Persecution of the Church is really a way of speaking about Church and State relationships. The Roman Empire in th e first few centuries was often very harsh toward early Christianity. The Church has always had to face internal and external challenges. Heresy was addressed as an internal challenge but the external challenge came in the form of persecution from the Roman State. The Church endured relatively little persecution from the Romans as long as Christianity was seen as a sect of Judaism. Judaism was a “Religio Licita” or, in other words, a legal religion. As long as Christianity was perceived as a subcomponent of Judaism there was little persecution but as soon as Christianity emerged from the umbrella of Judaism it came under the eye of Rome and became a “Religio Illicita” or, in other words, an illegal religion.
1) Christianity places an exclusive claim on the religious affections (an more) of members and this placed it in conflict with the Roman State. As a result of their unwillingness to participate in the State Religion the Christians were perceived as trying to establish a state within a state. They were correctly perceived as having their highest allegiance to God and incorrectly assumed to be disloyal to the Roman State. The Christians (those who were faithful to the Apostle’s teachings) were unwilling to offer incense on the altars to the Roman Emperor. They refused to participate in Emperor Worship. The Romans didn’t think of the Emperor as a god necessarily or even as having supernatural power but they deified the Emperor in a way that was similar to canonizing a saint and celebrating their leadership of the great Roman State. There were exceptions to the rule. Domitian, for example, required that correspondence addressed to him refer to him as, “our lord and god”. Some Jews complied with requirements for emperor worship in public and would burn incense but worshiped God privately. Some members of the Church also did that. The majority of Christians would not accept this public-private dichotomy. So they were viewed as being disloyal to the state.
2) Christians would sometimes meet at night and this inflamed suspicions of the Roman Authorities that they were hatching conspiracies.
3) The secrecy in the Christian meetings early in the morning or late at night prompted accusations of immorality against the early Christians. Rumors of incest and cannibalism were common. Some of the slaves of Christians were taken and tortured. Under torture they quickly said that the Christians were into incest and cannibalism. Marcus Cornelius Fronto, a North African intellectual, accused Christians of drunkenness and sexual orgies.
So over all the perception of Christians by the Romans became very bad. They were thought to be immoral and to lack loyalty to the state. The Romans misunderstood communion and developed strange ideas since they didn’t like the Christians anyway. The Romans didn’t understand the kiss of peace and twisted that into charges of immorality. The Roman Empire was faced with multiple problems of unrest, plague, and famine so these odd Christians who talk of eating and drinking the blood of their leader were a natural target. Persecution followed ignorance and became a matter of government policy to preserve and promote the integrity of the Roman State.
There are a number of misconceptions about persecution in the early Church. Before AD 250, persecution was mainly local and sporadic. It was not a government policy that was Empire wide. Many of the early persecutions arose as a result of mob action. After AD 250, persecution, at times, became the deliberate policy of the Roman Empire and it could be very violent. Tertullian rightly said that the blood of the martyrs was the seed of the Church.
Jewish persecution from AD 33 to AD 64
Initially, the Jewish authorities handled the Christians as a subset of Judaism and the Romans said OK. So the Christians were largely tolerated by the Romans but persecution came from the Jewish Authorities. Herod Agrippa the First (Rome’s appointed King of the Jews), in support of the Jewish Authorities, executed James, the brother of John in AD 44. In AD 62 the Jewish High Priest Ananous, executed James the brother of Jesus. Eusebius of Caesarea provides a valuable summary of early Church history and says this about the martyrdom of James the Brother of Jesus.
“So the scribes and Pharisees made James stand on the sanctuary parapet and shouted to him, ‘Righteous one, whose words we are all obliged to accept, the people are going astray after Jesus who was crucified. So tell us what is meant by the door of Jesus.’ He replied as loudly as he could, ‘Why do you question me about the Son of Man? I tell you, He is sitting in heaven at the right hand of the Great Power and He will come on the clouds of heaven. Many were convinced by James’ testimony crying, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David.’ Others responded, ‘We had better go and throw him down so they will be frightened and not believe him.’ So they went up and threw down James. Then they said to each other, ‘Let us stone James the Righteous’ and they began to stone him as if, in spite of his fall, he was still alive but he turned and he knelt uttering these words, ‘I beseech thee Lord God and Father, forgive them, they do not know what they are doing. And while they pelted him with stones, one of the descendants of Rechab, the priestly family to which the Prophet Jeremiah bore witness, called out, ‘Stop! What are you doing? The Righteous One, James, is praying for you!’ And then one of them took a club which he had used to beat out the clothes and he brought it down on the head of James. Such was his martyrdom.”
Roman Persecution from AD 64 to AD 250
The Rule of Nero, 54 to 68
Nero was the first Roman Emperor to persecute the Christian Church apart from any Jewish instigation. The fire in the summer of AD 64 in Rome was blamed on Christians. The Roman historian Tacitus says that Nero used the incident to deflect attention from himself to the Christians. Nero accused the Christians of setting the fire that destroyed a significant part of Rome.
Eusebius says;
“When Nero’s power was now firmly established; he gave himself up to unholy practices and took up arms against the God of the Universe. To describe the monster of depravity that he became lies outside the scope of this present work. Many writers have recorded the facts about him in minute detail enabling anyone who wishes to get a complete picture of his perverse and extraordinary madness which led him to the senseless destruction of innumerable lives and drove him in the end to such a lust for blood that he did not spare even his nearest and dearest but employed a variety of methods to do away with his mother, his brothers, and his wife to say nothing of the countless other members of his family. He was the first of the emperors to be the declared enemy of the worship of Almighty God. And so it came about that this man, the first to be heralded as a conspicuous fighter against God, was led on to murder the Apostles. It is recorded that in his reign, Paul was beheaded in Rome itself and that Peter likewise was crucified. And the record is confirmed by the fact that the cemeteries there are still called by the names of Peter and Paul.”
It is generally agreed that Nero’s persecution was confined to the city of Rome and lasted only about 4 years (AD 64 to AD 68). Note that under Nero it became a legal matter that to be a Christian was a capital offense. According to Eusebius and others, both Peter and Paul were martyred under Nero. Some sources also say he used Christians to light his garden at night. Nero committed suicide in AD 68.
Emperor Galba - AD 68 to 69, assassinated but 120 people claimed to have done it
Emperor Otho - AD 69, only lasted 3 months, committed suicide
Emperor Vitellius - AD 69, only lasted 9 months, resigned and was killed
Emperor Vespasian - AD 69 to 79, destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple, Josephus called him the predicted messiah and would be emperor, He tried to hunt down and kill all descendants of King David, died of fever, had them stand him on his feet, Last words, “Oh, I think I’m becoming a god.”
Emperor Titus - Son of Vespasian, AD 79 to 81, Died of fever or poisoning by Domitian, Last words, “I only made one mistake.”
The Rule of Emperor Domitian, AD 81 to AD 96
Persecution broke out in AD 95 toward the end of his reign. It is hard to find the motive behind this persecution but Domitian was a micromanager who wanted the traditional Roman religion to be followed. The refusal of Christians to swear loyalty to the emperor may have been the cause. There was a political attempt to overthrow his government and so Domitian began a reign of terror. The refusal to swear loyalty may have been a cause of the persecution because of the attempt to overthrow his government. They had a great deal of political intrigue during this time and Domitian reacted with a great paranoia. Tradition (i.e., Irenaeus) indicates that it was at this time that John was exiled to Patmos. Up to this point, there was still no compelling evidence that Christians throughout the Empire were persecuted as a matter of policy.
Emperor Nerva - AD 96 to 98, died from stroke and fever
Emperor Trajan - Son of Nerva, AD 98 to 117
Trajan’s rule was the first policy driven persecution of believers.The first organized persecution of Christians as a deliberate government policy came in the reign of the Roman Emperor Trajan. The evidence we have is a series of letters from Pliny the Governor of Bithynia in Northern Turkey. The letter articulates his policy regarding the spread of Christianity. Pliny notes that the Pagan temples are becoming empty and he calls Christianity a superstition. In Pliny’s mind, to be a Christian is a capital offense and he is bringing Christians to trial. A number of Christians are then led away to be executed. What was the policy of Trajan? Trajan says;
- Christians are not to be hunted down to persecute them but if someone else brings a charge of someone being a Christian then the alleged Christian is brought to trial, and
- At trial the suspect is asked if they are a Christian. If they say no then they are free but if they say yes then ask two more times. Three times they must say publically that they are a Christian and if they don’t recant then they are sentenced to death.
Eusebius mentions two people who were killed by Trajan. First, Simon the Bishop of Jerusalem was arrested after being accused by the Jews of being a Christian. He said yes, yes, yes, and then he was tortured and crucified. Secondly, Ignatius of Antioch was accused tried and then sent to Rome for execution under Trajan.
Emperor Hadrian AD 117 to 138, died from heart attack, built wall in England and was first openly homosexual emperor, had no offspring
Emperor Antonius Pius AD 138 to 161, Adopted son of Hadrian
Polycarp, the disciple of John, was executed about AD 155 and Eusebius gives us an account of his martyrdom:
Polycarp had been arrested and at length he stepped forward. He was asked by the Proconsul if he was really Polycarp. We he said yes the Proconsul urged him, “Deny the charge, swear by Caesar’s fortune, change your attitude, and say away with the godless.” But Polycarp, with his face set, looked at all the crowd in the stadium and waved his hand toward them. He sighed and he looked up to heaven and he cried, “Away with the godless!” The governor pressed him further, “Swear and I will set you free. Deny Christ.” Polycarp says, “For, 86 years have I served Him, and He never did me wrong: how can I blaspheme my King and my Savoir?" And when other people persisted and said to him, ”Swear by Caesar’s name” then Polycarp responded, “If you imagine I will swear by Caesar, as you put it, pretending not to know who I am, I will tell you plainly … I am a Christian. If you wish to study the Christian doctrine, choose a day and you will hear it.” The Proconsul replied, “Convince the people with you. I have wild beasts. I will throw them to you if you don’t change your attitude.” The old man replied, “Call them. We cannot change our attitude.” The governor responded, “If you make light of the beasts I’ll have you destroyed by fire unless you change your attitude.” Polycarp answered, “The fire you threaten burns for a time and is soon extinguished. There is a fire you know nothing about, the fire of the judgment to come and eternal punishment, the fire reserved for the ungodly. But why do you hesitate? Do what you want.”
Even to say, I am a Christian is a death sentence so this was a particularly powerful and courageous testimony by Polycarp.
Emperor Marcus Aurelius AD 161 to 169 with Lucius Verus
AD 169 to 177 alone
AD 177 to 180 with Commodus
Emperor Marcus Aurelius AD 161 to 180 also persecuted Christians. He was a stoic and was strongly influenced toward a negative opinion of Christians by a pagan teacher named Fronto. Christians were being martyred in Philadelphia and Smyrna. Marcus was emperor during the execution of Justin Martyr about AD 165. He was turned in to the authorities by a man named Crescens. In AD 177 there was mass persecution in Gaul (modern day France). A violent mob seemed to take over in Gaul. This was one of the most intensive persecutions and was centered in Lyon. A 90 year Christian named Pothinus the Bishop of Lyons was tortured and killed. Great mobs went out and brought suspected Christians to the amphitheater. More than 100 were questioned in public and about 50 answered yes and were violently killed. A Christian leader named Attalus was forced him to sit on a red hot iron chair while being roasted. He yelled, “Look! Eating men is what you are doing! We neither eat men nor engage in any immoral practices” with the false charge of cannibalism in his mind.
A slave girl named Blandina in Lyon was tortured without mercy. She was filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. The pagans were amazed that she was still breathing. She continued to proclaim her faith and found refreshment in the words “I am a Christian” while hung on a post in the arena for the wild beasts. She set an example for those others that were suffering. None of the wild beasts touched her and then she was returned to jail. On the last day Ponticus (a teenager) along with Blandina were brought in and they stood firm. The mob was enraged. Ponticus was encouraged by Blandina. Ponticus was tortured to death. Then Blandina was tortured to death. The used all sorts of tortures and in the end she was dropped in a basket and thrown to a bull. The heathen were struck by her ability to withstand torture and hold fast to Christ.
Emperor Commodus 177 to 192, Assassinated - Loved to kill in the colosseum, animals and people including Romans
Emperor Pertinax 193 to 193
Emperor Didius Julianus 193 to 193
Emperor Septimus Severus 193 to 211
Emperor Caracalla (with Severus and Geta at times) AD 211 to 217
Emperor Macrinus AD 217 to 218
Emperor Elagabus AD 218 to 222
Emperor Alexander Severus AD 222 to 235
Emperor Maximus Thrax AD 235 to 238 vs Gordian 1 with Gordian II; then vs Pupienus and Balbinus
Emperor Gordian III AD 238 to 244 government through the Senate
Emperor Phillip the Arab AD 244 to 249
Persecution after 250 AD
Before AD 250 there were some severe persecutions. Then from AD 249 to 251 the Emperor Decius ruled. Rome was struggling with internal and external attacks on the stability. Decius thought that enforcing support of the classical beliefs would be central to confidence in the government. The Christians had rapidly increased in numbers and didn’t burn incense to the emperor so they became a target. In 250 AD Decius issued an edict that required everyone to make an offering at the Roman altar to the genius of the Emperor. Those who offered got a certificate called a libellus. The Christians mostly refused and were persecuted. Many Christians were sacrificed. The bishops of Rome, Antioch, and Jerusalem died. Many Christians were torn to pieces by wild animals. The persecution forced some Christians to compromise their faith. Many eminent persons caved in and offered sacrifices to pagan Gods. The Bishop of Carthage (Cyprian) and his people fled from their city. Some Christians bought a libellus on the black market. Others actually apostatized. For example, the Bishop of Smyrna is said to have actually apostatized. Decius weakened the Church because of the intense persecution. Hundreds were martyred and thousands apostatized. Fortunately this only lasted until 251 AD. The Roman government was sometimes preoccupied with other problems such as the Goths and at those times the persecution lagged.
Emperor Trebonianus Gallus AD 251 to 253 (with Hostilian and Volusianus)
Emperor Aemillan AD 253
Emperor Valerian (253 to 260 AD) also tried to require sacrifice by Christians and forbade assemblies of Christians. Cyprian, the famous Bishop of Carthage, did not flee this time and was martyred under the reign of Valerian.
Emperor Gallienus AD 253 to 268 - Then in 260 AD with the death of Valerian and the sole rule of Gallienus the persecution began to die down and he issued an edict of toleration. Christianity was against the law but only minor persecution was the norm. Then relative peace occurred for a time.
The Great Persecution
The Great Persecution occurred under the Emperor Diocletian. From AD 284 to 305 Diocletian was in power and he was a strong leader. He established the tetrarchs (rule by 4 men) but he really ran the show. To provide stability, he established these tetrarchs by dividing the empire by east and west. He put his lieutenant Maximilian to be the Augustus of the west while he remained the Augustus of the east. Then under each Augustus was a lieutenant. Constantinus and Galerius were the two lieutenants. When the two Augustus then retired they would be succeeded by their lieutenants. Galerius was in the east with Diocletian and Constantinus was under Maximilian. Between 297 and 301 AD the Great Persecution began when some Christians at a public ceremony were present when pagans were worshiping. The Christians made the sign of the cross while the pagans were sacrificing an animal. When the liver was cut out and examined to indicate divine blessing the liver didn’t have the marks of blessing. This was a very bad omen and they blamed the Christians because they had made the sign of the Cross. Galerius the Lieutenant pressed Diocletian for a serious persecution and Diocletian yielded. He issued four major edicts. In February of 303 AD he issued the first edict terminating Christianity and ordering the destruction of all churches and sacred books of the Christians. A second edict imprisoned all of the higher clergy. A third edict offered amnesty to Christians if they would sacrifice to the Roman deities. Then, in the spring of 304 AD the forth edict insisted on sacrifice at the Roman altar under the penalty of death. Any Christian found practicing was to be killed. The cathedral of Nicomedia (Turkey) was burned to start the process. Not all Christians were passive. In Nicomedia a number of Christians burned the emperor’s palace but then 268 Christians were killed in retaliation for that act.
Referring now to the martyrs in Nicomedia, we have the following account from Eusebius.
“We will describe the manner in which one of them ended his life, and leave our readers to infer from his case the sufferings of the others. A certain man was brought forward in the above-mentioned city, before the rulers of whom we have spoken (i.e. in Nicomedia, before Diocletian and Galerius). He was then commanded to sacrifice, but as he refused, he was ordered to be stripped and raised on high and beaten with rods over his entire body, until, being conquered, he should, even against his will, do what was commanded. But as he was unmoved by these sufferings, and his bones were already appearing, they mixed vinegar with salt and poured it upon the mangled parts of his body. As he scorned these agonies, a gridiron and fire were brought forward. And the remnants of his body, like flesh intended for eating, were placed on the fire, not at once, lest he should expire instantly, but a little at a time. And those who placed him on the pyre were not permitted to desist until, after such sufferings, he should assent to the things commanded. But he held his purpose firmly, and victoriously gave up his life while the tortures were still going on. Such was the martyrdom of one of the servants of the palace, who was indeed well worthy of his name, for he was called Peter.”
This occurred in approximately AD 303 under Diocletian. There was great brutality in this persecution and hence the name, “The Great Persecution”. Some were flogged to death, others were tortured, many were thrown into cages with wild animals, some had their eyes gouged out, one had molten lead poured down his throat, others were beheaded, and others crucified. Diocletian retired in 305. Then Galerius in the east and Constantius I took over the west. Diocletian was in control of the entire empire in reality because he insisted that Maximian retire in the west and he did. Galerius continued the persecutions he suggested. Constantius didn’t kill many Christians but he burned some churches.
The martyrdoms showed heroism in the face of death brought converts seeking to understand this great strength of character.The cruelty was so severe that the people who were previously filled with mob violence then had sympathy for those being tortured and popular opinion started to turn against the Roman Government. Some pagans seem to have even protected Christians because they were appalled at the brutality of the Roman persecutions.
In the east in AD 311, the Emperor Galerius had a terminal illness and, under pressure from his wife, the man who started the persecution, conceded defeat in April of AD 311 with an edict of toleration making Christianity a legal religion. The edict even requested prayer for the Roman Empire by the Christians. Galerius was succeeded by Maximus in the east and he attempted to overthrow the edict of toleration but this effort was ineffective. He gave up in AD 313 and issued an edict of toleration. In the west, the more tolerant Constantius died in AD 306 and was succeeded by the Great Constantine. By AD 311 the tetrarchy was unraveling with 4 men claiming the throne. Maxentius, Maximian, Licinius, and Constantine all claimed to be rulers of Rome. The strain made temporary allies of Maxentius and Maximian against Licinius and Constantine.
Constantine defeated Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge in AD 312 near Rome. Constantine played a major role in bringing a full stop to Christian persecution and in forming the Church Council of Nicea. Constantine was the son of Constantius and his consort Helena (a Bithynian Barmaid).
Constantine was the leader of a powerful army. He led his army from Gaul across the Alps and began an advance towards Rome. Maxentius was in Rome and so on Oct 28, AD 312 this resulted in the battle of Milvian Bridge that is over the Tiber River. This placed Maxentius with his back against the Tiber river and eventually Maxentius lost his life. On the afternoon of the day before the battle, Constantine said that he looked up into the sky and saw a flaming cross and the words, “In this sign conquer”. So Constantine claims to have had a vision. Then in the early morning he said he had a dream in which he heard a voice saying he must require his soldiers to paint this symbol of Christ on their shields. An X (Chi) and P (Rho) were used for the first two Greek letters of Christ’s name. Constantine won the battle of Milvian Bridge and he entered Rome claiming that Christ helped him win.
In AD 313 Licinius beat Maximian in June and then Constantine and Licinius met in Milan. This resulted in the famous edict of Milan that granted full freedom for Christians. This was better than the granting of toleration because it gave Christianity full legal equality with all other religions. It didn’t make Christianity the official religion of Rome but it granted full equality with other religions. It also required that all Church property be restored that was taken during Diocletian.
Licinius and Constantine remained as emperors and then Licinius started to renew the persecution of Christians. There is debate about the Christianity of Constantine. It is hard to say if he was really a Christian or not. He refused baptism until the end of his life. He did actively support Christianity. Licinius was banishing Christians and imposing fines. Constantine then led a military operation that defeated Licinius in AD 314 but graciously left Licinius with Thrace in Greece. Licinius eventually renewed his persecution of Christians and in AD 324 Constantine crushed Licinius. Then there was only one Emperor and at this time Constantine declared that he himself was a Christian and he invited everyone to become a Christian. The persecution was then essentially over with the exception of a persecution from AD 360 to 363 under Julian the Apostate (who wished to renew the pagan worship and persecute of Christians). This didn’t last and essentially Constantine ends the persecution.
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