The Decline of Animal Sacrifice in the Late Roman World, with James Rives - Medievalists.net

"A conversation with James Rives on the history of ancient animal sacrifice in the Roman world. We focus on its decline and eventual demise in the third and fourth centuries. Animal sacrifice was caught up in the conflicts between the Roman emperors and the Christian Church, which endowed it with an importance it had not had before. James Rives is the Kenan Eminent Professor of Classics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where his research focuses on religion in the Roman imperial period."

"The conversation is based on James' recent book Animal Sacrifice in the Roman Empire (31 BCE-395 CE): Power, Communication, and Cultural Transformation (Oxford University Press 2024). Byzantium & Friends is hosted by Anthony Kaldellis, a Professor at the University of Chicago. You can follow him on his personal website. You can listen to more episodes of Byzantium & Friends through Podbean, Spotify or Apple Podcasts."

Animal sacrifice remained a core element of Roman ritual life before its marked decline in the third and fourth centuries CE. Political and religious conflicts between Roman emperors and the expanding Christian Church transformed sacrificial practice into a contested symbol of authority. Increased legal pressures, social hostility, and Christian opposition reduced the public performance and institutional support for animal sacrifice. The decline unfolded through gradual cultural transformation and targeted measures rather than a single decisive event. By the late fourth century, traditional animal sacrifice had largely disappeared from public religious practice across the Roman Empire.

Read at Medievalists.net