Confessors, Lapsi, and Pax Deorum: Third Century Christian Responses to Required Sacrifices

Alyssa Lynn Elliot, Emory University

The religious practices of the people of Rome were a necessary part of maintaining pax deorum (the peace of the gods), which in turn maintained order, peace, and prosperity in the empire. In the wake of the crises of the third and fourth centuries CE, emperors issued edicts and instituted religious reforms requiring citizens to make sacrifices to the gods. This lecture explores the Christian responses to these required sacrifices, particularly the confessors and lapsi, and the disposition of other Christians toward them after the time of crisis had ended.

Zoom link:  https://utoronto.zoom.us/j/84589472510