Pagan culture and Christianity
  The traditional polytheist religion of the Roman empire was gradually suppressed, as Christian emperors prohibited the performance of pagan cults (392), ordered the destruction of pagan temples (435), or banned pagans from high offices and the teaching profession (529). Zealous government officials, bishops and monks instigated the persecution of pagan intellectuals, the sacking of temples, and the destruction of numerous treasures of ancient art. Religious intolerance, however, did not prevent pagan culture from enduring. The litterature and learning of classical antiquity remained the basis of education in the Early Byzantine period (and later), and cities such as Athens, Berytus (Beyrouth), and Alexandria flourished as intellectual centres until the sixth century. A taste for the classical persevered among the rich and the well educated who favored pagan imagery for the decoration of their interiors and personnal objects. Pagan deities (Dionysos, Aphrodite, Apollo) and antique personnifications frequently appear on mosaics, manuscripts, ivory diptychs and other objects. Even biblical manuscripts, such as the Vienna Genesis, make use of pagan personnae such as Nymphs.
  At the same time, pagan iconography was adapted to Christian purposes. The iconographical types of biblical personnae often derive from classical antiquity: images of Christ surrounded by his disciples draw upon representations of pagan philosophers and their pupils; antique bucolic imagery inspired the representation of Christ as the Good Shepherd. The angels on the Barberini ivory panel reproduce the attitude and costume of the winged wreath-bearing Nike (Victory), depicted on the same object. Moreover, imperial iconography, deaply rooted as it was in Roman tradition, was given a Christian significance: the pagan themes of tribute to majesty, victory, and prosperity, surrounding the earthly ruler, are blessed by the figure of Christ. Likewise, Early Christian sarcophagi combine pagan figural tradition with newly introduced subjects from the Old and New Testaments. Biblical episodes, many of which are related to the Christian concept of resurrection, replace the mythological and genre scenes of pagan sarcophagi.