ&client=firefox-a#PPA10,M1 (pgs 9-10)
I think Christians just had to do something about the pagan worship which I would imagine was rampant. I read somewhere that anything related to blood sacrifice was among the first to be condemned. I just wish everybody would have left the temples intact. Oh well. It seems most of the stories on the destruction of the library are based on legend rather than history. Of course Hollywood isn't going to handle this correctly.
