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In 380 AD/CE, the Byzantine Emperor Theodosius issued The Edict of Thessaloniki which nationalized Christianity within Greece, Asia Minor, Italy, as well as other parts of The Roman Empire, while also ending the centuries old Greco-Roman Olympian religion. The Temples were destroyed, closed or in many cases, converted into Churches. If my memory is correct, theatrical performances at places, such as Epidaurus and Delphi were discontinued and the Olympic Games had also ended under Theodosius' orders. The Christianization of Greece, Asia Minor and the Italian peninsula, also resulted in the discontinuation of Olympianism.

However, is there any textual evidence that proves or is there any plausible/ credible circumstantial evidence which refers to a percentage of Greeks and Romans who practiced their Olympian religion in secret-(literally "behind closed doors") during the 400's AD/CE?-(that is to say between The Edict of Thessaloniki and The Fall of The Roman Empire in 476 AD/CE). In other words, were there any Crypto-Olympian worshipers in Greece, Asia Minor and/or Italy after 380 AD/CE?

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    There were many religious groups and cults which outlived Theodosius. Many of those had their origins in traditional greco-roman polytheism but were often born out of a synthesis with another religious/philosophical movement. I think you should first ask yourself what the state of "Olympianism" was in the 5th century before you ask if there were any crypto practitioners of it, post Theodosius – Notaras Dec 04 '17 at 00:26
  • Well, from my understanding, by the 400's AD/CE, the centuries old Olympian religion had become an anachronism and if my memory is correct, the Olympian religion was essentially outlawed both by Theodosius and subsequent to Theodosius. However, even though Christianity was literally "the law of the land", I am still wondering if there were any communities/percetnages of Greeks and Romans who continued practicing the Olympian religion "behind closed doors"-(even if it was a version of Olympianism that was intermixed with other religions). –  Dec 04 '17 at 00:34
  • You can find instances of individuals post Theodosius who were (or were accused of being) pagan. Instances of such people become less and less till about the time of Justinian. As for actual percentages, that is impossible to determine. – Notaras Dec 04 '17 at 00:45
  • That's an interesting point. I didn't realize that there were actual (or accused) Greco-Roman Olympian worshipers into the Age of Justinian; that's about 150 years or so from Theodosius. –  Dec 04 '17 at 00:48
  • Accusing people of paganism became a tool for Monophysites to gain imperial favour and dwindle the influence of Chalcedonian Christians. This is why we hear instances of Crypto-pagans mainly in areas with strong monophysite populations. Make no mistake however that by the time of Justinian, religious turmoil was overwhelmingly between different Christian groups and not against pagans as it had been in the previous century. Anyway i think a question like this is best answered by reading a lengthy book on the topic – Notaras Dec 04 '17 at 01:07
  • I wish I had the time to read such a lengthy book, though over the years I have read a few historical articles addressing this topic.......though only from a peripheral standpoint. –  Dec 04 '17 at 01:19

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