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Ardour of the First Christians – Three Methods of Escaping Martyrdom – State of the Christians in the Reigns of Commodus & Severus
The sober discretion of the present age will more readily
censure than admire, but can more easily admire than imitate, the
fervor of the first Christians, who, according to the lively
expressions of Sulpicius Severus, desired martyrdom with more
eagerness than his own contemporaries solicited a bishopric. 92
The epistles which Ignatius composed as he was carried in chains
through the cities of Asia, breathe sentiments the most repugnant
to the ordinary feelings of human nature. He earnestly beseeches
the Romans, that when he should be exposed in the amphitheatre,
they would not, by their kind but unseasonable intercession,
deprive him of the crown of glory; and he declares his resolution
to provoke and irritate the wild beasts which might be employed
as the instruments of his death. 93 Some stories are related of
the courage of martyrs, who actually performed what Ignatius had
intended; who exasperated the fury of the lions, pressed the
executioner to hasten his office, cheerfully leaped into the
fires which were kindled to consume them, and discovered a
sensation of joy and pleasure in the midst of the most exquisite
tortures. Several examples have been preserved of a zeal
impatient of those restraints which the emperors had provided for
the security of the church. The Christians sometimes supplied by
their voluntary declaration the want of an accuser, rudely
disturbed the public service of Paganism, 94 and rushing in
crowds round the tribunal of the magistrates, called upon them to
pronounce and to inflict the sentence of the law. The behavior
of the Christians was too remarkable to escape the notice of the
ancient philosophers; but they seem to have considered it with
much less admiration than astonishment. Incapable of conceiving
the motives which sometimes transported the fortitude of
believers beyond the bounds of prudence or reason, they treated
such an eagerness to die as the strange result of obstinate
despair, of stupid insensibility, or of superstitious frenzy. 95
"Unhappy men!" exclaimed the proconsul Antoninus to the
Christians of Asia; "Unhappy men! if you are thus weary of your
lives, is it so difficult for you to find ropes and precipices?"
96 He was extremely cautious (as it is observed by a learned and
picus historian) of punishing men who had found no accusers but
themselves, the Imperial laws not having made any provision for
so unexpected a case: condemning therefore a few as a warning to
their brethren, he dismissed the multitude with indignation and
contempt. 97 Notwithstanding this real or affected disdain, the
intrepid constancy of the faithful was productive of more
salutary effects on those minds which nature or grace had
disposed for the easy reception of religious truth. On these
melancholy occasions, there were many among the Gentiles who
pitied, who admired, and who were converted. The generous
enthusiasm was communicated from the sufferer to the spectators;
and the blood of martyrs, according to a well-known observation,
became the seed of the church.
Footnote 92: Certatim gloriosa in certamina ruebatur; multique
avidius tum martyria gloriosis mortibus quaerebantur, quam nunc
Episcopatus pravis ambitionibus appetuntur. Sulpicius Severus,
l. ii. He might have omitted the word nunc.
Footnote 93: See Epist. ad Roman. c. 4, 5, ap. Patres Apostol.
tom. ii. p. 27. It suited the purpose of Bishop Pearson (see
Vindiciae Ignatianae, part ii. c. 9) to justify, by a profusion
of examples and authorities, the sentiments of Ignatius.
Footnote 94: The story of Polyeuctes, on which Corneille has
founded a very beautiful tragedy, is one of the most celebrated,
though not perhaps the most authentic, instances of this
excessive zeal. We should observe, that the 60th canon of the
council of Illiberis refuses the title of martyrs to those who
exposed themselves to death, by publicly destroying the idols.
Footnote 95: See Epictetus, l. iv. c. 7, (though there is some
doubt whether he alludes to the Christians.) Marcus Antoninus de
Rebus suis, l. xi. c. 3 Lucian in Peregrin.
Footnote 96: Tertullian ad Scapul. c. 5. The learned are
divided between three persons of the same name, who were all
proconsuls of Asia. I am inclined to ascribe this story to
Antoninus Pius, who was afterwards emperor; and who may have
governed Asia under the reign of Trajan.
Footnote 97: Mosheim, de Rebus Christ, ante Constantin. p. 235.
But although
devotion had raised, and
eloquence continued to
inflame, this fever of the mind, it insensibly gave way to the
more natural hopes and fears of the human heart, to the love of
life, the apprehension of pain, and the horror of dissolution.
The more prudent rulers of the church found themselves obliged to
restrain the indiscreet ardor of their followers, and to distrust
a constancy which too often abandoned them in the hour of trial.
98 As the lives of the faithful became less mortified and
austere, they were every day less ambitious of the honors of
martyrdom; and the
soldiers of Christ, instead of distinguishing
themselves by voluntary deeds of heroism, frequently deserted
their post, and fled in confusion before the enemy whom it was
their duty to resist. There were three methods, however, of
escaping the flames of
persecution, which were not attended with
an equal degree of guilt: first, indeed, was generally allowed to
be innocent; the second was of a doubtful, or at least of a
venial, nature; but the third implied a direct and criminal
apostasy from the Christian faith.
Footnote 98: See the Epistle of the church of Smyrna, ap. Euseb.
Hist. Eccles. Liv. c. 15
Note: The 15th chapter of the 10th book of the Eccles.
History of Eusebius treats principally of the martyrdom of St.
Polycarp, and mentions some other martyrs. A single example of
weakness is related; it is that of a Phrygian named Quintus, who,
appalled at the sight of the wild beasts and the tortures,
renounced his faith. This example proves little against the mass
of Christians, and this chapter of Eusebius furnished much
stronger evidence of their courage than of their timidity.
I. A modern
inquisitor would hear with surprise, that
whenever an information was given to a Roman
magistrate of any
person within his jurisdiction who had embraced the
sect of the
Christians, the charge was communicated to the party accused, and
that a convenient time was allowed him to settle his domestic
concerns, and to prepare an answer to the crime which was imputed
to him.
99 If he entertained any doubt of his own constancy,
such a delay afforded him the opportunity of preserving his life
and honor by flight, of withdrawing himself into some obscure
retirement or some distant province, and of patiently expecting
the return of peace and security. A measure so consonant to
reason was soon authorized by the advice and example of the most
holy prelates; and seems to have been censured by few except by
the
Montanists, who deviated into
heresy by their strict and
obstinate adherence to the rigor of ancient discipline.
100
II.
The provincial governors, whose zeal was less prevalent than
their
avarice, had countenanced the practice of selling
certificates, (or libels, as they were called,) which attested,
that the persons therein mentioned had complied with the laws,
and sacrificed to the Roman deities. By producing these false
declarations, the opulent and timid Christians were enabled to
silence the malice of an informer, and to reconcile in some
measure their safety with their religion. A slight
penance atoned
for this profane dissimulation.
101 *
III. In every
persecution there were great numbers of unworthy Christians who
publicly disowned or renounced the faith which they had
professed; and who confirmed the sincerity of their abjuration,
by the legal acts of burning incense or of offering sacrifices.
Some of these
apostates had yielded on the first menace or
exhortation of the
magistrate; whilst the patience of others had
been subdued by the length and repetition of
tortures. The
affrighted countenances of some betrayed their inward remorse,
while others advanced with confidence and alacrity to the altars
of the gods.
102 But the disguise which fear had imposed,
subsisted no longer than the present danger. As soon as the
severity of the
persecution was abated, the doors of the
churches
were assailed by the returning multitude of penitents who
detested their idolatrous
submission, and who solicited with
equal ardor, but with various success, their readmission into the
society of Christians.
103 !
Footnote 99: In the second apology of Justin, there is a
particular and very curious instance of this legal delay. The
same indulgence was granted to accused Christians, in the
persecution of Decius: and Cyprian (de Lapsis) expressly mentions
the "Dies negantibus praestitutus."
Footnote 100: Tertullian considers flight from persecution as an
imperfect, but very criminal, apostasy, as an impious attempt to
elude the will of God, &c., &c. He has written a treatise on
this subject, (see p. 536 - 544, edit. Rigalt.,) which is filled
with the wildest fanaticism and the most incoherent declamation.
It is, however, somewhat remarkable, that Tertullian did not
suffer martyrdom himself.
Footnote 101: The libellatici, who are chiefly known by the
writings of Cyprian, are described with the utmost precision, in
the copious commentary of Mosheim, p. 483 - 489.
Footnote *: The penance was not so slight, for it was exactly
the same with that of apostates who had sacrificed to idols; it
lasted several years. See Fleun Hist. Ecc. v. ii. p. 171. - G.
Footnote 102: Plin. Epist. x. 97. Dionysius Alexandrin. ap.
Euseb. l. vi. c. 41. Ad prima statim verba minantis inimici
maximus fratrum numerus fidem suam prodidit: nec prostratus est
persecutionis impetu, sed voluntario lapsu seipsum prostravit.
Cyprian. Opera, p. 89. Among these deserters were many priests,
and even bishops.
Footnote 103: It was on this occasion that Cyprian wrote his
treatise De Lapsis, and many of his epistles. The controversy
concerning the treatment of penitent apostates, does not occur
among the Christians of the preceding century. Shall we ascribe
this to the superiority of their faith and courage, or to our
less intimate knowledge of their history!
Footnote !: Pliny says, that the greater part of the Christians
persisted in avowing themselves to be so; the reason for his
consulting Trajan was the periclitantium numerus. Eusebius (l.
vi. c. 41) does not permit us to doubt that the number of those
who renounced their faith was infinitely below the number of
those who boldly confessed it. The prefect, he says and his
assessors present at the council, were alarmed at seeing the
crowd of Christians; the judges themselves trembled. Lastly, St.
Cyprian informs us, that the greater part of those who had
appeared weak brethren in the persecution of Decius, signalized
their courage in that of Gallius. Steterunt fortes, et ipso
dolore poenitentiae facti ad praelium fortiores Epist. lx. p.
142. - G.
IV. Notwithstanding the general rules established for the
conviction and punishment of the Christians, the fate of those
sectaries, in an extensive and arbitrary government, must still
in a great measure, have depended on their own behavior, the
circumstances of the times, and the temper of their supreme as
well as subordinate rulers. Zeal might sometimes provoke, and
prudence might sometimes avert or assuage, the superstitious fury
of the
Pagans. A variety of motives might dispose the provincial
governors either to enforce or to relax the
execution of the
laws; and of these motives the most forcible was their regard not
only for the public
edicts, but for the secret intentions of the
emperor, a glance from whose eye was sufficient to kindle or to
extinguish the flames of
persecution. As often as any occasional
severities were exercised in the different parts of the empire,
the primitive Christians lamented and perhaps magnified their own
sufferings; but the celebrated number of ten
persecutions has
been determined by the
ecclesiastical writers of the fifth
century, who possessed a more distinct view of the prosperous or
adverse fortunes of the
church, from the age of
Nero to that of
Diocletian. The ingenious parallels of the ten plagues of Egypt,
and of the ten horns of the
Apocalypse, first suggested this
calculation to their minds; and in their application of the faith
of
prophecy to the truth of history, they were careful to select
those reigns which were indeed the most hostile to the Christian
cause.
104 But these transient
persecutions served only to
revive the zeal and to restore the discipline of the faithful;
and the moments of extraordinary rigor were compensated by much
longer intervals of peace and security. The indifference of some
princes, and the
indulgence of others, permitted the Christians
to enjoy, though not perhaps a legal, yet an actual and public,
toleration of their religion.
Footnote 104: See Mosheim, p. 97. Sulpicius Severus was the
first author of this computation; though he seemed desirous of
reserving the tenth and greatest persecution for the coming of
the Antichrist.
The apology of
Tertullian contains two very ancient, very
singular, but at the same time very suspicious, instances of
Imperial clemency; the
edicts published by
Tiberius, and by
Marcus Antoninus, and designed not only to protect the innocence
of the Christians, but even to proclaim those stupendous miracles
which had attested the truth of their
doctrine. The first of
these examples is attended with some difficulties which might
perplex a sceptical mind.
105 We are required to believe, that
Pontius Pilate informed the emperor of the unjust sentence of
death which he had pronounced against an innocent, and, as it
appeared, a divine, person; and that, without acquiring the
merit, he exposed himself to the danger of
martyrdom; that
Tiberius, who avowed his contempt for all religion, immediately
conceived the design of placing the Jewish
Messiah among the gods
of Rome; that his servile senate ventured to disobey the commands
of their master; that
Tiberius, instead of resenting their
refusal, contented himself with protecting the Christians from
the severity of the laws, many years before such laws were
enacted, or before the
church had assumed any distinct name or
existence; and lastly, that the memory of this extraordinary
transaction was preserved in the most public and authentic
records, which escaped the knowledge of the historians of Greece
and Rome, and were only visible to the eyes of an African
Christian, who composed his apology one hundred and sixty years
after the death of
Tiberius. The
edict of
Marcus Antoninus is
supposed to have been the effect of his
devotion and gratitude
for the miraculous deliverance which he had obtained in the
Marcomannic war. The distress of the legions, the seasonable
tempest of rain and hail, of thunder and of lightning, and the
dismay and defeat of the
barbarians, have been celebrated by the
eloquence of several
Pagan writers. If there were any Christians
in that army, it was natural that they should ascribe some merit
to the fervent prayers, which, in the moment of danger, they had
offered up for their own and the public safety. But we are still
assured by monuments of brass and marble, by the Imperial medals,
and by the Antonine column, that neither the prince nor the
people entertained any sense of this signal obligation, since
they unanimously attribute their deliverance to the
Providence of
Jupiter, and to the interposition of
Mercury. During the whole
course of his reign, Marcus despised the Christians as a
philosopher, and punished them as a sovereign.
106 *
Footnote 105: The testimony given by Pontius Pilate is first
mentioned by Justin. The successive improvements which the story
acquired (as if has passed through the hands of Tertullian,
Eusebius, Epiphanius, Chrysostom, Orosius, Gregory of Tours, and
the authors of the several editions of the acts of Pilate) are
very fairly stated by Dom Calmet Dissertat. sur l'Ecriture, tom.
iii. p. 651, &c.
Footnote 106: On this miracle, as it is commonly called, of the
thundering legion, see the admirable criticism of Mr. Moyle, in
his Works, vol. ii. p. 81 - 390.
By a singular fatality, the hardships which they had endured
under the government of a virtuous prince, immediately ceased on
the accession of a tyrant; and as none except themselves had
experienced the injustice of Marcus, so they alone were protected
by the lenity of
Commodus.
The celebrated Marcia, the most
favored of his concubines, and who at length contrived the murder
of her Imperial lover, entertained a singular affection for the
oppressed church; and though it was impossible that she could
reconcile the practice of vice with the precepts of the
gospel,
she might hope to atone for the frailties of her sex and
profession by declaring herself the patroness of the Christians.
107 Under the gracious protection of
Marcia, they passed in
safety the thirteen years of a cruel tyranny; and when the empire
was established in the house of Severus, they formed a domestic
but more honorable connection with the new court. The emperor
was persuaded, that in a dangerous sickness, he had derived some
benefit, either spiritual or physical, from the holy oil, with
which one of his slaves had anointed him. He always treated with
peculiar distinction several persons of both sexes who had
embraced the new religion. The nurse as well as the preceptor of
Caracalla were Christians;
* and if that young prince ever
betrayed a sentiment of humanity, it was occasioned by an
incident, which, however trifling, bore some relation to the
cause of
Christianity.
108 Under the reign of Severus, the fury
of the populace was checked; the rigor of ancient laws was for
some time suspended; and the provincial governors were satisfied
with receiving an annual present from the
churches within their
jurisdiction, as the price, or as the reward, of their
moderation.
109 The controversy concerning the precise time of
the celebration of
Easter, armed the bishops of Asia and Italy
against each other, and was considered as the most important
business of this period of leisure and tranquillity.
110 Nor was
the peace of the
church interrupted, till the increasing numbers
of proselytes seem at length to have attracted the attention, and
to have alienated the mind of Severus. With the design of
restraining the progress of
Christianity, he published an
edict,
which, though it was designed to affect only the new converts,
could not be carried into strict
execution, without exposing to
danger and punishment the most zealous of their teachers and
missionaries. In this mitigated
persecution we may still
discover the indulgent spirit of Rome and of
Polytheism, which so
readily admitted every excuse in favor of those who practised the
religious ceremonies of their fathers.
111
Footnote 107: Dion Cassius, or rather his abbreviator Xiphilin,
l. lxxii. p. 1206. Mr. Moyle (p. 266) has explained the
condition of the church under the reign of Commodus.
Footnote *: The Jews and Christians contest the honor of having
furnished a nurse is the fratricide son of Severus Caracalla.
Hist. of Jews, iii. 158. - M.
Footnote 108: Compare the life of Caracalla in the Augustan
History, with the epistle of Tertullian to Scapula. Dr. Jortin
(Remarks on ecclesiastical History, vol. ii. p. 5, &c.) considers
the cure of Severus by the means of holy oil, with a strong
desire to convert it into a miracle.
Footnote 109: Tertullian de Fuga, c. 13. The present was made
during the feast of the Saturnalia; and it is a matter of serious
concern to Tertullian, that the faithful should be confounded
with the most infamous professions which purchased the connivance
of the government.
Footnote 110: Euseb. l. v. c. 23, 24. Mosheim, p. 435 - 447.
Footnote 111: Judaeos fieri sub gravi poena vetuit. Idem etiam
de Christianis sanxit. Hist. August. p. 70.
To cite original text:
Gibbon, Edward, 1737-1794.
The history of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. (NY : Knopf, 1993), v. 2, pp. 40 - 48.
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