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Definition:
No history of Christianity is complete without the inclusion of the horrible persecution which
believers suffered at the hands of Roman authorities - but just how bad were those
persecutions and why were they instituted?
The first mass persecutions seem to have been at the hands of Emperor Nero in the year 64, apparently because he needed someone to blame for the burning of Rome and they were simply very convenient. After Nero, neither Vespian nor Titus really bother with the Christians, not finding them the least bit interesting, much less dangerous.
Some of the surviving letters of Roman officials provide important information on this topic. In the year 111, Pliny the Younger who was governor of Bithynia wrote to emperor Trajan, wondering what to do with the local Christians. There were so many of them in Bithynai (on the northern coast of present-day Turkey) that pagan temples were being abandoned entirely. He had a list of Christians and, because Christianity was officially illegal, he asked Trajan what to do about them.
Trajan's response explains what standard Roman policy was regarding Christians in the empire. Also, because of it, other officials followed the same policy, making it even more official. It can be assumed that this is how all Roman officials tended to act, right up until the rule of Constantine.
Normally, non-Romans who refused to sacrifice to the state gods were simply executed and Roman citizens who did the same were sent back to Rome for trial. And the Christians? Trajan explained that their crime was so insignificant that it simply wasn't necessary for government officials to waste precious time trying to find them or track them down in any way. If any were actually accused by someone, it could only be by someone willing to give their name - no anonymous accusations could be permitted.
Once found, they were to be given a chance to "repent" and make a sacrifice to the Roman gods. Only when they refused to do this could they be punished. And why? Not for religious reasons, but for political reasons. The punishment was because the Christians involved were showing a complete lack of respect for Roman courts and Roman authority. This was regarded as a sort of "hatred of humanity," representing contempt for Roman civilization. Even today, religious persecution is very often a mask for more political concerns - a refusal to submit to religious authorities is normally the same as a refusal to summit to the proper political authorities. Only when church and sate are separated is it possible to dissent from traditional religion without also incurring the wrath of political rulers.
During the 2nd century there were few persecutions and those which happened were relatively localized. In the 3rd century, however, the empire began to enter a period of decline, and political authorities needed a scapegoat to divert the people's attention - that scapegoat turned out to be the Christians. Another common reason for persecution was that some officials hoped to restore Rome to its former glory. This, in turn, tended to involve reviving the pagan religion and suppressing the competition. In both cases, however, persecution was a matter of seeking political and social stability.
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Related Resources:
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