Werner Kurator
2004-10-18 00:11:11 UTC
http://www.roman-empire.net/religion/religion.html
Towards the end of the first century the Christians appeared to sever
all their ties with the Judaism and established itself independently.
Though with this separation form Judaism, Christianity emerged as a
largely unknown religion to the Roman authorities. And Roman ignorance
of this new cult bred suspicion. Rumours were abound about secretive
Christian rituals; rumours of child sacrifice, incest and cannibalism.
Major revolts of the Jews in Judaea in the early second century led to
great resentment of the Jews and of the Christians, who were still
largely understood by the Romans to be a Jewish sect. The repressions
which followed for both Christians and Jews were severe.
During the second century AD Christians were persecuted for their
beliefs largely because these did not allow them to give the statutory
reverence to the images of the gods and of the emperor. Also their act
of worship transgressed the edict of Trajan, forbidding meetings of
secret societies. To the government, it was civil disobedience. The
Christians themselves meanwhile thought such edicts suppressed their
freedom of worship. However, despite such differences, with emperor
Trajan a period of toleration appeared to set in.
Pliny the Younger, as governor of Nithynia in AD 111, was so exercised
by the troubles with the Christians that he wrote to Trajan asking for
guidance on how to deal with them. Trajan, displaying considerable
wisdom, replied:
' The actions you have taken, my dear Pliny, in investigating the
cases of those brought before you as Christians, are correct. It is
impossible to lay down a general rule which can apply to particular
cases. Do not go looking for Christians. If they are brought before
you and the charge is proven, they must be punished, provided that if
someone denies they are Christian and gives proof of it, by offering
reverence to our gods, they shall be acquitted on the grounds of
repentance even if they have previously incurred suspicion. Anonymous
written accusations shall be disregarded as evidence. They set a bad
example which is contrary to the spirit of our times.' Christians were
not actively sought out by a network of spies. Under his successor
Hadrian which policy seemed to continue.
Also the fact hat Hadrian actively persecuted the Jews, but not the
Christians shows that by that time the Romans were drawing a clear
distinction between the two religions.
The great persecutions of AD 165-180 under Marcus Aurelius included
the terrible acts committed upon the Christians of Lyons in AD
177. This period, far more than Nero's earlier rage, was which defined
the Christian understanding of martyrdom.
Christianity is often portrayed as the religion of the poor and the
slaves. This is not necessarily a true picture. From the beginning
there appeared to have been wealthy and influential figures who at
least sympathised with the Christians, even members of court.
And it appeared that Christianity maintained its appeal to such highly
connected persons. Marcia, the concubine of the emperor Commodus, for
example used her influence to achieve the release of Christian
prisoners from the mines.
The Great Persecution - AD 303
Had Christianity generally grown and established some roots across the
empire in the years following the persecution by Marcus Aurelius, then
it had especially prospered from about AD 260 onwards enjoying
widespread toleration by the Roman authorities.
But with the reign of Diocletian things would change. Towards the end
of his long reign, Diocletian became ever more concerned about the
high positions held by many Christians in Roman society and,
particularly, the army.
On a visit to the Oracle of Apollo at Didyma near Miletus, he was
advised by the pagan oracle to halt the rise of the Christians.
And so on 23 February AD 303, on the Roman day of the gods of
boundaries, the terminalia, Diocletian enacted what was to become
perhaps the greatest persecution of Christians under Roman rule.
Diocletian and, perhaps all the more viciously, his Caesar Galerius
launched a serious purge against the sect which they saw as becoming
far too powerful and hence, too dangerous.
In Rome, Syria, Egypt and Asia Minor (Turkey) the Christians suffered
most. However, in the west, beyond the immediate grasp of the two
persecutors things were far less ferocious.
Towards the end of the first century the Christians appeared to sever
all their ties with the Judaism and established itself independently.
Though with this separation form Judaism, Christianity emerged as a
largely unknown religion to the Roman authorities. And Roman ignorance
of this new cult bred suspicion. Rumours were abound about secretive
Christian rituals; rumours of child sacrifice, incest and cannibalism.
Major revolts of the Jews in Judaea in the early second century led to
great resentment of the Jews and of the Christians, who were still
largely understood by the Romans to be a Jewish sect. The repressions
which followed for both Christians and Jews were severe.
During the second century AD Christians were persecuted for their
beliefs largely because these did not allow them to give the statutory
reverence to the images of the gods and of the emperor. Also their act
of worship transgressed the edict of Trajan, forbidding meetings of
secret societies. To the government, it was civil disobedience. The
Christians themselves meanwhile thought such edicts suppressed their
freedom of worship. However, despite such differences, with emperor
Trajan a period of toleration appeared to set in.
Pliny the Younger, as governor of Nithynia in AD 111, was so exercised
by the troubles with the Christians that he wrote to Trajan asking for
guidance on how to deal with them. Trajan, displaying considerable
wisdom, replied:
' The actions you have taken, my dear Pliny, in investigating the
cases of those brought before you as Christians, are correct. It is
impossible to lay down a general rule which can apply to particular
cases. Do not go looking for Christians. If they are brought before
you and the charge is proven, they must be punished, provided that if
someone denies they are Christian and gives proof of it, by offering
reverence to our gods, they shall be acquitted on the grounds of
repentance even if they have previously incurred suspicion. Anonymous
written accusations shall be disregarded as evidence. They set a bad
example which is contrary to the spirit of our times.' Christians were
not actively sought out by a network of spies. Under his successor
Hadrian which policy seemed to continue.
Also the fact hat Hadrian actively persecuted the Jews, but not the
Christians shows that by that time the Romans were drawing a clear
distinction between the two religions.
The great persecutions of AD 165-180 under Marcus Aurelius included
the terrible acts committed upon the Christians of Lyons in AD
177. This period, far more than Nero's earlier rage, was which defined
the Christian understanding of martyrdom.
Christianity is often portrayed as the religion of the poor and the
slaves. This is not necessarily a true picture. From the beginning
there appeared to have been wealthy and influential figures who at
least sympathised with the Christians, even members of court.
And it appeared that Christianity maintained its appeal to such highly
connected persons. Marcia, the concubine of the emperor Commodus, for
example used her influence to achieve the release of Christian
prisoners from the mines.
The Great Persecution - AD 303
Had Christianity generally grown and established some roots across the
empire in the years following the persecution by Marcus Aurelius, then
it had especially prospered from about AD 260 onwards enjoying
widespread toleration by the Roman authorities.
But with the reign of Diocletian things would change. Towards the end
of his long reign, Diocletian became ever more concerned about the
high positions held by many Christians in Roman society and,
particularly, the army.
On a visit to the Oracle of Apollo at Didyma near Miletus, he was
advised by the pagan oracle to halt the rise of the Christians.
And so on 23 February AD 303, on the Roman day of the gods of
boundaries, the terminalia, Diocletian enacted what was to become
perhaps the greatest persecution of Christians under Roman rule.
Diocletian and, perhaps all the more viciously, his Caesar Galerius
launched a serious purge against the sect which they saw as becoming
far too powerful and hence, too dangerous.
In Rome, Syria, Egypt and Asia Minor (Turkey) the Christians suffered
most. However, in the west, beyond the immediate grasp of the two
persecutors things were far less ferocious.
--
Werner Kurator
Since this is a Newsgroup: please don't Cc me,
as I do read it daily faithfully :-)
--
Today is the first day of the rest of your sentence
Werner Kurator
Since this is a Newsgroup: please don't Cc me,
as I do read it daily faithfully :-)
--
Today is the first day of the rest of your sentence