Saying "cope harder" is easier than making Historically backed arguments, isn't it?
By the late 4th century, Alexandria was already largely Christian. So how can you say native Alexandrian Christians destroy their own city? The violent incidents we hear about weren’t carried out by the general population, but by specific, often zealous groups in tense local situations. You can't blame the 99.5% for the aggressive actions of just 0.5%.
Hypatia case was one of those specific events. Her death wasn’t some organized Christian purge. It grew out of a political conflict between Cyril of Alexandria and Orestes a Christian governor, with Hypatia closely associated with Orestes. In that charged environment, rumors and rivalries spiraled into mob violence. There’s no solid evidence Cyril ordered her killing.
It’s also worth noting that Hypatia wasn’t broadly hated by Christians. she was respected as a philosopher and even taught students like Synesius of Cyrene, who later became a bishop.
More broadly, there was no empire-wide “temple smashing campaign” carried out by Christians as a whole. Yes, laws under Emperor Theodosius I restricted pagan practices, and some temples like the Serapeum of Alexandria were destroyed but these were localized and context-driven, not a unified program.
And for context, earlier in the pagan Roman Empire, Christians themselves faced severe, centrally enforced persecutions, such as the Great Persecution, which were far more systematic than the later, uneven restrictions placed on pagan practices.
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