i" I V I I, . The First and SecoriH' General Persecutions , ' I' . ~ ~ o Ood I Thy soldiers' ~rellt Reward, Their Portion, Crown, and faithful Lord, • From all transgressions set us free, 'Who sing Thy Martyra' victory. ,,' ~.l: " .l ' " T ruth So~ety of Ireland: .. "-'- -4 '-" ~~ " i}\.;', OBJECTS '0 r~~SOCIEr'., :1 ~, :' =:~.~o=T= " "'~. 'I.IEmRin objeot of . tho Sooietyi~ ~itl nam. . e implies, ' the difi\lsion,!I.r : .t, . MOaTJS of oheap publi~tionB, 0(81' '.' Ca~ho1ic literature in popu,lp.r , , , ','. ' .• for111) BO as to gi vo iI\structionand . , JiQll;}iou in Q;manner IDQ$t likely to ' 'Interest and attract the geheral l'Caq;} ' lt;:1s ,veil known tlrat various ~'YI: 'Jlririting presses in Great BI'i.tJ~iud pour out ' a flood of in,lidel Ilnd ' jy,!" nllmoralpuhli.catitlD8, some of which , " 81'.0 this .oolUltry.We have ~~'{ 'a ilonfident hope tlmt tbe Society's p tiona will remove the temptatioll j . 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','i lFREE oRAmYWhen a Brailch i8 , ~t.bli8hed, and 'cuse supplied,10/· . worthoithe Society~'" p\Jblica.tioIliil (120 Books) are giVttll .. s a ~ee grant witlilblstoraer . . {',' " 211~OWER ABBEY 'STREET, .DUBLIN. '_f ,., ~;:....:.=..___ ~ - "'-~'r-'--'- , - '. i ," ORDERS AND DRAFTS PAYAal~E TO CATHOI..IC TRUT SOC!E rY OF ,IRELA1'lD. ' 'l'd,grlil'hio Atldl'/l"" .. ," VJ;,l;I1'AS, Dl;~i.l~." .' "f . ~ l THE MARTYRS OF ROME PART 1. .;;;t THE FIRST AND SECOND GENERAL - PERSECUTIONS o God! Thy Soldiers' great Reward, Their Portion, Crown, and faithful Lord, From, all transgressions se t us free Who sing Thy ~hrtyrs' Vic tory. / -t DUBLIN: t. CATHOLIC TRUTH SOCIETY OF IRELAND, . - -27 LOWER .'\nBEY STREET. r 'l'he Author de:;ires it to be understood that, unless where he expressly states that the Church or the Holy See has recognised the truth of miracles or other supernatul'"l manifestations referred to in the following pages, he claims no credence for them beyond what the availA,hle hiRtorical evirlence may warrant. Penniss'u OrdilHtl'i'i Jj 'io~esis D'ubt'iMnsis. Daacfdi11ed PREFACE. • --.;.-- IN the pages that follow readers will, doubtless, miss many names they have been accustomed to associate with the First and Second General Persecutions. The absence is easily explained. The writer's intention is simply to set forth the causes that led to the persecutions, and along with. this' to give some account of those who suffered therein. Not of all, however j bu~ of those alo~e who gained the martyr's crown at Rome and for whose life and martyrdom sufficient historical evidence is found to exist. Rome, June 24th, COlnmemom,t'ion-Day of the lJIJal'tYl'S of tho Neronian Pel·secution. THE MARTYRS- OF R-OME PART I. ./ THE FIRST AND SECOND GENERAL PERSECUTIONS. _ 1. EVEN hundred and fifty-three years before the I birth of Christ, a band of homeless outlaws E · I and robbers settled down on the Palatine Hill, beside the banks of the river Tiber, and laid ~ the first foundations of the City of Rome. For a while they had a hard struggle to live- they were few, and against them many hands were raised. But they were brave, they were united, they were determined to survive, and fortune smiled on them. Little by little their power grew-bit by bit their dominion increased. At war with some, in league with others, they marched steadily on the way of conquest-subduing one by one tjle surrounding villages and towns and clans and peoples, and bringing thell1 under their sway, but always in such a way as to attract and attach the conquered to the rule of the conqueror, making them one people with themselves, with identical aims, similar hopes, the same laws, and one fatherland. Read at this distance of time, Roman history reveals a ' course of events that to us may well seem the waving of the magician's wand, but which, to the Romans themselves, THE MA RTYRS OF ROME. appeared the work ot their bounteous goddess-Fortune. Clans and tribes ::md peoples that had ruled their own territory during centuries that history can only vaguely guess at, fell back before the conquering march of the sons of that robber-band who had made their home in the city of the Seven Hills. Latin states bowed down before them; Etruscan cities opened their gates to them; Central Italy, from sea to sea, was theirs. The conquest of Southern Italy soon followed; and ere long the Roman rule embraced all Italy south of the river Po. And then, looking abroad to other lands, their gaze rested covetously on Carthage, the greatest naval power the world had yet seen. In the long and bitter struggle that ensued, Rome was more than once hard-pressed, lind it sometimes seemed as if Roman confidence in Fortune was about to be rudely shaken. But Roman discipline and Roman valour prevailed; Carthage fell; and Rome easily, and as a matter of course, became mistress of Africa, Spain, and Northern Italy. The East next attracted her attention, and with like result- one after another, Greece, Asia Minor, Macedonia, Syria, became subject to her, and, when this was accomplished, the Mediterranean Sea became what it was to remain for well nigh a thousand years-a Roman lake, its blue waters gently laving no land that was not subject to Rome. Then came dreary years, when the republic was torn and almost destroyed by the wild ambition of men striving madly for power. Out of this chaos, the genius of Julius Cresar,-the conqueror of France, Switzerland, Germany, and England-emerged triumphant; and when he came to die a violent death, he had almost accomplished his dream of spreading the Roman eagles from the Atlantic Ocean on the West to the grim Caucasus on the East, and from the frozen sources of the Danube on the North to the burning sands of the great Sahara on the South. But what an early death had prevented Julius Caesar from accom- plishing, was effected by his nephew, Augustus Caesar, first Emperor of Rome, and ruler of the world-for before his death the world, as people knew it then, was identical with the Empire of Rome-and thus it came to pass that Augnstus could set about the task of taking a census of the whole world-" having the whole world enrolled," as the Gospels express it. It was at this very time, and in the THE l.VIARTYRS OF ROME. 7 little village- hidden away amidst the Syrian Hi.J1s, whither Mary and Joseph, in obedience to the Emperor's order, had gone to give in their names as subjects of Rome, that the Saviour of Man was born. _ To understand the Ol'igin, duration, and meaning of the general persecutions of the Church, it will be necessary to bear in mind some idea of the nature of the Roman Government, as moulded and formed by Augustus, as well as of the extent of the power wielded by him and his successors. That power was, in one word, absolute. Previous to the time of Augustus, the goyernment had been, on the whole, representative-the people at large, or at least-a considerable section of them, having a voice in the selection of what we should now call their parliamentary representatives; in the appointment of officials ;in the maintenance ot law and order; and in 1;;h_e genera-l conduct of military operations. Augustus kept up the appearance of popular electiQn and representa- tion, bu~ the reality was gone-he was head of the state, head of the church, commander-in-chief of the army, and all officials in every department had power only in so far as it -was derived from him. His power ·over the whole world -over its fate and fortunes-was absolutely independent of all control. We have said the Roman Emperor was head of the church, or, as we should perhaps call it, the established religion of that day. The Romans were then, and had ever been, an intensely religious people-deeply attached to the many gods to whom they bowed in worship. Every phase of nature, every action of life', every turn of good and evil ' fqrtune, was attributed. to one Dr other of the many deities that were enshrined on the altars of Rome's glittering temples. It was no mere forni, but a firmly-rooted instinct of the Roman mind, and the outcome of the belief of centuries, that ascribe.d to the national gods, the nation's greatness, and regarded revere:gce to them as a mark of a true Roman. How sorely this belief :was to press on the Christians of the first three centuries shall appear in the course of the pages that follow. The priest-in-chief, or Pontifex Maximus, had from the ). beginning been a person of the very highest importance. He surely did not cease to be such when hi\{ office and that 8 THE MARTYRS OF ROME. of the ruler of the state were united in one and the same individual, as happened in the case of Augustus and his successors. It thus became part of the Emperor's duty to watch over the nationnl religion, to guard it from all danger, to elevate it, and, in elevating it, to raise himself still higher in the imagination and estimation of the people. It is easy to imagine the extravagant lengths to which such a conception of religion was liable to carry the people, and the temptation it was likely to engender in the mind of a ruler who was independent of all control. Hence it causes little surprise to find the immcdiate successors of Augustus attaching more and more importance to this ofllce of Pontifex Maximus, until at length divine honours and a place among the gods were decreed solemnly to the proHigate and cruel author of the First General Persecution -the Emperor Nero. Nero became Emperor at the early age of seventeen. N a reign ever began with brighter promise than his. In his early years he was, t o all appear-ances, gentle, humane, prone to good, fearful of evil. But manhood did not redeem the promise of his youth. Whether it was that his nature was radically vicious, or whether, as some e:- VIuin, his mind became unhinged by a severe illness, Nero was not long in power before the bright promises of hi s carly years were dimmed, and he entered on that mad cllreer of cruelty, crime, and sin that has made his name a by-word and a reproach, and a type of all that is vile and base in man. Henceforward no one was safe-he spared neitber high nor low, neither rich nor poor; neither friend nor foe, neither relative nor stranger. His mother died at his hands. His wife owed her death to him. His teacher and fllst friend had to commit suicide by the orders of that pupil of whom he was once so proud. Restrained by no earthly consideration, controlled by no hand, he ran his hcacliong career; and he who was at once "a priest, an atheist, and a god" came to regard the world and all it contained as a mere plaything to be used at his own sweet "ill. And, finally, when the terrified Romans saw their city reduced to ashes, small wonder if they were not slow to suspect their Emperor of having caused the conflagration. The popular idea of this celebrated event pictures Nero standing on a lofty tower overlooking the city that had THE MARTYRS OF ROME. 9 bE)en given over to flames by his order, and, violin in hand, singing songs of joy to commemorate a spectacle that was indeed worthy of an emperor and a god. The tower on which he is said to have stood is sometimes pointed out, but, unfortunately for the truth of the picture, the tower in question was not then built, nor indeed lor several centuries later; and it is not at all certain that Nero was in Rome when the conflagration first burst out. The facts' were these: The fire broke out the 1st of July. F or six days it raged-furious, beyond all control, devouring houses, shops, palaces, temples-the stately homes of the high-and mighty, along with the rude cottages of the poor and lowly. For a time it was checked, but only to. burst forth fiercely once more. , And when, three days later, it was finall y got under control, the frenzied Romans gazed in awe at the result of the calamity that had laid waste ten of the fourteen districts of which Rome was made up. -They saw themserves homeless , with famine staring them in the face; and, to crown the bitterness of the cup, came the knowledge that the priceless records and memorials of a thousand years of national glory were scattered and destroyed beyond hope of recovery. For some days the one thought that occupied the mind of all was how to procure food and shelter for the starving and homeless population. Nero did a man's part in assuaging distress; and his energetic action found many, imitators . But no amount of restitution could stifle the gathering indignation" nor lessen the suspicion, becoming daily stronger ' and stronger, that the author of the con- flagration was their vicious and profligate emperor; his - character, his actions, various remarks made by him-all pointed to him as the man. He saw the gathering storm and the impending ruin that lay behind it, and, with the cunning and success of the father of lies, he set himself deliberately to attach the guilt to someone else. He looked rOlmll for a sca pegoa t, an(l his baneful gaze finally rested on the Whristians and the young Christian Community of Rome. I / I 10 THE ~fARTYRS OF ROME. II. IN the interval of thirty years between the Crucifixion at Calvary and the Conflagration in Rome, Christianity had come to take up its home in the City of the Seven Hills. Its first seeds were carried to the world's capital by the traders, soldiers, travellers coming to and fro between Rome and the Holy Land; and ere many years had passed there was a flourishing little band of Christians in the Eternal City, ready to welcome St. Peter and St. Paul. Under the inspiring influence of these two great apostles, Christianity grew apace in Rome, fOund adherents amongst every class and nationality, and even penetrated into the very palace of the emperor. The 8prcad of the new religion caused no remark for some time-the Christians were, in fact, regarded as identical with the Jews, who formed a recognised and lawful religious associatioJJ at Rome. But to the Jews the name Christian was an abomination, and they left no stone unturned to convinc e the Roman authorities that between them and the Christians there was an immcasureable gulf. How well they succeeded shall appear presently. " In order to put down the suspicion tllllt was directed towards himself, he (Nero) accused and handed over to punishment that sect of men who were detested for their wickedness, and were known as Christians. . A vast number were convicted, not so much, however, on the charge of having caused the fire, but rather for their hatred to the human race." So writes the Roman historian Tacitus, and his words make it clear that while the first persecution was founded on a charge of having set fire to Rome, it really WitS due to the fact that the Christians had come to be regarded as enemies to"the state, and distrusted as exercising an injurious influence on the nation. It is not difficult to account for this feeling against the Christians-it sprung from their very life and religion. Their retired life, their secret meetings, their disinclination to explain cert~in of their beliefs, their abstention from public offices and appoint- ments, their refusal to join in public celebrations, their undisguised hatred for the shows and spectacles that were dear to the Roman heart, their gravity of conduct, their THE MARTYRS OF ROME. 11 joyless seeming, their mournful habits-all these marked them out as, at the very least, peculiar, and at variance with the traditions and modes of life hitherto prevailing, and led gradually to the belief that they hated and were inimical to Roman civilization, which was of course taken as identical with the welfare of the human race. This feeling was intensified hy the attitude of the Christians towards the religion of Rome. To a Roman, the fate and fortunes of his country seemed to be bound to the national religion by ties that could not. be severed-the· safety of the nation depended on the worship and respect paid to the national gods. It was, indeed, permitted to profess other religions, and worship other gods ; but to assert that these other gods alone were true, was nothing short of an attack on Rome-on its religion, its institutions, its wonderful fortune, and its political power-it was simply unpatriotic, and, more than that, it was equivalent to a direct attack on the nation's welfare, and as such was neither more nor less than treason. ThiB accounts .for many apparent contradictions in the history of the persecutions. Thus the Romans had never refused to respect the prevailing national beliefs of the pcopleB they had conquered. Christianity professed that it belonged to no nation, but had come to convert the wide world to its teaching-t.hus leaving all questions of / nationality out of count. This attitude, which, at-first sight, might seem iri favour of Christianity, was in reality the cause or all the ill-feeling that. grew up against it. For it meant that the old gods of Rome had to go, that their day was over, that the established religion had to give way before that of Christ. Since, then,. t.he good and p~triotic Roman believed that t.he welfare of his cOl,lntry depended on the worship and favour of the national gods, it was a clear and patriotic · duty to preserve that religion, and repress Christianity that attacked it. Hence it was that the belief that Christ ianity was injurious to mankind in general, and to the Roman Empire in particular, became a fixed and settled conviction, - and led to a sy~tem of repressive legislation and persecution that was to reCilr for nearly three centuries with terrible frequency. The inten'le feelings of the early Christians led only too readily to suspicion. They fixed their hopes on the life to 12 como; thc-.y procl::timed t o all that th·! present life w,l,s fkcti:1p:, that it "-'lS to pas8 :iway onD day; thi1t eV~ll the grca':, IConutn Empire should no\; last, but should bow down bdore the Cross of Christ ; tllat hencefort.h Christ was to rule iI, ph('e of ,Jove: aml, the vivid im"ginatioD. of some of the ci~rly Church, made it known that the:::(' thin~s were tJ come to pa33 ere man? years, wh·:!n the world, solid as it woes, should be consumed bv fire. Tlti, much was known about'them, and such was the popul'F conception regarding them, when Nei'o SOllght t o ,wert hom his own door the suspicion of hr.ving burned Eome. He found the Jews ready t o his hand; thew were iookecl down upon and regarded with contempt; and their wode of life and general character were such as to pl'ediapose peopie to regard them with anything but raVOLlI'. 'J'heretore, when Nero hinted that the Jews had set fire to "Rome, he 1: ,cl Ettie diillculty in pe;suading the R0ll18,nS that they ,,-,'r,) possibly the culprits-a conclusion that gained ground itom the fact that the Jewish C[ lml'ters of the city hlLd escaped all c1 fllnage. The Je\\-s >'aw t.he gathering clouds, and they resolved to turn to good use the difference between them and the Christians. Malw times before they had dm wn attention to this difference, and, to heighten ;t, they had accused the Christians of v"gue crimes, and of debased and brutttl religious ceremonies and meetings. Th ey made the mosl:. or the pl'ej lldice they had been gradually creating, and in t.he wild pasRion of the moment they j'ound little trouble in convincing the public that the Christians were guilty of nameless crimes, wef(~ baneful and inj urious to the iiuman race, and had contributed by their impiety to bring down on the city the vengeance of the gods. Reason was lost sight of-vengeance only was t,hought of. '('he go(h had sent an awful calamity on Rome--was it not because they were angrv with the new religion 1 Rome had been destroye~l by fire-was it not the Christians who had over and over again foretold the dest,ruction of the worlel by fin) ? It. was the duty of every good citizen to support the religion of his country-and were not they in open rebellion ag"inst the national gods 1 Whether they had or had not set fire to Rome, it was clear that they were in some way accountab le for the calr,mity, and this being so, no punishment could be too severe for them. So men THE MARTYRS OF ROME. 13 reasoned, and the result was-t.he First General Persecution. Of that cruel story the Roman historian-Tacitus--already quoted, supplies the bare outlines: "A very large multitude was convicted, notso much on the charge of having caused the fire, as for their hatred to the human race ... To enhanee the spectacle, mockery and derision were added to their agony. Some were wrapped in the skins of wild beasts, and were torn to pieces by dogs. Others were raised aloft to die on crosses. Others were told off to be set on fire, and, when day had given way to darkness, were burned as torches to light up the night. Nero lent. his own gardens for the entertainment, and he ordered a chariot-race there, in which he might be seen mounted on his car, or mixing among the people dressed as a common eharioteer. The result of all this cruelty was that a feeling of pity began to be felt towards the victims, who, even though they were guilty and deserved the extremest penalties, yet were destroyed, not for the common good, but t.o glut the-savage crueltv of one man." Where the Vatican palace and the glorious Church of St. Peter's now stand, and where stood then the circus or amphitheatre of Caligula and the gardens of Nero, were enacted those scenes that flash out so luridly from the pages of Tacit,us. To enhance the spectacle prepared for the people, Nero had thrown,open.his private grounds between the Tiber and the Vat.ican Mount-. They were adorned with all the magnificence of the Rome of that day-they have long ago disappeared, and of all the splendour with which they were embellished only one object remains-the tall obelisk of Egyptian granite that now raises its graceful form in the centre of the square in front of St. Peter's. It was trren nearer the mount-somewhere in the vicinity of the present sacristy. If that obelisk could only speak, what tales it might tell of those August nights of the year of our Lord 64. It would tell how" the gardens were thronged with gay crowds, among whom the Emperor moved in his frivolous .degradation-and on every side were mell'dying slowly on their cross of shame. Along the paths of those gardens, on the aut CUlm nights, were ghastly torches, blackening the ground beneath them with streams of sulphurous piteh, and each of these living torches was a 14 THE MARTYRS OF ROME. martyr in Ais shirt of fire. And in the amphitheatre hard by, in sight of twenty thousand spectators, famished dogs were tearing to pieces some of the best and pure8t of men and women, hideously di~guised in the skins of bears or wolves." There was worse than that-weak and delicate women suffered terrible and monstrous indignities, which St. Clement barely alludes to, and which we can only vaguely guess at, before blessed death came to their relief. How long: did these scenes last? How many were the vIctims? 'Ve do not know. Tacitus does not sta,te, neither does St. Clement. We only know that the victims were a " very great multitude," and the expression would seem to indicate an extended period of time over which the fiery ordeal ll1sted. III. OF all the martyrs that received their crown under Nero, the nallH1S of two alone are known to u~-the glorious apostles Peter and Paul, who suffered martyrdom about the year 67 ; the one by crucifixion in the place where the majestic basilica ,l,ledicated to his mcmory now stands; the other by decapitation at some distance outside Rome, near the church and monastery of the Three Fountains, where, in later centurics, St. Bernard and our own St. lYIalaclw loved to revel in heavenly conversation. The [,",'0 great apostles had fought the good fight; they haQ. beenwitnesscs to Christ in m::m}' lands; they had carried the good tidings of His Blessed N amc to the uttermosb ends of the earth; and now the time was at hand when they wcre nboLlt to finish their 'course and show they burned with the" greater love," und were readv to lay down their lives lor their Friend. .. Ere yet the days of persecution 11l1d come to an end, the two apostles found themselves at Rome. A touchi ng story told by St. Ambrose lelates that Peter was urged to leave the city till the persecution had blown over, so as not to risk ' his life, which was so precious to the Church. He eonsented; but as he fled from Rome along the Appian Way, Our Saviour appeared to him wit,h face turnecl towards THE MARTYRS OF ROME. 15 the city. Peter, in wonder, cried out: "Lord, where art Thou going ~ " The Saviour, with face all sad, replied: " I go to Rome to b.e crucified a second time"; and Peter, taking this as a sign that he was to face what lay before him, returned in gladness to what he knew was to be his death. He was arrested and consigned forthwith to th~ terror - and gloom of the Mamertine Prison, in which St. Paul was already confined. One may stand in that. self-same prison to-day; and try to probe the thoughts that filled the minds of the two apostles as they awaited the day of execution. But no human imagination may venture to pierce t lie inaccessible heights to which their hearts were raised as they penned their last letters, and bade their last earthly farewell to the children they were leaving behind. Then one day they were brought before the dread tribunal of Cresar on the PaJatine to face the majesty of Roman law. Nero was then absent in G-reece, but the Consul presided, assist.ed by the senators. PQssibly the trial excited interest, and crowds ran to ' hear what these two strangers, who preached such curious doctrines, had to say for themselves; possibly it excited no comment at all-such scenes had been only too common. But there could be no doubt as to the result of the trial. The charge was high treason against the welfare of the state-there was abundant evidence that they had spoken against the gods of Rome-and the sentence was deat.h. "When thou wert young," said Our Saviour to · Peter, " thou used to Rut on thy own girdle, and walk wherever thou didst wish ;- but when thou hast grown old, thou must hold out thy hands and s2meone else shall put on thy girdle and lead thee where thou dost not wish." Some years later -after Pet.er had gone to his reward-St. John, who narrates the prophecy, adds, just as if the fact were alreadv known to all the world: " He (Jesus) said this to show th'e kind of death by which Peter was to glorify God." For, that death was to be a violent one-one against which nature recoiled-and by crucifixion; he was bound by other hands than his own, and he was called on to stretch out his arms and die as his Master ~ad died, with hands expanded on the cross. But not altogether in the same manner. For; · at his own request-a request made lest he should seem 16 THE MARTYRS OF ROME. too presumptuous in dying the very self-same death as the Man of Calvary, and granted only too readily because it was more cruel-Peter was crucified head downwards. And as he hung there for hours of dread agony, with no gentle word to cheer him, and with the scoffs of the bystanders ringing in his ears, not one of that immense crowd of spectators could dream that the poor fisherman of Galilee was the head of a new order of things that was to supplant the old and renew the face of the earth. And so he died an ignoble death in the very place where the glorious Church is now raised to God in honour of the prince of the Apostles. The death of St. Paul was less painful and more noble; for he was a Roman citizen, and, even in death, the law decreed a Roman citizen should not be treated with indignity, nor with an ignominious end of lingering torture. He was to be beheaded, and accordingly the same day on which St. Peter suffered, he was led to the plaee of execution, some five miles from the city. " As the martyr and his executioners passed on, their way was crowded with a motley multitude of goers ~tnd comers between the metropolis [tnd its harbour-merchants hastening to superintend the unloading of their cargoes,-sailors eager to squander the proflts of their last voyage in the dissipations of the Capital,-officials of the government, charged with the administration of the provinces, or the commander of the legions on the Euphrates or the Rhine,-Chaldean astrologers--mendicant priests from Egypt, howling for Osil'is--Greek adventurers, eager to coin their national cunning into Roman gold-representatives of the avarice and ambition, the fraud and lust, the superstition and intelligence of the Imperial world. Through the dust and tumult of that busy throng the small troop of soldiers treaded their way silently, under the bright sky of an Italian midsummer."* The scene of the martyrdom was soon reached. It was known then as Ad Aq'uas Salvias; to-day it is called' the Three Fountains, ll,nd is visited every year by thousands who come to gaze on the spot made sacred by the blood 0'1 the Apostle of the Gentiles. Before quitting this subject, something remains to be sf\id regarding the relics of the two apostles. The body of "Conybellre and Howson--Life and Epistles of 8t. Paul. .. THE MARTYRS OF ROME. 17 St.' Peter was reverently laid to rest on the' verge of the Vatican Mount, quite near the place of martyrdom , and precisely where is now the High Altar of St. Peter's..; that of St. Paul was carried towards Rmne and deposited near t he TOad that leads from the city t o the sea. In the. years that followe,d, rude memorials were, it would seem, erected over their graves, and these were respected even in~imes of persecut.ion, for Roman law held sacred' the restingplapes of the dead, and forbade, un der ' severe penalties, ' the violation of graves. The tomb of St. Peter in th~ beginning, and for many years to come, could, indeed, have been little more than a simple vault; but his successor" loved to lay their bones near the great apostle, and over it Pope / Anacletus raised a tiny oratory which, down to the year 202, Qontinued to mark the burial place of the popes. Thus the Vatican contained the body of St. Peter, 'and St. Paul's, outside Rome, that of St. Paul. But in the year 258, ,owing to soine cause th~t is not known to us, the venerable relics were removed to the , Catacombs of St. Sebastian, some five miles from Rome. Here they were preserved for a tinle till they were restored t o their original resting places, where they have remained t hroughout all the ages, a precious treasure of veneration to the faithful of the Catholic Church. - The people had by this time begun to tire of N eto. His enormities had beco,me more than they could bear. He heard the distant mutterings of vengeance, and retired from Rome to the East. The anniversary day of his mother's murder, the 19th of March, 68, he was at Naples, when the news was brought him that the people had broken into open rebellion. He felt litHe alarm, relying on his mighty power and the terror of his name; and it was only when he learned that Germany and Spain were in arms against him, that he fully realised the despemte nature of his position and hurriedly returned to Rome. Mad schemes of vengeance chased each other through his brain, only to be succeeded by miserable . moods of despair. His palace was deserted, his property stolen; not a soldier remained faithful to him. In terror, he rushed wildly out of the city, with not a place to offer him shelter, and with only four attendants to follow him. The curses of the people came floating through the air, and he crawled.into a villa offered \ 18 THE MARTYRS OF nO:\1E . to him in his hour of distress by one to whom he had shown some kindness. Ere long, despatches reached him from Borne to tell him the senate had declared him a public enemy, who was to be punished as the ancient laws of the count.ry directed. On asking what this meant, he was told that he would be stripped naked and scourged to death. Horrified, he called for daggers, but, coward that he wa~, he dared not use them. At length the sound of horses' hoofs ringing on the road outside told him that his pursuers were upon him. He held the dagger to his own throat, and one of his slaves drove it home just as the soldiers rushed into the room. This was the 11th of June, liS. So died N era, and the First General Persecution came to an end. Calm was at length restored, and for a period of thirt.y years, the Christians who once more became idelltiflCd, to all intents a.nd purposes, with the .Jews, were left unmolested to Cl1j oy the fruits of blessed peace-to increase and multiply and reap openly and without hindrance the ripe harvest that sprung up from the blood of the martyrs. It. seemed as if peace and prosperity were henceforth to be the portion of the followers of Christ. Providence decreed otherwise. After the lapse of th irty )'ears, the Emperor Domitian renGwed the scenes of blood and suffering and recalled the days of Nero. IV. LIKE Nero, Domitian's reign opened brightly. He ruled wisely, and it seemed as if he was going to follow in the glorious footsteps of the noble line of the Flavian emperors to which he belonged. His praises were sounded 1011dly--- he was " a holy ruler," who restored "the temples to the gods, and good morals to the people," and" made Rome chaste once more." But he was extravagant; he loved to raise costly buildings, and this mania-for mania it was- demanded unlimited supplies of money. He exacted it openly as long as he d8fecl, and then he fell back on the resources supplied him by his unlimited power. The result was-a second Nero. His plan was simplicity itself. Around him he kept a band of informers and perjurers, whose business in life it THE MARTYRS OF ROME. 19 was to make and prove accusations of high treason against the rich and noble. These were condemned, and their property passed by law to the Emperor for his own personal use. The informers did their work and were a power in the land. No house was too noble, no name too illustrious- money was the one crime that knew no pardon in the eyes of the imperial court. But this source of revenue, almost unbounded as it was, could not satisfy the cupidit.y of the Emperor. On the other hand, however much he might oppress the rich, he dare not touch the people at large ; for they might rise npagainst him, and he might meet his fate at their hands as had happened to oth,ers before him. He found a way out of the difficulty. Since their final defeat by the Romans in 70, the Jews had had t o pay a special tax to their conquerors. Hitherto this applied only to Jews by birth, and did not include the Christians. But Domitian now decreed that the tax should be paid by all who belonged in any way to the Jewish religion. ' His decree had unlooked-for consequences- by a curious chain of circumstances it led to the Second - P ersecution. In popular opinion, the Christians were still more or less identified with the Jews. It was-, of course, well known that they were divided on certain question~. But the two religions were regarded as practically one and the same, or rather Christianity was considered as essentially a branch of the Jewish worship. Up to the time of Domitian's decree, no one had paid much attention either to the points of similarity or of difference. But it was now to the advantage both of the imperialtreasury and of the informers to regard the Christians as Jews, and as affected by the new tax. It was a cruel alternative that confronted the Christians. To them, Jews and Romans were the same- both were members of a false religion. If they consented to pay the tax, it would, it seemed to them, be just the same as if they admitted they really did form a branch of the Jewish religion, and this they considered would be equivalent to an open denial of their own faith. It could not be thought of for a moment, and accordingly they refused to contribute on .the ground that they were not Jews. Their refusal gave the informers an opportunity they were not slow to take 9.dvantage of. Heretofore, during the thirty years of peace, Ohristiapity had been tolerated, on the supposition that it 20 THE MARTYRS OF ROi;IB. was, after all, part and pm:eel of the .lewish religion, which was, in the eyes of t.he law, a recognised form of worsbip. But now by their refusal the Christi,l,lls made it perfectlv clear that they belonged to no recognised or 1<1\'\ lll1 form ~f religion-they were neither Jews nor pagans---tllCy wor- ship!)ec1 no recognised f!;ocls---nay, they even denied the exi"tencc of the llatiol1fll gods of: Rome, ::mel conse luently they were atlleiats,-'(, and, ::IS such, punish:1ble. by law. The informers quickly found this out, ::md the result \V.-\~ --the Second Pe~;lcc ution. For a \v] lile it would seem as if only the wealthy Christians were interfered with. The object was to e;:r.ct, ,..,ml confiscate mone?, oE which little could be expected from t110se who had none. The info1'mers, however, COl11d easily 8Jl(! plenty of victims amongst the rich and noble , the philosophers and senators. Christi1mity no longer skulked in the back 18.nos of Rome, no1' was it confined to the poor, the miserable !11111 the Bla ves. It had boldly entered into the household of the E!llperOr, and had found staunch adhercmts amongst his rebtives-the verv heirs to the imperial throne were Christians; and, if nothing were to happell, a few years had only to pass when the ruler of the world would be one of the' follo~wers of the Crucified. It was their ,,-ea lth and position that led to their undoing. Domiti9,n wanted their money, and their Christianity was an easy excuse faT robbing them. Accordingly the informers set to work, the charge of "atheism and Jewish practices " was easily prOYCll, and condemnation and confiscation followed as a ma ttCl" of course. * It lllay causo SOllle surprise to find the Chl'istiELns accu,c(1 of Athcism: yet such WELS undoubtedly the caso. Tho chELrge is referred. to over lmel over ELgltin-amongst others by Dian, St. J llstin, Athenagoras, Minucius, Felix, and Eusebius. As alrcildy explainerl, the chELrge meant denial of the Roman deities, and oppo;i tion to the Roman forms of worship. Thc charge was ofl.en couplc() with that of imZJicly, which was, roughly speaking, equivalent to lligh treason, amI which WitS founded on the idea thitt the Clu'i;lians were opposed to the National religion, and, consequently, to the welful"c of tho nation. THE MARTYRS 6F ROME. 21 v. WE know that Christian blood flowed freelv: but scant details have survived to preserve the names of the champions of the faith who laid down their lives in the Seeond Persecu- tion. A few, however, have eome to light after the oblivion of centuries. Foremost amongst these stands Titus .Flavius Clemens. He was a Christian. He was a, relative of 'the Emperor, and he was married to Flavia Domitilla, the Emperor's niece, and granddaughter of a former Emperor, Vespasian. His two sons had been adopted by the Emperor. iOf his life little is known, beyond the fact that, he held high offi.ces and was made 'consul by Domitian in the year 95. But he showed small interest in affairs of state, and was blamed by pis eontemporaries for his "contemptible inert- ness," which we may take to mean his want of ambition ;and his aloofness from the public life of the day. Like -other Christians, he found himself unable to be present at public functions and celebrations ,which were so often of a religious character, and in which there was much that . was offensive to his religion, if not downnght idolatrous . .Domitian, having no sons of his own, had adopted the two sons of Clemens, and p~blicly declared them heirs to his throne. Not many years had passed ere he had simt their 'father to martyrdom, and exiled their mother, while they. are heard of no more, ~nd were perhaps victims of the tyrant's jealousy. In all probability the news that Clemens was a Christian came on Domitian by surprise, and could not but fill him ' with fear. Taken in connexion with tlie fact that a number refused to pay the tax because they were Christians, the presence of one of that sect in his own household and near his throne filled him with suspicion .and nameless dread. Visions of a plot for his ruin danced before his flyes. The word went forth, and Clemens and many more were called on to lay down their lives on the charge of atheism, while others, Flavia Domitilla amongst the rest, were sent into exile, or, as we should say now, were sent into penal servitude, or transported. _ Another illustrious martyr was Acilius Glabrio, can ,demned also for atheism and for strange beliefs and practices, which of eourse means Christianity. There was some doubt 22 THE MARTYRS OF ROME. as to whether Glabrio really had suffered for the faith, but recent discoveries in the catacombs have brought to light sufficient evirlence to warrant ns in counting him amongst the martyrs. And finally, with the Second Persecution is linked the glorious name of the Beloved Disciple of our Lord, St. John the Evangelist. He was the last of the Apostles-the others had passed to their reward through the ordeal of blood . . 1 ames the Grei,t had suffered martyrdom at J erusaJeJ1l ; so had .James the Just. Thomas had well made up for .his incredulity, and hacllaid down his life in the Indies, wllither he had carried the faith in the RiHen One; anrl neaTer home Philip had won the martyr's crown in Phrygia. John hud been brought to Rome while the persecution still raged. So well known a personage could hardly hope to escape the informers. Accordingly it is related that he was arrested at Ephesus in 95, twenty-eight years after Peter and Paul had sanctified Rome by their blood. He was brought before the Emperor, was questioned whether he was a Christian, was called on to deny his faith and offer sacriCLCe to the divinity of the Emperor. ()ondemnation -tolloWE'd refusal, and .T ohn was hurried to the place of punishment. This was beside one of the principal gates of the eity--the Latin Gate-a place rich in historic memories, and COIn- m,mding a lovely view of the smiling plELin dotted over with villas and residences that lay stretehed out bet.ween Home nnd the azure slopei'! of Albano nestling in purple ,~plendollr against the eloudless sky. It is said that the Emperor was present on that ocmJ8ion. If it be true, we may well pause to consider the contrast prescnted by these two men. One a type and example of all that was selfish, mC[Ll1, and base- the other the living incarnation of honolir, love, and truth; one the master of the world, with power unlimited-the other poor and lowly, with no home he could eall his own; one passing sentenee and gloating over another vietim- the other mcekly obeying and marching to his death; no one who looked on the two men could guess thut the band to which John belonged, and the cause for which he was about to suffer, would one day triumph over the power represented by Domitio,n, and that where that day the Roman eagles fluttered their wings proudly, would one day be raised aloft in honour the lowly sign of the Cross. THE MARTYRS OF ROME. 23 John was first scourged with rods. HI) was then plllllged into a cauldron of boiling oil/-but He who preseryed the three youths in the fiery furnace stretched out His hand ()ver John, "the seething mass became a gentle dew," and John came forth unharmed. He had gone tbrough hie martyrdom and still lived. This was the 6th of May, iv the year of Our Lord 96. He was banished from Rome, and henceforth his name becomes associated with the island of Patmos and the city of Ephesus. The persecution was drawing to its end. So long as Domitian confined his tyranny to the rich and noble, few 'beside the victims cared. But when, fearing a plot to supplant him on the throne, he attacked the Christians in the humbler walks of life, it was altogether different-he found that he could not oppress one section of the people without incurring the ve!lgeance of all the rest, and, wise in his time, he revoked the persecution. A curious incident is said to have led to his decision. When, driven to fear by the numbers who were found to belong to the new religion, he made it his business to enquire carefully into the history -()f that Person whom. the Christians looked to as their Founder and obeyed as their King, he was told that relativ.es of Christ were then living in Syria. He had them brought to Rome and conducted before him; but when he saw their horny hands, their bodies bent by toil, and their whole appearance denoting poverty; and when he found from their answers that the kingdom they belonged to was not of this world, but was to be manifested only when this world had passed' away, he recognised that these men were not conspirators, and that his throne had nothing -to fear from them. He accordingly dismissed them-and the persecution came to an end. - But it was too late for him to escape his fate. The world was tired of him, and the time had come when he, too, was to f3hare the punishment meted out to Nero. He feared this, .and suspicion and superstition lent terror to his days. None were admitted to his presence without bejng previously -searched; the walls of the hall in which he passed his time were lined with polished marble to reflect the image of possible assassins; and he daily consulted fortune-tellers as to possible rivals to his throne. It is said they foretold the day "i. ,E(litedby Re ,'. J. J\1agnier, C.SS·ll· , l'hougbtS. on Ma17 Immll.culiI.t4; By Very ReT. P. A.. SI:eeha.u, p.D .. P.P. DUties to our Dead L and How, we Discharge tnem. By Ri!:ht Rev. Monsignor Hallinan, n.D., r.l'., V.U., .. The Holy Hour. By ReT.R.. O'K,!U\6dy, P.P. Tbe Stations of the Cross (w1~l\;Jlln"tratlcDl!). Prayer. By Mgr.De S'gnT.' ':' • " Confession. ., n . I - ,,," ., Communion. \~, ... . ,..' The Prayer BooK' of the catholl!: Tl'utb Soeli3ty C)f Ir610.n4; . 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' • ?rI(\cDermQt. " ' • :lLatest ~ublfcation9. "1,,' A Short History lit some Dublin Pa1'lslles. ;Parts I u II., m . a.n(l IV. By )f"st Rev. N. Bonnelly, D.D" Bishop of Cane:!.. , i A RayaI Saint. Louis IX. . King otFl'anee. By A. O. plal'l'8. The French Concol'dat of 1801. By R~v. B. Kelly; and The ' Vatican and Fl'ance. By Rev, .TAmos MeG'affrey. D.Ph., S.T.L. . The lnhcl'ltnt Rights of tho ChllPeh In Reglll'd t o Edlleatlon. By H~v. In. nocellt Ryan. . • . I' Popular nnd Pa.t!'lotle PQet1'Y. Parts 1. a,lIt! If. , Lough E!'ue a nd Its Shrines. ,,Part:s L &; II. Br Hev. J. E. ?rl cKenna.l. C.C" M.R.LA. SaInts and An cient SanctU>ll'leS of Meath. Br Wilhl.l)1 F~J10D, .I5.A. N,l-ala. By N ,)!'" b'. Degidon. Univel'slty Llt'e iu the Middle Aces. B1 Rev. il.'. J oh!.t, O.S.)f.O., B.A. Paudeenl,9 n09k. 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