Chapter 2
CHAPTER II. THE TEN PRIMITIVE PERSECUTIONS. part i the first persecution under nero anno domini sixty seven the first persecution of the church took place in the year sixty seven under nero the sixth emperor of rome this monarch reigned for the space of five years with tolerable credit to himself but then gave way to the greatest extravagancy of temper and to the most atrocious barbarities among other diabolical whims he ordered that the city of rome should be set on fire which order was executed by his officers guards and servants while the imperial city was in flames he went up to the tower of massaneas played upon his harp sung the song of the burning of troy and openly declared that he wished the ruin of all things before his death
besides the noble pile called the circus many other palaces and houses were consumed several thousands perished in the flames were smothered in the smoke or buried beneath the ruins this dreadful conflagration continued nine days when nero finding that his conduct was greatly blamed and a severe odium cast upon him determined to lay the hole upon the christians at once to excuse himself and have an opportunity of glutting his sight with new cruelties this was the occasion of the first persecution and the barbarities exercised on the christians were such as even excited the commiseration of the romans themselves nero even refined upon cruelty and contrived all manner of punishments for the christians that the most infernal imagination could design in particular he had some sewed up in skins of wild beasts and then worried by dogs until they expired and others dressed in shirts made stiff by wax fixed to axlet trees and set on fire in his gardens in order to illuminate them this persecution was general throughout the whole roman empire but it rather increased than diminished the spirit of christianity
in the course of it st paul and st peter were martyred to their names may be added erastus chamberlain of corinth aristarchus the macedonian and trophimus an ephesians converted by st paul and fellow-labourer with him joseph commonly called barsabas and ananias bishop of damascus each of the seventy the second persecution under domitian and dominie eighty one the emperor domitian who was naturally inclined to cruelty who was naturally inclined to cruelty first slew his brother and then raised the second persecution against the christians in his rage he put to death some of the roman senators some through malice and others to confiscate their estates he then commanded all the lineage of david to be put to death among the numerous martyrs that suffered during this persecution was simeon bishop of jerusalem who was crucified and st john who was boiled in oil and afterwards banished to patmos flavia the daughter of a roman senator was likewise banished to pontus and a law was made that no christian whence brought before the tribunal should be exempted from punishment without renouncing his religion
a variety of fabricated tales were during this reign composed in order to injure the christians such was the infatuation of the pagans that if famine pestilence or earthquakes afflicted any of the roman provinces it was laid upon the christians these persecutions among the christians increased the number of informers and many for the sake of gain swore away the lives of the innocent another hardship was that when any christians were brought before the magistrates a test oath was proposed when if they refused to take it death was pronounced against them and if they confessed themselves christians the sentence was the same the following were the most remarkable among the numerous martyrs who suffered during this persecution dionysius the areopagite was an athenian by birth and educated on all the useful and ornamental literature of greece he then travelled to egypt to study astronomy and made very particular observations on the great and supernatural eclipse which happened at the time of our saviour's crucifixion the sanctity of his conversation and the purity of his manners recommended him so strongly to the christians in general that he was appointed bishop of athens
nicodemus a benevolent christian of some distinction suffered at rome during the rage of domitian's persecution protasius and gervasius were martyred at milan timothy was the celebrated disciple of st paul and bishop of ephesus where he zealously governed the church until anno domini ninety seven at this period as the pagans were about to celebrate a feast called catagogion timothy meeting the procession severely reproved them for their ridiculous idolatry which so exasperated the people that they fell upon him with their clubs and beat him in so dreadful a manner that he expired of the bruises two days later the third persecution under tryan anno domene one hundred and eight in the third persecution pliny the second a man learned and famous seeing the lamentable slaughter of christians and moved therewith to pity brought to tryan certifying him that there were many thousands of them daily put to death of which none did any thing contrary to the roman laws worthy of persecution
the whole account they gave of their crime or error whichever it is to be called amounted only to this with that they were accustomed on a stated day to meet before daylight and to repeat together a set form of prayer to christ as a god and to bind themselves by an obligation not indeed to commit wickedness but on the contrary never to commit theft robbery or adultery never to falsify their word never to defraud any man after which it was their custom to separate and reassemble to partake in common of a harmless meal in this persecution suffered the blessed martyr ignatius who is hailed in famous reverence among very many this ignatius was appointed to the bishopric of antioch next after peter in succession some do say that he being sent from syria to rome because he professed christ was given to the wild beasts to be devoured it is also said of him that when he passed through asia being under the most strict custody of his keepers he strengthened and confirmed the churches through all the cities as he went both with his exhortations and preaching of the word of god
accordingly having come to smyrna he wrote to the church at rome exhorting them not to use means for his deliverance from martyrdom lest they should deprive him of that which he most longed and hoped for now i begin to be a disciple i care for nothing of visible or invisible things so that i may but win christ let fire on the cross let the companies of wild beasts let breaking of bones and tearing of limbs let the grinding of the whole body and all the malice of the devil come upon me be it so only may i win christ jesus and even when he was sentenced to be thrown to the beasts such as the burning desire that he had to suffer that he spake what time he heard the lions roaring saying i am the wheat of christ i am going to be ground with the teeth of wild beasts that i may be found purebred traian being succeeded by adrian the latter continued the third persecution with as much severity as his predecessor about this time alexander bishop of rome with his two diacons were martyred as were quirinus and hernus with their families
then on a roman nobleman and about ten thousand other christians in mount ararat many were crucified crowned with thorns and spears ran into their sides in imitation of christ's passion oesthius a brave and successful roman commander was by the emperor ordered to join in an idolatrous sacrifice to celebrate some of his own victories but his faith being a christian in his heart was so much greater than his vanity that he nobly refused it enraged at the denial the ungrateful emperor forgot the service of this skilful commander and ordered him and his whole family to be martyred at the martyrdom of faustinus and jovita brothers and citizens of brestia their torments were so many and their patience so great that calucarius a pagan beholding them was struck with admiration and exclaimed in a kind of ecstasy great is the god of the christians for which he was apprehended and suffered a similar fate many other similar cruelties and rigors were exercised against the christians until quadratus bishop of athens made a learned apology in their favor before the emperor
who happened to be there and aristides a philosopher of the same city wrote an elegant epistle which caused adrian to relax in his severities and relent in their favor adrian dying on a domino one hundred thirty eight was succeeded by antonius pius one of the most amiable monarchs that ever reigned and who stayed the persecutions against the christians the fourth persecution under marcus aurelius antonius anno domene one hundred and sixty two marcus aurelius followed about the year of our lord one hundred sixty one a man of nature more stern and severe and although in study of philosophy and in civil government no less commendable yet toward the christians sharp and fierce by whom was moved the fourth persecution the cruelties used in this persecution were such that many of the spectators shuddered with horror at the sight and were astonished at the intrepidity of the sufferers
some of the martyrs were obliged to pass with their already wounded feet over thorns nails sharp shells etc upon their points others were scorched until their sinews and veins lay bare and after suffering the most excruciating tortures that could be devised they were destroyed by the most terrible death germanicus a young man but a true christian being delivered to the wild beasts on account of his faith behaved with such astonishing courage that several pagans became converts to a faith which inspired such fortitude polycarp the venerable bishop of smyrna hearing that persons were seeking for him escaped but was discovered by a child after feasting the guards who apprehended him he desired an hour in prayer which being allowed he prayed with such fervency that his guards repented that they had been instrumental in taking him he was however carried before the proconsul condemned and burnt in the market-place the proconsul then urged him saying swear and i will release thee reproach christ
polycarp answered eighty and six years have i served him and he never once wronged me how then shall i blaspheme my king who hath saved me at the stake to which he was only tied but not nailed as usual as he assured them he should stand immovable the flames under kindling the fagots encircled his body like an arch without touching him and the executioner on seeing this was ordered to pierce him with a sword when so great a quantity of blood flowed out as extinguished the fire but his body at the instignation of the enemies of the gospel especially jews was ordered to be consumed in the pile and the request of his friends who wished to give at christian burial rejected they nevertheless collected his bones and as much of his remains as possible and caused them to be decently interred metrodorus a minister who preached boldly and peoneus who made some excellent apologies for the christian faith were likewise burnt carpus and papillus toward the christians and agatonica a pious woman suffered martyrdom at pergamopolis in asia felicitatis an illustrious roman lady of a considerable family and the most shining virtues was a devout christian
she had seven sons whom she had educated with the most exemplary piety januarius the eldest was scourged and pressed to death with weights felix and philip the two next had their brains dashed out with clubs sylvanus the fourth was murdered by being thrown from a precipice and the three younger sons alexander vitalis and martial were beheaded the mother was beheaded with the same sword as the three latter justin the celebrated philosopher fell a martyr to his persecution he was a native of neapolis in samaria and was born an o domini one hundred and three justin was a great lover of truth and a universal scholar he investigated the stoic and peripatetic philosophy and attempted the pythagorean but the behavior of our of its professors disgusting him he applied himself to the platonic in which he took great delight about the year one hundred thirty three when he was thirty years of age he became a convert to christianity and then for the first time perceived the real nature of truth
he wrote an elegant epistle to the gentiles and employed his talents in convincing the jews of the truth of the christian rights spending a great deal of time in travelling until he took up his abode in rome and fixed his habitation upon the womenel mount he kept a public school taught many who afterward became great men and wrote a treatise to confuse heresies of all kinds as the pagans began to treat the christians with great severity justin wrote his first apology in their favor this piece displays great learning and genius and occasions the emperor to publish an edict in favor of the christians soon after he entered into frequent contests with krestens a person of a vicious life and conversation but a celebrated cynic philosopher and his arguments appeared so powerful yet disgusting to the cynic that he resolved on and in the sequel accomplished his destruction the second apology of justin upon certain severities gave crescent the cynic an opportunity to prejudicing the emperor against the right of it upon which justin and six of his companions were apprehended
being commanded to sacrifice to the pagan idols they refused and were condemned to be scourged and then beheaded which sentence was executed with all imaginable severity several were beheaded for refusing to sacrifice to the image of jupiter in particular concordus a diacon of the city of spolito some of the restless northern nations having risen in arms against rome the emperor marched to encounter them he was however drawn into an ambuscade and dreaded the loss of his whole army enveloped with mountains surrounded by enemies and perishing with thirst the pagan deities were invoked in vain when the men belonging to the militin or thundering legion who were all christians were commanded to call upon their god for succor a miraculous deliverance immediately ensued a prodigious quantity of rain fell which being caught by the men and filling their dikes afforded a sudden and astonishing relief it appears that the storm which miraculously flashed in the face of the enemy so intimidated them
that part deserted to the roman army the rest were defeated and the revolted provinces entirely recovered this affair occasioned the persecution to subside for some time at least in those parts immediately under the inspection of the emperor but we find that it soon after raged in france particularly at lyons where the tortures to which many of the christians were put almost exceed the powers of description the principal of these martyrs were vettius agatus a young man blandina a christian lady of a weak constitution sanctus a diacon of vienna red-hot plates of brass were placed upon the tenderest parts of his body biblia a weak woman once an apostate atalus of bergamus and pothinus the venerable bishop of lions who was ninety years of age blandina on the day when she and the three other champions were first brought into the amphitheatre she was suspended on a piece of wood fixed in the ground and exposed as food for the wild beasts at which time by her earnest prayers she encouraged others
but none of the wild beasts would touch her so that she was remanded to prison when she was again produced for the third and last time she was accompanied by ponticus a youth of fifteen and the constancy of their faith so enraged the multitude that neither the sex of the one nor the youth of the other were respected being exposed to all manner of punishments and tortures being strengthened by a blandina he persevered unto death and she after enduring all the torments heretofore mentioned was at length slain with the sword when the christians upon these occasions received martyrdom they were ornamented and crowned with garlands of flowers for which they in heaven received eternal crowns of glory it has been said that the lives of the early christians consisted of persecution above ground and prior beloved ground their lives are expressed by the coliseum and the catacombs beneath rome are the excavations which we call the catacombs which were at once temples and tombs the early church of rome might well be called the church of the catacombs there are some sixty catacombs near rome on which some six hundred miles of galleries have been traced and these are not all
these galleries are about eight feet high and from three to five feet wide containing on either side several rows of long low horizontal recesses one above another like berths in a ship in these the dead bodies were placed and the front closed either by a single marble slab or several great tiles laid in mortar on these slabs or tiles epitaphs or symbols are graved or painted both pagans and christians buried their dead in these catacombs when the christian graves have been opened the skeletons tell their own terrible tale heads are found severed from the body ribs and shoulder-blades are broken bones on offer calcined from fire but despite the awful story of persecution that we may read here the inscriptions breathe forth peace and joy and triumph here are a few here lies marcia put to rest in a dream of peace laurence to his sweetest son born away of angels victorious in peace and in christ being called away he went in peace remember when reading these inscriptions the story the skeletons tell of persecution of torture and of fire
but the full force of these epitaphs is seen when we contrast them with the pagan epitaphs such as live for the present hour since we are sure of nothing else i lift my hands against the gods who took me away at the age of twenty though i had done no harm once i was not now i am not i know nothing about it and it is no concern of mine traveller curse me not as you pass for i am in darkness and cannot answer the most frequent christian symbols on the walls of the catacombs are the good shepherd with the lamb on his shoulder a ship under full sail harps anchors crowns vines and above all the fish chapter two part one
