Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire

====================== Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire


In its first three centuries, the Christian church endured periods of persecution at the hands of Roman authorities. Christians were persecuted by local authorities on an intermittent and ad-hoc basis. In addition, there were several periods of empire-wide persecution which was directed from the seat of government in Rome.

Reasons for persecution
The Roman Empire was generally quite tolerant in its treatment of other religions The imperial policy was generally one of incorporation - the local gods of a newly conquered area were simply added to the Roman pantheon and often given Roman names. Even the Jews, with their one god and refusal to worship the Emperor, were generally tolerated

Christianity in the 1st century was largely still a Jewish sect, so-called Jewish Christianity, thus the status of Jews in the Empire is valuable background to Roman persecution of the sect that would become known to the Romans as Christians, which occurred largely in the 2nd century.
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DURING EMPEROR CALIGULA 





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the "Crisis under Caligula" (37-41) was the "first open break" Roman War (66-73), Jews were officially allowed to practice their religion as long as they payed the Jewish tax. Roman government had distinguished between Christians and Jews prior to Nerva's modification of the tax in 96. From then on, practising Jews paid the tax, Christians did not
--------------------------  the Romans, religion was first and foremost a social activity that promoted unity and loyalty to the state

 a religious attitude the Romans called pietas, or piety.  that if piety in the Roman sense were to disappear, social unity and justice would perish along with it.[
The Roman distaste for Christianity, then, arose in large part from its sense that it was bad for society. In the 3rd century 

On a more social, practical level, Christians were distrusted in part because of the secret and misunderstood nature of their worship. Words like "love feast" and talk of "eating Christ's flesh" sounded understandably suspicious to the pagans, and Christians were suspected of cannibalism, incest, orgies, and all sorts of immorality

By the mid-2nd century, mobs could be found willing to throw stones at Christians, and they might be mobilized by rival sects. The Persecution in Lyon was preceded by mob violence, including assaults, robberies and stonings.  When rumor seemed about to expose Pontus was full of atheists and Christians who had the hardihood to utter the vilest abuse to christiansdrive them away with stones i. Further state persecutions were desultory until the 3rd century, 

Christianity under the severest penalties," immediately adding that "Nothing is known as to the execution of the edict in Rome itself nor of the martyrs of the Roman Church in this era

f the Christians were often given opportunities to avoid further punishment by publicly offering sacrifices or burning incense to Roman gods, and were accused by the Romans of impiety when they refused. Refusal was punished by arrest, imprisonment, torture, and executions. Christians fled to safe havens in the countryside and some purchased their certificates, called libelli. Several councils held at Carthage debated the extent to which the community should accept these lapsed Christians.
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Persecution under Nero 

 the reigns of Tiberius and Nero. 

Implicating the Christians for massive act of arson, Nero successfully capitalized on the already-existing public suspicion of this religious sect and, it could be argued, exacerbated the hostilities held toward them throughout the Roman Empire.
 Forms of execution used by the Romans included burning in the tunica molesta
murder, crucifixion, and the feeding of Christians to lions and other wild beasts
vast multitude, were convicted, not so much of the crime of incendiarism as of hatred of the human race. And in their deaths they were made the subjects of sport; for they were wrapped in the hides of wild beasts and torn to pieces by dogs, or nailed to crosses, or set on fire, and when day declined, were burned to serve for nocturnal lights."
The apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul are said by Christian writers to have been martyred in Rome during this persecution;

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Persecution under Domitian 
 Jews and Christians were heavily persecuted toward the end of Domitian's reign
 The Book of Revelation was written during Domitian's reign. 


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EMPEROR TRAJAN

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Persecution under Trajan  

Between 109 and 111 AD, Pliny the Younger was sent by the emperor Trajan (r. 98-117) to the province of Bithynia as governor. During his tenure of office

Pliny encountered Christians, and he wrote to the emperor about them. The governor indicated that he had ordered the execution of several Christians, "for I held no question that whatever it was they admitted, in any case obstinancy and unbending perversity deserve to be punished."

 The emperor responded that Christians should not be sought out, anonymous tips should be rejected as "unworthy of our times," and if they recanted and "worshiped our gods," they were to be freed. Those who persisted, however, should be punished.
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EMPEROR MARCUS AURELIUS

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Persecution under Marcus Aurelius 
Belonging to the later Stoical school, which believed in an immediate absorption after death into the Divine essence, Marcus Aurelius considered the Christian doctrine of the immortality of the soul, with its moral consequences, as vicious and dangerous to the welfare of the state. A law was passed   under his reign, punishing every one with exile who should endeavor to influence people's mind by fear of the Divinity, and this law was aimed at the Christians. At all events his reign was a stormy time for the church, although the persecutions cannot be directly traced to him. The law of Trajan was sufficient to justify the severest measures against the followers of the "forbidden" religion.

It was  was during the reign of Marcus Aurelius that Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, was martyred, but newer estimates place it under the rule of Antonius Pius, and more specifically the proconsul of Asia Minor, Statius Quadratus. Later, there is record of "new decrees" making it easier for Christians to be accused and have their property confiscated.


EMPEROR  Septimius Severus
One of the best-recorded acts of violence against Christians in Marcus Aurelius' reign is the persecution in Lyons, which occurred in 177 AD. Over 48 Christians were killed in it
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Persecution under Septimius Severus  
under him whom Christians suffered terribly was Septimius Severus who ruled from 193-211. Writing during his reign, Clement of Alexandria said, "Many martyrs are daily burned, confined, or beheaded, before our eyes."  

The emperor Severus may not have been personally ill-disposed towards Christians, but the church was gaining power and making many converts and this led to popular anti-Christian feeling and persecution in Carthage, Alexandria, Rome and Corinth between about 202 and 210. 

 In 202 Septimius enacted a law prohibiting the spread of Christianity and Judaism. This was the first universal decree forbidding conversion to Christianity. Violent persecutions broke out in Egypt and North Africa. Leonides, the father of Origen, a Christian apologist, was beheaded. Origen himself was spared because his mother hid his clothes. A young girl was cruelly tortured, then burned in a kettle of burning pitch with her mother. The famed Perpetua and Felicity were martyred during this time, as were many students of Origen of Alexandria. It is reported that Perpetua, a young noblewoman, and Felicitas, a slave girl, held hands and exchanged a kiss before being thrown to wild animals at a public festival.

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Persecution under Maximinus the Thracian 

Maximinus the Thracian initiated a persecution in 235 in the reign of that was directed chiefly against the heads of the Church. One of its first victims was Pope Pontian, who with Hippolytus was banished  to the island of Sardinia.  

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Persecution under Decius Trajan

It was not until the reign of Decius that a persecution of Christian laity across the Empire took place. "History of the Franks", written in the decade before 594 by Gregory of Tours, glosses the persecutions:  

"Under the emperor Decius many persecutions arose against the name of Christ, and there was such a slaughter of believers that they could not be numbered. Babillas, bishop of Antioch, with his three little sons, Urban, Prilidan and Epolon, and Xystus, bishop of Rome, Laurentius, an archdeacon, and Hyppolitus, were made perfect by martyrdom because they confessed the name of the Lord. Valentinian and Novatian were then the chief heretics and were active against our faith, the enemy urging them on. At this time seven men were ordained as bishops and sent into the Gauls to preach, as the history of the martyrdom of the holy martyr Saturninus relates. For it says: " In the consulship of Decius and Gratus, as faithful memory recalls, the city of Toulouse received the holy Saturninus as its first and greatest bishop." These bishops were sent: bishop Catianus to Tours; bishop Trophimus to Arles; bishop Paul to Narbonne; bishop Saturninus to Toulouse; bishop Dionisius to Paris; bishop Stremonius to Clermont, bishop Martial to Limoges."  The persecution under Decius was the first universal and organized persecution of Christians, and it would have lasting significance for the Christian church. In January of 250, Decius issued an edict requiring all citizens to sacrifice to the emperor in the presence of a Roman official and obtain a certificate (libellus) proving they had done so.

In general, public opinion condemned the government's violence and admired the martyrs' passive resistance, and the Christian movement was thereby strengthened. The Decian persecution ceased in 251, a few months before Decius' death. The Decian persecution had lasting repercussions for the church. How should those who had bought a certificate or actually sacrificed be treated? It seems that in most churches, those who had lapsed were accepted back into the fold, but some groups refused them admission to the church. This raised important issues about the nature of the church, forgiveness, and the high value of martyrdom. A century and a half later, St. Augustine would battle with an influential group called the Donatists, who broke away from the Catholic Church because the latter embraced the lapsed

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Persecution under Valerian 
Under Valerian, who took the throne in 253, all Christian clergy were required to sacrifice to the gods. In a 257 edict, the punishment was exile; in 258, the punishment was death. Christian senators, knights and ladies were also required to sacrifice under pain of heavy fines, reduction of rank and, later, death. Finally, all Christians were forbidden to visit their cemeteries. Among those executed under Valerian were St. Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, and Sixtus II, Bishop of Rome. According to a letter written by Dionysus during this time, "men and women, young and old, maidens and matrons, soldiers and civilians, of every age and race, some by scourging and fire, others by the sword, have conquered in the strife and won their crowns." The persecution ended with the capture of Valerian by Persia. Valerian's son and successor, Gallienus, revoked the edicts of his father
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Persecution under Diocletian and Galerius
 Diocletian came to power in 284, and for twenty years upheld edicts of toleration made by a previous emperor. His wife and daughter were Christians, as were most of his court officers and eunuchs
The reasons for this persecution are unclear, but Diocletian's actions may have been based on the influence of his junior colleague Galerius (an adherent of Roman religion), Porphyry (an anti-Christian Neoplatonist philosopher), or the usual desire for political unity. 

In any case, Diocletian published four edicts of 303-04. The emperor ordered the burning of Christian books and churches, but promised not to spill any blood. In actuality, the Diocletian persecution turned out to be extremely violent. This violence "did not succeed in annihilating Christianity but caused the faith of the martyrs to blaze forth instead."

The emperor ordered the doors of the Christian church at Nicomedia, the capital, to be barred, and then burnt the edifice with 600 Christians within. Many edicts were issued by him against Christians. Churches were demolished, Christian books were seized and burnt, Christians were persecuted, imprisoned, tortured and killed.  
Christian churches were to be burned, all copies of the Bible were to be burned; all Christians were to be deprived of public office and civil rights; and last, all, without exception, were to sacrifice to the gods upon pain of death."

A fifth edict was issued by co-regent Galerius in 308 ordering that all men, with wives, children, and servants, were to offer sacrifice to the gods, "and that all provisions in the markets should be sprinkled with sacrificial wine." As a result, Christians either had to commit apostasy or starve. Says Schaff: "All the pains, which iron and steel, fire and sword, rack and cross, wild beasts and beastly men could inflict, were employed" against the church. Executioners grew tired with all the work they had to do
The tide finally turned in the terrible struggle between paganism and Christianity in 311 when Galerius admitted defeat in trying to bring Christians back to the pagan religions. He gave Christians permission to meet as long as they didn’t disturb the order of the state. He even requested that they pray to their God for the welfare of the state. The Eastern Orthodox church commemorates the burning of 20,000 martyrs which occurred on 302AD under this persecution on the liturgical calendar date of December 28.
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Persecution under Julian the Apostate  

Julian the Apostate, the last pagan emperor of the Roman Empire, was brought up during a time that paganism was in decline in Rome. Upon being proclaimed Augustus in 361 AD, Julian immediately declared his faith to the old Roman Gods and began to bring about a pagan revival. However, he was killed in Persia in 363 AD and his attempt to restore paganism ultimately failed. 

Julian used many methods to subtly break the Church. He recalled bishops who had previously been exiled for heretical teachings, stripped clergy of their rights to travel at the expense of the state as they had done previously,[citation needed] and banned Christians from teaching classical works such as the Iliad or the Odyssey. Julian was replaced by the Christian emperor Jovian.