The Sacred Made Cheap: When the Gods Lost Their Meaning

Jul 3, 2025

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What occurs when divinity becomes mere bureaucracy? When temples proliferate, yet belief begins to wane? When there are many gods, but the sacred feels absent?

Welcome to The Sacred Made Cheap, a journey through the gradual unraveling of meaning during the late Roman Empire. From the Senate’s deification of emperors to the spiritual revolt led by early Christians, this narrative explores how the sacred lost its significance and how something radically new emerged in its place.

Formal Rituals, Empty Altars

In 138 CE, Antoninus Pius confidently submitted a formal petition to the Roman Senate, seeking the deification of his adoptive father, Emperor Hadrian. This was not extraordinary; it was the established protocol of the time, death, a petition, a vote, and the conferment of godhood.

There were no signs, no omens, no mysteries, only the straightforward mechanics of belief.

Bust of Antoninus Pius or Hadrian

Hadrian, a complex ruler who decisively quelled Jewish revolts and rebranded Judea as “Palestine,” achieved his godly status not through transcendent miracles, but through meticulous administration. He was elevated to divinity by the will of the Senate.

This was the standard practice, not the exception. The sacred had become a formalized, repeatable process, expected in its execution. In doing so, it had diminished in its value.

Empire of Many, Meaning of None

By the 3rd century, the Empire was strained to its limits, not just in terms of territory, but also in its theological diversity. Every corner of Rome boasted its own gods, cults, and rituals.

The outcome was not abundance, but rather exhaustion.

Roman Pantheon interior (with multiple niches for gods)

This spiritual saturation dulled the senses. When everything is considered divine, nothing feels truly sacred. As the emperor ascended to divinity with each passing death, the concept of the divine began to lose its significance.

What was once deemed sacred, something that could not be articulated, had now become a ubiquitous refrain.

From Mystery to Mass Production

In the 5th century BCE, the concept of sacredness was characterized by boundaries. The Dionysian and Eleusinian Mysteries were founded on silence; what transpired within the temple was never to be spoken of, only experienced. However, during the imperial age, all things became visible. Every belief, deity, and rite was documented, cataloged, and replicated.

Statue of Apoxyomenos (mass-produced or museum view)

Even the essence of beauty lost its intrigue. The Apoxyomenos, a statue of an athlete rendered in divine proportion, was produced in mass quantities. While forms endured, the depth of emotion diminished.

The Rise of the One

Into this void emerged a perilous idea: There is but one God, and He was crucified.

This was not a deity for emperors, but for the enslaved, the forgotten, and the powerless. It was a message that pierced through the chaos: if all that was once sacred had grown hollow, perhaps the true essence of the sacred now resided in humility.

Ichthys symbol from Christian catacombs

A crucified man took the place of the marble statue. A whispered prayer replaced the grand imperial hymn. And in that silence, meaning was restored.

Conclusion: What Is Sacred?

In a world where the divine had become a matter of procedure, Christianity’s shock extended beyond theology, it struck at the core of existence itself.

The sacred, once rendered hollow through repetition, found new life in the depths of exclusion, suffering, and resistance.

The sacred was never inherently cheap. Yet the Empire had diminished its value. Therefore, the sacred had to escape—to caves, to catacombs, to crosses. Only then could it be revitalized once more.

Want to learn more about the Eucharist and the role of Ritualistic Canabalisation in Early Christianity? Sing up for our Athens Wine Tour!