No Christians in Rome from A. D. 66 to A. D. 117.
From the death of Paul in A. D. 66, as we have before stated, to the
reign of Adrian in A. D. 117, Rome was without a Christian population.
Such is history when properly rendered. The course of Nero filled them
with horror, and at the time of his death Rome was deserted by them.
After he ceased to reign there followed the civil wars, the most fearful
in the annals of Rome. Galba, after all obstacles in his way to power
had been removed by the sword, entered the city through a scene of
blood, and men expected nothing less than the renewal of all the
cruelties of Nero's reign. (_Annals of Tacitus_, Appendix to book xvi.)
Then commenced the civil war between Vespasian and Vitellius, which was
the cause of untold misery to the Roman people. The city of Rome was
burned to the ground. "From the foundation of the city to that hour,
the Roman people had felt no calamity so deplorable, no disgrace so
humiliating." (__Tacitus, book iii. sec. 22.)
The condition of the times is truly depicted in the concise and eloquent
language of the author of the "Decline and Fall": "During fourscore years
(excepting only the short and doubtful respite by Vespasian's reign)
Rome groaned beneath an unrelenting tyranny which exterminated the
ancient families of the Republic, and was fatal to almost every virtue
and every talent that arose during that unhappy period." (Vol. I. page
47)
Obscene rites alleged to be practised by Christians; their indifference
towards all who differed from them in their ideas on religion; their
isolation from the rest of mankind, had excited the hatred of the Pagan
world; so that in large cities, where the population was lawless and
difficult to restrain, they were liable to be attacked and torn to
pieces without notice and without provocation. All the evils which
befell the empire were referred to the Christians, and were regarded as
proof that the Roman people had, by tolerating them, incurred the
anger of heaven. Their presence was considered a curse upon the earth.
Tertullian exclaims: "If the Tiber rises against the walls of the city,
or the Nile does not overflow its banks; if there is a drought, or
earthquake, or famine, or pestilence, the cry at once is, Take the
Christians to the Lion." (_Apology_, chap, xl.)
It was this state of feeling that made it dangerous, especially during
the civil war, for Christians to remain in Rome. Domitian, the son of
Vespasian, commenced his reign in A. D. 81, and was assassinated in
A. D. 96. That we have no account of any Christians being put to death
under his reign is proof that they had not returned from the provinces.
It is the fashion with historians to allege great cruelty towards
Christians during this reign. We have searched for the evidence, but
have failed to find it. Suetonius lived during his reign; had personal
knowledge of many things he describes; gives the names of numerous
victims and their offences; mentions the cruelties inflicted on the
Jews; but does not even make use of the word Christian, or give the
name of any one who suffered on account of his religion. The cruelty of
Domitian spent itself on those who were guilty of political offences;
but the interested and partisan traditions of the second century delight
to make him a monster who took pleasure in shedding Christian blood. He
did not fail to persecute Christians because he had no inclination to
do so--for he punished what he called impiety to the gods with
severity--but because there was none in Rome during his reign to
persecute.*
* See Appendix D.
Trajan succeeded to the empire in A. D. 98. During his reign, which
continued to A. D. 117, what proof there is on the subject tends to
show that Christians had not yet returned to the capital. So little did
Trajan know about them, that Pliny, in writing to him for advice as
to how he should deal with them, is compelled to describe to him their
doctrines, practices and forms of worship. Had there been any in Rome at
the time, there would have been no necessity for this; and besides, had
there been any there, the mode of treatment of them by the emperor would
afford a precedent for Pliny without calling for special instructions.
But we can affirm with confidence that no Christian dared live in Rome
during this reign, which continued for nineteen years, for the reason
that to be one during this time was a crime punishable by death.
In answer to Pliny's letter, in speaking of Christians, Trajan
writes: "If they be brought before you, and are convicted, let them be
_capitally_ punished, yet with this restriction, that if any one will
renounce Christianity and evince his sincerity by supplicating our gods,
however suspected he may be in the past, he shall obtain pardon for the
future on his repentance."
It is not at all astonishing that Pliny, in writing Trajan about his
mode of treating Christians, had to tell him who they were, and describe
the way in which they conducted themselves. From A.D. 64, when Tacitus
speaks of them in connection with the great fire, and their sufferings
at the time, no historian makes any mention of them, as dwellers in
Rome, to the end of the century. The obscure allusion to them by Juvenal
and Martial, in a satirical vein, relates solely to their conduct under
torture, inflicted by Nero at the time Rome was burned.
Suetonius, who was secretary to the Emperor Adrian, wrote the life and
times of the Emperors from Augustus to Domitian; and if we except the
doubtful allusion to them in the reign of Claudius, he does not even
make use of the word Christian, or speak of anything in connection with
them. During the time of which we have been speaking, lived and wrote
Quintilian, Juvenal, Statius, and Martial.