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although not so much for the fire itself as for their hatred of
This last charge makes sense if one remembers that all social activities—the theatre, the army, letters, sports—were so entwined with pagan worship that Christians often felt the need to abstain from them.
Therefore, to the eyes of a Roman such as Tacitus, who loved his culture and society, Christians appeared as haters of humankind.
Before killing the Christians, Nero used them to amuse the people.
All of this aroused the mercy of the people, even against these culprits who deserved an exemplary punishment, for it was clear that they were not being destroyed for the common good, but rather to satisfy the cruelty of one
Once again the pagan historian, while showing no love for Christians, indicates that the reason for this persecution was not justice, but the whim of the emperor.
On the other hand, there is no mention of any persecution
outside the city of Rome,
Although at first Christians were charged with arson, soon they were persecuted for the mere fact of being
A period of political turmoil followed, to the point that A.D. 69 is known as “the year of four emperors.”
Christians, in their rejection of Roman gods and of many Roman traditions, stood in the way of Domitian’s dreams, and this may have been one of the causes of persecution.
In response, Domitian enacted strict laws against Judaism, and insisted on the offering in even harsher terms. Since at that time the distinction between Jews and Christians was not clear in the minds of Roman authorities,
As in the case of Nero, it does not appear that this persecution was uniformly severe throughout the Empire. In fact, it is only from Rome and Asia Minor that there are trustworthy reports of persecution at this time.
If so, these are the only two Roman martyrs of this persecution whose names are known.
In Asia Minor, this persecution resulted in the writing of the book of Revelation, whose author was exiled on the island of Patmos. There are indications that many were killed, and for generations the Church in Asia Minor remembered the reign of Domitian as a time of trial.
By the second century, however, records begin to afford a clearer view of the issues involved in the persecutions, and of the attitudes of Christians towards martyrdom.
There were many Christians in the region—so many, in fact, that Pliny declared that the pagan temples were almost deserted, and that the sellers of sacrificial victims found few buyers.
Of these Pliny required only that they pray to the gods, burn incense before the image of the emperor, and curse Christ, something that he had heard true Christians would never do.
also used to gather for a common meal, but had discontinued this practice when the authorities had outlawed secret meetings.
The question then was, should Christians be punished for concrete crimes, or should the very name “Christian” be considered a crime?
It refuses
to seek them out, as if they were innocent, and orders that they be punished as if they were guilty. It pardons, and yet is cruel. It ignores, and yet punishes. Why do you circumvent your own censure? If you condemn, why do you not inquire? And, if you do not inquire, why do you not also
Those who openly refused to worship the gods and the emperor had to be punished, first, because the dignity of the courts required it; and, secondly, because in refusing to worship the emperor they seemed to be denying his right to rule.
Throughout the second century, and part of the third, it was imperial policy not to seek out Christians, but still to punish them when they were brought before the authorities.
making a slight change in the Greek text of his letters, people began speaking of Ignatius as “he who was borne by God,” and thus arose the legend according to which he was the little child whom Jesus picked up and placed in the midst of his disciples.
In any case, by the beginning of the second century Ignatius had great prestige in the entire Christian community, because he was bishop (the second after the apostles) of one of the most ancient churches, that of Antioch.
It is clear from this that there was no general persecution of Christians throughout the
Empire at this time, but that only those brought before the courts were condemned.
“so that I may not only be called a Christian, but also behave as such…. My love is crucified…. I no longer savor corruptible food…but wish to taste the bread of God, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ…
I am God’s wheat, to be ground by the teeth of beasts, so that I may be offered as pure bread of Christ.”
“For eighty-six years I have served him, and he has done me no evil. How could I curse my king, who saved me?”
“Lord Sovereign God…I thank you that you have deemed me worthy of this moment, so that, jointly with your martyrs, I may have a share in the cup of Christ…. For this…I bless and glorify you. Amen.
One significant note in this entire account is that Polycarp fled and hid when he learned that he was being sought. We are also told in the same account that a certain Quintus, who offered himself as a martyr, weakened at the last moment and abandoned the faith. This was important for those early Christians, who believed that martyrdom was not something that one chose, but something for which one was chosen by God.
On the other hand, those who ran forward and offered themselves for martyrdom—the “spontaneous”—were false martyrs, and Christ would desert them.
Think constantly, both as a Roman and as a man, to do the task before you with perfect and simple dignity, and with kindness, freedom, and justice. Try to forget everything else. And you will be able to do so if you undertake every action in your life as if it were the last, leaving aside all negligence and the opposition of passion to the dictates of reason, and leaving aside also all hypocrisy, egotism, and rebelliousness against your own lot.
Perhaps, like Pliny, what he found most objectionable in Christians was their stubbornness.
“while I live, I shall defeat you; and if you kill me, in my death I shall defeat you all the more.”
He had recently bested a famous pagan philosopher in a public debate, and there are indications that it was this philosopher who accused him.
Throughout the second century, and well into the third, there was no systematic persecution of Christians. It was illegal to be a Christian; but those who followed the new faith were not sought out by the authorities. Persecution and martyrdom depended on local circumstances, and particularly on the good will of neighbors.
Given such circumstances, Christians felt the need to refute rumors and misconceptions regarding their beliefs and practices. Even if their arguments did not convince others of the truth of Christianity,
Many of the rumors that the apologists sought to dispel were based on a misunderstanding of Christian practice or teaching.
Joining these known facts, imagination drew a picture of Christian worship as an orgiastic celebration in which Christians ate and drank to excess, put the lights out, and vented their lusts in indiscriminate and even incestuous unions.
Communion also gave rise to another rumor. Since Christians spoke of being nourished by the body and blood of Christ, and since they also spoke of him as a little child, some came to the conclusion that, as an initiation rite, Christians concealed a newborn in a loaf of bread, and then ordered the neophyte to cut the loaf.
Thus, the enmity against Christianity on the part of many cultured pagans was not a purely intellectual matter, but was deeply rooted in class prejudice.
Their main objection was that Christianity was a religion of barbarians who derived their teaching, not from Greeks or Romans, but from Jews, a primitive people whose best teachers never rose to the level of Greek philosophers.
Celsus even claims that Jesus was the illegitimate son of Mary with a Roman soldier.
Probably the earliest surviving apology is that addressed To Diognetus, whose unknown
Theophilus, bishop of Antioch, wrote Three Books to Autolycus, which dealt with the doctrine of God, the interpretation of Scripture, and Christian life.
By reading all these apologies, historians can see what were the main objections that pagans raised against Christianity, as well as the manner in which the most cultured members of the Church responded to them, and how Christian theology developed in the very act of responding to pagan objections.
To be a Christian required a commitment to the sole worship of God, and any deviation from that commitment was a denial of Jesus Christ, who in the final judgment would in turn deny the apostate.
