Sine suffragiis. Exclusion of religious minorities in the Theodosian Code

In the sixteenth book of the Theodosian Code, dedicated to the theme of religion, we find both the definition of Christianity as a ‘religion’, and that of ‘religious otherness’. Heresy, apostasy, Judaism, and paganism are the concepts identified as 'religious', even while also defined as ‘other’. Into these definitions fall communities, groups, and places, which in turn are integrated within the horizon of the res publica or excluded from it. The concept of suffragium, originally meaning ‘vote’, changed its meaning after the comitia had ceased to meet in the early part of Tiberius’ principate. From the political point of view, it inherited from its original significance the meaning of influence exercised by the powerful. Connected with this, suffragium meant also patronage, recommendation, and the money paid by a candidate to secure power. In late antiquity, the legal term took on meaning in relation to religious issues, to define social inclusion and exclusion, especially in its plural form, suffragia. Religious communities were then placed within a range of possible levels of acceptability in relation to the social consensus derived from the civic-religious communion.