Did the Stoic Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius Actively Persecute the Christians?

Today we will reflect on this question: Did the good Roman Emperor and
Stoic Philosopher Marcus Aurelius actively persecute Christians?
Why wasn’t Marcus Aurelius and other stoics impressed by the
martyrdom of Christians in the arena?
How could Marcus Aurelius espouse Christian values in his Stoic
Meditations, while also including critical comments criticizing
Christianity?
Was Emperor Marcus Aurelius too committed to paganism to consider
Christianity? How much authority did he derive from his position as the
chief pagan priest of the Roman Empire?
At the end, did Marcus Aurelius reconcile himself with the Christian faith?

Please, we welcome interesting questions in the
comments. Let us learn and reflect together!
At the end of our talk, we will discuss the sources
used for this video.
Please feel free to follow along in the PowerPoint
script we uploaded to SlideShare.

Did Marcus Aurelius Actively
Persecute Christians?
Reflections on Morality, Philosophy, and History
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One of our most popular videos reflected on
whether Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius
persecuted the Christians. On the one hand, we
know that there were vigorous local persecutions of
Christians during his reign, and that St Justin, a
Church Father and philosopher, was martyred in
Rome during his reign. On the other hand, we have
no direct evidence that he personally ordered any
persecutions of Christians.

Marcus Aurelius was truly a philosopher-king that
Plato longed for, he wrote the famous stoic tract, the
Meditations. Many of his writings in his Mediations
remind us of New Testament teachings, in particular:
“Love of one’s neighbor and truth and modesty are a
property of the rational soul.”
Unfortunately, another passage in his Meditations
seems to confirm that Marcus Aurelius did witness
Christians being martyred in the arena.

His Meditations declare:
“What a great soul is that
which is ready to be
separated from the body and
then to be extinguished or
dispersed or continue to
exist. But this readiness must
come from a man’s own
judgment, not from mere
obstinacy, as with the
Christians, but considerately
and with dignity and in a way
to persuade another, without
tragic show.”
Martyrdom of St Blandina, by Jules Comparat, 1886, Church of
Saint-Blandine, Lyons

Probably this was a criticism of the more fanatical
Christians who actively sought martyrdom by
pestering and loudly objecting to local magistrates
that they would not sacrifice to the gods, behavior
which was also discouraged by many bishops. Oddly
enough, immediately after is when he urges us at
some length how we should love our neighbor, even
when our neighbor wants to be our enemy.

Christian martyrs
in the Colosseum,
by Konstantin
Flavitsky, early
1860s

The modern historian, Henry Chadwick,
notes that “Marcus Aurelius regarded
suicide as ethically unobjectionable, but
felt that it must be done in good style,
‘not, like the Christians, in a spirit of
theatricality,’” rephrasing the above
quote from the Meditations. I demur.
This quote does not explicitly mention
suicide, though it does repeat the Stoic
and Greek concern that one should both
live a good life and die a good death.
St Blandina, Lyons Martyr

There is at least one scholar who argues the
opposite, that the reference to Christians is a later
addition, but few scholars agree with that position.

Walter Kaufman, in his Introduction of
the Mediations, put it this way, “a man
who, for reasons of state, possibly
sanctioned the persecutions of
Christians, achieved a genuinely Christian
depth of humility. In the words of
Matthew Arnold, ‘What an affinity for
Christianity had this persecutor of
Christians! The effusion of Christianity, its
relieving tears, its happy self-sacrifice,
were the very element, one feels, for
which his soul longed; they were near
him, they brushed him, he touched
them, he passed them by.’”
St Blandina, Notre Dame Cathedral / St Blandina,
by Lucien Bégule, 1901, Église Saint-Irénée

The Meditation also criticizes the
Christian doctrine of the resurrection of
the soul: “If souls continue to exist, how
does the air contain them from
eternity?” He then speculates that souls
eventually diffuse to make room for
other souls.
His Meditations also criticizes the
Christian doctrine of the resurrection of
the body: “We must not only think of the
bodies that are buried, but also the
animals that are eaten by us and the
other animals. For these animals that are
consumed are also buried in the bodies
of those men who feed on them!” The Raising of Lazarus, by Duccio, 1310–11

Interestingly, when St. Paul preaches to the
Athenians in Acts 17, it is the doctrine of the
resurrection of the dead that the Greeks have
trouble accepting.

The Raising of
Lazarus, by
Léon Joseph
Florentin
Bonnats, 1857

History of Persecutions and Prior Emperors
The Christian Martyrs' Last Prayer, by Jean-Léon Gérôme, before 1883c

There was limited persecution of Christians in New Testament
times at the insistence of certain Jewish leaders, but Emperor
Nero was the first emperor to persecute the Christians in Rome.
A large portion of Rome was destroyed in a large fire, and since
many blamed him for clearing space for a new palace, Nero
instead made Christians the scapegoats, martyring them both in
the arena and as living torches in his gardens during his parties.
Nero also murdered many senators, eventually he lost all
support, was abandoned by the Pretorian Guard, and was
compelled to commit suicide.

Great Fire of Rome, by Hubert Robert, 1785 / Nero Playing while Rome Burns, Workshop of Giulio Romano, 1539

Nero’s Torches, by Henryk Siemiradzki, 1882

Vespasian, the fourth emperor in the year after Nero expired, did
not actively persecute Christians, and neither did his older son
and successor, Titus. But his younger son, Domitian, who
succeeded Titus as emperor, insisted that Jews and Christians
view him as ‘Master and God,’ which resulted in empire-wide
spotty persecutions.
Domitian was assassinated, and there were few persecutions, if
any, under his successor and the first of the five good Roman
Emperors, Nerva, who reigned only eighteen months. His
successor, Trajan, eased up on the persecutions, as he did not
like his cult becoming a compulsory test of loyalty.

The Roman Empire reached its greatest extent under the
conquests of Trajan. His successor Hadrian thought these
far-flung borders were indefensible, he withdrew from
Armenia and several other provinces and concentrated on
consolidating the empire, visiting each province, binding
the empire closer together. His successor, Antoninus Pius,
was an old man when he became emperor, he ruled from
Rome, he was a former Senator, he was neither a general
nor a traveler.

Roman
Empire at
117 AD,
beginning of
rule of
Hadrian

Hadrian returns from Tivoli, by Ettore Forti, before 1897

However, persecutions did not cease under Trajan, during this time St
Ignatius of Antioch was famously martyred in Rome, writing epistles to
and visiting with members of several churches on his journey, most of
which survive to this day. Under Trajan the policy was set that if
someone were accused of being a Christian, they would be freed if they
burned incense to the gods and the emperor’s statue, and denounced
Christ. But Christians were not to be actively sought out, and informers
could not be anonymous. The degree of persecution, and the strictness
of the proceedings, differed among the provinces, many local governors
were not eager to persecute the local Christians. The plight of Christians
improved under the next good emperors, Hadrian and Antoninus Pius.

We reflected on the history of Christian
persecutions, using the ancient church historian
Eusebius and his Ecclesiastical History as a main
source to determine the extent of Christian
persecution through the reign of Marcus Aurelius.
We also reflected on the history of the Roman
Emperors preceding Marcus Aurelius.

Christian and Pagan Apologists

Since the Christian persecutions were not systematic, many
Christian intellectuals wrote apologies defending Christianity,
seeking both to encourage future Christian martyrs, and to
convert the emperors so they would halt the persecutions, or so
they hoped. The two main apologists were St Justin the Martyr
and Tertullian, they had opposite attitudes to pagan philosophy.
Justin saw Christianity as the summation of man’s search for
truth, he was widely read in philosophy and said that Platonism
helped lead him to Christianity. Justin interpreted the Old
Testament primarily in a Christocentric manner. One of his
students was Tatian.

https://youtu.be/s1Gz3pwImO8
https://youtu.be/AafwB0tA5a8
https://youtu.be/-E3r8Z4IE1c
St Justin Martyr, Apology to
Emperors Pius and Marcus Aurelius.
Apology to the Senate includes the
account of Hercules encountering
Ladies Virtue and Vice.
Dialogue with Trypho the Jew.

On the other hand, Tertullian was
hostile to pagan learning, he
famously asked, “What does
Athens have to do with
Jerusalem?” He was one of the
first Church Fathers to write in
Latin rather than Greek and was
famous for many other
aphorisms. When explaining why
God would reveal himself in a
crucified and resurrected Christ,
he proclaimed: “I believe it
precisely because it is absurd.”

We are planning to reflect on the works of Tertullian in the
future.
The anti-Christian apologists in descending order of
hostility were Celsus, Porphyry, and Galen. Celsus wrote
the diatribe “The True Word” before 180, likely Marcus
Aurelius was familiar with this work. Many years later the
Christian theologian Origen would pen the lengthy Contra-
Celsus, where he responds to his learned criticisms of
Christianity point by point.

Celsus was more familiar with actual Christian
doctrine than preceding critics. The modern
biographer McLynn notes how Celsus contrasts
Christianity and Judaism, criticizing
Christianity: “The Christians claim that they are
the proper realization of Judaism while
rejecting core Jewish customs and laws on
circumcision, diet, festivals, and keeping the
Sabbath. They cannot have it both ways: either
they are a new sect with no relations to
Judaism, or they are a cousin of the Jewish
faith, in which they are not entitled to take a
pick-and-mix approach to its doctrines.”
Moses Shows the Tables of the Law, by Marc Chagall, 1966

McLynn continues with his summary of
Celsus’ views: “Judaism was a
nationalistic sect, with no claims to
universality, but Christianity claimed to
be a world religion; it was thus both
implicitly and explicitly a threat to the
Roman empire and to social stability in
general: implicitly because of its dogmas,
and explicitly because it proselytized.
Judaism was compatible with paganism
since both practiced sacrifice; Christianity
emphatically was not.”
Jew with Torah, by Marc Chagall, 1925

Although he mostly combatted heresy in his writings,
since there were no major persecutions that he
faced, we must credit St Irenaeus, along with St
Justin the Martyr, for coining many of the terms that
Christians use to describe their faith, whether they
be Protestant, Catholic, or Orthodox.

Last Words of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, by Eugène Delacroix, 1844
Biography of Marcus Aurelius

The five good emperors, Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antonius Pius, and
finally Marcus Aurelius, were good because they did not inherit the
throne. Nerva was elected by the Senate after the execution of
Domitian, General Hadrian succeeded Trajan when he died during a
military campaign, and the other three were adopted by their
predecessor as being amply qualified to be emperor.
Marcus Aurelius praised Antoninus Pius for his many stoic virtues in his
Meditations. Hadrian adopted Antoninus Pius and insisted that he, in
turn, adopt Marcus Aurelius, ensuring secure successions for both of
them. Hadrian hired many stoic and scholarly tutors for young Marcus,
who strove to live an ascetic stoic life even as a boy of twelve. Marcus
was elected consul and assumed many responsibilities as Antoninus Pius’
health declined in his final years.

Roman generals and emperors, National Galleries of Scotland, by William Brassey Hole, 1897

Marcus Aurelius faced more challenges
as emperor than any of the other good
Roman Emperors preceding him. These
challenges included:
• Major flooding of the Tiber River in
Rome.
• Invasion of Armenia and the Eastern
Provinces by Parthia in Persia.
• The Antonine Plague killed ten
percent of the population.
• Rebellion of the Germanic tribesmen
who invaded North Italy.

No sooner had Marcus Aurelius overcome these
problems than his favorite general in the East,
Avidius Cassius revolted, encouraged by the Empress
and wife of Marcus Aurelius, Faustina. Initially, they
were responding to rumors that Marcus had died,
but the rebellion continued after the rumors proved
false. Both died under mysterious circumstances.

Statue and bust
of Faustina,
daughter of
Antoninus Pius,
wife of Marcus
Aurelius

In explaining why Marcus Aurelius
was loath to ruthlessly punish those
who allied themselves with his
general Avidius Cassius when he
raised a revolt, the ancient Roman
historian Cassius Dio says this:
“Marcus, indeed, was so averse to
bloodshed that he even used to
watch the gladiators in Rome
contend, like athletes, without
risking their lives; for he never gave
any of them a sharp weapon, but
they all fought with blunted weapons
like foils furnished with buttons.”

Marcus Aurelius was a practicing stoic during his reign as
emperor when many crises confronted him. He ate simply and
did not display his wealth ostentatiously, and he did not host
debauched and elaborate banquets. Although he did not shy
away from the necessary cruelties compelled by the bitter
Marcomannic Wars against the Germanic tribesmen, he was
ready to forgive shortcomings during these wars when reigning
as emperor, and even after the half-hearted coup attempt
against him. After the coup, he proclaimed there would be no
death penalties facing those who had become entangled in this
coup attempt.

Last Words of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, by Eugène Delacroix, 1844

The efforts of Marcus Aureilus were wasted when his
son Commodus succeeded him as emperor. He was
as cruel and despicable an emperor as Nero, and like
Nero, he was assassinated by a conspiracy of
Pretorian Guards and Senators, and like Nero, his
rule was followed by another year of five emperors
before the Roman Empire stabilized somewhat.
Unlike Nero, Commodus tolerated Christians, he did
not actively persecute them.

Marcus Aurelius, Christianity, and Paganism

Why did the Christian persecutions increase under the reign of Marcus Aurelius?
Local persecutions were likely aggravated by the stresses facing the empire: the
floods, the plagues, and the rebellions in Parthia and Germania. In pagan societies,
you bribed the gods with sacrifices and occasional public prayers so they would not
do you any harm, and to protect the community from disasters. Many pagans felt
that if even just a few in the community did not do their civic duties and offer
sacrifices, the gods would be angry and withhold their favor. Many blamed these
troubles the empire was facing on the Christians.
Previously I speculated that one reason why there were persecutions in Rome
during the reign of Marcus Aurelius was that he was distracted fighting the
Germanic tribes. Unfortunately, we learned that in the last years of Pius’ reign and
the early years of his reign, Marcus ruled in Rome for several decades.

Marcus Aurelius distributing
bread to the people, by
Joseph-Marie Vien, 1765

The famous persecution of Bishop Polycarp happened in Asia Minor under the
reign of Marcus Aurelius, as did a local persecution in North Africa, and other
places. But an especially vicious, systematic, and persevering persecution erupted
in Lyons, now France, then Gaul, when a bloodthirsty governor martyred nearly
every Christian in two dioceses. This was possibly the only systematic persecution
in the entire history of the Roman Empire.
Henry Chadwick in his influential history of the Early Church says with certainty that
Marcus Aurelius ordered the persecution of Christians in Gaul, today’s France,
writing that “the emperor Marcus Aurelius directed that the Christians should be
tortured to death, and no refinement of cruelty was spared.” But other scholars
doubt that Marcus Aurelius ordered these local persecutions, although it is likely he
eventually was made aware of them.

Polycarp, icon on Mt Athos St Dionysius Monastery

St Justin Martyr had written an apology addressed to
the Senate, and another apology was addressed to
Pius and Marcus. In Rome, St Justin founded a school
for philosophers. He challenged the Cynic pagan
philosopher Crescens to a debate. Justin won the
debate, but Crescens turned him in for martyrdom.
The judge was a former tutor and friend of Marcus,
so Marcus must have been aware of this
persecution.

What were Marcus Aurelius’ policies towards
Christians? McLynn has these observations, which
were in response to the challenges faced by the
empire: the plague, the flooding of the Tiber, and
two unwanted military conflicts.
• Early in his reign, he issued a decree mandating
the worship of the Olympian gods, which was not
likely directed at the minuscule Christian sect.
• Another decree ordered exile to an island for
anyone who tried to invoke terror of the gods,
which Tertullian mentions.
• There is less conclusive evidence that he
encouraged provincial governors to vigorously
enforce the law against treasonable sects.

How committed was Marcus Aurelius to the worship of the gods? How
much contact did he have with Christians?
Marcus Aurelius served as the chief priest from an early age, this was
part of his civic duty and solidified his position as emperor. If he had
abandoned this priesthood, he would have lost his authority as emperor.
While in Greece, Marcus and his son Commodus were initiated into the
Eleusinian mysteries, the esoteric ritual that possibly included a trance
induced by psychedelic drugs, including sacred objects like a mystical
serpent and a holy phallus. Supposedly only the pure in heart would be
accepted, which would further bind him to paganism.

Raphael, Council of the gods, painted 1517

Apollo in his Chariot, by Oberkampf, 1800
Detail, Council of the Gods, by Giovanni Lanfranco, 1625

Pagan priests are not the same as Christian priests, as this was more of a civic
rather than religious duty. Pagans typically did not pray to pagan gods out of love
for the gods, as the gods were distant from ordinary people. You might pray that
the pagan gods will bless you or your crops, or you might pray to the Greek demi-
god Asclepius for healing, but mostly you sacrificed to the gods so they will not do
you harm. Or you might visit an oracle to ask for guidance from the gods.
Did Marcus Aurelius really believe the pagan gods existed? Many educated Romans
and most Roman emperors were skeptics, but history suggests that Marcus was not
skeptical. He mentions various gods more often than the other Stoic philosophers,
although most of his references are to either God or to Zeus like most stoics, and
his coins often depict the various gods, unlike the coins of Antoninus that depict
historical Roman notables. We also know he was fond of sacrifices and oracles. His
personal physician was the famous Galen, who claimed to have a hotline to the
healing god Asclepius.

Chariot of
Zeus, from
the 1879
Stories
from the
Greek
Tragedians
by Alfred
Church

The Birth
of Venus,
by Sandro
Botticelli,
1485

None of his relatives or colleagues favored Christianity, unlike the future first
Christian Emperor Constantine, whose mother was Christian. We do know that
several of his colleagues and government officials did not condone Christianity.
Even in his reign, the percentage of the population that was Christian was still
small. About two percent of Roman citizens were Christian in 250 AD, so the
percentage during the reign of Marcus Aurelius was likely around one percent or
less.
During his campaigns in Germania, Marcus Aurelius wrote his Meditations,
establishing him as one of the great Stoic Philosophers. Many of his Meditations
agree with Christian teachings, making many Christians in both the modern and
ancient world reluctant to accuse him of persecuting Christians. He encouraged the
study of philosophy, he funded four chairs of philosophy in Athens, one for Stoics,
one for Epicureans, one for Platonists, and another for Aristotelians.

Marcus Aurelius and Possible Rain Miracle
Detail from Column of Marcus Aurelius in Rome, erected to celebrate victory in Germania, the
pagan Rain God is on the upper right.

The column in Rome celebrating Marcus Aurelius’ victory against the
Germanic tribesman depicts the Rain Miracle during the Marcomannic
Wars, which is attributed to the pagan gods in the carvings on the
column. Was this a pagan miracle, or a Christian miracle?
We will compare several sources, the first source is Cassius Dio, a Roman
Senator who wrote an eighty-book history of the Roman Republic and
the Roman Empire. Unfortunately, the last twenty books contain only
fragments and the meager abridgment of John Xiphilinus, a Byzantine
monk from the 11th century. This tends to be more complete for the last
years of Marcus Aurelius’ reign.

Cassius Dio states that “the Quadi
had surrounded” and outnumbered
the Romans. “At a favorable spot”
as “the Romans were fighting
valiantly with their shields locked
together, the barbarians ceased
fighting, expecting to capture them
easily as the result of the heat and
their thirst. So, they posted guards
and hemmed them in to prevent
them from getting water from
anywhere.”

Cassius Dio continues, “The Romans,
accordingly, were in a terrible plight from
fatigue, wounds, the heat of the sun, and
thirst, and so could neither fight nor
retreat, but were” “scorched by the heat,
when suddenly many clouds gathered
and a mighty rain, not without divine
interposition, burst upon them. Indeed,
there is a story” that “Arnuphis, an
Egyptian magician, who was a
companion of Marcus, had invoked the
rain by means of enchantments various
deities and in particular Mercury, the god
of the air, and by this means attracted
the rain.”

(REPEAT) Xiphilinus interjects: “This is what Dio says about the matter,
but he is apparently in error, whether intentionally or otherwise; and yet
I am inclined to believe his error was chiefly intentional.”
We would like to emphasize that during the Marcomannic Wars, as the
result of the manpower shortage caused by the plague, the Roman
Empire relaxed their recruiting standards for soldiers, so it was
reasonable that they would induct many Christians.

Xiphilinus interjects: “This is what Dio says
about the matter, but he is apparently in error,
whether intentionally or otherwise; and yet I
am inclined to believe his error was chiefly
intentional.” Marcus Aurelius’ “prefect
approached him and told him that those who
are called Christians can accomplish anything
whatever by their prayers and that in the army
there chanced to be a whole division of this
sect. Marcus on hearing this appealed to them
to pray to their God; and when they had prayed,
their God heard and smote the enemy with a
violent hailstorm and thunderbolts, while he
comforted the Romans with a shower of rain.”
Marcus Aurelius showing his clemency to
barbarians, Capitoline Museum in Rome.

“Water and fire were descending from the
sky simultaneously; so that while those on
the one side were being consumed by fire
and dying; and while the fire, on the one
hand, did not touch the Romans, but, if it
fell anywhere among them, was
immediately extinguished. The shower, on
the other hand, did the barbarians no
good, but, like so much oil, actually fed
the flames that were consuming them,
and they had to search for water even
while being drenched with rain.”
Marcus Aurelius and Imperial family offer sacrifice
in gratitude for success against Germanic tribes

Personally, I decline to suspect that our good monk
Xiphilinus is being duplicitous when he declares that this is
what Dio says about the matter, but then, how can you
prove such a thing? Maybe Cassius Dio did say this was a
Christian miracle. After all, something similar happened in
battle under Constantine many generations later.
The modern historian Anthony Birley notes that it would
be in character for Marcus to pray to Zeus during a
thunderstorm for a thunderbolt to strike the enemy.

Detail from
Column of
Marcus
Aurelius in
Rome,
erected to
celebrate
victory in
Germania.

What does the ancient church
historian Eusebius tell us about
this Rain Miracle? When Marcus
Aurelius was battling the German
barbarians, his Christian soldiers
prayed to God and a thunderbolt
struck that “drove the enemy to
flight and destruction,” and the
rain that fell revived the Roman
army that was “on the point of
perishing from thirst.” Germanic warriors submit to Marcus Aurelius

Was Christian Rain Miracle Epistle Spurious?
Eusebius says that Marcus wrote letters stating that in Germany
his army was saved from thirst “by the Christians’ prayers, and
Marcus threatened to execute any who attempted to accuse us.”.

Maybe Eusebius is telling us that Marcus Aurelius came to
see the light, or maybe that his sources conflict on
whether Marcus Aurelius persecuted the Christians.
This epistle credited to Marcus Aurelius is appended to St
Justin the Martyr’s First Apology to the Roman Senate in
the First Volume of the Ante-Nicene Church Fathers.

This epistle tells us of
these Christians, how
they “began the battle,
not by preparing
weapons, nor arms, nor
bugles; for such
preparation is hateful for
them, on account of the
God they bear about in
their conscience.”

This Epistle continues:
Immediately when the
Christians “cast themselves on
the ground to pray to their God,
refreshingly cool water poured
from heaven, but on their
enemies fell a fiery withering
hail. And immediately we
recognized the presence of God
following this prayer, a God
unconquerable and
indestructible.”

Even the Protestant scholar compiling this work in the late 1800’s
footnotes this Epistle as “spurious, no doubt, but the literature of the
subject is very rich.” Modern scholars would no doubt agree with this
assessment.
Was this Epistle indeed spurious? Historians would point out that there
is no Roman evidence for a change of heart by Marcus Aurelius, other
than the possible suggestion of Cassius Dio. However, it does tell us is
that many early Christians, including Eusebius, wanted to believe that
this Epistle from Marcus Aurelius was authentic. But there is enough
confusion among the ancient historical accounts that modern Christians,
in addition to ancient Christians, can indeed hope that Marcus Aurelias
saw the light of salvation in his last days.

Detail from Column of Marcus Aurelius in Rome, erected to celebrate victory in Germania, the
pagan Rain God is on the upper right.

Did Marcus Aurelius actively persecute the Christians? Since our good
emperor did not enjoy the bloody gladiatorial contests, and took steps to
tamp them down, and since history provides little evidence to prove his
active persecution, it makes sense to say he did not. But his quotes in his
Meditations, and other evidence, provide a strong argument that he
tolerated the persecution of Christians in Rome and elsewhere.

Anthony McGuckin has written a remarkable history of the first millennium of the
Christian faith, and he has a long chapter devoted to the Christian persecutions.
McGuckin discusses the mystery cults, such as Mithras and Cybele, and also
Manicheism, discussing whether they paved the way for Christianity, which we did
not discuss.
The modern historian Frank McLynn, in his biography of Marcus Aurelius, has a
great deal of background information on the Christian Persecutions, both in the
reigns of Marcus Aurelius and previous emperors. Anthony Birley, another modern
biographer of Marcus Aurelius, also discusses the persecutions, but in addition has
an excellent discussion of the historical sources of the Christian persecutions.
The most important source of all is Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, and this collection
of Stoic aphorisms is very readable, and I highly recommend it.

Another critical ancient source is the History of the Church by Eusebius,
also known as Ecclesiastical History. He is the church historian who lived
during the reign of Emperor Constantine. There are some historical
inaccuracies that are found in most ancient historical accounts, including
Eusebius, but they don’t detract from the story. His quotes reveal the
mindset of ancient Christian leaders.
We always consult Henry Chadwick on the History of the Early Church; he
always has interesting points.
We discuss the sources in more depth in our video on the Biographies of
Marcus Aurelius, including the discussion by Anthony Birley on the
ancient sources that document the life of Marcus Aurelius.

To find the source of any direct
quotes in this blog, please type in
the phrase to the search box in
my blog to see the referenced
footnote.
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Did the Stoic Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius Actively Persecute the Christians?

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Did the Stoic Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius Actively Persecute the Christians?