The dominant society or culture determines the narrative, from simple vocabulary to the events of history. I believe it was Churchill who observed that the winners write our history.

You can easily do a google search on anything.

Definition of pagan. 1 : heathen 1; especially : a follower of a polytheistic religion (as in ancient Rome)

Heathen comes from Old English hæðen (not Christian or Jewish); cf. Old Norse heiðinn. This meaning for the term originated from Gothic haiþno (gentile woman) being used to translate Hellene (cf. ... This may have been influenced by the Greek and Latin terminology of the time used for pagans.