During the fourth century AD the Christian liturgical year reached its stability, mainly with regard to the Easter cycle. It remained in many ways distinct from the civil one, still tied to pagan characteristics. Nevertheless, especially after the Edict of Thessalonica (380 AD), roman imperial legislation started to use Christian Feasts, which then became reference point for the temporal organization of administrative and procedural activities.
Given this framework, the research aims to reconstruct how Christian feasts are used by Emperors in the administration of justice. Through the examination of a certain number of imperial constitutions (collected in the Theodosian Code and in the Justinian’s one), but also of the literary sources of the time, the article will analyse how the Emperors – also thanks to this new timing of justice – pursued going forward with the Christianization of a still deeply pagan society. Principal sources: C. 3,12,2(3); CTh. 2,8,1; CTh. 2,8,18; C. 3,12,9(11); CTh. 9,35,4; CTh. 9,35,5; CTh. 9.35.7; C. 3,12,8(10).
