Ancient
The original meaning of pagan is "rural" as opposed to "urban", and only came to refer to "non-Abrahamic" as opposed to Jewish, Christian and Islam in the 6th century, and it is therefore strictly an anachronism to apply the term to earlier times, although this is sometimes done (e.g. the three pagan "worthies" of William Caxton, Hector, Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar). The list includes only individuals of the Common Era who were "pagan" in contrast to emerging Christianity.
Read more about this topic: List Of Pagans
Famous quotes containing the word ancient:
“The ancient saying is no heresy,
Hanging and wiving goes by destiny.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“Even as fog continues to lie in the valleys, so does ancient sin cling to the low places, the depressions in the world consciousness.”
—Dewitt Bodeen (1908–1988)
“To some extent, mythology is only the most ancient history and biography. So far from being false or fabulous in the common sense, it contains only enduring and essential truth, the I and you, the here and there, the now and then, being omitted. Either time or rare wisdom writes it.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)