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At about the beginning of the
Byzantine period in Thessaloniki , the
Metropolitan Acholios or Ascholios converted the Emperor Theodosius I
to Christianity and baptized him, and on Feb. 28, 380 Theodosius issued
the famous decree proclaiming the Nicene Creed the only true creed, and
condemning all others as heresies.
However, this act was marred 10
years later (390) by the slaughter of thousands of Thessalonikians in
the city's Hippodrome, where the present Hippodromiou Square is.
The
slaughter was ordered by Theodosius to punish the people of
Thessaloniki for an uprising during which some Goths of his personal
guard had been killed and the city authorities temporarily overturned.
About 100 years of peace and
progress followed, but at the end of the
5th century new invasions of Goths, Avars, Huns and Slavs took place.
The area around Thessaloniki , as with other parts of Greece , was
subjected to pillage, slaughter, devastation and captivity, but the
attackers never managed to take the city itself.
A great deal of
information about this period is given in the later books on the Miracles
of Saint Demetrius.
The judicial power, an indispensable part of the community's
independence, was in the hands of the archbishop. Information re
garding this comes from the time of the Venetian occupation (1423-
1430) and although of a later date it contributes to a more complete
understanding of the main points of Greek law during Venetian and
Turkish rule.
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