Free Republic

A letter written by a Roman emperor helped lead a team of archaeologists to an ancient temple that "adds significant insights into the social changes" from pagan beliefs to Christianity in the Roman Empire, experts announced recently. The lead archaeologist on the expedition, Douglas Boin, Ph.D., announced the "monumental discovery" at the annual meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America, according to a news release from St. Louis University, where Boin is a professor of history. Boin said he and his team discovered "three walls of a monumental structure" that appears to have been a Roman temple from the Constantine...

The ruins of an ancient Roman pagan temple have been uncovered by a team of archaeologists in Spello, a hilltop town in northern Italy. At the site, which is located near a religious sanctuary, researchers identified three walls that are part of a massive structure with four-foot wide foundations. These foundations suggest evidence of a Roman temple dating to the 330s, during reign of Constantine (306–337 CE), the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. These finds further illuminate the transition from pagan to Christian worship within the Roman Empire. The results of excavations conducted this summer were presented by...