History of Christian Persecutions, New Testament Through Marcus Aurelius

We had previously reflected on the Apologies to the
Roman Emperor and Roman Senate by St Justin
Martyr and other ancient documents, and we found
surprisingly positive references about Marcus
Aurelius in both these works and also in the History
of the Church by the ancient Church historian,
Eusebius, as well as a work attributed to Marcus
Aurelius extolling the virtues of Christianity.

Although you will likely not find any competent scholar
that will contest that this is a false attribution, but yet the
question remains: Was Marcus Aurelius a friend or foe to
Christianity?
To reflect further on this question, we have reflected on
the biographies of Marcus Aurelius and the Roman
Emperors who preceded him. These biographies also
offered fresh insights into the life of ordinary Romans
during his reign, and further insights into the warrior
culture of the ancient world.

https://youtu.be/9hgSbcgbCJw
https://youtu.be/6i--hVIpg1k
https://youtu.be/7QAZ_s6zw4E
https://youtu.be/nvWYu8ofhCA

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.

Christian Persecutions Through Marcus Aurelius
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How widespread was the Christian persecution under the Roman
Empire? Usually it was a local affair, not until the reign of Diocletian was
an empire-wide systematic persecution of Christians undertaken. The
persecution under Nero was limited to Rome itself. The extent of the
local persecution depended on the enthusiasm or cruelty of the local
officials, many local officials had no enthusiasm for persecuting the local
Christians, turning a blind eye. Overall, the number of persecutions was
not huge, rarely were the Christian persecutions systematic, targeting all
Christians. Indeed, the Christian martyrs in the twentieth century alone,
mostly in Russia, dwarfed the number of Christian martyrs from the
preceding nineteen centuries combined.

Martyrdom of
St Erasme-
Modello, by
Nicolas
Poussin, 1629
Martyrdom of
St Mathieu-
Arras, by
Claude Vignon,
1617

Christmas jester,
anti-Christian
posters Alexei
Radakov, 1920's,
created for Union
of Militant
Atheists, and for
"The Godless at
the Workbench",
an anti-religious
and atheistic
magazine of
Moscow
Communist Party.

Demolition of the
Cathedral of Christ
the Savior in 1931:
The USSR's official
state atheism
resulted in the
1921–1928 anti-
religious campaign,
during which many
church institutions
were systematically
destroyed.

The Christian persecutions in the Roman Empire were sporadic and dependent on
local enforcement, even under the Empire-wide persecutions under Diocletian.
Indeed, there were so few Christians in the early centuries after Christ that the
early Roman emperors, and the Five Good Emperors through Marcus Aurelius, had
very little to do with Christians, and had almost no personal contact with Christians.
Nero famously viciously persecuted Christians, but there was little desire by
succeeding emperors in this period to seek out Christians for active persecution.
The persecutions were rarely systematic where all Christians were swept up and
brought in, persecutions depended on informers, the Roman Empire had neither
the inclination nor the administrative capability to attempt something like the
Holocaust in Nazi Germany, or even the periodic racial cleansing massacres we see
in modern times.

Martyrdom, St Sebastian, by Il Sodoma, 1525 / Body of Sebastian thrown into sewer, Lodovico Carracci, 1612

Martyr in the Catacombs, by Jules-Cyrille Cave, 1886

Crimes against religion carried an automatic death penalty in the Roman Empire.
Many Romans thought that the Christians blasphemed the gods, disrupted the
bonds that held society together, and were therefore considered treasonous, since
they challenged the sacred authority of the emperor, who was pontifex maximus,
the supreme pontiff of Roman religion, a pagan pope. The draconian and cruel
enforcement necessary to suppress the incredibly large slave class bled over into
the treatment of Christians. Whenever the Roman Empire encountered stresses
such as military defeats or plagues or calamities, many Romans thought that the
gods were angry at those who withheld their sacrifices, causing the gods to
withhold their protection of Rome.
The often-unnoticed motive in any religious persecution or conflict, including the
Christian persecutions, the Nazi Holocaust, and even the Protestant Reformation, is
greed, envy, and theft. Simply put, if you can condemn your neighbor and have him
executed or exiled, or if you can convince them to flee, then you can steal his stuff.

The Age of
Augustus,
the Birth of
Christ, by
Jean-Léon
Gérôme,
1854

Raphael, Council of the gods, painted 1517

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

Anthony McGuckin, an Orthodox scholar,
notes that: “Martyr is the Greek term for
witness, and if a believer was forced to choose
between execution and faith, it was regarded
as the highest eschatological testimony if that
faith endured to the death.” But to the
oppressive local authorities, this Christian
“perseverance was a merely a political
annoyance, demonstrating the mental
instability or social misanthropy of this new
group of zealots.” Roman officials were baffled
by Christian intransigence, as state worship
was seen as merely a formality.
Faithful Unto Death, by Herbert Schmalz, 1888

How did the persecutions mold
Christianity? McGuckin describes
how the early Church viewed
martyrdom. “Martyrs were widely
believed to pass immediately from
this world to be next to the
supreme martyr, Christ, exercising
a powerful ministry of intercession
on behalf of their local churches.
All their sins were forgiven in the
shedding of their blood, and they
were given a throne of glory,
reigning alongside Christ until he
came again in glory.”
The Martyr, by Albert von Keller, 1892

One consequence of the persecutions was the end of
public missionary activity by Christians. Since the
persecutions were not systematic, and since there was
relative freedom of speech in ancient Rome, Christian
intellectuals responded by writing apologies defending the
faith, including Tertullian, St Justin the Martyr, and later
Origen. St Justin moved to Rome to open a school of
Christian philosophy, where he was martyred after he won
a public debate with Crescens, a Cynic philosopher.

The Christian Martyrs' Last Prayer, by Jean-Léon Gérôme, before 1883c

Early Christian Martyrs
Cologne Cathedral - Stoning of Saint Stephen / Stoning of St Stephen, by Giovanni Battista Lucini, 1680

There were Christian martyrs from the beginning of
Christianity, but in Acts the Roman officials were
acting on the complaints of Jews offended by the
missionary activities of the Apostles. The first martyr
was St Stephen, stoned by the Jews with Saul, the
future St Paul, guarding their jackets, approving but
not participating in the persecution.

Eusebius condenses from Acts
this account of these early
martyrs: “Herod, seeing that
martyring James pleased the
Jews, clapped Peter in prison,
and was about to martyr him also
but for divine intervention: in the
night an angel stood by him, and
he was miraculously released
from his fetters and set free for
the ministry of preaching, as
ordained by heaven.”
The release of St Peter, by Bernardo Strozzi, 1635

But St Paul was permitted to spread the Good News across the Mediterranean
world for many years, spending several years in prison, but was able to write
epistles and meet with church leaders in long visits even while in prison. St Paul
eventually appealed to Rome, and both St Paul and St Peter would be martyred by
Emperor Nero.
What was the appeal of Christianity? Christianity’s promise of salvation and an
afterlife appealed to women, the poor, and slaves. St Paul in Galatians states: “There
is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor
female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” This was the revolutionary Good News.
Slaves told their aristocratic mistresses about the new religion, several martyrs were
women, which may have titillated the blood-thirsty crowds at the arena. Near the
end of Marcus Aurelius’ reign, Christianity was making inroads into the ranks of the
Roman army, possibly since the plague lowered the recruiting standards, the army
wanted to induct all volunteers.

St Paul in Athens, by Raphael, 1515 / St Paul, by El Greco, 1614

The Beheading of St Paul, by Enrique Simonetan, 1887

St Paul in Athens, by Raphael, 1515 / St Paul, by El Greco, 1614
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither
male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. St Paul: Galatians 3:28

Christian Persecutions Under Emperor Nero
Nero’s Torches, by Henryk Siemiradzki, 1882

The reign of Nero began hopefully, under the
guidance of his tutor Seneca, he was a
progressive Emperor with sound policies. But his
mother Agrippina sought to be the power
behind the throne, murdering her political rivals.
As he became drunk with power himself, Nero’s
relationship with his mother deteriorated.

Eusebius recounts, “When Nero’s power
was firmly established, he gave himself up
to unholy practices and took up arms
against the God of the universe.” “His
perverse and extraordinary madness led
him to senselessly destroy innumerable
lives. In his lust for blood, he did not spare
even his nearest and dearest, but in various
ways did away with mother, brothers, and
wife alike, and countless other members of
his family,” as well as his former tutor and
Stoic philosopher Seneca, “as if they were
personal and public enemies.”
Nero testing poisons, by Jean-Baptiste
Cariven, late 1800's

Fire broke out in Rome in 64 AD, the fire burned out
of control for over a week, the fire consumed three-
quarters of the building in the city of Rome. Multi-
story wooden apartments were packed behind the
city walls, there had been many less destructive fires
in Rome the previous century. The Roman historian
Tacitus did not believe the rumors that Nero had
started the fire to clear space for his new palace.

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

Nero needed a scapegoat to blame. Nero’s evil
second wife, Empress Poppaea, who had urged him
to murder both his first wife and his mother,
protected the Jews and advised Nero to scapegoat
the Christians, blaming them for the fire on Rome.

Nero and Agrippina, by Antonio Rizzi, late 1800’s / Bust of Popppaea, Nat’l Museum of Rome

The Roman historian Tacitus, in
his Annals, says this about
Nero’s persecution of the
Christians: “But all human
efforts, all the lavish gifts of the
emperor, and all the sacrificing
to the gods, did not banish the
sinister popular belief that the
fire was ordered by Nero. To
destroy this rumor, Nero
fastened the guilt and inflicted
the most exquisite tortures on a
class hated for their
abominations, called Christians
by the populace.” Nero at Baiae, by Jan Styka, 1900

Tacitus continues, “At first, those who confessed
were arrested. Then, on their evidence, a huge
multitude was convicted, not so much of the
crime of fire than for hatred of mankind. These
deaths were accompanied by derision: covered in
animal skins they were to perish torn by dogs, or
affixed to crosses to be burnt as torches when the
sun set. Nero offered his gardens for the show and
staged games in the Circus, mixing with the crowd
in the garb of a driver riding a chariot,” which was
behavior not befitting an emperor. Nero's Christian torches, by
Henryk Siemiradzki, 1876

Tacitus continues,
“This roused pity.
Although guilty
and deserving of
extreme measures,
the Christians’
annihilation
seemed to arise
not from public
utility but for one
man’s brutality.”
Nero Views the Burning of Rome, by Carl Theodor von Piloty, 1861

In addition to martyring many Christians, Nero also tormented
and murdered many Senators and others in Rome. Finally, there
was a conspiracy of the Pretorian Guard and with the approval of
many Senators, Nero was compelled to commit suicide.
After the death of Nero was the tumultuous year of the four
emperors, where emperor overthrew emperor in quick
succession. We know some Christian persecution persisted, as St
Polyclitus of Rome was martyred under Emperor Galba. Finally,
the fourth emperor that year, Vespasian, restored stability to the
Roman Empire.

Nero is seen
kicking his
pregnant
second wife
Poppaea in
the belly,
causing her
miscarry their
child.
Woodcut,
1541

Crucifixion of
Polyclitus, by
Salvator Rosa,
1650
Polyclitus was a
freedman in court
of Nero, he was
put to death by
Emperor Galba,
on of the Year of
Four Emperors.

Nero asked general Vespasian to subdue
the Jewish rebels of the Holy Land in the
twelfth year of his reign. Eusebius tells us
that on their defeat, “thousands and
thousands of men of every age, and
women and children, perished by the
sword, by starvation, and by countless
other forms of death.” Finally, “the
Abomination of Desolation announced
by the prophets was the end of the very
Temple of God, once world-renowned,
when it was utterly destroyed by fire.”
Jewish Uprisings Under Vespasian and Titus

Warned by an oracle, the Christians had left
Jerusalem and settled in a town in Peraea called
Pella. Josephus had reported that famine and the
sword destroyed 1,100,00 people, and that 90,000
children under seventeen were enslaved.

Historical re-enactors: one wearing replica equipment of a Roman legionary, AD 75; one dressed as a Praetorian
vexillarius, one replica equipment of a late 1st-century centurion

In the political turmoil that followed the death of Nero, Vespasian tasked
his son Titus to continue the siege against the Jewish rebels while he
traveled to Rome. He was the fourth emperor in the Year of Four
Emperors, he stabilized the Empire, and his sons Titus and Domitian
succeeded him as Emperor. There were minimal persecutions during the
reign of Vespasian and Titus, but they increased under Domitian.
Why did the Romans persecute the Christians but not the Jews, who
staged several bloody revolts? Professor Kenneth Harl of Wondrium
argues that the Romans understood armed rebellion, and respected
those who challenged them in battle. But the Romans were baffled by
the Christians, who never revolted, but nevertheless made a show of not
sacrificing to the gods, which risked angering the gods.

Triumph of faith, by Eugene Thirion, 1800's
Christian Persecutions Under Domitian

Domitian’s persecutions were more focused than those of
Nero. Although most Christians were drawn from the
lower classes, Domitian was alarmed that Christianity was
appealing to some aristocrats because of its “Jewish ideas
in morality and worship.” Unlike most previous emperors,
except for Caligula and Nero, Domitian encouraged his
subjects to view him as ‘Master and God,’ and suspected
treachery if anyone refused to so swear, causing issues
with both Christians and Jews.

According to McGuckin, “Domitian
despised the Christians as eroding
traditional Roman values and traditions
among the very class who were
supposed to uphold them as guardians
of Roman culture. Domitilla, the
emperor’s niece, was possibly a
Christian and was exiled to the island of
Ponza, where her cell became a church
cult center in the fourth century.”
Statue of a martyr, Milan Cathedral

Roman law at this time clarified the legal
distinction between Judaism and Christianity.
As McGuckin states: “Jewish religion was
given favored status under Roman law: it
was held to be unique, morally refined, and
sufficiently reverential they prayed for the
well-being of the emperor. Christianity, on
the other hand, was increasingly regarded as
a religion of the lower classes, advocating
the worship of a condemned criminal who
had taught a revolutionary idea of love and
freedom: dangerous ideas that had no
regard for traditional religious rites, the
divine authority of emperors, or the
sustenance of the status quo.”
Pompey in Temple of Jerusalem, by Jean
Fouquet, 1470

Statue of Nerva / Trajan’s Column in Trajan’s Forum / Statue of Trajan.
Christian Persecutions Under Emperor Trajan

Nerva was the first of the five good emperors of Rome, there were no major
persecutions during his short reign of less than two years. Eusebius reports that
under his successor, Trajan, Christians were not hunted down. Trajan did not
like his cult being made a compulsory test of loyalty.
Pliny the Younger, governor of the troubled Eastern province that is now Turkey,
asks Trajan for advice on how to handle the Christian problem. There were
imperial rescripts that made Christianity illegal, but with insufficient guidance
on how to enforce this. Pliny asked for Trajan’s approval for the policy he had
devised: if anyone was accused of being a Christian, gave them a chance to
recant, warning them that capital punishment faced them if they did not. If
they denied being Christians, he then asked them to invoke the Olympian gods
and make a sacrifice of wine and incense before statues of the gods, reviling the
name of Christ.

Roman Ruins, with Arch of Constantine, Trajan’s Column,
the Colosseum, and the Statue of Marcus Aurelius, 1751
THE FIVE GOOD EMPERORS REIGN
The Five Good Emperors selected for adoption by ability.
Nerva, died of natural causes 96-98 AD
Trajan, Roman Empire at its peak 98-117 AD
Hadrian, pulled back and consolidated 117-138 AD
Hadrian picked next two sets of emperors through adoption
Antoninus Pius, not ambitious, competent 138-161 AD
Marcus Aurelius, last of the good emperors 161-180 AD
Lucius Veras, co-emperor 161-169 AD

In Eusebius’ account, Pliny wrote
Trajan that the Christians “did
nothing improper or illegal: all
they did was to rise at dawn and
hymn Christ as a god, to
repudiate adultery, murder, and
similar disgraceful crimes, and in
every way conform to the law.
Trajan’s response was to issue a
decree that members of the
Christian community were not
to be hunted, but if discovered,
were to be punished.”
Anonymous accusations should
be disregarded. Justice of Trajan, by Eugène Delacroix, 1858

https://youtu.be/CM31T6J4bXo
Persecutions of Christians did not cease. Eusebius tells us Bishop Ignatius of Antioch
“was sent from Syria to Rome and became food for wild animals.” Although under
military guard, he was permitted to meet with and correspond with the Christian
communities in each city where he stayed. “In particular, Ignatius warned them to guard
most carefully against heresies,” “and urged them to hold fast to the apostolic tradition.”

https://youtu.be/CM31T6J4bXo
Eusebius quotes Ignatius’ epistle to the Romans: “May it be for the good that the wild
animals are ready for me: I pray that I may find them prompt. I shall coax them to devour
me promptly.” “If they are unwilling and refuse, I will compel them to do it.” “Let fire and
cross, encounters with wild animals, tearing apart of bones, hacking of limbs, crushing of
the whole body, tortures of the devil come upon me, if only I may attain to Jesus Christ!”

This enthusiasm for martyrdom worried these early
Church fathers. They became concerned at the enthusiasm
of immature Christians who desired to be soldiers of the
faith, spitting at idols, disturbing pagan rites, eager to turn
themselves in for martyrdom. Sometimes they lost their
nerve and apostatized, which did help the cause of the
faith. An early church council emphasized that Christians
should keep quiet and try to avoid persecution, but if
informers did cause them to be handed over to the
authorities, then they were to proclaim their faith in Jesus.

Christian persecution, woman tied to bull, reenactment of myth of Dirce, by Henryk Siemiradzki, 1897

During the persecutions in the arena, often they
reenacted various pagan myths to torment the
Christians. In one painting, Nero had the myth of
Dirce reenacted. In this myth, the guilty lady was tied
to the head of a bull, who eventually killed her.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirce

Christian Persecutions Under Hadrian
Hadrian returns from Tivoli, by Ettore Forti, before 1897

Pliny may have set a precedent on how to treat
Christians, request that they sacrifice to the gods,
and release them if they complied. All that was
needed was an informer and a sympathetic governor
to bring charges against Christians. Christians tried to
avoid this dilemma by sending their slaves to sacrifice
on their behalf or fleeing, often to live in the desert
as hermits. Many simply bribed the court officials.

St Blandina, Lyons Martyr / Statue of a martyr, Milan Cathedral / Faithful Unto Death, by Herbert Schmalz, 1888

Hadrian, successor to Trajan, corresponded
with the proconsul of Asia in 125 AD.
concerning Christians who were facing
trumped up criminal charges. McGuckin states
that “Hadrian urged the proconsul not to
pander to local mob outcries against the
Christians and to prosecute them only if they
committed crimes proven under trial. Hadrian
went so far as to give the Christians the right
to cross-examine those who denounced them
and even prosecute their detractors under the
laws of calumny.” In this respect, Hadrian
shielded Christians from injustice. Hadrian in military garb, from Antalya, Turkey

The last bloody Jewish revolt erupted in the
eighteenth year of Hadrian’s rule, the Bar Cochba
revolt. This revolt was caused, in part, by the erection
of a pagan temple on the Temple Mount, as Jews had
previously been excluded from Jerusalem after a
previous rebellion, and by other Roman
insensitivities to Judaism.

Bar Cochba revolt, by Arthur Szyk, 1927 / The Knesset Menorah, Jerusalem: Simon bar Kokhba

Eusebius says that “Bar Cochba means a
star, but he was a bloodthirsty bandit”
who “paraded himself as a luminary come
down from heaven to shine upon the
Jews’ misery.” “The Roman blockade
lasted so long that hunger and thirst
brought the revolutionaries to complete
destruction, and the instigator of this
crazy folly paid the penalty he deserved.
From that time on, the entire Jewish race
has been forbidden to set foot anywhere
in the vicinity of Jerusalem,” and it was
colonized by foreigners.
Bar Cochba revolt, by Arthur Szyk, 1927

Christian Persecutions: Pius, Marcus Aurelius

Antoninus Pius shared power with Marcus Aurelius during the last decade of his reign, Marcus was
named consul, and over time Marcus assumed more authority, guaranteeing a smooth transition.
Antoninus Pius had little to do with the Christians, apart from wondering whether they displeased
the gods, leading to the natural disasters the empire was facing.
Why did the Christian persecutions increase under the reign of Marcus Aurelius? In pagan
societies, you bribed the gods with sacrifices and occasional public prayers so they would not do
you any harm and 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. There were many disasters and challenges facing Rome under Marcus
Aurelius, the Tiber had a major flood, the Antonine plague was raging, wiping out a tenth of the
population, and Rome lost many casualties in the blazing wars both in Parthia Persia and in
Marcomannic Wars fought both in Northern Italy and Germania. There were small-scale Christian
persecutions in Rome itself, but there were also broad and vicious persecutions in the provinces,
including Gaul and North Africa.

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

An early wave of persecution swept Asia
in the year 155, Polycarp was the most
famous of these martyrs. Eusebius says
he was a disciple of St John the Apostle.
He did flee to a neighboring farm, where,
as Eusebius recounts, “he remained with
a few companions, devoting himself night
and day to constant prayer to the Lord,
pleading and imploring that God would
grant peace to the churches throughout
the world.”

When the Roman soldiers
found him, Eusebius tells us
that “Polycarp came down and
talked to them in the most
cheerful and gentle manner.”
“They could hardly believe
their eyes when confronted
with his advanced years and
dignified confident bearing.
Why, they wondered, was
there such anxiety to arrest an
old man who is so kind?”
Polycarp, icon on Mt Athos St Dionysius Monastery

Eusebius continues, “Polycarp
ordered the table to be laid for them
immediately and invited them to eat
as much as they liked, asking in
return for a single hour in which he
could pray unmolested. Leave being
given, he stood up and prayed, full of
the grace of the Lord, to the
amazement of those who were
present and heard him pray, many of
them indeed distressed now by the
coming destruction of an old man so
dignified and godlike.”

Eusebius recounts his martyrdom after he was
allowed to offer up a prayer. “When Polycarp
had offered up the Amen, the men in charge
lit the fire, and a great flame shot up. Then we
saw a marvelous sight.” “The fire took the
shape of a vaulted room, like a ship’s sail filled
with wind, and made a wall round the
martyr’s body, which was in the middle not
like burning flesh but like gold and silver
refined in a furnace. Indeed, we were
conscious of a wonderful fragrance, like a
breath of frankincense or some other costly
spice.”

Eusebius continues, “At
last, seeing that the body
could not be consumed by
the fire, the lawless people
summoned an official to
come forward and drive
home his sword. When he
did so, there came out a
stream of blood that
quenched the fire, so that
the whole crowd was
astonished at the
difference between the
unbelievers and the elect.”

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 miniscule 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.
Martyrdom of Twelve Apostles, 800’s

Many of Marcus Aurelius’ 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.”
But unfortunately, several passages in his Meditations
seem to confirm that Marcus Aurelius did witness
Christians being martyred in the arena, and was not
impressed, and he also criticizes a key Christian doctrine,
the Resurrection of the Body. We quoted these passages in
our reflections in our Friend or Foe video.

The historian McLynn states that in the early years of Marcus Aurelius reign that the
Christian persecutions were more draconian. He provided the example of a brutal
case in Rome of a Christian named Carpus who not only refused to sacrifice to the
gods, but also called the gods demons. He was hung up on a meat hook and flayed,
and when he would not recant, he was nailed to a stake and set on fire. This
hideous torture had not been commonly seen since Nero’s persecution.
McLynn said that what was new was that now Christians were deemed to have
committed other crimes because they were blasphemers, but the cases he cites do
not support this argument. The case cited, which happened in Rome, involved a
husband angry at his wife who was trying to divorce him. He denounced her
instructor as Christian, and hounded the court until they executed him for being a
Christian. This gives us a glimpse into why some people would become informers.

Martyrdom of
St Lawrence
and Martyrdom
of, St Catherine
of Alexandria,
Hipólito de
Rioja, around
year 1000

The Martyrdom
of St Thecla, by
Pietro Bagatti
Valsecchi, 1860
Martyrdom of
St Andrew, by
Jusepe de Ribera,
1628

In the year 165, before Marcus Aurelius departed for
the Marcomannic Wars in Germania, Rusticus was
the prefect in Rome overseeing the case against St
Justin Martyr. Rusticus had been one of Marcus
Aurelius’ tutors, he encouraged him to abandon the
study of rhetoric to concentrate on Stoic philosophy.

Marcus Aurelius and Imperial family offer sacrifice
in gratitude for success against Germanic tribes
Germanic warriors submit to Marcus Aurelius

St Justin had penned two apologies defending Christianity, one he
addressed to the Emperor, the other he addresses to the Roman Senate.
During this time, he moved to Rome itself, opened a school of philosophy,
and then engaged in a fatal debate with the Cynic philosopher Crescens.
Although there is no historical record that Marcus Aurelius was aware of
these apologies, but due to his close ties with Rusticus, and this public
debate with Crescens, it would be logical that our Stoic Emperor did read
these apologies. Another puzzle is that Justin had denounced Stoicism in
his works, but whether he was condemning the more carnal Greek
Stoicism, or the more ascetic Roman Stoicism is unclear.

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.

St Justin got the best of Crescens in a debate over
Christianity. McLynn notes that “Crescens taught
that if Christians welcomed death and martyrdom,
they should kill themselves. Justin reported that
the two were not the same, and that mass suicide
meant that the word of God would not be spread.
Crescens further jibed that if God was on the side
of the Christians, he would protect and rescue
them, but Justin replied that since God permitted
free will, and thus evil and demons, he had also
allowed evil men like Crescens to rise up.”
“Justin and his five companions were scourged
with whips and beheaded,” after assuring Crescens
that “if we are punished, we shall be saved.”

One of the rare systematic
persecutions where entire parishes
were martyred occurred in Lyons in
Gaul, current day France, in 177 AD.
Eusebius tells us that the Roman
officials “swooped on us with all
their might,” “leaving no stone
unturned.” Christians were “barred
from houses, baths, and the forum,”
and were forbidden to be seen in
public. The Christians were beaten
and tortured, some died before they
were led into the arena.”
St Blandina tormented by bulls in the arena, Lyons martyr

Eusebius continues, “the arrests
went on, and day after day those
who were worthy filled up the
number of the martyrs,” including
all active members of two dioceses
“who had done most to build up
church life.” They were subject to
the rack, whips, mauling by beasts,
hot iron chairs to roast the flesh,
ten pages describe their torments.
Christians who were Roman citizens
were not beheaded; they suffered
the same torments as the others.
St Blandina, Notre Dame Cathedral / St Blandina,
by Lucien Bégule, 1901, Église Saint-Irénée

At the end, Eusebius informs
us, “the martyrs’ bodies,
after six days of exposure,”
“were finally burnt to ashes
and swept by these wicked
men into the Rhone River, so
that not even a trace of them
might be seen on the earth
again. They did this to defeat
God and rob the dead of
their rebirth, so they would
have no hope of
resurrection” of their body.
Martyrdom of St Blandina, by Jules Comparat, 1886, Church of
Saint-Blandine, Lyons

The historian McLynn said that there was an
outbreak of persecution in North Africa in 180 AD.
The dozen Scillitan martyrs were neither tortured nor
tormented in the arena, but were simply beheaded,
which was unusual for persecutions.

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

St Blandina, Lyons Martyr
McLynn’s observations on Scillitan martyrs:
• The Christians do not blame the emperor for
the persecutions, they blame demons.
• The Christians became fanatical, they echoed
Tertullian’s sentiment: “Your martyr’s blood is
the key to Paradise.”
• The uncompromising nature of many martyrs
made it difficult for officials to order lesser
penalties, such as hard labor.
• In McLynn’s opinion, the Romans made a
tactical error by overemphasizing the need to
sacrifice to the Roman gods.

McLynn and Eusebius both say that Commodus was
not an active persecutor of Christians. Commodus
had developed a taste for the mystery religions, such
as the cult of Mithras, and Christianity benefited
from this tolerance. However, Eusebius does report
that the philosopher St Apollonius was martyred in
Rome during his reign.

Aftermath of Christian Persecutions
Nero's persection, by Henryk Siemiradzki, 1897. Reenactment of Dirce myth, damsel is tied to head of bull.

Martyrdom was seen as an apocalyptic event,
many Christians living under the threat of death
viewed their time as the end of the world, which
it certainly was true for many of them.

We read about the martyrs under the altar
in Revelations:
“When Jesus, the Lamb, opened the fifth
seal, I saw under the altar the souls of
those who had been slain for the word of
God and for the witness they had borne.
They cried out with a loud voice, ‘O
Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long
before thou wilt judge and avenge our
blood on those who dwell upon the
earth?’ Then they were each given a white
robe and told to rest a little longer.” Frontpiece for the Book of
Revelations, Bible of San Paolo, 800s

Revelations was the last book to be admitted to the
canon and was written as encouragement to those
who were suffering under these persecutions.

McGuckin notes that the relics of
first martyrs, then saints, contained
the essence of “divine presence
among the early Christians. The
very bones were imbued with
divine grace and intercessory
power. Similar honor was given to
the confessors, those who suffered
for the faith but who were not
martyred. “Their prayers were felt
to carry great power before God,
and many Christians approached
them asking for intercession for the
forgiveness of sins.”

Relics continue to be honored in Orthodox churches
today.
Another long-term consequence of the persecutions
is it hardened Christian attitudes toward pagan
culture and ritual. This eventually led to the Christian
Emperor Theodosius closing the schools of
philosophy in Athens that had been established long
ago by the Stoic Marcus Aurelius.

The biography of Marcus Aurelius by Frank McLynn has
helpful background information on Christian Persecutions
under both Marcus Aurelius and his predecessors.
If you want to read just a few of these sources, the
Meditations of Marcus Aurelius should be among them.
This remarkable work has both many Stoic teachings that
help prepare the Roman world for Christianity, even while
he has a few comments that are critical of Christianity.

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, 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.
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, which we did not discuss.
We discuss the sources in more depth in our video on the Biographies of
Marcus Aurelius, and also our concluding video on whether Marcus
Aurelius Actively Persecuted Christians.
We discuss the sources in more depth in our videos on the Biographies of
Marcus Aurelius, and in our concluding video on whether Marcus
Aurelius actively persecuted the Christians.

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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