"Tantum religio potuit suadere malorum."

Compare photos like this one below to downtown areas that were pulverized in Europe and Japan in World War II. Today those cities have been rebuilt to the point where the damage is barely visible.

But just like with the Parthenon in Athens, the ruins of the capitals of the cities that the Judeo-Christian conquerors demolished have been pretty much left out the open for all to see, as if they were buzzards leaving picked-over bones behind.

I suppose the religionists thought the ruins would be a good reminder to everyone of their power, and would serve as a warning that their power should never be challenged.

I hope there are a lot of people who see these ruins and think of how much better this world would have been if it had followed the lead of Epicurus rather than these religionists.

Quote from JJElbert

or b.) Preserved by being made into a church.

I used to presume that the state of the forum and related areas was the result of some kind of barbarian action to burn and/or knock down all the buildings, because what else short of an incredible earthquake could produce that kind of result.

But now I gather that most all of the damage was intentional harvesting of stone over the centuries, so presumably that means the real barbarians were the churchmen.