The old gods must be destroyed. For a short spell the emperor Julian, a lover of Greek wisdom, managed to save the pagan Gods from further destruction. But Julian died of his wounds during a campaign in Persia and his successor Jovian re-established the church in all its glory. One after the other the doors of the ancient temples were then closed. Then came the emperor Justinian (who built the church of Saint Sophia in Constantinople), who discontinued the school of philosophy at Athens which had been founded by Plato.
形形色色的旧神抵必须被摧毁，主宰世界的只能是基督教唯一的上帝。有一段时间，热爱希腊智慧的朱利安皇帝在位，他努力拯救异教的神抵，使它们免于被损毁。不过他不久在征讨波斯的战役中受伤致死。继任的朱维安皇帝重新树立起基督教的绝对权威，古老的异教神庙一个接一个关门大吉。接下来是查士丁尼皇帝，他下令在君士坦丁堡修建著名的圣索非亚大教堂，把柏拉图创建的历史悠久的雅典学园彻底关闭。
That was the end of the old Greek world, in which man had been allowed to think his own thoughts and dream his own dreams according to his desires. The somewhat vague rules of conduct of the philosophers had proved a poor compass by which to steer the ship of life after a deluge of savagery and ignorance had swept away the established order of things. There was need of something more positive and more definite. This the Church provided.
这一历史时刻是古希腊世界的终结。人们可以照自己的想法自由 思考，按自己的愿望梦想未来的时代黯然逝去了。当野蛮和愚昧的洪水横扫大地，冲毁旧有的秩序，要指导生活之舟在惊涛骇浪中把握航向，古希腊哲学家的行为准则便显得有些模糊而不可靠了。人们很难再依赖它们作为生活的向导人们需要一些更积极而明确的东西。这正是教会可以提供的。
During an age when nothing was certain, the church stood like a rock and never receded from those principles which it held to be true and sacred. This steadfast courage gained the admiration of the multitudes and carried the church of Rome safely through the difficulties which destroyed the Roman state.
在一个世界摇摇欲坠、万事皆不确定的时代里，只有教会像岩石般坚强屹立，坚持真理和神圣准则，从不因危险和情势的变迁而退缩。这种坚定的勇气不仅赢得了群众的爱慕，也同时让罗马教会安然度过了那些毁灭罗马帝国的灾难。
There was however, a certain element of luck in the final success of the Christian faith. After the disappearance of Theodoric's Roman-Gothic kingdom, in the fifth century, Italy was comparatively free from foreign invasion.
不过，基督教的最后胜利也有一丝幸运的成分。当公元5世纪，西奥多里克建立的罗马--哥特王国覆灭之后，意大利受到的外来侵略相对减少。