As per my last post, people like Catherine Nixey simply refuse to believe that upper class pagans were absolutely sincere in their religious beliefs. They were not honorary atheists, or sceptics. Had… (View Post)

No. It was all about showing your commitment to Christianity by *not* celebrating Christmas. (View Post)

A friend of mine had a father who ran a factory in Wigtown in the Fifties. Employees made a point of working on Christmas Day to show they weren't celebrating a pagan festival. (View Post)

Gibbon believed upper class Romans to be like him, an upper class 18th century sceptic. Although he is largely discredited by scholars, his outlook still remains dominant at the popular level. Religi… (View Post)

I was honestly bemused when I read the Darkening Age, to see the pre-Christian empire described as "liberal" and "tolerant". Hadrian's treatment of the Jews was genocidal. (View Post)