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THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
THE
YALERIAN PEllSECUTION
a .^tuDp of tl)t iltdation^ tJcttuccu
^Ijurcl) and Mate in tlyc
€l)irD Ccuturp a» 2D*
BY
The Reverend PATRICK J. :pEALY, D. D.
OF THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITy OF AMEBIOA
BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY
1905
^
v"^
^ ^
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Nihil obstat :
EDMUND T. SHANAHAN
Censor Deputatiis
Imprimatur :
JOHN J. WILLIAMS
Archbishop
Apeil 11, 1905
0^~
COPYRIGHT 1905 BY PATRICK J. HEALY
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Published September iqoS
TO
THE REVEREND MICHAEL C. O'FARRELL
RECTOR
HOLY INNOCENTS' CHURCH
NEW YORK CITY
PREFACE
Recent investigation into the relations between
the Christian Church and the Roman State during
the first three centuries of our era has thrown
much new light on the history of this long period
of persecution, and has served to show that the op-
position to Christianity on the part of the Roman
authorities arose from a deep-seated adherence to
time-honored state policy rather than from blind
hatred for the followers of the new religion. This
view of the subject does not tend to diminish belief
in the intensity and bitterness of the struggle,
while it brings into clearer light the herculean
task which confronted the first Apostles of Chris-
tianity in promulgating doctrines which were to
revolutionize all old ideas regarding the political,
social, moral, and religious relations of mankind.
Bearing in mind the peculiar character of pagan
society in antiquity, its cohesiveness and absolu-
tism, and its claims to complete domination over all
human affairs, it will be manifest how easily a pro-
paganda which aimed at disintegrating this auto-
cratic exercise of power could be construed into
treason to the state.
viii PREFACE
The persecution which took place during the
reign of the Emperor Valerian was, in a sense, the
most critical period in the history of the Church
during the first three centuries. The policy of com-
plete extermination formulated by the Emperor
Decius, which was the first systematic attempt to
destroy Christianity, was never adequately tested,
as the premature death of that Emperor prevented
the full carrying out of his plans. In the case of
Valerian the same policy prevailed ; it was in force
for a longer period; and it was put into operation
at a time when the Church was still staggering
under the blows inflicted by Decius. The meagre
list of martyrs whose names are known to us as
victims of this persecution affords no indication as
to the actual number of those who suffered death,
banishment, or confiscation at the hands of the
Eoman authorities. There is no complete history in
English of these three centuries of Christian trial.
In fact, outside the pages of M. Paul Allard's monu-
mental work on the Persecutions there is no sys-
tematic presentation of the subject in any language.
The author takes this opportunity to acknowledge
his indebtedness to M. Allard for the help and
guidance afforded by his works in treating a sub-
ject which would otherwise have offered insuper-
able difficulties. Realizing very thoroughly the
many imperfections of the work, the author is loath
PREFACE ix
to mention the names of those from whom he re-
ceived aid and advice ; but justice no less than
thankf uhiess compels him to acknowledge the many
obligations which he is under to Doctor Shahan,
Professor of Church History at the Catholic Uni-
versity, without whose aid, never failing kindness,
and ever ready advice and encouragement the
achievement, slight as it is, would not have been
possible.
The work was in typewritten manuscript before
the author had an opportunity to examine some of
the more recent publications dealing with this por-
tion of history, such as Harnack's " Mission und
Ausbreitung des Christentums in den ersten drei
Jahrhunderten," and especially Lecrivain's" Etudes
sur I'Histoire Auguste ; " but a close examination of
these and some other works on the same subject has
convinced him that they contain nothing which
would call for modification or change in any of the
conclusions at which he has arrived.
PATRICK J. HEALY.
Washington, D. C, April 11, 1005.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE
PAGE
Christianity and the old order incompatible — Causes of per-
secution — Religious conditions in the Roman Empire —
Eclecticism — Multiplication of gods — Adoption of for-
eign cults — Paganism inclusiye, Christianity exclusive
— Pagan creeds national, Christianity universal — Pagan-
ism external and formal, Christianity internal and spirit-
ual — Attempts to fuse Christianity with paganism —
Christianity a social revolution — Christians confounded
with Jews — Nero persecuted the Christians — Accusa-
tions against the Christians — Persecutions under Titus
and Domitian 1-29
CHAPTER II
THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE (Continued).
End of persecution under Domitian — Church in the second
century — Reign of Trajan — Christians in Bithynia-Pon-
tus — Letter of Pliny — Trajan's reply — Legal proce-
dure settled — Laws against Christians — Mommsen's
view — Contrary opinion — Nero author of first edict —
Text of this edict — Rapid spread of Christianity — Ha-
drian's rescript — Attitude of Hadrian towards Christian-
ity — Popular outbreaks against Christians in the reign of
Antoninus Pius — Christians punished illegally during the
entire second century — Instances of leniency on the part
of some provincial governors — Christian apologists —
Literary persecution — Era of the Antonines favorable
to such a movement — Christians blamed for all the ca-
lamities and misfortunes in the Empire — Christians under
xii CONTENTS
Commodus — Marcia — Social and political upheaval in
the third century — Changes beneficial to Christianity —
Septimius Severus — New edict of persecution — Burial
clubs — Were the Christians enrolled as a Collegium Fu-
neraticium ? — Caracalla follows the policy of his father —
Elagabalus — Syncretism of Alexander Severus — Maxi-
minus the Thracian — The Gordians and Philip — Long
peace intensifies opposition between Church and State —
Foreign cults popular in Rome — Christianity becomes a
social and intellectual factor in Roman life — Paganism,
though imitating many Christian forms, becomes more
hostile — Political cataclysm in Rome — Illyrian Emper-
ors — Decius issues edict which defines clearly the abso-
lute incompatibility of Christianity and the heathen Ro-
man State — The Church itself, not individuals, aimed at
— Death of Decius — End of persecution — Gallus . 30-74
CHAPTER III
VALERIAN
Family — Holds important places in civil and military afPairs
— Elected censor — Duties of censor — Decius lauds Va-
lerian — Practically colleague of Emperor — Loyalty of
Valerian — Gallus — Valerian made Emperor — Accept-
able to all factions — Character — Fitness for position —
Gallienus made co-regent — Empire in disorder, invasions,
famine, pestilence — Plague decimates population — Mea-
sures proposed for relief of panic-stricken people inade-
quate — Disorganization of army — Invasions by barba-
rians assume new character — Gallienus intrusted with
defence of western portion of the Empire — Valerian as-
sumes command in the East — Franks — Alemanni —
Goths — Internal reforms — Restoration of national reli-
gion 75-104
CHAPTER IV
CHKISTIANITY IN THE FIRST YEARS OF VALERIAN'S REIGN
Laws of Decius still in force — Not executed — Schisms in
the Church — Novatus — Novatian — Christians at the
court of Valerian — Valerian favors them — Valerian
CONTENTS xiii
changes his attitude towards the Church — Macrianus —
Aub^'s opinion of Macrianus — Denis of Ak^xandria — Is
Aube's opinion the correct one ? — Why Macrianus was
procLiimed Emperor by his troops — His character — Was
he a believer in magic ? — Veneration of Macrian family
for Alexander the Great — This was an Egyptian cnlt,
hence a religion of magic — Valerian was influenced by
Macrianus — Human sacrifices not unknown in Rome —
Conditions of public affairs led to renewed superstitions
— Legal, political, and religious motives for persecuting
the Christians — Economic condition of the Empire led to
the same result — Financial prosperity of the Church —
The Greek martyrs — Chrysanthus and Daria . . 105-129
CHAPTER V
FIKST EDICT
Text lost — Reconstruction from Proconsular Acts of St.
Cyprian and letter of Denis of Alexandria — Clauses of
edict — New spirit in anti-Christian legislation — Abjura-
tion of Christ not required — Cemeteries confiscated —
Purpose of edict — Aimed principally at hierarchy —
Effect of edict — St. Stephen — Tarcisius — Unknown
martyrs of the crypt of Chrysanthus — Cyprian exiled to
Curubis. — Visited by many Christians — Vision — Let-
ters to confessors in the prisons and mines — Sufferings
of exiled Christians — Aided by Cyprian and Quirinus —
Denis of Alexandria — Exiled to Kephron — Makes many
converts — General survey 130-154
CHAPTER VI
SECOND EDICT PERSECUTION IN ROME
Peace restored to Roman Empire in 257 — Borani repulsed
— Valerian holds brilliant levee at Byzantium in 258 —
Purpose of this gathering — War against the Persians —
Shahpur captures Antioch — Valerian proceeds against
him — Issues new edict against the Christians — Harsher
measures adopted — Reason for increased severity — Did
the council at Byzantium have any connection with this
new law — Christians did not provoke harsher measures
xiv CONTENTS
— Barbarians took many Christian prisoners — No alliance
between the Christians and the enemies of the Empire —
New edict a development of old one — Probable text —
Christians in Rome — Changes in the Catacombs — Mar-
tyrdom of Pope St. Xystus — St. Laurence — St. Eugenia
— SS. Rufina and Secunda — Protus and Hyacinthus —
St. Pancratius the boy martyr 155-187
CHAPTER VII
ST. CYPRIAN AND THE AFRICAN MARTYRS
St. Cyprian receives tidings of new rescript — Warns the
Christians of Africa — Summoned to Utica by Galerius
Maximus, who had succeeded Aspasius Paternus as pro-
consul — Withdraws into hiding — Returns to his villa
when the proconsul comes to Carthage — Arrest — Con-
demnation — Death — Massa Candida — Sources : St. Au-
gustine, Prudentius — Legend or history — Cruelty of
proconsul towards Christians of Carthage — Large num-
bers massacred — Arrest of Lucius, Montanus, Flavianus,
Julianus, Victoricus, Renus — Acts of these martyrs —
Long imprisonment — Visions — Other Christian prisoners
— Trial — Execution — Martyrs in Numidia — Marianus
and James — Agapius and Secundinus — Sufferings of
Marianus and James — Visions — Trial and condemna-
tion — Sent to Lambesa — Execution — Other Christian
confessors 188-232
CHAPTER VIII
PERSECUTION IN THE WEST AND THE EAST
Tarragona — Caesar worship abandoned — St. Fructuosus —
Esteemed by pagans and Christians — Arrest — Trial —
Death at the stake — Martyrdom of Augurius and Eulo-
gius on the same day — Martyrs in Gaul — The Orient —
Death of Priscus, Malchus, and Alexander — St. Cyril of
Caesarea in Cappadocia — Nicephorus of Antioch in Syria
— Condemnation and death of St. Paregorius — St. Leo
of Patara in Lycia 233-248
CONTENTS XV
CHAPTER IX
FALL. OF VALERIAN — EDICT OF GALLIENUS
Barbarians renew inviusions in 258 — Berbers and Quinquegen-
tanei in Africa — Gaul — Postumus revolts — Franks cross
the Rhine — Ingenuus assumes the purple in Moesia —
Defeated by Gallienus — Alemaniii invade Lombardy —
Borani again attack Pontus — Goths devastate Bithynia
— Valerian returns from the East to repulse them —
Retraces his steps — Encounters Shahpur — Captured —
His captivity and death — Empire in disorder — Thirty
Tyrants — Revolt in Sicily — Gallienus unmoved — Issues
edict of toleration — Analysis of edict — Effect — Gen-
eral summary 249-272
Bibliography 273-281
Index 283-285
THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
CHAPTER I
THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE
Christianity and the old order incompatible — Causes of persecu-
tion — Religious conditions in the Roman Empire — Eclecti-
cism — Multiplication of gods — Adoption of foreign cidts —
Paganism inclusive, Christianity exclusive — Pagan creeds
national, Christianity universal — Paganism external and for-
mal, Christianity internal and spiritual — Attempts to fuse
Christianity with paganism — Christianity a social revolution
— Christians confounded with Jews — Nero persecuted the
Christians — Accusations against the Christians — Persecu-
tions under Titus and Domitian.
A SURVEY of the history of primitive Christianity
brings to light two considerations of the utmost im-
portance for a thorough imderstanding of the rela-
tions which subsisted between the Christian Church
and the Roman State during the first three centuries
of our era. In the first place, it was impossible that
any system of belief and morality such as that taught
by the Christians could coexist with the Roman
Empire as then constituted, or that the social revo-
lution which Christianity aimed at could be accom-
plished without arousing the most determined op-
position on the part of the Roman authorities. In
2 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
the second place, since Christianity struck at the
very existence of the pagan creeds and cults and
sapped the foundations of political and social life,
the hostility it provoked came from such causes and
was of such a nature that it could never cease imtil
such time as Christianity had triumphed over the
established order or had itself been annihilated.
Christianity and Heathenism were too widely
different in essentials to allow of any compromise.
Toleration was equally impossible : the old polythe-
istic religion had become so much a part of the life
of the people that the acceptance of the new creed,
even by some, implied a complete transformation
of the old order and a profound upheaval of exist-
ing conditions.
The struggle for supremacy which this incompati-
bility engendered is without parallel in the history
of mankind. On the one side was all the strength
and power of a magnificent empire, identified with
a system of religion dear to the hearts of its patri-
otic citizens and closely interwoven with their his-
tory and traditions ; on the other was this new creed,
destitute of earthly grandeur and possessing neither
temples nor history. It is doubtful if any conflict
was ever waged in which the contending parties
were so unequally equipped, and certainly no strug-
gle was ever carried on with so much bitterness.
For two centuries and a half all the resources at the
THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE 3
command of the citizens of a vast empire were di-
rected against a body of men whose only weapons
were the doctrines they preached, and whose strong-
holds were the virtues they inculcated and practised.
No means at the disposal of a people skilled in the
arts and refinements of all the civilizations of anti-
quity were left untried to win the Christians from
their adherence to the teachings of the obscure
Founder of their religion. The wit of poets and
rhetoricians, the arguments of philosophers and
statesmen, the jeers of the mob, scorn, contempt,
and social ostracism were all in turn directed against
the Christian sectaries. More potent than these,
however, and more important in a historical sense,
was the enactment of laws which made Christianity
a felony and its punishment death.
The general causes underlying this strife always
remained the same ; but a closer acquaintance with
Christianity and a fuller comprehension of its an-
tagonism to the existing order not only suggested
new methods of repression to the pagan authorities,
but also changed completely the spirit of the contest-
ants. A struggle lasting for more than two centuries
and fought out over such a wide area necessarily
changed its character and assumed new features as
time went on. The bloody persecutions which were
the acute manifestation of the irreconcilable oppo-
sition between Christianity and Heathenism mark
4 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
the steps in this progression. Time and progress,
while they served to make the contestants better
acquainted, were powerless to eliminate the many-
points of contention which existed, and tended only
to intensify the bitterness and to render compromise
more hopeless. The persecutions which took place
in the reigns of Decius and Valerian are the high-
water mark of the antagonism between Christianity
and the religious forms of pagan Rome. Each side
seemed to have attained to a full realization of the
fact that it contained in it qualities destructive of
vital elements in the other, and that, notwithstand-
ing the changes time had wrought, no lasting peace
could be hoped for until one side or the other was
completely eradicated. The struggle under Valerian
paved the way for the final adjustment under Dio-
cletian. It was not a decisive encounter, nor was it
merely a preliminary skirmish. It was a combat
which taxed the entire strength of the opposing
forces. When a truce was declared, it contained
no assurance of ultimate peace, but seemed rather to
promise a sterner and more conclusive struggle. In
order to understand fully the character of the war
waged by Valerian against the Christians, it will be
necessary both to consider briefly the main causes
which produced this contention and to take a sum-
mary glance at the history of the persecutions during
the two preceding centuries.
THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE 5
From the very outset the political and religious
conditions which prevailed in the Roman Empire
were, on the whole, decidedly imfavorable to the
spread of Christian ideas. In fact, the Roman Em-
pire as then constituted could scarcely coexist with
any considerable organization of Christians. The
territory embraced by this Empire was naturally
the scene of the first labors of the Christian Apos-
tles. Within its boundaries was comprised almost
the entire civilized world, and under its sway were
nearly all the peoples of antiquity distinguished
for culture or refinement. Extending from the
Rhine and the Danube to the deserts of Africa, and
from the Euphrates to the Atlantic, the vast posses-
sions of the Caesars were a imit in their opposition
to the reforms which Christianity implied. Brought
under the sway of the Romans by a series of gradu-
ally extended conquests, this vast domain was not
a mere physical union of different nations and
different peoples living under one centralized gov-
ermnent and held in check by the power of the
legions. It was a closely knit, weU-compacted
union of peoples with one mind, common aspira-
tions, and a common culture. Many causes had
contributed to bring about this unity and cohesion.
There was the universal understanding of the two
leading languages, Latin and Greek, conunon law,
common interests, and rapid and easy means of com-
6 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
munication throughout the whole Empire. With
the political and administrative unity of the Empire
the influence of the Eomans ceased. They could
subjugate nations, break down the barriers which
separated tribes and peoples, but in the presence of
the older civilizations of Greece and the Orient
they were powerless. If the march of the legions
was irresistible, not less so was the tide of manners
and customs which flowed back on Rome from the
conquered peoples. Hence it was that the culture
of the period was not merely Roman : it was some-
thing broader and deeper; it was a blending of
Greek, Roman, and Oriental elements. From the
continuous and universal clash of manners and mind,
inseparable from such a condition of affairs, there
had resulted a tendency towards eclecticism, which
was nowhere more strongly manifested than in mat-
ters of religion. With the absorption of so many
nationalities into the Empire the old national or
sectarian spirit had very largely passed away.^ To
this change the primitive religion of the Romans
lent itself very readily. ^ From the beginning it was
a dry, cold, formal, matter-of-fact worship of the
personified forces of nature.^ Its gods were abstrac-
tions having neither traditions nor history.* This
1 Marquardt-Monunsen, Bomische Staatsverwaltung, vi, pp. 56
seq.
2 Boissier, La Religion Romaine, vol. i, pp. 37 seq.
3 Dollinger, Heidenthum und Judenthum, p. 468.
4 Bouchd-Leclercq, Manuel des Institutions Romaines,-ppA61 seq.
THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE 7
lack of poetical and legendary endowment^ was
fully compensated for by the number and variety
of the deities to whom the Romans paid their ado-
ration .^ If it were permissible to judge of the piety
of a people by the multitude of their gods, the Ro-
mans were undoubtedly the most religious of the
peoples of antiquity .3 They had gods for all the
different phases of human life and activity * and for
all the phenomena of nature.^ They had found dei-
ties for each condition and each occupation in life,^
and they were careful that each new need in the
life of the individual or the development of society
should receive its guardian deityJ So numerous
^ Elle n'a ni cosmogonie, ni mythologie proprement dite, ni
enseignement metaphysique ou moral d'aucune sort. Bouch^-
Leclerq, he. cit. p. 459.
2 The names of the Roman deities were kept in special lists
called Indigitamenta. Ibid. p. 437; Marquardt-Mommsen, loc. cit.
p. 7.
2 Nostri majores, religiosissimi mortales. Salliist, Cat. 12.
* Varro commemorare et enumerare deos coepit a conceptione
hominis . . . deinde coepit deos alios ostendere qui pertinerent non
ad ipsum hominem, sed ad ea quae sunt hominis, sicuti est victus,
vestitus et quaecumque alia quae huic vitae sunt necessaria. St.
Augustine, De Civ. Dei, vi, 9.
^ Vaticanus watched over the child's first cry ; Fabulinus taught
it to speak ; Educa to eat ; Potina to drink, etc.
6 Annona was the goddess of the wheat crop ; Insitor the god
of sowing ; Obarator covered the grain ; Occator harrowed the
ground, etc.
"^ Pecunia was the goddess of money, while cattle were the me-
dium of exchange. With the introduction of copper coins came
Aesculanus ; afterwards, when silver was introduced, a new god,
Argentinus, the son of Aesculanus, was foimd. Dollinger, loc. cit.
p. 469; Marquardt-Mommsen, loc. cit. p. 31.
8 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
were these gods that the country was like an Olym-
pusji so peopled with gods that it was easier to
find a god than a man.^
Besides this adaptation of their theology to the
new needs of every-day life, the Komans extended
their religion by the forcible naturalization of
strange gods,^ or pretended that the deities of the
peoples they conquered were identical with those of
Rome.* The extensive journeys undertaken by some
Romans and the general craving for travel made
known many new deities.^ The provincials who
flocked to Rome introduced strange gods ; ^ and the
slaves from all parts of the world not only practised
their native rites, but initiated many of their pupils
and charges ; ^ while the legionaries from Rome and
the provinces habitually worshipped the gods and
performed the ceremonies of the countries in which
they were stationed.^ The character of the Roman
religion was in itself a powerful incentive to the
adoption of new creeds and strange rites. Dry,
narrow, formal, and based on the scrupulous per-
1 Varro, in St. Aug. Be Civ. Dei, iv, 22.
2 Petronius, Sat. 17.
3 Pliny, Hist. Nat. xxviii, 4, 18. In oppugnationibus ante omnia
solitum a Romanis sacerdotibus evocari deum in cujus tutela id
oppidum esset, promittique illi eumdem aut ampliorem apud Ro-
manos cultum. The Form of Evocation is given by Macrobius, Sat.
iii, 9, 7.
* Caesar, De Bello Gallico, vi, 17 ; Pliny, Hist. Nat. vi, 22.
s Boissier, loc. cit. pp. 350 seq. ^ Tacitus, Ann. xv, 44.
1 DoUinger, p. 481. « c. I. L. ii, 3386 j iii, 75.
THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE 9
formance of a multiplicity of minute observances,
it was utterly unsuited to satisfy the emotional side
of himian nature.^ This deficiency was abundantly
supplied by the religions of Egypt and the Orient.
As early as the days of the republic, Egyptian rites
were practised in all the cities along the Mediter-
ranean, while some of the gods and goddesses of the
East had been solemnly transported to Rome.^ In
the midst of this spiritual and religious chaos it
is possible to discern two distinct and well-defined
tendencies. In the first place, there was a craving
for closer personal union with the deity; in the
second, a general drift towards a vague monotheism
or pantheism. 3 This trend towards belief in the
unity of the deity was fostered by statesmen * and
philosophers,^ and reached its culmination in the
deification of the Emperors. To accord divine hon-
ors to a man yet living was at first rather repug-
nant to some classes in the Empire, but as time
went on Emperor-worship lost its peculiar personal
character, and the reigning prince came to be con-
sidered as the personification of Roman power rather
than as being a divinity himself.^
^ Boissier, loc. cit. pp. 20 seq.
2 Lafaye, Histoire du Culte des Divinity d* Alexandrie hors de
VEgypte, chap. 1.
2 Dollinger, loc. cit. p. 4G9.
* Boissier, loc. cit. p. 351. ^ Ibid. pp. 339 seq.
^ Beurlier, Essai sur le culte rendu aux Empereurs Romaijis, p. 36 ;
Boissier, loc. cit. i, pp. 117-208.
10 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
At first sight it might appear that this lack of
definite conviction in matters of religion, coupled
with the unusual craving for new creeds, would
naturally pave the way for the spread of Christianity.
Such, however, was not the case. The reason for
this lay with Christianity itself. The new religion
ran directly counter to the prevailing tone and
tendency of the age. It was a time when the widest
liberty consistent with any fixed belief in the super-
natural was permitted in the selection and worship
of new deities.^ Paganism was running its logi-
cal course, and no contradiction or impossibility
appeared in the amalgamation and absorption of
innumerable rites .^ To this development and syn-
cretism Christianity was utterly foreign. Whereas
a pagan might acquire new gods every day without
failing in his allegiance to the old, a Christian was
expressly taught to look on all Gentile creeds as
mere superstitions. The exclusiveness to which
Christianity laid claim put it in the position of de-
nying and repelling all existing forms of worship,
and thus multiplying indefinitely the difficulties
and opposition it was likely to encounter. Paganism
was in possession, and would not be likely to cede
its position without a determined struggle. The
double onus, therefore, rested on the Christian
1 Uhlhorn, The Conflict of Christianity and Paganism, pp.26 seq.
2 Arnobius, Adv. Gentes, vi, 7, Civitas omnium numinum cultrix.
THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE 11
teachers of making good their claims before a
higlily prejudiced public, and of dislodging a system
of religion which had twined itself so closely round
ancient life and manners that they had grown to-
gether. All human affairs were pervaded with the
spirit of paganism. Its symbols were everywhere.
Its influence was as potent in public matters as in
the affairs of private and family life.^ The Em-
peror was the supreme pontiff ; the magistrates were
priests ; the worship of the state gods was the touch-
stone of loyalty .2 A system so elaborate and all-
embracing required for its maintenance an organi-
zation correspondingly large and well equipped.^
This was provided for by the colleges of priests,*
augurs,^ and haruspices,^ whose principal duties
were the superintendence of the ritual, the preser-
vation of the lists of the gods, and the interpreta-
tion of the will of the higher powers.' Inseparably
bound together as were the state and its religion,
the power of the one was reflected in the splendid
processions, costly sacrifices, and magnificent tem-
ples which ministered to the glory of the other.^
From this it will appear how hopeless must have
1 Marquardt-Mommsen, loc. cit. p. 119 seq.
2 Bouche-Leclercq, pp. 481 seq.
8 Marquardt-Mommsen, loc. cit. pp. 119-225.
4 Ibid. pp. 227-380.
6 Ibid. pp. 381-390.
6 Ihid. pp. 393-398. " Dollinger, p. 517.
8 Dollinger, p. 483 ; Marquardt-Mommsen, loc. cit. pp. 184-207.
12 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
seemed the task of the first Christian teachers.
With no weapons but those of the soul they entered
a new land, the citadels of which were held by their
enemies, with the express purpose of disseminating
doctrines so revolutionary that no pagan could ac-
cept them except at the cost of being a renegade
to the immemorial beliefs and traditions of his race.
If we would measure how revolutionary of old
ideas was Christianity, it will be sufficient to keep
in mind the peculiar national character which at-
tached to the religions of antiquity.^ In those
times the state and religion were coextensive and
synonymous. The principle of unity in the politi-
cal as well as the social order was derived from
the worship of the same deity .^ As the members
of a family were those who grouped themselves
around a domestic altar, the citizens were those
who worshipped the state gods and performed acts
of religion at the state altars.^ The entire scheme
of life was based on the theory that each god pro-
tected exclusively some state or family and took
no interest in any other.* Such contracted ideas
1 Fustel de Coulanges, La CiU Antique, pp. 131 seq.
2 Cicero, De Legibus, ii, 8. Separatim nemo habessit deos :
neve novos sive advenas, nisi publice adscitos, privatim colunto.
^ Fustel de Coulanges, loc. cit. pp. 166 seq.
* Ihid. pp. 173 seq. Si Ton veut d^finir le eitoyen des temps
antiques par son attribut le plus essential, il faut dire que ce'st
rhomme qui poss^de la religion de la cit^ ; c'est celui qui honore
les mgmes dieux qu'elle. Ibid. p. 227.
THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE 13
of the functions of the higher powers necessarily
precluded the possibility that citizens of different
states would worship the same god.^ As a conse-
quence of this, it did not enter in to the plan of the
ancients to win converts to their religion. Such a
thing would, of course, in the circumstances, have
been an absurdity, and hence it is that proselytism
was utterly unknown among them.^ If they had
to travel through what might be called the juris-
diction of a strange god, it is true they took pains
to propitiate him ; but even then they never showed
any missionary spirit.^ Christianity was the anti-
thesis of paganism in this. It was not the religion
of any caste or tribe, and came on the scene
with neither political nor national affiliations.* It
ignored the barriers of race and nationality, and
entering the conflict as a divine revelation, it re-
quired but one condition for admission to its fold,
namely, that of a common humanity.^ A doctrine
so extraordinary and so repugnant to the ideas
and customs of the time must have appeared to all
who cherished the old custom as a thing contrary
to nature and threatening the dissolution of all
existing order .^ If the Christians had claimed that
1 Fustel de Coulang-es, loc. cit.
2 Boissier, loc. cit. p. 337.
« Ibid.
* Fustel de Coulanges, loc. cit. p. 459.
6 St. Matthew xxviii, 19, 20.
6 Bollinger, The First Age of the Church, Eng. tr. p. 379.
14 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
theirs was the religion of some tribe or people, or
that a nation had grown up around the worship of
their God, their claims would have found accept-
ance more readily ; but a new religion neither of
the Jews nor any other people was an unheard of
innovation.^ The declaration that there was no
difference between Jew and Greek, between slave
and freeman, cut at the root of society and threat-
ened the stability of all government.^ So contrary
was this to current opinion that we are not sur-
prised it aroused at first derision, afterwards fear :
for to base religion on humanity alone necessarily
meant the disintegration of the established order
and a thorough readjustment of the relations be-
tween the individual and the state.^
The peculiar position which the state occupied in
the economy of ancient life and the functions it ar-
rogated to itself were extremely burdensome to the
individual. The state was founded on religion. The
gods it worshipped were part of itself. For a citi-
zen of these times the maintenance of this composite
of human and divine elements was a duty at once
human and divine. This was the purpose of life,
the goal of all effort. In a society established on
such a basis it is not to be wondered at that human
1 Unde hoc tertium genus. Tertull. Scor. 10 ; Ad Nat. 1, 8, 20 ;
Clem. Alex. Strom, vi, 39, 41.
2 St. Paul, Gal. iii, 28. Cf. Mommsen, Expositor, 1893, p. 4.
3 Fustel de Coulanges, loc. cit. p. 459.
THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE 15
life was absorbed in civic duties, that the personal
unit was lost in the political unit. That this concep-
tion of the relations between the citizen and the state
was not a mere speculative theory, but the practical
principle of every-day life, is seen from the system
which held sway.^ The state enjoyed full jurisdic-
tion over the lives and possessions of its citizens.
It regulated marriage, destroyed weak and deformed
children, supervised education, and all with a view
to its own ultimate benefit. Nor did its authority
stop short at a man's physical being ; it extended to
his thoughts and beliefs, and prescribed for him his
religion. It was the duty of every citizen to believe
in and worship the state gods, to be present at the
sacred banquets, and to join in the processions. In
a word, all the elements of human life were fused
together, and the conglomerate resulting therefrom
was known as the state. The application of the
solvent contained in the words " Render to Caesar
the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things
that are God's," must have meant to the pagan
mind inextricable confusion and direst calamity.
Never before had such words been heard.^ They
were anarchistic. For the first time human intelli-
gence was fully awakened to the fact that while
men had certain duties towards the body politic,
1 Cicero, Pro Domo, i ; Fustel de Coulanges, loc cit. pp. 265 seq.
'^ De Coulanges, loc. cit. p. 401.
16 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
there were spheres of thought and activity to which
the power of the state did not extend.
In the sphere of man's relations to God equally-
important changes were introduced. Under the in-
fluence of Christianity the whole nature and scope
of religion were transformed. Hitherto, for the
Eomans especially, religion had meant nothing but
a dry ritualism, from which sentiment and intention
were altogether lacking.^ Men kept their accounts
with the gods with business-like fidelity .^ The
essence of religion consisted in the punctilious per-
formance of certain rites,^ whereas the state of the
soul while performing those acts was a matter of no
importance.* The most religious were those who
were best acquainted with the ritual and who most
closely and exactly followed its prescriptions.^
Theirs was a religion of fear, consisting of endless
expiations and propitiations, in which there was no
thought of purifying or elevating man, but of using
the most efficacious means to avert the anger of the
gods or to enlist their aid for some future undertak-
ing.^ From the first, Christianity was a reversal
of this system. Men were exhorted not to employ
1 Boissier, loc. cit. p. 13.
2 Plautus, iv, 2, 25.
^ Est enim pietas justltia adversus deos ; sanctitas autem
scientia colendorum sacrorum. Cicero, De Nat Deorum, i.
* DoUinger, Heidenthum und Judentktim, p. 367.
^ Boissier, loc. cit. p. 15.
6 Servius, Aen. ii, 715. Connexa enim sunt timer et religio.
THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE 17
frequent repetitions of prayer,^ but to seek for a
closer union with God by the elevation of the soul
and the purification of life. Instead of the manifold
and minute external observances of paganism, God
was to be worshipped in spirit and in truth.2
The differences between Christianity and Pagan-
ism were too numerous and too essential, and the
attitude of aloofness incumbent on Christians too
noticeable, to escape observation in the Roman Em-
pire. In a conmiunity so largely given to religious
observances no considerable number of citizens
could hold themselves apart from the public wor-
ship and practice a strange cult without exciting
suspicion and incurring censure.^
In the case of the Christians these difficulties
and dangers were increased by their resistance to
the syncretistic tendencies of the times, and by their
refusal to have their religion united with the other
religions of the Empire. Impossible as tliis union
was, several Emperors are said to have desired it.
The first attempt was that made by Tiberius.
Moved by the account given by Pilate of events
which had "clearly shown the truth of Christ's
1 St. Matthew vi, 7, 8. 2 gt. John iv, 23, 24.
3 All the incidents of public and social life, both civil and
popular, were thoroughly interpenetrated by heathen customs,
and colored by the prevalent worship ; its symbols met the Chris-
tian at every step, and he was often entangled in religious acts
before he recollected himself or could draw back. Dollinger,
The First Age of the Church, p. 377.
18 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
Divinity," he is said to have made a formal propo-
sition to the Senate that Christ be received among
the Koman gods. The Senate, however, rejected
the proposal.^ The apocryphal writers and Malalas
testify that Nero wished to be informed of the new
religion, and from the beginning was favorable to
it : a fact in substance quite credible, attested by
Paul's appeal to Rome, the sentence of liberation
he received, and his subsequent relations with the
faithful of the house of Caesar.2 Lampridius, a
pagan, is witness for the fact that Hadrian wished
to erect a temple to Christ and to give Him a place
among the gods. He was diverted from his purpose
by the complaint that if he did this everybody would
become a Christian and all the other temples would
be deserted.^ While these accounts are vague and
conjectural and open to doubt, it is certain that in
the third century the palace of the Caesars was the
scene of more than one attempt to fuse Christianity
with pagan superstitions. Elagabalus, in order to
make his god (Heliogabalus) the only deity of the
Romans, constructed a temple on the Palatine near
the imperial residence which was to be the centre
1 Tertull. ApoL c. 5, 29.
2 Cf. De Rossi, Bullettino, January 15, 1867.
^ Christo templum facere voluit eumque inter deos recipere,
quod et Hadrianus cogitasse f ertur . . . sed prohibitus est ab is qui
coDsulentes sacra reppererant omnes Christianos futuros, si id
fecisset, et templa reliqua deserenda. Vita Alex. Severi, c. 43.
THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE 19
of the new cult. He transferred thither the altar
of Vesta, the Palladium, and the sacred bucklers.
He intended also to have the rites of the Jews and
Samaritans observed there, and even the ceremonies
of the Christian Church, so that the priests of
Heliogabalus might possess the secrets of all reli-
gions.^ His cousin and successor, Alexander Se-
verus, went still farther. He showed the greatest
favor to the Christian s,^ was an open admirer of
the Church discipline,^ and in his lararium he
kept the image of Christ, together with those of
Abraham, Orpheus, and Apollonius.^ He had con-
ceived so much admiration for the Founder of the
Christian religion that at one time he intended
to build a temple in His honor.^ He frequently-
repeated the sentence, " Do not to others what
you do not wish to be done to you." This he had
learned from the Jews or Christians, and such was
his love for it that he had it inscribed on the walls
of his palace and other places.^
This desire on the part of the Roman Emperors to
amalgamate Christianity with the other religions of
the State was but one phase of the prevailing reli-
1 Dicebat praeterea Judaeorum et Samaritanorum religiones et
Christianam devotionern illuc transferendam, ut omnium cultura-
rum aecretum Heliog^abali sacerdotium teneret. Lampridius,
Vita Heliog. ?>.
'^ Lampridius, Vita Alex. Severi, c. 49.
3 Ibid. 45. * Ibid. 29. «^ Ibid. 43. c md. 51.
20 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
gious syncretism which manifested itself in the
attempts made by the early heresiarchs to effect
an intellectual union between the tenets of Chris-
tianity and the teachings of various philosophical
systems.^ The latter was as unsuccessful as the for-
mer. As long as the Christians were insignificant
numerically, the exclusiveness which kept them sep-
arate from the rest of the people, and the fact that
they worshipped a new deity, was a matter of per-
fect indifference to the great mass of the pagans.^
Outside of the Jewish communities the new wor-
ship was looked on if not with favor, at least with
complete unconcern. One more god added to the
populous pantheon could attract little notice. But
Christianity was something more than the worship
of a new god. It was a new scheme of life. It was
a revolution of the social order. Long before men
in some places had commenced to take even a pass-
ing intellectual interest in the new religion, their
attention was drawn to it not as a religious innova-
tion, but as a disturbing element in commercial and
business affairs. The discovery that Christianity
was a menace to social order and to the established
rehgion " was made in a homely way familiar to us
all ; viz. through the pocket." ^ In Philippi the
1 Cf. Neander, Church History, vol. i, p. 469.
2 Ramsay, The Church in the Roman Empire before A. D. 170^
p. 130.
3 Ibid.
THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE 21
cure of a girl possessed by a spirit of divination
caused an outbreak against Paul and Silas. When
the masters of the girl saw " that their hope of gain
was gone," they denounced Paul and his companion
as Jews who had disturbed the city by their preach-
ing and by inciting people to violate the Roman
iaws.i Similarly at Ephesus,^ when the silversmiths
and other tradesmen engaged in the manufac-
ture of shrines, to be used as dedicatory offer-
ings in the temple of Artemis, saw their business
decreasing, they broke into tumult and denounced
Paul as a seducer of the people.^ The opposition
to Christianity thus engendered does not, however,
by any means explain the intense hatred afterwards
felt for the Christians by all classes in the Empire,
especially in view of the fact that the Christians
were not then regarded as a distinct body.
For a long time the pagans were in the habit of
considering the Christians as a mere Jewish sect.*
Suetonius relates that Claudius, in the last years of
his reign, expelled the Jews from Rome because of
the numerous tumults which had taken place at the
instigration of a certain Chrestus.^ There can be no
1 Acts xvi, 19. "^ Acta xix, 24-40.
8 See Ramsay, loc. cit. p. 134, on the subject of silver shrines as
dedicatory offerings.
* Mommsen, Expositor, 1893, p. 2.
^ Judaeos, impulsore Chresto, adsidue tumultuantes Roma ex-
pulit. Suetonius, Vita Claudi, c 25.
22 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
doubt that this Chrestus is none other than Christ,
whose name, occurring frequently in the disputes
between the orthodox Jews and the Jewish Chris-
tians, led the Eoman police to mistake Him for
the leader of the tumult.^ While the error of con-
founding the Christians with the Jews diverted for
a time the attention of the public from Christianity
as a separate religion, it nevertheless made the
Christians heirs of all the hatred and contempt
long felt for the Children of Israel by the people of
the Occident. The confusion, however, did not last
long. It could not do so in Rome. The edict of
Claudius directed against the Jews, showed clearly
that the Gentile converts who remained in Rome
after the expulsion of the Jews, and who practised
♦' Jewish customs," were not Jews. St. Paul's open
disavowal of any connection with the synagogue was
proof positive of the same fact.^ The Jews them-
selves, under the ban because of their refusal to
live peaceably with the believers in the New Mes-
siah, could be relied upon when occasion arose to
denounce Christianity as a troublesome and dan-
gerous organization.^
The complete separation of Christianity from
Judaism could have only one result — increased
1 BatifEol, " L'Eglise Naissante," Eevue Biblique, 1894, pp. 503
seq.
2 Acts XXV, 10.
8 St. Justiu, Dial, cum Trypho, 10, 18.
THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE 23
hatred and animosity for the Christians. How
rapidly the feeling of hostility developed among
the people, and how well it served the purposes of
Nero, was proved in the first fierce outbreak, which,
strangely enough, took place in the metropolis of
the world. ^
Popular rumor made Nero the author of the con-
flagration which destroyed the greater part of the
city of Rome in July, A. D. 64. To divert from
himself the anger of the people, Nero caused the
blame for this crime to be laid on the Christians.
An immense number of them were seized and put
to death with unheard-of cruelty. For the amuse-
ment of the excited and wrathful populace their
punishment was turned into a spectacle. Some were
crucified, others were sewn in the skins of wild
beasts to be torn to pieces by wild dogs, while others
were reserved for tragic roles in the dramatic repre-
sentations, the dreadful realism of which required
that Ixion should really be broken on the wheel ;
that Icarus should drop from the clouds ; and that
Hercules should die in the flames.^ At night Chris-
tians attached to crosses and covered with some in-
flammable stuff were set on fire and used as torches
to illuminate the gardens of Nero on the Vatican,
1 Tacitus, Annals, xv, 44.
2 Cf. Allard, Histoire des Persecutions pendant les deux premiers
Siecles, p. 28 ; Ramsay, Church in the Roman Empire, pp. 232 seq.
24 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
in which the festivities were held. This carnival
of murder did not placate the excited populace nor
allay the suspicion that Nero was the real incendi-
ary. Tired with the slaughter, the people com-
menced to have compassion on the wretched victims
who were executed rather to satisfy the cruelty of
one man than through zeal for the public welfare.^
The change in public feeling necessitated a change
in the accusations brought against the Christians.
The hatred against them arising from the crimes of
which they were supposed to be guilty was all
summed up in the charge of hatred for the human
race (odium humani generis) .^ For the Romans, the
humanum genus meant not humanity at large, but
the Roman people ; the Christians, therefore, were
public enemies, hostile to the State and civilization.^
In the excited state of public feeling at the
time such a charge would be sure to find ready
credence. It was not necessary, however, that a
new accusation should be made to turn the minds
of the people against the Christians. Tacitus says
they were always hated because of the horrible
crimes which they committed.^ To the pagan,
^ Unde quamquam adversus sontes et novissima exempla meri-
tos miseratio oriebatur, tamquam non utilitate publica sed in
saevitiam unius absumerentur. Tacitus, Annals, xv, 44.
2 Ihid. ^ Cf . Ramsay, loc. cit.
* Quos per flagitia invisos vulgus Christianos adpellabat. Tac-
itus, loc. cit.
THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE 25
Christianity and crime seem to have been sy-
nonymous. It must be concedecl that the revo-
hitionary character of Christianity and the method
of life followed by its votaries gave ample ground
for misconception and suspicion. Strange and in-
explicable must have appeared the influence which
could effect such a reformation as that wrought in
its converts by Christianity, and dangerous to pub-
lic safety any organization which could inspire
such enthusiastic devotion and unswerving resolu-
tion.i Christianity, moreover, put a new value on
human life, and by the reforms it instituted in hu-
man affairs gave color to the suspicion that society
was in danger. The consequence of this misunder-
standing was that for three centuries a constant
stream of vituperation was directed against the
followers of the new religion.
By withdrawing from public life and abstaining
from the pleasures of the heathen, the Christians
appeared as a people " skulking and shunning the
light, silent in public but garrulous in corners.^
They were despised as ignorant ^ and the outcasts
of society.* They led gloomy and joyless lives.^
They took no part in the public banquets ; they did
not visit the shows and were never present in the
1 Dollinger, The First Age of the Church, p. 394.
2 Minucius Felix, Octavius, c. 8.
3 Origen, Contra Ctlsum, vi, 14.
4 Tertull. Ad Nationes, c. ii. ^ Min. Fel. c. 8.
26 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
solemn processions.^ " Wretched, they pity, if they
are allowed, the priests : half naked themselves,
they despise honors and purple robes." ^ The lan-
guage they used was barbarous.^ They were the
enemies of science and knowledge.* They had no
respect for the dead, whose sepulchres they never
crowned with flowers ; ^ and, useless members of so-
ciety, they bore none of the duties and obligations
of citizenship.^
The religion of the Christians seemed to the
pleasure-loving pagans an anomaly. It had neither
altars, temples, nor sacrifices : ^ therefore it had
no god, and its votaries were atheists.^ Their pre-
tended belief in an invisible omnipresent deity was
an absurdity.^ Instead of this troublesome inquisi-
tive god of their imagination ^^ the Christians as an
offshoot of Judaism were rather the adorers of the
head of an ass.^^ It was inconceivable to the pa-
gans that such a body of fanatics could remain to-
gether except on the supposition that they practised
magical rites.^^ They were accused of taking dread-
ful oaths, and of being initiated by the slaughter
and blood of an infant. ^^ Their meetings were said
I Min. Fel. c. 12. 2 Xbi^, c. 8. ^ j^^ Autoly. c. i.
4 Contra Celsum, in, 75. ^ Min. Fel. c. 12.
^ Contra Celsum, viii, 64. ' Athenagoras, Legatio, c xiii.
8 St. Justin, Apol c. vi. ^ Min. Fel. 10. 1° Ibid.
II Tacitus, Hist, v, 3 ; Tertullian, Apol c. 16.
12 Tertullian, Adv. Marc, c xxix.
13 Min. Fel. c. 9.
THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE 27
to be conventicles of lewdness, the scenes of Oedi-
podean orgies and Tliyestean feasts.^
The greatest danger to the Christians lay in the
fact that many of the slanders circulated against
them were political in character and made them
appear as transgressors of the laws of the Empire.
They were accused of being enemies of the State
and the people, of being guilty of treason and sac-
rilege, and of striving to overthrow the republic.^
They were branded as conspirators who met in
secret to plot the destruction of the State and its
religion.^ Afterwards, commencing with the reign
of Domitian, the refusal of the Christians to comply
wdth the established worship of the Empire, which
was the touchstone of loyalty, became the basis of
persecution and proscription.
Nero's action in bringing the Christians to trial
gave official sanction to these slanders and at the
same time inaugurated a new era in the relations be-
tween Christianity and the State. The general prin-
ciple had been affirmed that certain acts of which all
Christians were supposed to be guilty merited death.
Henceforth there was no course open to a magis-
trate in the Roman dominions but to follow the
precedent laid down by the Emperor, whose action
was necessarily the official guide in such cases.*
1 TertuU. Apol c. 3. 2 jf^ij^ g. 42.
8 Ibid. c. 3. ^ Cf. Ramsay, loc cit. p. 334.
28 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
The confusion and anarchy which filled the Em-
pire after Nero's death naturally diverted the atten-
tion of the rival emperors from Christianity. The
old hostility, however, manifested itself as soon as
the Flavian djmasty was firmly established in power.
Titus destroyed the temple of Jerusalem in order
that the religion of the Jews and Christians might
be completely eradicated ; for these two religions, al-
though opposed to one another, had the same origin.
The Christians had sprung from the Jews, and if the
root was destroyed the stem would quickly perish.^
The fact that Christianity remained intact and
continued to flourish after the fall of Jerusalem
ought to have shown that it was independent of all
connection with Judaism, yet we find that this fact
escaped the notice of Domitian, or was purposely
overlooked by him. In order to replenish the trea-
sury exhausted by his extravagance, he decreed that
all who lived after the manner of the Jews should
pay the Jewish poll-tax, which had been collected
for the benefit of the imperial treasury since the
time of the Jewish war.^ There can be no doubt
that this edict was aimed at the Christians as well
as the Jews.3 Their persistent refusal to comply
^ Sulpicius Severus, ii, 30, who reproduces a lost page of Tac-
itns.
2 Dion Casaius, Ixvii, c. 14.
3 Cf. Neumann, Ber Edmiscke Staat und die Allgemeine Eirchej
p. 27.
THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE 29
with the provisions of this enactment could leave
no doubts in the official mind that they constituted
a separate religion, nevertheless it brought on them
a persecution so fierce that it merited for Domitiau
the name of a second Nero in cruelty.^
1 Tertull. c. 5.
CHAPTER II
THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE (Continued).
End of persecution under Domitian — Church in the second cen-
tury — Reign of Trajan — Christians in Bithynia-Pontus —
Letter of Pliny — Trajan's reply — Legal procedure settled
— Laws against Christians — Mommsen's view — Contrary
opinion — Nero author of first edict — Text of this edict —
Rapid spread of Christianity — Hadrian's rescript — Attitude
of Hadrian towards Christianity — Popular outbreaks against
Christians in the reign of Antoninus Pius — Christians pun-
ished illegally during the entire second century — Instances of
leniency on the part of some provincial governors — Christian
apologists — Literary persecution — Era of the Antonines
favorable to such a movement — Christians blamed for all the
calamities and misfortunes in the Empire — Christians under
Commodus — Marcia — Social and political upheaval in the
third century — Changes beneficial to Christianity — Septimius
Severus — New edict of persecution — Burial clubs — Were the
Christians enrolled as a Collegium Funeraticium ? — Caracalla
follows the policy of his father — Elagabalus — Syncretism of
Alexander Severus — Maximinus the Thracian — The Gordians
and Philip — Long peace intensifies opposition between Church
and State — Foreign cults popular in Rome — Christianity be-
comes a social and intellectual factor in Roman life — Pagan-
ism, though imitating many Chiistian forms, becomes more
hostile — Political cataclysm in Rome — Illyrian Emperors —
Decius issues edict which defines clearly the absolute incom-
patibility of Christianity and the heathen Roman State — The
Church itself, not individuals, aimed at — Death of Decius —
End of persecution — Gallus.
A REVULSION of feeling similar to the change in
popular sentiment under Nero brought the persecu-
THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE 31
tion of Domitian to a sudden stop.^ The Emperor
himself, before his death, experienced such a change
of heart that he suspended hostilities against the
Christians,^ and granted full pardon to those who
had been condenmed to exile.^ With Domitian the
Flavian line ended. His successor, the wise and
prudent Nerva, a man far advanced in years when
he ascended the throne, set himself the task of cor-
recting the abuses and irregularities which had crept
in under Domitian. Among his reforms was an act
of the Senate granting full amnesty to all who were
in banishment, and putting an end to proceedings
in the case of those who were charged with the
crime of sacrilege.*
At the beginning of the second century a marked
change had already taken place in the situation of
the Christian Church. With the complete separa-
tion from Judaism and the ever increasing acces-
sions of Gentile converts, Christianity had taken its
place as an independent religion. In some places a
generation of Christians born in the faith belonged
to the Church. AU these things tended to bring
1 Juvenal, Sat. iv, 151-153, says of Domitian : —
Tempora saevitiae, claras quibus abstnlit urbi
niustresque animaa impune, et vindice nullo,
Sed periit, postquam cerdonibus esse timendus
Coeperat.
2 Hegesippus in Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica, iii, 20.
3 Restitutis etiani quos relegaverat. Tertnll. Apol. c. 5.
* Eusebius, loc. cit. ; Dion Cassius, Ixviii, c. 1.
32 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
the new religion into closer touch with the pagan
world, and to infuse into it some touches of the cul-
ture of the Graeco-Roman civilization. This cen-
tury, too, was the culminating point in Roman great-
ness. With Nerva the imperial power passed into
the hands of men who represented all that was best
in the national character, a fact which had a very
important bearing on the growth and development
of Christianity. From Nerva to Marcus Aurelius
the sceptre was held by rulers who were strongly
attached to the old order, and whose only ideal
was the rigid enforcement of law and discipline.
For them the majesty of the law was as dominant in
the realm of thought as in that of action, as binding
on the worshipper as on the soldier.^
Trajan the adopted son and successor of Nerva
was a man eminently qualified by education and
experience to carry out the plans inaugurated dur-
ing the preceding reign and to restore the Roman
State to its former greatness and power. His schemes
of reorganization and reform naturally revealed to
him the extent and influence of Christianity, and
though he was a man more inclined to clemency
than to harshness, he allowed no opposition to the
laws to go unpunished. He is the first emperor to
whom we can attribute with absolute certainty any
special legislation on the subject of Christianity.
^ Ampere, L* Empire Romain d. Borne, vol. ii, p. 196.
THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE 33
By a rescript given in the year 11 2,^ he settled
definitely the procedure to be followed by magis-
trates in dealing with the followers of Christ. The
occasion of this rescript was a letter 2 addressed to
Trajan by the younger Pliny, who had been sent on
a special mission as direct representative of the
Emperor to restore order in the province of Bi-
thynia-Pontus,3 which was sadly disorganized by the
maladministration and corruption of the proconsuls
who had formerly governed it.
Appreciating the difficidties of the task to which
he was somewhat unwillingly assigned, Pliny ob-
tained from the Emperor permission to consult him
frequently in regard to the details of his administra-
tion.* Among the many difficidties which he sub-
mitted to the judgment of the Emperor, there was
none which caused him graver anxiety than how
to deal with the Christians, who were niunerous not
only in the cities but even in the villages and coun-
try districts,^ and by mere force of numbers had
already become a very troublesome element in social
^ Goyau, Chronologie de V Empire Eomain, p. 185.
2 The authenticity of this letter is now incontestable. Vide
Boissier, Retme Archeologique, 1876, pp. 114-126.
2 "The province which Pliny governed, officially entitled
' Bithynia et Pontus,' was of very wide extent, reaching from the
river Rhyndacos on the West to beyond Amisos on the East."
Ramsay, The Church in the Roman Empire, p. 224.
* Pliny, Epistle 32, bk. x.
^ Neque civitates tantum, sed vicos etiam atque agros super-
stitionis istius contagio pervagata est. Pliny, Epistle 96, bk. x.
34 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
matters and a disturbing influence in some branches
of trade. Tbe temples of the gods were abandoned,
the solemnities of the pagan cult were not observed,
and the sale of fodder for the victims in the temples,
from which a considerable revenue was derived, had
almost ceased.i Accusations were brought against
the Christians as the authors of this state of things,
and Pliny at once took steps to repress them. When
they were brought before him for a trial, he first
asked each one separately whether he was a Chris-
tian, repeating this question three times and threat-
ening severe punishment .^ All who remained un-
shaken in their declarations were put to death,
unless they enjoyed the benefits of Roman citizen-
ship and the right of appeal to Caesar, of which
some availed themselves.^ In the course of the
proceedings difficulties arose because of some new
phases which the cases offered, and because of an
anonymous document which the legate received de-
nouncing many persons as Christians.* Some of
1 Prope jam desolata templa . . . sacra solerania diu inter
missa . . . pastumque victimaruin cujus adhuc rariasimus emptor
inveniebatur. Pliny, Epistle 96, bk. x.
2 Interim in iis, qui ad me tamquam Christiani deferebantur,
hunc sum secutus modum. Interrogavi ipsos an essent Christiani.
Confitentes iterum ac tertio interrogavi, supplicium minatus :
perseverantes duci jussi. Ibid.
3 Fuerunt alii similis amentiae quos quia cives Romani erant,
adnotavi in urbem remittendos. Ibid.
* Propositus est libellus sine auctore multorum nomina con-
tinens. Ibid,
THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE 35
those who were accused denied the charge ; others
at first acknowledged their guilt, but through fear
and because of the threats of the governor they
afterwards contradicted themselves and said they
had been Christians at one time, but had recanted
many years before. All these gave earnest of the
sincerity of their denial by offering libations and
burning incense before the statues of the Emperor,
and by conforming to the pagan ritual.^
These latter cases puzzled the legate. As long
as the culprits openly acknowledged their faith he
knew how to proceed, but when they recanted he
was at a loss as to what course he should follow.
Though he was a lawyer, and had been consul and
praetor, and taken part in many famous trials,^
his practice had all been before the Decemviral
courts,^ and he knew nothing of the methods fol-
lowed in dealing with the Christians.* In his per-
plexity he addressed a letter to the Emperor asking
for instructions on three separate heads : whether the
age of the culprits should be considered ; whether
abjuration merited pardon ; and whether the crime
of the Chi'istians consisted of merely the " name,"
or the criminality implied in the name.^
1 Pliny, Epistle 96, bk. x.
2 Egi magnas et graves causas. Epistle 89, bk. v.
2 In arena nostra, id est apud centuraviros. Epistle 12, bk. v.
* Cognitionibus de Christianis interf u inunquam. Epistle 9('>, bk. x.
^ Sitne aliquoJ Jiscriaieu aetatum an quamlibet teneri nihil a
36 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
Trajan's reply did not contain a specific answer to
each of these three queries, and though evasive in
its tenor, it was sufficient to settle the doubts which
had been set forth by Pliny. The Emperor ap-
proved fuUy of the methods followed by Pliny, and
though he affirmed that no general principle is ap-
plicable to all cases, he laid down the rule that no
search was to be made for the Christians, but when
any of them were brought before the tribunals and
accused openly, not anonymously, they were to be
punished.^ An exception, however, was to be made
in the case of those who recanted and proved their
sincerity by offering worship to the gods.^
This edict settled definitely the jurisprudence
and procedure in regard to Christianity, and was
the principle and rule of action followed by all
magistrates in their treatment of the Christians
during the whole of the second century. The of-
fence and its punishment were clearly defined. The
action of the legate in Bithynia prior to the receipt
of the rescript and the subsequent action of the
robustioribus differant, detur paenitentiae venia an ei, qui om-
nino Christianus fuit, desisse non prosit, nomen ipsum, si flagi-
tiia careat, an flagitia cohaerentia nomini puniantur. Epistle 96,
bk. X.
1 Conquirendi non sunt ; si def erantur et arguantur, puniendi
sunt. Sine auctore vero propositi libelli nullo crimine locum ha-
bere debent. Trajan to Pliny, Epistle 97, bk. x.
2 Qui negaverit se Christianum esse idque re ipsa manifestum
f ecerit, id est supplicando diis nostris . . . veniam ex paenitentia
impetrat. Ibid.
THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE 37
authorities in all parts of the empire showed that
there was no vagueness in the conmiand Puiiiendi
sunt. Henceforth no course was open to a judge
in any tribunal in the Empire but to inflict the
death penalty whenever any one, accused according
to due form of law, refused to abjure the Chris-
tian religion.^
Here arises the important question whether any
law directly and explicitly proscribing Christianity
as a capital offence existed prior to the time of
Trajan. Of late this subject has received a great
deal of attention and study. Mommsen and many
others have taken the position that before the edict
of Decius no direct legislation existed on the sub-
ject of Christianity ,2 and that the plenary powers
possessed by all Roman governors to take whatever
steps they deemed necessary to maintain order and
to safeguard religion entitled them to adopt harsh
methods in suppressing it. This right, the jus
coercitionis, was, according to Monmasen, the basis
of all the actions against the Christians, who were
thus simply dealt with according to the ordinary
1 Duchesne, Les Origines Chritiennes, p. 109.
2 Mommsen, " Der Religionsf revel nach Romischen Recht,"
Historische Zeitschrift, 1890, t. Ixiv, pp. .389-429.
The same article, "Christianity in the Roman Empire," Expos-
itor, 1890, t. viii.
Ramsay, The Church in the Roman Empire, pp. 207-210 ; Expos-
itor, 1893, p. 5, and Hardy, Christianity and the Roman Government^
passim, substantially agree with Mommsen.
38 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
police regulations, which entitled the heads of pro-
vinces to adopt harsh measures, whenever good
order or the public peace seemed to be in danger.
In the opinion of many other writers on this sub-
ject 1 Mommsen's view is altogether too broad, and
while in the main it is correct, it goes back to a
period in Roman law when there was no Jewish
question and no Christian question.^ It is by no
means improbable that at some time prior to the
reign of Trajan, perhaps in the days of Nero, special
edicts were issued against the Christians, who, it was
decreed, were to be treated as dangerous outlaws,
and deserving only of complete extermination. Sul-
picius Severus makes express mention of the fact
that Nero passed laws against the Christians during
the time he was persecuting them.^ Melito of Sar-
dis speaks of decrees of the governors of provinces
1 Duchesne, Bulletin Critique., Nov. 15, 1890 ; Allard, Histoire
des Persecutions pendant les Deux Premiers Siecles, pp. 164-167;
Kneller, " Hat der Roroische Staat das Christenthum verfolgt ? "
Stimmen aus Maria-Laach, vol. Iv, pp. 1 seq. ; Theodor Mommsen,
" Ueber die Christenverfolg'ungen," Ibid. pp. 276 seq.; " Die Mar-
tyrer und das Romische Reeht," Ibid. pp. 34-39 seq.; Batifoll,
" L'Eglise Naissante," Bevue Biblique, 1894, pp. 503 seq. ; Calle-
waert, " Les Premiers Chretiens, f urent-ils persecutes par edits
Generaux ou par Mesures de Police," Bevue d''IIistoire Ecclesias-
tique, Oct. 15, 1901, and January 15, 1902. All these are author-
ities for the belief that special laws existed on the subject of Chris-
tianity from the time of Nero.
2 Duchesne, loc. cit.
^ Post etiam datis legibus religio vetabatur, palamque edictis
propositis Christianos esse non licet. Chron. ii, 29.
THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE 39
which couhl be nothing but instructions or inter-
pretations of existing laws.^ TertuUian in several
passages of his works insists strongly on the iniqui-
tous character of the laws which oppressed his co-
religionists.^ Lactantius relates that the juriscon-
sult Ulpian, prime minister of Alexander Severus,
collected and codified those laws in the seventh book
of his treatise " De Officio Proconsidis." ^ Origen
defends the Christians accused by Celsus as violators
of the laws by saying the laws they transgressed
were " Scythian " in their harshness.
The text and tenor of the laws to which these
authors refer will probably never be known with
absolute certainty. It is remarkable, however, that
Severus,^ Tertullian,^ and Origen '^ when referring
to them use precisely the same expression, Non
licet esse Christianos. The pagan author Lampri-
dius, speaking of the toleration shown to the Chris-
tians by Alexander Severus, says, Christianos esse
^ Melito, in Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastical iv, 26.
2 M. Callewaert, he. cit., has submitted Tertullian's works to a
profound and critical study on this point.
3 Domitius (Ulpian), De officio proconsuUs, libro septimo, re-
scripta principum nefaria coUegit ut doceret quibus poenis affici
oporteret eos qui se cultores Dei confiterentur. Lactantius, Instil.
Div. V. 2.
* Origen, Contra Celsum, i, 1.
5 Ibid.
^ Jam primum cum jure definitis non licet esse vos. Apol. 4.
"^ Decreverunt legibus suis ut non sint Christiani. Ilom. 9, in
40 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
passus est^ A strong reason for holding that this
was official language is found in the fact that the
decree of Galerius putting an end to the persecu-
tions against the Christians began with the words,
Denuo sint Christiani? The similarity of the lan-
guage employed by so many writers of different
periods leads to the conviction that they all bor-
rowed from a common source. The use of exactly
the same terms can scarcely be a mere coincidence.
It allows of no alternative but the supposition that
they were all acquainted with the law couched in
Eoman brevity, Non licet esse Christianos.^ The
vague and general character of such a law neither
fully defining the crime nor indicating any regular
procedure will readily explain the difficulty which
Pliny experienced in executing it.*
Neither the fear of death nor the incentive to
apostasy in Trajan's legislation seemed to have had
any appreciable effect on the rapid spread of Chris-
tianity, or to have caused any diminution in the num-
ber of martyrs. Nor did Pliny's letter exculpating
the Christians from all suspicion of wrongdoing ^
1 Judaeis privilegia reservavit, Christianos esse passus est. Alex.
Sev. 22.
2 Lactantius, De Mortibus Persec. 34.
^ Cf. Gaston Boissier, "La Lettre de Pline au sujet des Chre-
tiens," Revile ArcMologique, 1876, pp. 114-126, for the matter of
this whole passage.
* La r^ponse de Trajan n'^tait pas une loi, mais elle supposait
des lois et en fixait I'interpr^tation. Renan, Les Evangiles, p. 483.
^ Adfirmabant (Christiani) . . . se sacramento non in scelus ali-
THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE 41
put a stop to the calumnies directed against them.^
As the church gained in numbers and influence the
hatred of the pagans became more intense and their
slanders more virident. The pagans banded them-
selves togfether to resist the encroachments of the
new religion. The worst passions of the populace
were aroused. Mob violence took the place of legal
repression and tumults broke out every day in all
parts of the Empire. Riotous crowds assailed the
proconsuls of the different provinces, demanding
that the Christians be put to death and their reli-
gion extirpated. The Emperor Hadrian was ap-
prised of this state of things by the reports sent him
by the proconsuls. One of these, Licinius Grani-
anus, the governor of Asia, deploring the injustice
done the Christians and regretting the violence to
which they had been subjected, went almost as far
as suggesting the revocation of all laws against
them. 2
St. Justin has preserved Hadrian's rescript in an-
swer to this report. For some reason the Emperor
delayed his reply, and it was addressed not to
Granianus but to his successor, Minicius Fundanus.^
quod obstringere, sed ne furta, ne latrocinia, ne adulteria commit-
terenL, ne fidem fallerent, ne depositum appellati abnegarent. —
Nihil aliud inveni quam superstitionera pravam, immodicara.
Epistle 96, bk. x.
1 Compare the works of the Apologists, Justin, etc.
2 Vide, Eusebius, Chronicon, Olymp. 226.
8 St Justin, Apol i, 68.
42 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
The new rescript was substantially the same as
that of Trajan and added nothing to the existing
legislation. While studiously avoiding all mention of
what constituted the crime in the case, the Emperor
declared it was his intention that innocent persons
should not be molested and that informers should
have no opportunities to exercise their villainy.
If the provincials wished to bring charges against
the Christians, they must do so in the open courts,
and not by petitions and tumultuous outbreaks which
the governors were charged to suppress. In the
courts proof should be given that the Christians had
violated the laws. If it was not forthcoming, and if
the accuser failed to establish his case, he must be
punished for calumny. The sole concern of the
Emperor was that public order should be preserved
and the laws strictly enforced.^ He desired to con-
fine judicial action on the subject of Christianity
within the limits laid down by his predecessor, but
strangely enough, and perhaps advertently, his re-
script makes no allusion to the subject of religion.
This is quite in keeping with what we know of the
religious temper of the Emperor and his attitude
towards Christianity. His interest in the religions
of the Empire arose solely from political motives.
These two were so closely linked that he knew they
would stand or fall together. Personally he had
1 AUard, Le Christianisme et VEmpire Bomain, p. 42.
THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE 43
the profoundest contempt for the national gods.
In his roamings back and forth through the Em-
pire he constructed those inscriptionless temples
without images which, because they were dedicated
to no divinity, and for want of a better name, were
known as Hadrianic.^ He despised all religions, and
saw in the conflicts of the sects nothing but a sub-
ject for mirth and raillery. In a biting, epigram-
matic letter ^vritten in a fit of pique from Alexan-
dria to his brother-in-law Servianus he showed his
contempt for Paganism and Christianity alike.
" Here," he says, " the worshippers of Serapis are
Christians, and they who call themselves bishops of
Christ worship Serapis. Every archisynagogus of
the Jews, every Samaritan, and every Christian
presbyter is an astrologer, a soothsayer, or a quack
doctor." 2 He saw no danger to the stability of the
State in Christianity itself, and with lofty disdain
he sneered at all the religions, saying, " They have
one god, Money, worshipped alike by Christian,
Jew, and Gentile." ^
1 Qui (Hadrianus) templa in omnibus civitatibus sine simulacris
jusserat fieri, quae hodieque idcirco, quia non habent numina,
dicuntur Hadriani. Lampridius, Vita Alex. Sever, c. 43.
'^ Illic qui Serapem colunt, Christiani sunt et devoti sunt Serapi,
qui se Christi episcopos dicunt, nemo illic archisynagogus Judae-
orum, nemo Samarites, nemo Christian orum presbyter non mathe-
maticus, non haruspex, non aliptes. Vopiscus, Vita Saturnini, c. 8.
3 Unus illis deus nummus est, hunc Christiani, hunc Judaei,
hunc omnes venerantur et gentes. Ibid.
44 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
The popular outbreaks which marked the reign
of Hadrian continued during the reign of his suc-
cessor, Antoninus Pius,i and occasioned fresh re-
scripts on the subject of Christianity. Antoninus
introduced no change in the laws, and contented
himself with maintaining the procedure inaugurated
by Trajan. In the letters he addressed to the
Larissaeans, Thessalonians, Athenians, and the
Greek cities in general ^ he condemned strongly the
riotous action of the people and refused to allow
it to take the place of regular legal proceedings.
This ordinance, simply a confirmation of Hadrian's
rescript requiring legal proof of the guilt alleged
against the Christians, shows that in the mind of
the Emperor, the judicial system of persecution
still in force was a sufficient guarantee against the
dangers and encroachments of Christianity.^
In spite of the comparative leniency of these
Emperors, and the formal legal procedure which
they insisted on, the situation of the Christians
during the entire period was one of extreme danger.
The risk of being denounced and dragged before
the tribunals hung over their heads at aU times,
^ For the causes of these outbreaks, cf . Ramsay, The Church in
the. Boman Empire before A. D. 170, pp. 326, 327, 332.
^ These letters are mentioned by Melito in an apology ad-
dressed to Marcus Aurelius, a fragment of which is preserved by
Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica, iv, 26.
^ Cf. Ramsay, loc. cit. p. 331.
THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE 45
and the death penalty awaited them in case they
persevered in the profession of their faith. Though
the law required that whoever accused a Christian
should substantiate his charge by proof in the courts,
the whole course of the proceedings in the second
century shows that this ordinance was constantly
violated. The existence of such a statute, however,
had a tendency to check the wholesale denunciation
of the Christians and to repress the activity of in-
formers. For, besides the popular hatred for dela-
tores in general, and the fear which the Christians
inspired in many places by mere numbers, the in-
former ran the risk of severe punishment if he
failed to make good his accusation. This danger was
especially to be feared in cases brought against the
Christians, to whom recantation always offered a
loophole for escape.
Instances are not wanting to show that the gov-
ernors of some provinces found the execution of the
laws against the Christians extremely difficult or
distastefid. In a letter written to Scapula, proconsul
of Africa, demanding that he should exercise less
cruelty in his dealings with the Christians, Tertul-
lian mentions several cases of this kind. Among
them is that of Arrius Antoninus, proconsul of Asia,
whose severity aroused the Christians to such a
pitch of desperation that they presented themselves
in a body before his tribunal one day, asking that
46 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
they should all instantly be executed. The procon-
sul sentenced some of them and dismissed the
others saying, " Wretched men, if you wish to die,
you have precipices and halters." Quite different
is the case of Cincius Severus, who suggested such
answers to the Christian prisoners as would lead to
their acquittal. Asper openly expressed his disgust
with such cases, and refused to compel a Christian
prisoner who had recanted under torture to offer
sacrifice. Others resisted the clamors of the mob,
as Vespronius Candidus, who declared such tumults
illegal, and Pudens, who refused to try a case with-
out the presence of a formal accuser, as to do so
would be a violation of the commands of the Em-
peror.i
Isolated cases such as these, however, extending
over a whole century, do not prove that the laws
were allowed to fall into abeyance as a general rule,
or that the position of the Christians was more se-
cure because of the reluctance of some governors
to execute the will of the mob. The Christians
themselves were keenly alive to the precarious po-
sition they held in the eyes of the law. Time after
time they protested against the injustice to which
they were subjected. Commencing with the reign
of Hadrian, a long line of apologists addressed letters
to the Emperors in their defence, pleading for some
^ Tertullian, Ad Scapulam, cc. iv, v.
THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE 47
mitigation of the burdens under which they labored.
The aim of the apologists, from Quadratus and Ar-
istides i to Tertullian, was not to obtain any change
in the legislation. They demanded that such mod-
ifications be introduced into the procedure followed
by the magistrates as would ensure for the Chris-
tians a fair trial on specific charges, and constantly
complained that the Christians were condemned for
the mere name without any proof that they were
guilty of crime or wrongdoing. To strengthen their
plea for justice, the apologists did not confine them-
selves to the legal aspects of the case. They repelled
the accusations made against Christianity, and re-
futed the calumnies and slanders so industriously cir-
culated among the people, by explaining the teaching
of the Church, and showing its high moral tone and
the loyalty of all its members to the State and Em-
perors.
What impression these apologies made on the
Emperors, and whether they affected public opinion
in any way, will perhaps always remain a matter of
conjecture. The action of the Antonines in refusing
to have the charges against the Christians investi-
gated and in adhering to the rule laid down by
Trajan might be considered a proof that they placed
no credence in the accusations to which they were
1 Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica, iv, 3; Harris, The Apology
of Aristides, Cambridge, 1891.
48 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
forced to listen. It is significant, however, that an
active literary and intellectual opposition to Chris-
tianity manifested itself at this epoch. The preva-
lence of Christian ideas rendered it impossible for
the pagans to ignore any longer the intellectual
force in the Christian teaching. Crescens, the
philosopher, disputed openly with St. Justin in
Rome;i Fronto, the rhetorician and preceptor of
Marcus Aurelius, attacked the Christians in a pub-
lic discourse ; ^ Lucian, the satirist, held them up
to ridicule as a set of credulous fanatics ; ^ and
Celsus, in a leng-thy work entitled the True Word,*
showing a most intimate acquaintance with Chris-
tianity, employed all his skill as a dialectician in
gathering together the calumnies and arguments
which he hoped would make the acceptance of
Christianity by his fellow-pagans, or the toleration
of it by the Roman authorities, an impossibility.
The era of the Antonines was especially favor-
able to a literary propaganda against a new reli-
gion. Greek philosophy, notwithstanding the pre-
judice and opposition it encountered in the days of
Cicero and Seneca, had gradually extended its sway
over the best minds in the Empire, until it finally
^ Justin, Second Apology., chap. 3.
2 Minucius Felix, Octavius, cc. 9, 31.
^ Dialogues, especially.
* Origen, Contra Celsum. Keim, Celsus Wahres Wort, Zurich,
1873, has attempted a reconstruction of this work.
THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE 49
reached the throne in the person of Marcus Aure-
lius.^ There was too, at this time, a revival of old
Roman customs, a Renaissance political as well as
literary, but the long peace from the death of Domi-
tian to the reign of Marcus, which made this period
the most happy and prosperous in the history of
the world,2 had introduced a taste for ease and lux-
ury which unfitted men for the serious occupations
of life. The heathen themselves were conscious of
the degeneracy of the age, and the attempted resto-
ration was a failure. Superstition and scepticism
took the place of religion, while philosophy gave
way to rhetoric.3 The widespread corruption and
licentiousness were gradually undermining the last
vestiges of ancient virtue and morality. The reign
of Marcus Aurelius marks the end of the old
Roman world.^ The long period of tranquillity
which the State had enjoyed was ended by a series
of unprecedented calamities and disasters.^ Foreign
and civil wars, earthquakes, inundations, famine,
and pestilence brought sorrow and suffering to
every part of the Empire and filled the public mind
1 Boissier, La Religion Romaine, vol. ii, p. 93.
2 Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire^ chap. iii.
3 Boissier, loc. cit. p. 105.
* Renan, Marc-Aurele et la Jin du Monde Antique, Preface, p. ii.
La mort de Marc-Aur61e peut d'ailleurs gtre consid^rde comme
marquant la fin de la civilization antique.
^ Julius Capitolinus, Vita Marci Antonii, cc. 8, 11, 13, 17, 21,
22, 24.
50 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
with terror and foreboding. The terrified and
superstitious masses saw in these misfortunes a
manifestation of the anger of their gods, whose fa-
vor had been alienated by the Christian atheists.^
These open and avowed enemies of the national
deities were the authors of all the calamities the
people suffered, and the fanatic terror of the mob
dictated they should be offered as victims to ap-
pease and propitiate the outraged deities. Chris-
tianos ad hones seemed to promise relief from all
evils and became the cry of the fear-stricken pagans.
The philosopher Emperor was not superior to pop-
ular superstition. Yielding to the clamors of the
people, he issued new rescripts, which reversed the
policy of his predecessors and inaugurated a new
era in the persecutions.^ The text of this rescript
no longer exists. Sufficient evidence is found in
contemporary writings, however, to prove what its
tenor was.^ The Christians, it was commanded,
should be sought out and punished. In order to
make the pursuit more active and effective, it was
decreed that the informers should be rewarded
from the property of the condemned. The stimulus
1 Tertullian, Apology, 40 ; Ad Nationes, 1, 9.
2 Melito, in Eusebius, Historia Ecdesiastica, iv, 26.
3 Celsus; Orig-en, Contra Celsum, viii, 69; Melito, loc. cit. ;
Athenagoras, Legatio pro Christian! s, c. 1, says the Christians
were harassed, plundered, and persecuted. The Acts of the mar-
tyrs (Lyons and Vienne, and Justin) show that the Christians
were " sought out."
THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE 51
offered to violence and rapacity by this decree made
the persecution under Marcus more severe than
any that had preceded it. At this time the apolo-
gist Justin, and the martyrs of Lyons and Vienne,
whose sufferings are told in the touching letter
addressed to the churches of Asia and Phrygia,
became victims of pagan malice and barbarity.
When Marcus Aurehus, dying of the plague, re-
proached his friends for weeping for him instead of
thinking about the pestilence and the general mis-
ery ,i there was nothing, perhaps, that caused him
greater anguish of spirit than the character of the
man who was to succeed him on the throne. It is
recorded that he wished for the death of Commo-
dus, in whom he saw traits that promised a return
of the worst days of Nero, Caligula, and Domitian.2
The dire forebodings of the dying Emperor were
fulfilled. The brutal and degenerate Commodus
so disgraced the imperial purple that one is in-
clined to believe the historian who calls this child
of the wayward Faustina the son of a gladiator.^
1 Capitolinus, Vita Marci Aur. ch. 28. Quid de me fletis et
non magis de pestilentia et communi morte cogitatis ?
When he was asked to whom he would commend his son, he
answered, " Vobis si dignus fuerit et diis immortalibus." Ihid.
2 Fertur filium mori voluisse, cum eum talem videret futurum,
quaUs exstitit post ejus mortem, ne, ut ipse dicebat, similis Ne-
roni, Caligixlae et Domitiano esset. Ihid.
^ Aiunt quidam, quod et verisimile videtur, Commodum Anto-
ninum . . . non esse de eo natum sed de adulterio. Ibid., ch. 19.
52 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
Wholly immersed in the degrading sports of the
arena, and caring nothing for the national gods,
he was incapable of devoting himself to delicate
questions either of state or of religion. No new
edicts were issued, but the laws enacted in previ-
ous reigns were still in force, and the Christians
were as much as ever exposed to persecution by
hostile governors. The Emperor himself does not
seem to have been personally hostile to the Chris-
tians, and tolerated the presence of large numbers
of them at his court.^ His favorite Marcia ob-
tained from Pope Victor a list of the Christians
condemned to exile in the mines of Sardinia, and
so influenced Commodus in their favor that he gave
orders for their liberation.^
The civil wars, caused by the conflicts among
the claimants for the throne after the death of
Commodus, transformed completely the social and
political condition of the Roman world. The nar-
row aristocratic spirit of the ruling class disap-
peared entirely before the growing sense of union
and equality among the different peoples in the
Empire. Caracalla broke down the distinction
between Roman and barbarian, between conquered
and rulers, by extending the rights of Roman citi-
zenship to all the free inhabitants of the Roman
1 Irenaeus, Adv. Haer. iv, 30.
2 Philosophumena, ix, 7.
THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE 53
dominions.! The changed tone of the period is
most noticeable in the wearers of the purple. Dur-
ing the whole of the third century the destinies
of Eome were controlled by men who owed their
elevation to the throne to military genius or the
capricious will of the soldiers. Dynasties changed
as frequently as rulers. None of the many ad-
venturers who attained imperial honors succeeded
in establishing an hereditary succession. In this
condition of things there was no possibility of
any continuity of policy in regard to the internal
affairs of the State. After the Senate, the one
element of conservatism, had been shorn of its
authority by Septimius Severus, all the power in
the Empire centred in the man who retained the
good will of the legions.^
For the Christians the turmoil in the Empire
and the frequent changes of dynasty were a source
of security and strength. The Africans, Syrians,
Arabs, and Thracians, who successively wielded the
sceptre, had no sympathy with the traditions nor
reverence for the gods of Rome. For some of them
it would have been as easy and natural to accept
the teaching of the gospel as to become worshippers
at the shrine of Jupiter or Janus. Septimius Seve-
rus was the first of these military despots. In the
1 Ulpian, Digest, i, 5, 17.
* Gibbon, Decline and Fall, chap. v.
54 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
beginning of his reign he was favorably disposed
towards Christianity, and is even said to have been
its defender and protector.^ His son Caracalla had
a Christian nurse, while the Emperor himself owed
his life to a Christian slave, Proculus, who cured
him of some malady by anointing him with oil.^ A
further reason for treating the Christians with
leniency may be found in the fact that during the
conflicts for the throne they wisely abstained from
taking sides with either Claudius, Niger, or Albinus.^
The good will of the Emperor, however, did not
lead him to revoke the laws against the Christians,
or to discountenance the circulation of the most
atrocious slanders against them. Severus spent
little time in Kome.* The greater part of his life
as emperor was passed in the East. During a visit
to Palestine in the year 202 he promulgated a new
edict, which forbade any one to become a Jew under
severe penalties, a prohibition which he also ex-
tended to Christian converts.
^ Sed et clarissimas feminas et clarissimos viros Severus sciens
Lujus sectae esse, non modo non laesit varum et testirnonio exor-
navit, et populo furenti in nos palam restitit. Tertullian, Ad
Scapulam, iv.
2 Ibid.
3 Tertullian, Apol. c. 35; De Idololatria, 15.
* Schiller, Geschichte der Ito7nischen Kaiserzeit, vol. i, pt. 2, pp.
705 seq.
^ In itinere Palaestinis plurima jura f undavit. Judaeos fieri sub
gravi poena vetuit, idem etiam de Christianis sanxit. Spartianus,
Vita Severi, c. 16.
THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE 55
Many reasons can be assigned for the change of
attitude on the part of Severus : the rapid spread
of Christianity counteracting the work of the uni-
fication of the Empire ; ^ the influence of the Em-
peror's Syrian wife, Julia Domna ; ^ or more prob-
ably the maledictory and threatening tone noticeable
in the apocalyptic literature which emanated so
abundantly from Christian and Jewish sources at
this time.3 The belief in the millennium still pre-
vailed, and consequently many Christians were not
averse to looking on the disasters and the confusion
of the times as forerunners of the abolition of pa-
ganism and the dissolution of the Roman Empire.
Besides, the Christians themselves were beginning
to chafe under the severities practised against them,
and notwithstanding the frequent protestations of
loyalty which Tertullian makes, there is evident in
some parts of his writing a tone of menace which
leads to the conclusion that in some quarters the
doctrine of passivity was losing force.*
According to a theory proposed by De Rossi,
which for a long time met with general approval,
none of the reforms introduced by the successors
of the Antonines had a more important bearing on
1 Duchesne, Les Origines Chrkiennes, chap. 23.
2 Philostratus, who attempted to set up a heathen Christ, was
one of her prot^gds.
3 Cf. Milman, History of Latin Christianity, chap. vii.
* Apd. c. o7 ; Ad Bcapulam, e. 5.
56 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
the developing and strengthening of Christianity
than the decree of Septimius Severus, which ex-
tended to the people of the provinces the right pos-
sessed by the inhabitants of Eome under a law of
the first century to form funeral societies or burial
clubs.^ Through this law people of the poorer
classes were allowed to organize such clubs without
special authorization from the Senate, in order to
secure for themselves by small monthly contribu-
tions a decent funeral and a final resting-place.^
By the same law, those who organized such a so-
ciety had the right to hold property in common, to
have a common treasury, to be represented by an
actor or syndic, and to receive gifts and legacies.^
In the opinion of De Rossi the Christians took this
opportunity of acquiring a legal corporate existence
by being enrolled as a funeral society.* There was
1 Permittitur tenuibus stipem menstruam, conferre dum tamen
semel in mense coeant conf erendi causa ; sed religionis causa coire
non prohibentur, dum tamen per hoc non fiat contra Senatus con-
sultum quo illicita collegia arcentur . . . quod non tantum in Urbe
sed in Italia et in provinciis locum habere divus quoque Severus
rescripsit. Digest, xlvii, 22, 1.
2 By the Lex Julia Augustus suppressed the collegia and laid
down new conditions for the formation of burial clubs, among
which was the express permission of the Senate, C. I. L. vi, 2193.
Compare Waltzing, Etude Historique sur les Corporations Profes-
sionnelles chez les Romains, tom. i, p. 267.
^ Digest, iii, 4, 1.
4 De Rossi, Bull, di Arch. Cris. 1864, pp. 57 seq. ; 1865, p. 90;
1866, pp. 11, 22 ; 1870, pp. 35-36; 1877, p. 25 ; 1885, pp. 83-84;
Rom. Sott. tom. i, pp. 161, 209, 210; tom. ii, pp. 8 seq., 370
THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE 57
no reason why they should not do so. Such a simple
way of avoiding conflict with the laws and of pro-
tecting their burial places would very naturally com-
mend itself to the persecuted followers of Christ.
The many striking resemblances between these
collegia tetiulonan^ and the Christian Church
woidd make this legal fiction less objectionable.
Like the pagan societies, the Christians had a com-
mon fund supported by monthly contributions,^
out of which they provided for the decent inter-
ment of their dead associates ^ and the construc-
tion and mamtenance of their cemeteries. In one
case as in the other the society was largely re-
cruited from among the ranks of the poor and
lowly, from artisans and slaves. The custom in
the collegia tenuiorum of electing the leaders by
general suffrage prevailed also to a certain extent
among the Christians.^ The holding of meetings
seq. See, also, Northcote and Brownlow, Rom. Sott. vol. i ; Al-
lard, Histoire des Persecutions, vol. ii, c. i ; Le Christianisme et
V Empire Eomain, pp. 76-89 ; Boissier, " Les Chretiens devant la
legislation Romaine," Revue des Deux Mondes, April 15, 1876;
Religion Romaine, torn, ii, pp. 300-306 ; Waltzing, loc. cit. torn, i,
pp. 149-153 ; Neumann, Der Romische Staat und die AUgemeine
Eirche, vol. i, p. 101.
1 Called by Mommsen, " fnneraticia," a name unknown to tbe
ancients. Waltzing, loc. cit. torn, i, 143.
2 Modicam unusquisque stipem menstrua die, vel cum velit ; et
si modo velit et si raodo possit apponit. Tertullian, Apol. c. 39.
8 Ibid.
* Praesident probati quique seniores, honorem istum non
pretio, sed testimonio adepti. Ibid.
58 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
on certain anniversaries and of congregating fre-
quently for religious purposes was common to both.^
The pagans honored their dead by feasts and ban-
quets,2 the Christians celebrated the agape in their
assemblies. The first deacon among the Christians
corresponded to the syndic among the pagans in
that both were charged with the administration of
the temporal affairs of their respective societies.^
There would of course be something repugnant
to the Christians in the pagan name collegium^ and
hence they preferred to be known as the Ecclesia
Fratrum, Fratres, Fraternitas, Sodales Fratres,
'AB€k(fiOL/AS€Xcl)6Trj<;^ names which are found on in-
scriptions dating from a period earlier than the
time of Constantine.* Presumably in imitation of
the pagan custom of forming clubs under the pat-
ronage of some deity, the members of which were
known as Cultores Jovis, Cultores Hercuhs, etc.,^
a certain Christian who founded a cemetery for
his brethren at Caesarea called himself a cultor
VERBi.^ The description of the Church given by
1 Waltzing, torn, i, p. 295.
2 Ibid. torn, i, p. 488 ; torn, iv, p. 675.
S Ibid. torn, i, p. 395 ; torn, ii, pp. 446, 468.
4 De Rossi, Bom. Soft torn, iii, pp. 37-42, 507, 573 ; BuHetina^
1877, pp. 47-49. Compare Waltzing, loc. cit. torn, i, p. 151.
5 Waltzing, loc. cit. torn, i, pp. 37, 47, 260-265.
^ Aream ad sepulclira cultor Verbi contulit et eellam struxit
suis cunctis sumptibus. Ecclesiae Sanetae hanc reliqnit memo-
riam. Ecclesia fratrum hunc restituit titulum. Vide De Rossi,
THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE 59
Tertullian, showing its resemblance in many salient
features to the burial clubs of the pagans, was, it
was conjectured, drawn with a view to proving
that the Church had a legal right to existence
under the form of a burial society.^ These strik-
ing analogies, taken in connection with the fact
that the Church first appears as the corporate
owner of property precisely at the time when
funeral associations were being multiplied in the
Roman world under the wider liberty granted by
Severus, convinced De Rossi that the Christians
took advantage of this act to obtain a legal footing
in the Empire.^ Another argument in support of
this theory was found in the fact that the names
of the Popes in the Philocalian Catalogue, drawn
up about 336, and the lists of the " depositions " of
bishops and martyrs added to this catalogue, must
have been borrowed in great part from the records
of the urban prefect rather than from the Church
archives, thus proving that there existed in the
prefecture a register in which it was thought the
popes had been enrolled as heads (^actores, syndici)
of the ecdesia fratrum in Rome.^ Recent writers,
Bvlletino, 1864, p. 28 ; Bom. Sott. torn, i, pp. 96, 107 ; Waltzing,
loc, cit. torn, i, 213.
1 Apol. c. .39.
2 Waltzing, loc. cit. vol. i, p. 151 ; Dnchesne, Les Origines
Chrkiennes, loc. cit. ; Allard, Hist, des Persecutions, vol. ii, p. 9 ;
Boissier, La Beligion Romaine, vol. ii, p. 300.
8 Bom. Sott. torn, ii, pp. 6-9 ; Duchesne, loc. cit.
60 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
however, foUowing in the wake of Duchesne, have
abandoned this theory altogether, or content them-
selves with regarding it as an unproved hypothesis.
In the first place, it is pointed out that the right
which the Christians undoubtedly possessed at the
beginning of the third century of holding property
in common may with equal plausibility be regarded
as a concession due to the tolerance of such an
emperor as Commodus. And in the second place,
if the Christians had accepted this legal fiction, it
is difficult to understand the attitude of Tertul-
lian ^ and St. Cyprian ^ towards such societies, or
to explain how the police would have shut their
eyes to such manifest evasion or perversion of the
law. More difficult still is it to understand how
the Christians of Home, Antioch, Alexandria, or
Carthage, whose numbers in these cities must have
been between thirty and fifty thousand, could have
prevailed on the public authorities to permit them
to enroll themselves as a burial club when such
clubs usually consisted of a small number of poor
persons. " Is it possible to imagine St. Fabian, St.
Cyprian, or St. Denis of Alexandria, presenting
himself at the prefecture to be registered as the
head of a coUege of Cultores Verbi, consisting of
50,000 members banded together to procure proper
interment? It is more easy to believe that if the
1 Apol c. 39. 2 Ep. 67.
THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE 61
Church enjoyed a long interval of peace after the
death of Marcus Aurelius, and was allowed to hold
property apparent to everybody and of consider-
able value, it was because it was tolerated or even
openly recognized without any legal fiction as a
church or rehgious society." If the names of the
Popes were enrolled in the public registers, this
merely proves that they were recognized as the
heads of the Church, but by no means that they
were regarded as chiefs or syndics of burial clubs.
This negative view is still further strengthened by
the fact that no written records contain any sus-
picion or evidence of legal fictions, titles to pro-
perty, or burial societies.^
The policy pursued by Septimius Severus for
the repression of Christianity was continued by his
successor Caracalla for about two years, after wliich
the persecution came to an end.^ From this time
until the reign of Decius, a period of nearly forty
years, the Church enjoyed peace broken only by
a short outbreak during the reign of Maximin.
These were years of chaos for the Roman State.
Caesarism and militarism had destroyed public
spirit, and the last vestiges of national pride van-
ished when Elagabalus, a priest of the Syrian Sun-
1 Duchesne, Les Origines Chr^tiennes, chap. 23, sec. 4 ; Lowrie,
Monuments of the Early Church, pp. 58-61.
2 Milman, History of Latin Christianity, chap. viii.
62 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
god, was raised to the throne.^ The black conical
stone worshipped at Emesa as a symbol of the sun
was transferred in solemn procession to Eome and
installed in a magnificent temple on the Palatine.^
It is not to be wondered at, that popular antipathy
to the Christians diminished when the Emperor
attempted to make the worship of this god the
centre of all religions, and when, in furtherance of
his scheme for a universal religion which included
Jews, Samaritans, and even Christians, he trans-
ferred to the temple of Heliogabalus the most
sacred symbols of the gods of Rome.^
The syncretism of the next Emperor, Alexander
Severus, took a somewhat different form. While he
honored and respected all the gods of the Empire,
domestic * and foreign,^ his lararium^ in which he
offered his private devotions, contained, together
with the statues of Abraham, Orpheus, and Apollo-
nius of Tyana, a bust of the Founder of the Chris-
tian religion.^ The devotion and rectitude of Alex-
ander, and certainly the success of his reign, were
due in large measure to the influence of his mother,
^ Aelius Lampridius, Vita Antonini Heliogabali, c. 1.
2 Ibid. c. 2. 3 if)i^^
* Aelius Lampridius, Vita Alexandria c. 43 : Capitolium sep-
timo quoque die, cum in urbe asset, aseendit, templa frequentavit.
^ Ibid. c. 26. Isium et Serapium decanter ornavit additis sig-
nis et deliacis et omnibus mysticis.
6 Ibid. c. 29.
THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE G3
Mammaea,^ who, during a sojourn in Antioch, had
conversed with and received instructions from the
great Origen.^ Notwithstanding the fact that the
laws against Christianity were codified during his
reign, 3 Alexander showed the greatest toleration to
the followers of Christ,* large numbers of whom
were ever present at his court .^ He evinced his ad-
miration for the Christian custom of publicly pro-
posing the names of candidates for ordination by
insisting that the same method should be followed
in appointing provincial governors,^ and he went so
far as to recognize the right of the Christians to hold
property by awarding to them a piece of land to
which a body of victuallers laid claim, saying that
it was '' better that this land should be devoted to
the worship of God in any form than that it should
be diverted to profane uses." ^
1 Lampridius, loc. cit. c, 26. In matrera Mammaeam unlce
plus fuit.
- Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica, vi, 21.
^ Lact. bk. V, c. 2. Ut doeeret, quibus oportet eos poenis
affici, qui se cultores Dei confiterentur.
* Lampridius, loc. cit. c. 22, Judaeis privilegia reservavit,
Christianos esse passus est.
^ Eusebius, loc. cit. vi, 28.
^ Lampridius, loc. cit. c. 45. Dicebat grave esse, cum id Chris-
tiani et Judaei facerent in praedieandis sacerdotlbus, qui or-
dinandi sunt, non fieri in provinciarum rectoribus, quibus et fortu-
nae hominum committerentur et capita.
^ Ibid. c. 49. Cum Christiani quemdam locum, qui publicus
fuerat occupassent, contra popinarii dicerent sibi eum deberi, re-
scripsit melius esse, ut quemadmodumcumque illic deua colatur
quam popinariis dodatur.
64 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
The peace which the Church enjoyed under Alex-
ander Severus was rudely interrupted by his suc-
cessor, Maximinus, a rude barbarian from Thrace
whom the soldiers elevated to the purple. The fact
that the Christians had enjoyed the friendship of
his predecessor afforded Maximinus sufficient rea-
son for persecuting them.^ In order quickly and
effectively to destroy Christianity, he directed his
attacks against the heads of the Church; but
death intervened to prevent more than the partial
accomplishment of his purpose. Under the Gor-
dians there was a return to the policy of Alexander
Severus, and the Christians once more tasted the
sweets of tranquillity. The reign of Philip the
Arab, who is said to have been the first Christian
Emperor,2 was uneventful for the Christians, and
remarkable in Roman annals principally from the
celebration of the Saccular Games in commemoration
of the thousandth anniversary of the foundation of
Rome.
This long peace could end only in a violent
storm. With the uninterrupted growth and thor-
1 Eusebius, Historia Ecchsiastica, vi, 28.
2 Eusebius, vi, 34 ; Chron. Olymp. S56. Primus omnium ex
Romanis imperatoribus Christianus fuit. Among modern histori-
ans this is still an open question ; Allard (Hist, de Persec. vol. ii,
chap. 6) and Duchesne [Les Origines Chretiennes, chap. 28, sec. i),
maintain the affirmative ; Neumann, Der Romische Staat und die
Allegemeine Kirche, vol. i, pp. 246-260, the negative.
THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE 65
ough organization of the Church all its latent hos-
tility to the old order was fully developed. Although
the interaction between Paganism and Christianity
during more than two centuries of contact had pro-
duced a certain approximation of doctrine and ritual,
the line of demarcation between them was still too
plainly marked, and the opposition too intense, to
offer any hope that the day of final reckoning could
be long deferred. The tendency to religious syn-
cretism, which was a necessary outgrowth of the
formation of the Empire, had by the middle of
the third century reached its culmination, and the
national deities were almost entirely superseded by
foreign gods. The last blow to the predominance
of the purely Roman cultus was administered by
the Oriental emperors. It is probable that the
world never saw such a flood of superstition, never
so many soothsayers, charlatans, astrologers, sellers
of charms, philtres, and amulets as appeared at this
time. Men lived in constant dread of the demons
and hobgoblins which filled the earth and air, and
which could be prevented from exercising their
malicious tricks only by the use of constant incan-
tations and the wearing of charms and amulet s.^
All this extravagance and folly was merely a sign
of the spiritual unrest of the period and the desire
1 Cf . Gasket, " Le Culte et le3 Myst^res de Mithra," Revue
des Deux Mondes, April, 1899.
66 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
to satisfy the acute craving of a newly aroused re-
ligious consciousness. The soul was a prey to the
torments of the unknown ; it suffered from the bit-
terness of guilt and aspired for salvation. Hence the
widespread popularity of the various mysteries, and
the lustrations and expiations of the dread Tauro-
bolia and Kriobolia.i The Egyptian and Oriental
religions profited most by this spiritual ferment.
Serapis, Osiris, and Anubis, whose statues had been
broken and whose altars had been thrown down by
the Consul Gabinius in the last days of the Republic,
gradually received new adherents until they were
adored wherever the Romans set up their standards.^
The worship of the Persian god of light, Mithra,
whose name was hardly known in Italy before the end
of the first century,^ took such a hold on the minds
^ The Taurobolium and Kriobolium were common to the mys-
teries of Mithra and Cybele. This rite was a kind of pagan bap-
tism, in which the novice, dressed in symbolic garments and placed
in a sort of trench covered with boards, was purified through the
blood of bulls or rams. These animals were sacrificed on the boards
which covered the trench or vault, and the novice received as
ranch as he could of the blood which dropped through the cracks
and holes, stretching out his arms and receiving the saving drops
in his eyes, ears, and mouth. He had to wear his bloody garments
for some time afterwards, and considered himself eternally regen-
erated, in aeternum renatus, and restored to the condition of primi-
tive purity. The words in aeternum renatus occur in inscription
C. I. L. vi, 510. Cf . Gasguet, loc. cit. ; Sayou, " Le Taurobole,"
Mev. de VHist. des Religions, 1887.
^ Vide Laf aye, Histoire du Culte des Divinites d^Alezandrie hors
de VEgypte, pp. 45, 162.
^ Cumont, " La Propagation des Myst6res de Mithra dans I'Em-
THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE 67
of the people that in the opinion of Harnack it be-
came in the third century the most powerful rival
of Christianity.! The growing importance of Chris-
tianity as a religious factor is evident from the ex-
tent to which it penetrated the thought and life of the
Empire and the influence it exercised on Paganism
itself. This power manifested itself first in tho
growth and spread of Gnosticism, which, if it was
a " Hellenizing of Christianity," was not the less
an acute Christianizing of Hellenic and Oriental
speculations.2 The same influence is shown in the
rise and growth of Neo-Platonism, which was, as
Schaff says, " a direct attempt of the more intelli-
gent and earnest heathenism to rally all its nobler
energies, especially the forces of Hellenic and Ori-
ental mysticism, and to found a universal religion,
a pagan counterpart of Christianity." ^ Not less
dominant was the power which Christianity ex-
ercised over the rites and ceremonies of the newer
heathenism. There were curious resemblances
to the Christian sacraments which the early Fa-
thers considered to be a caricature suggested by
the demons to perplex the faithful and to throw
pire Romain," Revue d''Histoire et de Litterature Rdigieuses, vol.
ii, 1897 ; Les Mysteres de Mithra, Paris, 1902.
1 History of Dogma, Eng. tr. vol. i, p. 118, note.
2 Orr, Neglected Factors in the Study of the Early Progress of
Christianity, p. 196.
2 Church History, vol. i, p. 99.
68 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
confusion over the divinely revealed things of
God.i
AU the fundamental concepts of Christian the-
ology, mediation, sacrifice, baptism, immortality,
resurrection, expiation, were now to be met with in
the pagan system, which tended more and more to
monotheism, and even inculcated the necessity of a
divine Kedeemer.2 There was a heathen Heaven, a
heathen Bible,^ and even a heathen Christ, Apol-
lonius of Tyana, whose life was written by Philo-
stratus with the purpose of setting up a rival and
counterpart of the Founder of Christianity.^
This imitation, unconscious perhaps, of Christian
ideas and practices was by no means an indication
that the pagans were growing more friendly, or that
their intense hatred for Christianity as a body of
doctrine, was diminishing. On the contrary, the
newer heathenism, which was a synthesis of all the
forces, intellectual, moral, and religious, offered by
1 Tertullian, De Praescriptione, c. 40, De Corona Militis, c. 15 ;
Justin, Dial, cum Trypho, c. 66.
2 Harnaek, Hist. Dogma, vol. i, Eng. tr. pp. 116 seq.
8 The terms "Heathen Heaven" and *' Heathen Bible" are
borrowed from Uhlhorn, Conflict of Christianity and Paganism,
pp. 321, 380, Eng. tr., who justifies the first name by the senti-
ments expressed in inscriptions on the tombs which he cites, and
the second by references to Porphyry's Book of Oracles and Divine
Utterances.
* Newman, Life of Apollonius of Tyana — Historical Sketches,
vol. i; Wallace, " The Apollonius of Philostratus," Westminster
Beview, October, 1902.
THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE 69
the complex life aiid wide intercourse among the
peoples of the Empire, was actuated by fresh philo-
sophical and historical motives to eradicate the only
system of thought or religion which resisted the
prevailing syncretism, and for the first time Chris-
tianity, the thing, came under the ban. This uni-
fication of forces, which was fostered by the intel-
lectual and social conditions, was made absolutely
imperative by the deplorable political state of the
Empire. Within, everything was in disorder, and
without, the imminent danger from the attacks of
the barbarians was causing graver fears every day.
The crisis gave rise to a concerted movement, which,
perhaps owing to the recent celebration of the Mil-
lennial under Philip, or to a general consciousness
of degeneracy, was towards a restoration of the old
Koman virtues and customs, a return to the order
of things when the State and its religion were one.
In response to this general tendency, or perhaps in
accordance with the law of supply and demand, the
leaders of the movement came from the only place
in which the old manners and discipline were to
be foimd, that is, in the army. The efficiency of
the legions, unimpaired by the universal corruption,
was maintained by the custom of drawing on the
provinces for recruits, while the necessity of being
constantly in action against the barbarians pre-
served the army from the general deterioration and
70 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
made it the nursery not only of great generals
but of very competent emperors. Bringing to the
throne the same qualities which had made them
preeminent in the field, these soldier-emperors had
the merit of staying, if they did not avert, the total
ruin of the Empire.^
Decius, the first of the lUyrian line, although a
provincial by birth, had received his training in the
camp and was imbued with a thoroughly Roman
spirit. Filled with the desire of restoring all the an-
cient power and prestige of Kome, he boldly faced
the double task with which he was confronted, and as
soon as he reached the purple set about effecting the
necessary internal reforms and repelling the enemies
on the frontiers. It seemed to him that the salvation
of the Empire lay in the restoration of old customs
and old governmental methods, which had very
largely fallen into abeyance. Christianity of course
was an obstacle to the realization of such an ideal,
and Decius at once took the resolution of extirpat-
ing it and gave orders for a general persecution .^
The text of the edict containing this bloody mes-
sage has not been preserved, but to judge by the
1 Vide Freeman's essay on " The lUyrian Emperors and their
Land," Historical Essays, third series, p. 22.
2 Eusebius, Historia Ecdesiastica, vi, 39, says that Decius per-
secuted the Christians in consequence of his hatred for his prede-
cessor, Philip. Vide Allard, Histoire des Persecutions pendant la
Premiere Moitie' du Troisicme Siecle, p. 275.
THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE 71
manner in which it was executed, it would seem that
all who belonged to the Christian Church were com-
manded to offer sacrifice to the gods, or to give
proof of their willingness to conform to the national
cultns. The provincial governors and the heads of
the different municipalities were made responsible
for the execution of the edict. In the beginning,
except in the case of bishops, capital punishment was
not inflicted, as the object of the Emperor seemed to
be to force the Christians to recant rather than to
punish them for the profession of their faith. The
property of those who were known to be Christians
was at once confiscated ; they were dragged before
the tribunals and threatened with the direst penal-
ties ; they were racked and tortured and then cast
into vile prisons, where many died. These vigorous
measures caused consternation among the Christians,
many of whom held high offices and were possessed
of great wealth. During the long peace an appalling
amount of corruption and laxity had crept into the
Church, so that to some the persecution seemed to
be a judgment on the shameful lives led by both
laity and clergy.^ The effect which this new out-
1 Dominua probari familiam suam voluit, et quia traditam no-
bis divinitus disciplinam pax longa corruperat, jacentem fidem et
paene dixeram dormientem censura coelestis erexit, cumque nos
peccatis nostris amplius mereremur, clementissimus Dominua sic
cuncta raoderatiis est ut boc omne qnod cfestiim est exploratio
potius quam persecutio \'ideretur. St. Cyprian, De LapsiSy 5.
72 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
break of hostilities produced on the Christians, and
the disgraceful scenes which took place before the
tribunals in Carthage and Alexandria, are elo-
quently described by Denis of Alexandria and St.
Cyprian. Numbers of Christians did not wait to be
summoned, but presented themselves voluntarily
and burned incense or ate of the meat of the victims.
Others yielded to the solicitations of their friends
and crept, pale and trembling, to the altars, as if they
were not to sacrifice but to become victims them-
selves. Some weakened under torture and recanted ;
while others resorted to the expedient of buying
certificates from the magistrates attesting that they
had complied with the edict. Numerous as were the
defections, there were not wanting examples of the
most heroic Christian virtue ; and Rome, Antioch,
Carthage, Alexandria, Jerusalem, — in fact, every
city and village in the Empire, witnessed the perse-
verance and sufferings of countless martyrs. The
constancy and endurance of the Christians provoked
the pagans to greater atrocities, and the persecution
continued with unabated violence until the spring
of 251, when the campaigns of the Goths in Thrace
and the danger of losing all the Danubian provinces
compelled the Emperor to put himself at the head
of the legions. In November of the same year De-
cius lost his life in an ambuscade or through treach-
ery, and with his death the persecution ceased. It
THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE 73
was renewed the following year by Gallus, when the
Christians refused to take part in the great sac-
rifices which were offered to appease the gods
because of the famine and plague which were de-
vastating the Empire.
The persecution of Decius was the severest trial
which the Church had yet undergone. Besides the
multitudes of Christians who had been put to death,
large numbers had apostatized, and when peace
was restored, the problem of deciding the condi-
tions on which the lapsed should be readmitted
to membership plunged the whole Christian body
into dissension and resulted in two dangerous
schisms. The issue, however, had been clearly de-
fined. With an instinct of self-preservation com-
mon to peoples as well as individuals, inherent in
races and institutions as in those who compose
them, it was plainly set forth that the coexistence
of the pagan Roman State with Christianity was
an impossibility. Mutually exclusive, one or the
other should be eliminated, and the final struggle
was merely a question of time and opportunity.
No concerted policy was possible in the years im-
mediately following the death of Decius. The
struggles among the numerous claimants for the
throne brought the Empire to the verge of disin-
tegration, and rendered ineffective all attempts at
internal reforms. It was necessary that the differ-
74 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
ent factions should be placated, and that the su-
preme power should be lodged in the hands of
some man acceptable to all parties, before the work
inaugurated by Decius could be taken up again
with any prospect of a successful issue. The mur-
der of Gallus placed on the throne an old man,
Valerian, whose life and reign, and whose attempts
to deal with the complex question of Christianity,
will form the subject of the remaining chapters.
CHAPTER III
VALERIAN
Family — Holds important places in civil and military afPairs —
Elected censor — Duties of censor — Decius lauds Valerian —
Practically collea^e of Emperor — Loyalty of Valerian —
Gallus — Valerian made Emperor — Acceptable to all factions
— Character — Fitness for position — Gallienus made co-regent
— Empire in disorder, invasions, famine, pestilence — Plague
decimates population — Measures proposed for relief of panic-
stricken people inadequate — Disorganization of army — In-
vasions by barbarians assume new character — Gallienus
intrusted with defence of western portion of the Empire — Va-
lerian assumes command in the East — Franks — Alemanni —
Goths — Internal reforms — Restoration of national religion.
PuBLius LiciNius Valerianus became ruler of
the Roman Empire in August, A. D. 253. As far
as can be judged from the scanty historical materi-
als we possess concerning Valerian, he was a man
of ample fortune and noble birth.^ When he was
born and consequently at what age he assumed the
purple are matters which are shrouded in obscurity
^ Parentibus ortus splendidissimis — Aur. Vic. Epitome, c. 32 ;
Genere satis claro — De Cues. c. 32. Valerian was related to Valerius
Flaccinus, whom Probus rescued from the Quadi, — Quo quidem
tempore Valerium Flaccinum, adulescentem nobilem, parentem
Valeriani, e Quadonim liberavit manu. Vopiseus, Vita Probi, c. 6.
Tillemont, by a curious mistake regarding the word "parens,"
makes this Valerius the father of Valerian. See Forcellini, sub
verbo.
76 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
and uncertainty. A passage in Trebellius Pollio
speaks of his "praiseworthy life during seventy
years." While this passage scarcely admits of more
than one interpretation, Tillemont and other his-
torians are inclined to think that those seventy years
embrace the life of Valerian up to the time of his
captivity, not to that of his accession to the throne.^
On the other hand, Aurelius Victor says he was in
the prime of life when he fell into the hands of the
Persians, a statement which could scarcely be made
of a man beyond the age of seven ty.^ There can
be no doubt, however, if we bear in mind some
other facts which history has left us regarding
Valerian, that he was far advanced in years when
the legionaries forced him to shoulder the cares of
the Empire.
None but the most meagre details are available
regarding the early history and family life of Va-
lerian. Zosimus declares that he had enjoyed the
honor of the consulship before 237.^ Aurelius
Victor says that his high station did not prevent
him from leading the life of a soldier,^ and it was
with a great deal of pride that Valerian himself re-
^ Haec sunt digna cognitu de Valeriano, cujus per annos septua-
ginta vita laudabilis in earn conscenderat gloriam, ut post omnes
honores et magistratns insigniter gestos imperator fieret. Vita
Valerianic c. 5. Cf. Tillemont, HisU des Emper., note 1 on Vale-
rian, vol. iii, p. 685.
^ Loc. cit. aetate robustiore.
^ History, book i, chap. 14. * Loc. cit.
VALERIAN 77
ferred to the fact that his hair was already white
before he received command of the Third Legion
Felix.i
Military affairs, however, did not absorb all the
energies of Valerian, or unfit him for a high place
in civil life. As early as the days of Maximinus
Thrax, we find him chosen from the large body of
senators to occupy the place of Princeps Senatus.^
While the gi-adual change in the Roman Constitu-
tion, because of the centralization of power in the
hands of the Emperor, had doubtless deprived
this office of much of its significance and had de-
tracted somewhat from its original high character,
yet even in the last days of the Empire, the chief
of the Senate enjoyed the unique distinction of
being the first to give his opinion on matters
which were brought before this august body, and
possessed the right of being the first to register
his vote.^
Valerian was twice married. The name of his
first wife, the mother of the Emperor Gallienus, is
not known. The second wife, conjectured by some to
have been Mariniana, also left one son. Valerian II."^
The younger Valerian was a man gifted with strik-
ing qualities of body and mind. He received the
1 Vopiscus, Vita Probi, c. 5.
2 Capitolinus, Vita Gordiani, c. 9.
3 Greenidge, Roman Public Life, p. 269.
4 Tillemont, Hist, des Emp. p. 390.
78 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
title of Caesar from his brother while Valerian the
Emperor was absent from the city, but beyond this,
as the historian informs us, there was nothing note-
worthy in his life except his noble birth, his solid
education, and his miserable end.^
The capable manner in which Valerian discharged
his duties in the many exalted offices he held mer-
ited for him the highest honors.^ Nothing, how-
ever, reflected so much glory on him and indicated
so well the deep esteem entertained for his character
and virtues as the manner in which he was elected
censor. From small and insignificant beginnings,
this office, instituted about 443 b. c. to relieve the
consuls of some of their onerous duties, or rather,
perhaps, as a means of excluding the plebeians from
a share in the supreme power of the State, had
grown in importance until in the last days of the
Eepublic it became the most venerable magistracy
in Kome, the "apex of a political career." Although
Augustus twice assumed the title without perform-
ing the duties of censor, the " occasional " nature of
the office and its peculiarly republican character did
not accord with his ambitions, and he allowed the
censorship to lapse. It was afterwards revived, in
its old temporary form, by Claudius and Vespasian,
but lost its distinctive character when Domitian, in
order to obtain complete control of the Senate,
1 Pollio, Vita Valerianic c. 8. 2 n^i^^ g, 5,
VALERIAN 79
assumed the position of censor for life (^Censor
Perpetuus) }
Under the Roman Constitution the character and
scope of the censorship, on which depended in large
measure the success of the public administration
and the tone of national life, raised it to a position
of unique importance. Besides the census, which
included the registration of citizens and the valua-
tion of property, the censors enjoyed the right of
drawing up the list of those who were to constitute
the Senate (^Lectio Senatus)^ and of deciding the
question of membership in the Equestrian Order
(^Recognitio Equituni) ; they exercised a general
supervision over the morals of the people (^Regi-
men moruiii), with a view, principally, to determine
who were fit to hold public office ; and were the
guardians of the national and traditional customs
of the people (iT/os Majorum). Their edicts had
the force of laws, and inasmuch as they farmed the
public revenues and were charged with the care and
maintenance of public property, they were vested
with certain administrative powers.
Possessed of such extraordinary fimctions, the
censorship was hedged round with statutory re-
strictions which alone prevented it from becoming
1 Vide Greenidge, Roman Public Life, pp. 216 seq., 347-374 ;
Taylor, A Constitutional and Political History of Borne, pp. 99, 428,
482, 487, 488.
80 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
an intolerable despotism. The censors were elected
at intervals of five years, and though they held office
for only eighteen months, their ordinances were
valid during the entire lustrum. No censor was
eligible for reelection. Simultaneous election and
joint tenure were essential requisites of the office,
and it was furthermore insisted that the action
of a censor had no force unless concurred in by
his colleague.^
Such was the office which to the mind of Decius
seemed adequate to counteract the flood of disorder
and corruption which had spread over the Empire,
and which was obliterating the last vestiges of
public virtue and ancient tradition.^ The project
of reviving the censorsliip was long in forming ;
for it was not until the last year of his reign that
the Emperor decided on it. The necessity of be-
ing away with the army so frequently, doubtless
aroused him to the fact that no schemes of internal
reform could be successful unless some one endowed
with plenary powers could be in a position to give
them all his time and energy. In the autumn of
251 A. D., Decius was engaged with the army
driving back the Gothic forces which had passed
the Rhine and devastated nearly all of Moesia and
1 Vide Greenidge, Boman Public Life, pp. 216 seq., 347-374;
Taylor, A Constitutional and Political History of Borne, pp. 99,
428, 482, 487, 488.
2 Trebellius Pollio, Fragmentum Vitae Valeriani, c. 5.
VALERIAN 81
Thrace.i From there he wrote letters to the Senate
apprising them of his determination, and proba-
bly as a concession to popular sentiment he relin-
quished his imperial prerogative and left the
choice of censor to the will of the Senate.
The letters of the Emperor were sent to the
praetor, who, on the 27th day of October, convoked
the Senate in the temple of Castor and Pollux and
read the instructions he had received. Following the
usual custom, he declared the matter open for dis-
cussion ,2 and turning to the " chief of the Senate "
(Pinjiceps Senatus)^ for Valerian, to whom this
position belonged, was away with the army, he asked,
" What do you advise ? " ^ Weighty as were the con-
sequences implied in this question, and knowing the
dangers to which a hasty decision would expose the
Republic, there was no time allowed for debate. No
opinions would be listened to, and the customary
order of voting had to be suspended. From all
sides of the chamber came cries and acclamations,
designating Valerian for the coveted position. " The
hfe of Valerian is a perpetual censorship. Let
him be judge of all who is best of all. Let him be
arbiter of the Senate who is free from guilt. Va-
1 For the date of these events see Goyau, Chronologie de V Em-
pire Romain, p. 301.
2 Quid vobis videtur, Patres Conscripti, de Cenaore deligendo ?
Pollio, loc. cit.
8 Quid censes ? Vide Greenidge, p. 269.
82 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
lerian by his blameless life is already censor, a
man above reproach and competent to pass sen-
tence on our lives, lie is a modest, grave, and pru-
dent senator, the friend of the good and an enemy
of tyrants. He is a hater of crime and wickedness.
We shall wiUingly receive him as censor and strive
to imitate him. A man of noble race, unblemished
life, singular probity, and somid judgment, he is a
living example of the best virtues of antiquity."
The high encomiums passed on Valerian by his
colleagues and the honor of being unanimously
elected to a position of such importance seem to
have met with the cordial approval of Decius.
When the resolution (^Senatus consultum) contain-
ing the will of the Senate reached the Emperor, he
assembled the chiefs of the army and the members
of his suite and in their presence notified Valerian
of his appointment, and outlined the duties and dif-
ficulties of his office. " Happy Valerian," said the
Emperor, " happy in the approbation of the whole
Senate, happy in the love and esteem of the whole
world. Eeceive the censorship conferred on you
by the Roman Republic, which you alone deserve,
and judge of the morals of all and of our manners.
You will select those who ought to continue mem-
bers of the Senate; you will restore the Equestrian
Order to its old place. The census will be made
under your direction. It will be your duty to im-
VALERIAN 83
prove the revenue and to see that financial burdens
are equitably imposed ; all the public property will
be under your charge. Everything you decree shall
have the force of a written law. The army, the pal-
ace, the ministers of justice, and the prefects are
all subject to your tribunal. None are exempted,
except the Prefect of the city of Rome, the ordi-
nary consuls, the King of the Sacrifices, and (unless
for unchastity) the Eldest of the Vestal Virgins.
Even those who are not under your jurisdiction will
strive to merit your approval."
This episode brings into prominence not less the
high respect felt for Valerian as a citizen than the
merits and courage of Decius as an emperor. It
was a bold and patriotic move to invest a subject
with such extraordinary powers at a time when the
security of the throne depended not so much on
public prosperity and morality as on the caprice of
a turbulent soldiery. The readiness of the Senate
to conform to the will of the reigning prince arose
probably from subserviency rather than from a
desire to adopt radical measures of reform. The
list of duties imposed on Valerian is a sufficient in-
dication of the difficulty of his task, the futility of
attempting which is evident from the impossibility
of applying measures feasible in republican Rome,
still strong with the vigor of youth and conflict,
to an effete non-Roman Empire grown old with
84 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
ease and luxury. It was with a mind filled with
thoughts of the difficulty as well as the danger of
being elevated to a rank which made him practi-
cally the colleague of the Emperor that Valerian
deprecated his fitness for the censorship and ques-
tioned the advisability of such a departure. " Do not,
I beseech you, Most Sacred Emperor," he pleaded,
"lay me under the necessity of being judge of the
people, the soldiers, and the Senate, of everybody,
even judges, tribunes, and generals. These duties
are inseparable from the imperial dignity, and be-
cause of them you bear the exalted title Augustus.
They transcend the capability of a feeble subject ;
therefore I beg to be exempted because my life
does not fit me for burdens which I lack confi-
dence to undertake. The times are not suitable
for such an innovation, and the office of censor
cannot change the corrupt nature of man." ^
Such remonstrances could avail little with a
man of Decius' inflexible temperament. It is prob-
able, however, that the project was never put into
execution. Decius died before the end of the year
in an attempt to inflict a crushing blow on the
Goths, and was succeeded by the dissolute and
1 These speeches and remarks are all reported by Pollio, who
adds : Poteram multa alia et Senatus consulta et judicia prin-
cipum de Valeriano proferre, nisi ut vobis pleraque nota essent,
et puderet altius virum extollere, qui fatali quadam necessitate
superatus est. Loc. cit.
VALERIAN 85
careless Galliis, under whom the office of censor
would have been an anomaly.
Loyalty to constituted authority was a marked
trait of the character of Valerian, in consequence of
which he enjoyed the favor and confidence of more
than one prince during his long career. He was
sent as special envoy by the Gordians to announce
to the Senate in Rome that they had taken the
sceptre in opposition to the brutal Maximin.^ He
was in thorough accord with the plans of Decius,
whose dowTifall does not seem to have affected in
any way his standing at court, and indeed the
trust reposed in him by Gallus contributed indi-
rectly to his elevation to the purple. The apathy
and pusillanimity of Gallus were in such striking
contrast to the sterling qualities of his predecessor
that the soldiers soon tired of him and pro-
claimed Aemilian, the successful general of the
Pannonian legions, emperor in his stead. This re-
volt aroused Gallus to a sense of danger, and he
despatched Valerian to bring the legions of Gaul
and Germany to his assistance. Aemilian fore-
stalled this movement by leading his troops di-
1 Capitolinns, Gordiani Tres, c. 9. Missa deinceps leg-atio Ro-
mam est cum litteris Gordianorum haec, quae gesta fuerant in
Africa, indicans quae, per Valerianura . . . gratanter accepta est.
Tillemont, Hist, des Emp. torn. iii. p. 685, note, shows that Va-
lerian was the bearer of this message, and not, as Capitolinus'
words might indicate, the one by whom the delegation was re-
ceived.
86 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
rectly to Eome. Gallus and his son advanced from
Rome as far as Umbria to meet the pretender.
When the armies came in sight of each other it
was seen that the numerical advantage rested with
Aemilian. The Emperor was slain by his own
followers, who were disgusted with him and passed
over to his rival.^
The death of Gallus and his son Volusian gave
Aemilian a brief triumph. The Senate conferred
on him the name Augustus with the other titles of
imperial dignity, and his authority was recognized
in many parts of the Empire. His reign, however,
lasted only four months, for the legions which Va-
lerian had assembled refused to acknowledge his
supremacy and declared Valerian Emperor. The
two armies met at Spoleto. The soldiers of Aemil-
ian, never sincerely attached to his person, and
dreading the result of a conflict with the superior
forces of Valerian, slew their leader and threw
down their arms.^ By singular good fortune the
strength of all the various factions was now united
under the banner of Valerian, who, though his
1 Tillemont, Hist, des Emp. pp. 383 et seq.
^ Aurelius Victor gives a different account of the death of
Aemilian, in De Caesaribus, c xxxi. Aemilianus tres menses
usus modesto imperio, morbo absumptus est; quum proceres
primo hostem, dein, exstinctis superioribus, pro fortuna, ut solet,
Augustum appellavissent.
We have followed here the narrative of Tillemont, which is
based juincipally on Zonaras and Zosimus.
VALERIAN 87
way to the throne had been marked by revolutions,
was in no sense guilty of disloyalty to the man
whom he supplanted.
The circumstances surrounding Valerian's ac-
cession were extremely auspicious. He possessed
the sincere attachment of all orders in the State,
and reached his high position not through popular
tumidts, or by the clamors of the soldiers, but by
the unanimous will of the whole Roman world. If
all men, PoUio adds, had been allowed to choose an
emperor, they would have selected no one but
Valerian.^
So very little is known about the character of
Valerian that there seems to be a disposition
among historians to measure his capabilities by
the calamities which happened during his reign,
and to attribute the failure of his administration to
incompetency. AureHus Victor says he was stupid
and sluggish, and lacking in the prudence and execu-
tive talent necessary for public offices.^ Eutropius
considered that the reign of Valerian and his son was
disastrous, and almost the ruin of the State, either
because of untoward circumstances or by reason of
the worthlessness of the rulers themselves.^ Pollio,
1 Si data esset omnibus potestas promendi arbitrii, quern im-
peratorem vellent, alter non esset electus. Vita Valerianic c. 5.
2 Stolidus tamen, et multum iners, neque ad usum aliquem
publici officii consilio sen p^estis accomodatus. Epit. c. 32.
3 Horum imperium Romano nomini perniciosum et paene ex-
itiabile fuit vel infelicitate prineipum vel ignavia. Breviarium,
lib L\, c. 7.
88 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
on the contrary, either of himself, or when reporting
the sayings of contemporaries, says he was " full of
bravery but most unfortunate," ^ and that no one
could fill his place ; and Vopiscus, when enumerat-
ing the small number of worthy emperors who had
occupied the Roman throne, says that Valerian, the
best of all, was prevented by misfortune from rank-
ing with Augustus, Vespasian, Titus, Nerva, Trajan,
Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius, Sep-
timius Severus, Alexander Severus, Claudius, and
the divine Aurelian.^ Crevier ^ applies to Valerian
what Tacitus said of Galba : " Major privato visus
dum privatus f uit, et omnium consensu capax imperii
nisi imperasset," * and Gibbon says : " Perhaps the
merit of the Emperor was inadequate to his reputa-
tion ; perhaps his abilities, or at least his spirit, were
affected by the languor and coldness of old age." ^
In the face of such contradictory testimony and
such unsatisfactory estimates by later writers, it is
extremely difficult to arrive at any definite conclu-
sion regarding Valerian's ability as a ruler. To
judge by his acts, however, one is more inclined to
follow the opinion of Pollio, and to consider Valerian
as a man whose failure arose from circumstances
which were beyond his control. He was a conscien-
1 Trig. Tyr. xu, 1.
2 Vopiscus, Vita Aureliani, c 42.
8 Hist, des Emp. torn, v, p. 420. * Hist, i, 49.
^ Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, chap. x.
VALERIAN 89
tious ruler with a fine sense of the responsibilities
of his office, who attained his ends less through
brilliancy and genius than by a painstaking adher-
ence to duty. Notwithstanding the small measure
of success that attended his efforts, he was possessed
of many qualities that go to make the competent
leader and thorough administrator. Pie was prompt
to recognize and reward merit, and, contrary to the
usual custom, he promoted young men to positions
of trust in the army. Because of their marked
ability he made the two sons of Macrianus tri-
bunes,^ and promoted Probus while yet a beardless
youth to the same position and subsequently placed
him at the head of a legion.^ With uncommon
wisdom and disinterestedness he chose as his chief
lieutenants the ablest and most talented men in the
Empire, among whom were Regilianus, Claudius,
Aurelianus, Ingenuus, Macrianus, Posthumus, and
Aureolus, " who all merited the purple and died in
it, for it was an extraordinary thing," as Pollio ob-
serves, " that all those whom Valerian made gen-
erals were afterwards raised to the throne by the
soldiers, which shows that the old Emperor in the
choice of his leaders was what the prosperity of
the State demanded." ^ His high office and auto-
1 PoUio, Trig. Tyr. c. 12.
2 Vopiscus, Vita Prohi, cc. 3, 4, 5.
8 Pollio, loc. cit. c. 10.
90 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
cratic powers did not prevent Valerian from readily
receiving good advice whenever it was offered ;i but
while this quality in a man of independent spirit
is very commendable, it lays one enfeebled by age
and oppressed with unaccustomed responsibilities
open to the influence of designing and vicious
courtiers.
One of the first acts of Valerian after he became
emperor was to raise his son Gallienus to the posi-
tion of co-regent and to confer on him the title of
Augustus.2 The government of the Empire was di-
vided between them, Valerian going to the East, and
Gallienus remaining in control of the Western sec-
tion. While no actual partition of the Roman do-
minions took place, this was practically the inception
of the policy which Diocletian found it necessary to
adopt in order to preserve the Empire, which was
already commencing to break up of its own weight.^
There was, besides, at that period a growing convic-
tion that the Emperor should be a general as well
as an administrator, and that his place was as much
the field as the cabinet. Macrianus considered that
his advanced years and feeble health were a sufficient
reason for declining the purple after the death of
1 Pollio, loc. cit. c. 18. 2 Zosimus, bk. i, c. 30.
^ The same policy was advocated in the reign of Maximin by
one of the senators, who pleaded the necessity of having an em-
peror at home and one in the field. Cf . Duruy, History, vol. vii, p.
228.
VALERIAN 91
Valerian ; ^ and the Senator Tacitus pleaded his un-
fitness for the throne beeanse a man whose arms
were no longer able to wield the javelin and to
strike the shield was unworthy of the sceptre .^
The judiciousness of Valerian's selection, which
Gibbon regrets,^ was in accord with the general
custom of the period, when all those who reached
the throne conferred on their children honors and
titles which were not theirs by birth. Gallienus was
then a youth of not more than twenty years,* and
leaving out of sight his vices and his indifference
to the fate of the Empire, which he had scarcely
had a chance to manifest, there was no one better
fitted by talent and education to hold the supreme
power.^
That the Roman power did not disappear and
the whole Empire become a prey to the hordes of
barbarians who beset it at this epoch, from causes
that were beyond the reach of administrative reme-
dies, is a tribute to the enduring qualities of Roman
1 PoUio, Trig. Tyr. c. 12.
2 Vopiscus, Vita Taciti, c. 4.
3 Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, chap. x.
Duruy says : " Instead of taking as his colleague one of tho
many valiant and experienced generals at this time in the Roman
army, Valerian chose his son Gallienus, who was too young to
possess authority and too effeminate to employ it well if he had
had it." History, vol. vii, sec. 1, p. 235.
* Cf. Tillemont, Hist, cles Emp. tom. iii, p. 989, note 8.
5 The character of Gallienus is excellently depicted by Benson,
Life of St. Cyprian, p. 458.
92 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
institutions and the power of organization possessed
by Valerian. At the time he assumed the supreme
control the whole Empire was plague-stricken.
About the year 250 this frightful pestilence com-
menced its ravages in Numidia, and descending
thence to the cities of Egjrpt and Africa, it was car-
ried to other cities and spread death and desolation
from east to west.^ For upwards of twenty years
it wasted the flower of the Roman legions, and in
its destructive path spared neither high nor low.^
It carried off the young Hostihanus, only surviving
son of the Emperor Decius, in 251,^ and as late as
270 the Emperor Claudius died of it in the fuU
flush of his victories over the Goths.* It proved
more effective against the army of Valerian than
the swords of the Persians, and checked the inroads
of the Goths more effectively than the Roman le-
gions. For a time the number of victims in Rome
and Achaia reached the appalling total of five thou-
sand a day.^ In Alexandria it has been computed
by Gibbon that more than half the inhabitants died
1 Zonaras, Annals, torn, iv, sub. Volusiano.
2 Zonaras says it lasted only fifteen years ; loc. cit.
2 Aurelius Victor, De Caesar ibus, c. 30.
Zosimus says that Hostilianus was put to death by Gallus, who
feared that the people would revolt in his favor. Ibid. c. 25.
* Pollio, Vita Claudii, c. 12.
^ Pollio, Gallieni Duo, c. 5. The passage in Pollio is very
obscure : Nam et pestilentia tanta extiterat vel Romae vel Acha-
icis urbibus, ut uno die quinque milia hominum pari morbo peri-
rent.
VALERIAN 93
of plague, and, adds the same author, " could we ex-
tend the analogy to the other provinces we might com-
pute that war, famine, and pestilence had consumed
in a few years the moiety of the human species." ^
It is difficult to state precisely the nature of this
disease. The name " plague " or " pestilence " was
usually given to any epidemic in antiquity, such as
that which attacked the Greeks at the siege of Troy,
or which wrought such havoc in Rome and the
Grecian states during the fifth century before Christ.
The neglect of proper hygienic and quarantine
measures was no doubt responsible for the large mor-
tality during these visitations, and contributed in
large measure to their frequent recurrence. Plagues
occurred in Rome in 363 b. c, 295 b. c, 175 b. c,
during the reigns of Trajan and Marcus Aurelius,
all of which were doubtless of the same nature as
that of the third century. That which occurred
during the reign of Justinian received the name of
pestis inguinaria or glandulm^a by which it was
known until the seventeenth century. From the im-
1 Gibbon's estimate is based on a passage in Denis of Alexan-
dria, wlio, speaking- of the plague, says : " This great city no
longer contains as many inhabitants, from tender infants to those
most advanced in life, as it formerly contained of those whom it
called hearty old men. But the men from forty to seventy years
of age were then so much more numerous that their number can-
not now be filled out, even when those from fourteen to eighty
years are enrolled and registered for the public allowance of food."
Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica, vii, 21.
94 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
perfect diagnosis and the faulty descriptions given
by contemporary authors, and the fact that Eutro-
pius ^ says it was accompanied with a multiplicity of
diseases, it is extremely difficult to decide whether
the pest of which we are treating was malignant
typhoid fever, cholera, smallpox, or bubonic plague.
The course of the disease was rapid, and generally
fatal.2 Those who were attacked suffered at first
from nervous depression and ulceration of different
parts of the body, especially the mouth and throat.^
The next stage was one of incessant sickness accom-
panied by diarrhoea, constant vomiting, and high
fever. Any who survived the assaults of this malady
generally bore permanent traces of its severity either
in the loss of one or more members, in blindness, or
in total deafness.^
1 Sola pestilentia et morbis atque aegritudinibus notns eorum
principatus fuit. Breviarium, lib. ix, c. 5.
2 Iiinumeros per diem populos ad suam quemque sedem abrupto
impetu rapiens, continuatas per ordinem domos vtdgi trementis
invasit. Pontius, Vita Cypriani, c. 9.
8 " But when a grievous pestilence raged at Rome, so great was
the violence of this distemper and its effects so dreadful on
Plotinus, as Eustochius informed Porphyry, who was then absent,
that through a very great hoarseness all the clear and sonorous
vigor of his musical voice was lost ; and what was still worse, his
eyes were darkened, and his hands and feet were covered with
ulcers." Translated and abridged from Porphyry's Xt/e o/ P/oft-
nus by Taylor, Introduction to Select Works of Plotinus, p. xliv.
* Hoc quod nunc corporis vires solutus in fluxum venter evis-
cerat, quod in f aucium vulnera conceptus medullitus ignis exaestuat,
quod adsiduo vomitu intestina quatiuntur, quod oculi vi sanguinis
inardescunt, quod quorundam vel pedes vel aliquae membrorum
VALERIAN 95
The fear of contagion and death produced the
most abject terror and consternation among the
pagans.^ Descriptions of what took place in Car-
thage and Alexandria will, without any abuse of
historic parallel, apply to other cities and other por-
tions of the Roman dominions. There the ties of
kindred and friendship seem to have been entirely
forgotten, and the plague-sufferers, when the first
symptoms of disease manifested themselves, were
cast out of doors by their relatives and allowed to
die in the street without comfort or attention. In
this condition of affairs public order ceased, and
though the streets were cumbered with dead bodies
and the air was heavy with the stench of putrefac-
tion, and though there was not a home where there
was not one dead, robbery and violence were of
daily and hourly occurrence.^
The period was, besides, one of violent physical
partes contagio morbidae putredinis amputantur, quod per jacturas
et damna corporum prorumpente languors vel debilitatur incessus,
vel auditus obstruitur, vel caecatur aspectus. Cyprian, Be Mortal-
itate, c. 14.
1 Cf. Benson, Life of Cyprian, pp. 240 seq.
^ Horrere omnes, fugere, vitare contagium : exponere suos
impie : quasi cum illo peste morituro etiam mortem ipsam posset
aliquis excludere. Jacebant interim in tota civitate, non jam cor-
pora, sed cadavera plurimorum et misericordiam in se euntium
contemplatione sortis mutuae flagitabant. Nemo respexit aliud
praeterquam lucra crudelia. Nemo similis eventus recordations
trepidavit : nemo fecit alteri, quod pati voluit. Pontius, Vita Cyp.
c. 9. See, also, Denis of Alexandria, in Eusebius, Uist. Eccl. lib. vii,
21 and 22.
96 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
disturbances, whicli occur so frequently in connec-
tion with plague. There were seasons of protracted
drought followed by terrific hailstorms and torna-
does, which ruined the crops, killed the vines, and
uprooted the olive groves.^ In the train of these
evils came famine, which carried off thousands.^
While these visitations were not continuous, they
were not confined to any one part of the Empire.
At Kome the Tiber overflowed its banks, and
doubtless produced misery such as that which hap-
pened in the days of Marcus Aurelius.^ Earth-
quakes hurled down buildings in many cities and
buried the inhabitants in the ruins. While the
shocks were most severe in the Orient, they were
felt at Rome and even in distant Libya. Many who
had escaped death by faUing buildings died from
fear of the horrid rumblings of the earth. Great
fissures filled with salt water appeared in places,
and some coast towns were overwhelmed with enor-
mous tidal waves.^
1 Et tu miraris aut quaereris in hac obstinatione et contemptu
vestro, si rara desuper pluvia descendat, si terra situ pulveris
squaleat, si vix jejunas et pallidas herbas sterilis gleba producat,
si vineam debilitet grando eaedens, si oleam detruncet turbo sub-
vertens, si f ontem siccitas statuat, aerem pestilens aura corrumpat.
Cyprian, Ad Bern. c. 7.
2 De sterilitate ac fame quaereris, quasi f amem majorem siccitas
quara rapacitas f aciat. C. 10 ; vide c. 2, ibid.
3 Statimque Tiberis adulta aestate diluvii facie inundavit.
Aurelius Victor, JDe Caesaribus, c. 32.
* Trebellius PoUio, Duo Gallieni, c. 5.
VALERIAN 97
The measures adopted to bring relief to the ter-
rified and plagne-stricken masses make manifest the
utter inability of the Roman government to deal
with great crises. Besides decreeing enormous sac-
rifices and issuing new coins dedicated to Apollo
Salutaris and Jupiter Salutaris,^ nothing was done,
as far as history records, with the exception of the
humane efforts of Gallus and Volusian, who took
steps that all victims of the plague should be pro-
perly interred.2 In the present instance, however,
concerted action of any kind was an impossibility.
The army, the only organized and disciplined body
in the Empire, was in a state of complete disorder.
The changes in the military regulations intro-
duced by Septimius Severus and continued under his
successors had deprived the army of much of its old-
time efficiency. Numerically it was far below its nor-
mal standard. The frequent civil wars and the desire
to reduce the strain on the treasury had crippled
the legions, and taken from the army strength and
resources which the present chaotic condition of
public affairs required. While the duties along the
frontiers were daily multiplied, the legions in the
German provinces were reduced from eight to four,
which, with a few thousand auxiliaries, brought the
total number of men fit for active service to not
^ Cyprian, Ep. lix.
2 Aureliua Victor, De Caesaribus, o. 30.
98 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
more than 20,000.^ The discipline and loyalty of
the army had also in large measure disappeared. In
Africa a revolt of the troops in 253 assumed such
alarming proportions that the safety of the whole
province was seriously endangered.^ The system of
local recruiting and permanent camps made the sol-
diers sedentary and effeminate, and utterly destroyed
the mobility so necessary in time of danger. This
concentration of troops, added to the fact that the
Romans were badly supplied with cavaby, rendered
their operations futile against an enemy who fought
in guerrilla bands along an extended frontier.
At this juncture, however, the nature of the ex-
peditions undertaken by the barbarians assumed a
new and more dangerous character.^ The withdrawal
of the Gallic and Rhenish legions after the death
of Decius to support the claims of the many usurpers
gave the Teutonic tribes an opportunity for move-
ments which originated more in necessity than from
choice.* The pressure from other tribes and peoples,
and the growing consciousness of power derived
1 Ernest Lavisse, Histoire de France depuis les Origines jusqu^dt
la Revolution, fasc. i, p. 257.
2 This is the revolt mentioned by Cyprian in his letter to the
Bishops of Numidia, in which he deplores the captivity of the
Christians seized by the barbarians, and for whose ransom he sent
100,000 sesterces. Ep. Ixii.
Vide Cagnat, VArm^e Romaine d^Afrique, pp. 53-54.
3 Mommsen, Roman Provinces, vol. i, p. 264 ; Lavisse, loc. cit.
p. 249.
* Lavisse, ibid.
VALERIAN 99
from contact with the Romans, made the Germans
desirous of seizing new territory within the Roman
Empire in order to establish themselves in new
homes. The period of piratical raids and marauding
expeditions for plunder or revenge had passed, and
the Roman Empire was just commencing to feel
the first effects of the great migratory movements
among the Teutonic people which were to result in
its overthrow. In no other way is it possible to ex-
plain the simultaneous movement of all the enemies
of Rome across her frontiers. The Franks, the
Alemanni, the Marcomanni, and the Goths poured
into the rich territory south of the Rhine and
Danube, and pillaged the cities of Europe and Asia
Minor. In the East the Persians, peaceful since
the time of Philip, took up arms and laid waste the
provinces near the Euphrates. The struggle with
these nmnerous enemies made the reign of Valerian
and Gallienus one continued scene of warfare and
strife ; but the details and order of their various
campaigns are hidden in confusion and obscurity
because of the unsatisfactory records which we pos-
sess. Gallienus, who was entrusted with the defence
of the western portion of the Empire, found that
the most dangerous enemies of the Roman power
in the provinces bounded by the Rhine and upper
Danube were the Franks and Alemanni. The
former are first mentioned in the reign of Cara-
100 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
calla,^ while the latter do not appear for more than
thirty years, when they assume great importance in
the days of Gordian II.2 The Franks occupied the
territory which stretched along the right bank of the
Rhine from the North Sea to the river Main, and
the Alemanni the region situated between the Main
and the Alps. A great deal of uncertainty exists
as to the origin and character of these two groups
of people. Some are inclined to consider them as
confederations of various German tribes : ^ others
see in them neither a new tribe nor a confederation
of tribes, but an association of soldiers and warriors
which had become through various causes an ethnic
unit, such as that composed of the followers of
Ariovistus. Based on a passage in Tacitus of doubt-
ful interpretation, this theory explains the names of
these organizations: Alemanni, or men of all nations ;
Franks, an epithet alluding either to their vagabond
courses or to their valor.*
These two peoples had been a standing menace
to the power of the Romans for several years. The
armies of Alexander and Maximinus, of Philip and
1 213 A. D. See Goyau, Chronologie de VEmpire Bomain, p. 261.
2 241 A. D. Lavisse, loc. cit.
^ Sie waren die Nachkommen der Sug-ambern und Chamaven,
unter welchen seit dem Ende des 2 Jahrhunderts auch die Chatten
auf gegangen waren und zu denen sich Amsivarier, Chattuarier und
Teile der Brukterer gesellt batten. Scbiller, Geschichte der Bo-
mischen Kaiserzeit, p. 813.
* Lavisse, loc. cit. p. 250.
VALERIiVN 101
Decius, had vanquished but not subdued them ; and
it was against them that Gallienus had directed his
first efforts. In the beginning he gained many vic-
tories, with the result that in 257 he had established
the supremacy of Rome in the Rhenish provinces.^
His success, however, was more in the nature of a
compromise than a victory. He allowed a large
number of Marcomanni to settle in a portion of
Pannonia, and, to bind the treaty by which these new
settlers engaged themselves to repel all invaders,
Gallienus married Pipa, or Pipara, the daughter of
one of their chiefs.^
While the Franks and Alemanni were overrun-
ning the Rhenish provinces, the Goths and Marco-
manni were devastating the region along the lower
Danube.^ Valerian himself in all probability per-
sonally conducted the campaigns against these ma-
rauders. Nothing is known as to the details and
1 This is the date assigned by Schiller {Geschichte, p. 814), who
bases his opinion on the fact that the medals of Gallienus for this
year bear the title Restitutor Galliarum, Gennauicus Maximus,
Germanicus Maximus ter et v, etc. Eckhel vii, 401 seq. ; Cohen,
181-191, 562-576.
2 Gallienus quidem in loco Cornelii filii sui Solonianura
alterum filium subrogavit, amori diverso pellicum deditus,
Saloninae conjugis et concubinae, quam per pactionera, concessa
parte superioris Pannoniae, a patre Marcomannorum rege, matri-
monii specie susceperat, Pipam nomine. Aurelius Victor, Epitome^
c. 33 ; De Cues, xxxiii, G.
Perdite dileiit, Piparam nomine, barbaram regis iiliam. Pollio,
Gall. 21.
8 SchiUer, loc. cit. p. 816.
102 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
chronology of his movements before the year 256.
It seems likely, however, that the Teutons and their
allies were forced to abandon Koman territory, for
in a letter which Valerian addressed to the Prefect
of the City of Rome in 256, Aurelian, who after-
wards became Emperor, is styled the Liberator of
Illyria and Restorer of Gaul.i
Valerian's manifold duties as general in com-
mand of the legions did not prevent him from
making some attempts at reform within the State
itself. Though few instances of his activity in this
respect have been preserved, there can be little
doubt that he aimed constantly at restoring the army
to its old-time efficiency. In the year 256 he sent
letters to Albinus, the prefect of Rome, in which he
announced that the inflexible Aurelian, whose sever-
ity the Emperor himself f eared,^ in recognition of
the signal services he rendered as general, had
been appointed inspector-general of the army, and
that inasmuch as he woidd at once enter on his
duties by inspecting all the camps, proper provision
should be made for his reception in Rome.^ The
famous Third Legion, for many years the bulwark
of Roman power in Africa, which had been ordered
to Italy and separated into various detachments
1 Liberator Illyrici, Restitutor Galliarum. Aurel c. 9.
2 Me etiam timuisse. Vopiscus, Vita Aurel. c. 8.
8 Ibid. c. 9.
VALERIAN 103
during the struggle with Aureliaii, was restored to
its former standing and sent back to its old camp at
Lambesa.^ Acting on the advice of Ballista, Vale-
rian ordered the provincial governors to quarter
troops only in places where their presence would
not be a hardship to the inhabitants, and to exact
as tribute only those things which the various pro-
vinces produced in abundance.^ As a result of
these regulations, Valerian was able to boast of
the efficiency and high standing of his soldiers,
'* among whom there was not a man who was not
a fighter." ^
These instances are indications, at least, that
Valerian was determined to follow the policy of his
predecessor, Decius, and that he was thoroughly
convinced of the necessity of effecting some radi-
cal changes in the internal affairs of the State. In
such circumstances, questions regarding the national
religion could not be overlooked, and it is not sur-
prising that shortly after he found an opportunity
to undertake the reorganization of the army, Vale-
1 Cagnat, VArm^e Eomaine d^Afrique, p. 171.
2 Pollio, Trig. Tyr. c. 18. Provinciales non gravet. . . . Nee
est ulla alia provisio melior, quam ut in locis suis erogentur
quae nascuntiir, ne aut vehiculia aut sumptibus rem p. gravent.
^ This is contained in a letter of Valerian, in which he acknow-
ledges his indebtedness to Ballista for sound advice : Gaudens
quod ejus consilio nullum adscripticium, id est vacantem, haberet
et nullum stipatorem, qui non vera aliquid ageret, nullum mili-
tem qui non vero pugnaret. Ihid.
104 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
rian should be brought into contact with the large
body of citizens composing the Christian congre-
gations, whose persistent refusal to acknowledge
the state gods was an insuperable obstacle to state
unity.
CHAPTER IV
CHRISTIANITY IN THE FIRST YEARS OF
VALERIAN'S REIGN
Law8 of Decius still in force — Not executed — Schisms in the
Church — Novatus — Novation — Christians at the court of
Valerian — Valerian favors them — Valerian changes his atti-
tude towards the Church — Macrianua — Aub^'s opinion of Ma-
crianus — Denis of Alexandria — Is Aube's opinion the correct
one? — Why Macrianus was proclaimed Emperor by his
troops — His character — Was he a believer in magic ? —
Veneration of Macrian family for Alexander the Great — This
was an Egyptian cult, hence a religion of magic — Valerian
was influenced by Macrianus — Human sacrifices not unknown
in Rome — Condition of public affairs led to renewed super-
stitions — Legal, political, and religious motives for persecut-
ing the Christians — Economic condition of the Empire led to
the same result — Financial prosperity of the Church — The
Greek martyrs — Chrysanthus and Daria.
Though the laws against the Christians which were
framed by Decius remained in force after his death,
there was no opportunity to put them into execu-
tion. The struggles among the rival claimants for
the throne, the internal suffering and disorder, and
the necessity for constant vigilance against the many
enemies along the frontiers rendered it impossible
to carry on any fixed policy of repression or per-
secution. To draw order from chaos was the first
duty of Valerian, but in the face of so many dangers
from outside he could find little time for internal
106 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
reforms. During the first years of his reign the
Church was never molested. A spirit of insubordi-
nation, however, within the Church itself gave rise
just then to two dangerous schisms, which threatened
the disruption of the entire Christian organization.
At Carthage a party of priests who had opposed
Cyprian's advancement to the episcopate took ad-
vantage of the troubles arising out of the Decian
persecution to renew the old discussion in regard to
the penitential discipline of the Church. They
accused Cyprian of undue severity in his treatment
of those who had abjured Christ during the perse-
cution. In accordance with the well-established
custom in the Church, Cyprian refused to allow the
"lapsed" to return to the fold before they had
performed the prescribed penance. Not even those
who had received " libelli " from the martyrs and
confessors were exempt from this decree. Under
the leadership of Novatus a strong party was formed
in opposition to Cyprian. In defiance of Cyprian
Novatus and his followers received the "lapsed"
without imposing the customary penances. In a
council of the African bishops Cyprian excommuni-
cated the schismatics, who in retaliation proceeded
to have one of their number, Fortunatus, consecrated
as head of the See of Carthage.^ With a view to
^ Hergenrother, Kirchengeschichte, vol. i, pp. 280 seq. ; Blanc,
Cours d^Histoire Ecdesiastique^ vol. i, p. 303 ; Hefele, Concilien-
geschichte, vol. i, p. 111.
RENEWAL OF CONFLICT 107
enlisting as much aid as possible, Novatus went to
Rome, where a similar schism was in existence, with
the difference that there the schismatics accused the
bishop of undue laxity. Headed by Novatian, this
party had attempted to prevent the election of Pope
Cornelius on the ground that he had shown himseK
too lenient to the apostates. The learning and
blameless life of Novatian had dra^vn many priests
to his standard, and by the dissemination of
calumnies regarding Cornelius he finally induced
three Italian bishops to consecrate him Bishop of
Rome. By a strange perversity, Novatus threw in
his lot with the Novatians. The schism assumed such
alarming proportions that Synods were held, encyc-
lical letters exchanged, and various other means
adopted to check the growing disorder.^ A reversal
of Valerian's policy, however, soon put an end to the
strife. After years of toleration the Emperor had
decided to take up the unfinished work of Decius
and uproot Christianity from his dominions. In the
face of greater dangers the Christians forgot their
differences. The ban of proscription must have
found them unprepared. *' It is wonderful," says
Denis of Alexandria, " what took place in Valerian,
and especially when we consider the condition of
the man before this, how kind and friendly he was
1 Hergenrother, Kirchengeschickte, vol. i, pp. 280 seq. ; Blanc,
Cours d'Histoire Ecclesiastique, vol. i, p. 303 ; Hefele, Concilien-
geschickte, vol. i, p. 111.
108 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
towards the pious. For never was there any of the
Emperors before him so favorably and benevolently
disposed towards them ; not even those who were
openly said to be Christians, so plainly received them,
with such excessive civility and friendship as he did
in the commencement of his reign. All his house was
likewise filled with pious persons, and was indeed a
congregation of the Lord." ^
This account fits in admirably with what we know
of the character of Valerian. A man of high moral
purpose and blameless life, what more natural than
that he should be attracted by the virtues and irre-
proachable conduct so strikingly manifested by the
Christians. The instinctive regard for personal
worth which led liim to promote none but the de-
serving would also guide him in the selection of
those who were to compose his household, among
whom it is not astonishing that there were many
Christians. Valerian, though he wished to decline
the office of censor, was doubtless in sympathy with
the plan of Decius, and must have felt that the first
step in the restoration of the old Koman glory was
to abolish the vice and corruption which were de-
stroying private virtue and public honor. Besides
these, other influences may have been at work. His
court was the home of the eclectic philosophy of the
period, and if his daughter-in-law was a Christian,
^ Ep. ad Hermammon; Euseb., Historia Ecdesiastica, vii, 10.
RENEWAL OF CONFLICT 109
she was doubtless also a Christian advocate.^ The
very wording of his decree against the Christians
when he undertook to persecute them, the fact that
the Caesarlani are expressly mentioned, is proof
positive that the Christians of Caesar's household
were at least numerous enough to deserve the desig-
nation of a church.2
A question very naturally arises here. If Vale-
rian was brought into such intimate relations with
the Christians and had extended to them such sig-
nal marks of favor, what could have induced him to
proscribe them ? The answer is furnished by Denis
of Alexandria, who says : " But the master and
chief ruler of the Egyptian Magi (Macrianus)
persuaded him to abandon this course, exhorting
him to persecute and slay these pure and holy men
as enemies and obstacles to their wicked and detest-
able incantations. For there were and still are men
who, by their very presence or when seen, and only
breathing and speaking, are able to dissipate the
artifices of wicked demons. But he suggested to
him to study rites of initiation, and abominable
arts of sorcery, to perform execrable sacrifices, to
slay unhappy infants, and to sacrifice the children
of wretched fathers, and to search the bowels of new-
born babes, and to mutilate and dismember the
1 AUard, Les Dernieres Persecutions du Troisieme Steele, p. 36.
2 iKKX-qaia is the word used by Denis, loc. cit.
110 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
creatures of God as if by doing this they should
obtain great felicity." ^
This explanation of Valerian's change of attitude
towards the Christians has met with scorn and ridi-
cule from many later writers. M. Aube, in particu-
lar, has taken great pains to show that it is worthy
of no credence, and utterly incompatible with the
general tone of Roman life and inconsistent with the
character of Macrianus. In the opinion of M. Aube,
" Macrianus was one of the principal men in the
entourage of Valerian. He was a man important as
well by his rank and his enormous wealth as by his
notable services to the State. His courage had mer-
ited for him the highest honors in the army, and his
reputation was that of an honest and brave man.
When Valerian set out for the war with the Per-
sians, he wrote to the Senate that he had entrusted
the care of the Republic to Macrianus. After 260,
when Valerian was taken prisoner, Macrianus took
the purple on the invitation of Ballista, one of the
few honest men of the time. His soldiers cried out
that there was no one more fit to govern the Empire
on which GaUienus had brought dishonor. This is
the arch-magician of whom Denis speaks, — the
pretended immolator of infants." ^
This summary of the character and achievements
1 Denis, loc. cit.
2 VEglise et VEtat dans la Seconde MoitU du Troisieme Siecle^
p. 337.
RENEWAL OF CONFLICT 111
of Macrianus, which M. Aubc considers sufficient
reason for branding the account of a contemporary
witness as a collection of '' the sayings of the terri-
fied and angiy Christians, who hid in caves and re-
galed themselves with the most ridicidous and most
foolish rumors," ^ is taken from the Augustan His-
tory. In his zeal to exonerate Macrianus, M. Aube
has altosrether mistaken or misunderstood the words
of Pollio.
In the first place great stress is laid on the fact
that Macrianus received from the soldiers under
his command the honor of a nomination to the
throne. This was not an extraordinary occurrence
at that time, and gives no indication whatsoever as
to his character. The way to the throne was easy
when the supreme power was in the hands of a man
whose manifest unfitness for affairs of state had
merited for him the contempt and hatred of all
classes in the Empire.^ The desire to supplant
Galiienus after the capture of his father was so
widespread that revolts took place wherever there
were large bodies of troops. So many were ad-
vanced at this time that the names of all are not
known to history.^ The rapidity with which some
1 Ihid.
2 Gallienum non solum viri sed etiam mulieres contemptui
haberent. Pollio, Trig. Tyr. c. 1.
^ Tanta obscuritas eorum hominum fuit, qui ex diversis orbis
partibus ad imperium convolabant . . . uti eorum nee nomina
frequententur. Ibid. c. 1.
112 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
of these ephemeral rulers were deprived of life by
the men who conferred on them the imperial insig-
nia would even indicate that in many cases the
soldiers selected their leaders from the office as a
protest against Gallienus rather than from the de-
sire to see those leaders occupy the throne. Victo-
rinus Junior was no sooner hailed as Caesar than
he was put to death.^ Marius the blacksmith was
so contemptible in the eyes of his own soldiers by
reason of his humble origin that one of them slew
him after he had enjoyed the purple for three days
with the remark, — " And this sword he made him-
self." ^ The excellent Saturninus, on the day he re-
ceived the imperial peplum, warned his followers
that they had spoiled a good soldier to make a
wretched Emperor, and in a few days he was slain
because he attempted to exercise the privileges of
his office.^ In such circumstances it is not extraor-
dinary that Macrianus was among the number of
those who were proclaimed Emperor. Pollio, the
only author who speaks of that event, has nothing
but contempt for Macrianus' actions on that occa-
sion. From him we learn that after Valerian had
fallen into the hands of the Persians, the disloyalty
of the soldiers to his son GaUienus and the fact
1 PoUio, Trig. Tyr. c. 7.
^ Hie est gladius quern ipse fecit. Ibid. c. 8.
« Ibid. c. 23.
RENEWAL OF CONFLICT 113
that a usurper had already appeared in the j^erson
of Aureolus rendered it imperative that some one
should be selected for the tlirone who would be ac-
ceptable to the people and capable of carrying on
the administration. The choice lay between Bal-
lista, who held the position of prefect under Vale-
rian, and Macrianus, who was the first among the
duces} Ballista, in a speech which has been pre-
served by one of his auditors,^ deprecated his fitness
for the position, saying to Macrianus : " My age,
training, and my desires compel me to refuse the
office, because I cannot deny I desire a good ruler,
who is capable of taking the place of Valerian, a
man such as you are, brave, constant, honorable,
well tried in state affairs, and, what is of more im-
portance, rich. Take the place which you have de-
served, and as long as you wish it let me be your
prefect." In his reply Macrianus agreed with Bal-
lista as to the qualifications which an emperor should
possess at the time, but pleaded that his age and
infirmities and the enjoyment of riches, which had
long before withdrawn him from the career of a
soldier, proved his unfitness for such arduous duties.
Younger men must be selected, he said, not one, but
two, or even three, who would restore the republic
which Valerian through fate, and Gallienus by his
1 Primus Ducum. Pollio, loc cit. c. 12.
2 Maeonius Astyanax qui concilio interf uit. Ibid.
114 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
dissolute life, had lost. The hint was not lost on Bal-
lista.^ " Give us your sons, Macrianus and Quietus,"
he said ; " they were made tribunes by Valerian, and
because of their worth they will never be safe as
long as Gallienus rules." Seeing that he had been
understood, Macrianus acceded, and ordered that
the soldiers should receive double wages, to be paid
out of his private purse. The safety of the Empire
no longer troubled him. He left the East in a state
of confusion to take issue with Gallienus, but was
slain together with his sons in Illyricum or Thrace,
where he encountered the forces of Aureolus. This
episode is in itself scarcely sufficient to exonerate
Macrianus from the charges made against him by
the Bishop of Alexandria, and proves nothing more
than that Macrianus was possessed of a large
amount of duplicity, and that in the circumstances
it would be extraordinary if a man of his disposi-
tion was not made emperor. The encomiums of
Macrianus came from one who did not possess the
most essential requisite for the office, namely wealth,
and who doubtless knew how short his tenure would
be when a rival such as Macrianus was to be reck-
oned with.
Of the charge that Macrianus was chief of the
^ Intellexit eum Ballista sic agere, ut de filiis suis videretur
cogitare. Pollio, loc cit. The account of his advancement to the
throne given by Denis agrees admirably with Pollio's narrative.
Eusebius, loc. cit. vii, 10.
RENEWAL OF CONFLICT 115
magicians of Egypt, M. Aubc has this to say:
"This means nothing more than that Macrianus
belonged to the little body of enraged conserva-
tives of the time, who were very much attached to
the old manners and customs of the Empire, and
especially to the religious customs of their ances-
tors, which he saw, not without anger, attacked
and destroyed by the encroa<jhments and the pro-
gress of Christianity. He could have been chief
of the magicians in no sense except that he was a
pagan, zealous to fanaticism, and ready to shed
blood in the defence of law and order. ... If
Macrianus had anything to do with the matter, as
appears from the testimony of Denis, which can be
interpreted but not rejected, it was by his private
conversations, by his advice, by the influence he
possessed over Valerian. Magic had nothing to do
with it." 1
This summary disposal of the testimony of a
contemporary is not in accord with some well-
known facts of history, which, inasmuch as they
tend to confirm the truth of what Denis says, as
well as for the light they cast on the religious tone
of the age, are worth examination. Trebellius Pol-
lio in his " Life of Quietus the Son of Macrianus '*
says : " In speaking of the Macrian family, which
still flourishes, it would be improper to pass over
^ Aub^, loc. cit.
116 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
in silence a custom which is peculiar to the mem-
bers of this family, and which they have constantly
observed. The men always have their rings and
silverware, and the women their rings, bracelets,
and all their adornments engraved with the image
of Alexander the Great, and even at this date the
tunics, girdles, and mantles of the matrons bear the
image of Alexander in embroidery of different col-
ored threads. We ourselves saw Cornelius Marcus,
a man of this family, on one occasion when he was
giving a supper in the temple of Hercules, set
before the Pontifex an amber dish containing the
image of Alexander in the centre and his history in
smaU characters around the border. He ordered
that the dish should be shown to all present who
were interested in the great commander. I mention
these things, because it is believed that all who
carry an image of Alexander in gold or silver will
be aided in whatever they do." ^
At first sight it may appear that there is very
little connection between this passage and the state-
ment of Denis of Alexandria that Macrianus was
the chief of the magicians of Egypt. The venera-
tion in which Alexander was held, however, could
arise from no cause but a belief in his divin-
ity. Kinship with the gods Alexander found essen-
tial to his scheme of a world-empire embracing
1 Trig. Tyr. c. 14.
RENEWAL OF CONFLICT 117
Greece, Asia, and Egypt.^ These latter countries
were ruled by men who were popularly supposed
to be descended from the national gods.2 Seeing
the impossibility of supplanting rulers with such
exalted antecedents, Alexander conceived the idea
of establishing divine paternity for himself and
thus becoming the equal of those whose thrones
he usurped.3 This object he attained in Egypt. He
visited the oracle and temple of Ammon in the
oasis of Siwah in the Libyan desert, and was de-
clared the son of Ammon-Ra by the priests, after
the oracle had spoken and proclaimed his celestial
descent.* Even during his lifetime Alexander re-
ceived divine honors, and when he died he was wor-
shipped throughout the whole Empire which he
had founded.^ Among the Greeks he was accorded
a place in high Olympus. His statues were placed
1 Of. Beurlier, De Divinis Honoribus quos acceperunt Alexander
et successores ejus, p. 25.
2 La noblesse de chaque membre d'une maison pharaonique et
ses titres h la couronne se mesuraient sur la quantite de sang divin
qu'il pouvait prouver. G. Maspero, *' Comment Alexandre devint
Dieu en Egypte," Annuaire de VEcole Pratique des Hautes
Etudes, p. 19, Paris, 1897 ; Beurlier, loc. cit.
8 Prudentis sane viri erat et in arte imperandi exercitatissirai,
se illis parem praestare quorum in locum succedebat. Beurlier,
ibid. p. 20.
4 The account of this expedition is found in two contemporane-
ous writers, Ptolemy and Callisthenes. Vide Muller-Didot, Scrip-
tores Eerum Alexandri Magni ; Maspero, loc. cit., for literature and
description of the journey and xVpothoosis of Alexander.
6 Beurlier, loc cit. pp. 7 et seq. ; pp. 27 et seq.
118 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
in the temples, groves were dedicated to him, festi-
val days were appointed, and sacred games insti-
tuted in his honor. The Seleucidae, Ptolemies, and
the kings of Pergamus and Bactria all looked to
Alexander as the founder of their dynasties, and
numbered him among their national deities.^ In
Egypt, especially, the most vigorous efforts were
made to place the worship of Alexander at the
head of the national cult. During the reign of
Ptolemy Philadelphus a priest was appointed for
the purpose of offering sacrifices to Alexander.^
The institution thus established was continued in
the succeeding reigns. These priests of Alexander
were accorded the first place in the kingdom. They
wore golden crowns and purple garments, and their
persons were inviolable. Their signature was neces-
sary to give authority to the decrees of the Egyp-
tian priests or for the validity of private contracts.
The Roman conquests necessarily robbed this priest-
hood of its authority, but it is not by any means
improbable that Macrianus may have been de-
1 In the monograph already cited M. Beurlier has collected all
the references in early authors bearing on the subject of Alexan-
der's divinity. He shows that this worship was as wide as the
kingdom founded by Alexander, and that it was maintained by
his successors in the various divisions into which the empire fell :
Macedonia, p. 36 ; Ptolemies, pp. 46 seq. ; Seleucidae, p. 86 ; At-
tali, p. 89 ; Commageni, pp. 108 seq. ; Bactriani, Parthiani, pp.
117 seq.
2 Beurlier, loc. cit. p. 59.
RENEWAL OF CONFLICT 119
scended from a man who once held the position of
priest of Alexander, or that he may have been the
head of the then existing cult. This latter sup-
position is strengthened by the similarity between
the title so frequently given to the priests of Alex-
ander, apxifpivs, and the epithet which Denis applies
to Macrianus, apxttruvaywyos.-^
The worship of a god of Egypt and the observ-
ance of Egyptian rites is in itseK sufficient proof
that Macrianus was addicted to magic. ^ The curved
ram's horns which marked the coins of Alexander
show that he had adopted the symbols of his pre-
tended ancestor Ammon, and the title Macedo, which
these coins bear, may have some connection with
the Egyptian god Macedo, whose jackal-head is
also seen together with the other symbolic device
of the horn.^ The wearing of amulets bearing an
image of Alexander, which Pollio attributes to the
Macrian family, was a magical practice which St.
John Ohrysostom found it necessary to reprobate
among the Christians of Antioch at the end of the
fourth century.^
1 Benrlier, loc. cit. pp. 60 seq. Eusebius, Life of Constantine^ iv,
25, relates that Constantine abolished the priesthood of E^ypt
because of their abominable practices.
2 Maspero, Histoire Ancienne des Peuples de V Orient Classique.
8 Rawlinson, History of Ancient Egypt, vol. i, p. 340 ; Birch,
Manners and Customs of Ancient Egypt, vol. iii, p. 161.
4 Ad Illumin. Catech. 2, Migne, P. G..vol. xlix, p. 240.
120 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
The high estimate of Macrianus' character shown
by Valerian in the letter which he addressed to
the Senate when setting out for the Persian war
proves conclusively that at this time the Emperor
was completely under the control of his favorite.^
It would be easy in these circumstances to induce
the old Emperor to offer sacrifices to the god whom
the Greeks had invoked five centuries before when
their country was being overrun by the Gauls.^ If
human sacrifices were necessary, there was nothing
in this repugnant to the Caesars. At the sugges-
tion of Chaldean magicians, the philosopher Marcus
Aurehus slew a gladiator in order that the erring
Faustina might be cured of her infatuation by bath-
ing in his blood.2 Elagabalus surrounded himself
with magicians of all kinds, and encouraged their
brutal rites to the extent of slaughtering children
for purposes of augury. By a refinement of cruelty
he sacrificed none but children of noble birth, whose
fathers and mothers were alive, in order that the
1 Ego, p. c, bellum Persicum gerens Macriano totam rem p.
credidi et quidem a parte militari. Ille vobis fidelis, ille mihi
devotus, ilium et amat et timet miles, ille utcumque res exegerit,
cum exercitibus agit. Nee, p. c, nova vel inopina nobis sunt :
pueri ejus virtus in Italia, adulescentis in Gallia, juvenis in Thra-
cia, in Africa jam provecti, senescentis denique in lUyrico et
Dalmatia conprobata est, cum in diversis proeliis ad exemplum
fortiter faceret. Hue accedit quod habet juvenes filios, Romano
dignus coUegio, nostra dignus amicitia. Pollio, Trig. Tyr. c. 12.
2 Cf . Beurlier, loc. cit. p. 29 ; Justin, xxiv, 5, 10.
^ Julius Capitolinus, Vita Marci Anton Philos. c. 19.
RENEWAL OF CONFLICT 121
death of the children might cause the greater grief. ^
A few years after the time of Valerian one of his
successors, Aurelian, dui-ing a war with the Mar-
comamii, ordered that the SibyUine books should
be consulted, and promised that, if sacrifices were
necessary to propitiate the angry deities, he would
supply prisoners of war for the purpose.^ The
horrid rites practised under Diocletian, when the
augurs cut open living Christian women and chil-
dren to find out the will of the fates, are too well
known to need more than a passing mention.^
These considerations enable us to understand
why it was that Denis of Alexandria could make
such grave charges against the quondam friend of
his co-religionists, and prove that, revolting as these
charges are, they were in keeping with the times
and the people.
The deplorable state of ruin and disorder into
1 Cecidit et humanas hostias, lectis ad hoc pueris nobilibus et
decoris per omnem Italian patrimis et matrimis, credo ut major
esset utrique parent! dolor. Omne denique magornra genus aderat
illi operabaturque cottidie, hortante illo et gratias dis agente, quod
amicos eorum invenisset, cum inspiceret exta puerilia, et ex-
cruciaret hostias ad ritum gentilem suum. Lampridius, Vita
Heliogab. c 8.
2 Miror vos, patres sancti, tamdiu de aperiendis Sibyllinis du-
bitasse libris, proinde quasi in Christianorum ecclesia, non in
templo deorum omnium tractaretis. . . . Inspiciantur libri ; si
quae facienda fuerint, celebrentur: quemlibet sumptum, cnjus-
libet gentis captos, quaelibet animalia regia non abuuo sed libeiis
oflFero. Vopiscus, Vita Aureliani, c. 20.
8 Eusebius, Uistoria Ecclesiastical viii, 14.
122 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
which the Empire was daily sinking would natu-
rally make a man of Valerian's temperament more
susceptible to the influence of such persons as
Macrianus. Chaos reigned everywhere. Each new
calamity or fresh attack by the barbarians was re-
garded as signal proof of the anger of the guardian
deities of Rome, who withdrew their aid and sent
these visitations as a punishment for the derelic-
tion of the Christians.^ These superstitious ideas
were strengthened by the conviction that Chris-
tianity was incompatible with the old order and
inimical to the permanence of Roman institutions.
This conviction, which had years before found ex-
pression in the codification of the laws against the
Christians by Ulpian, reached its culmination in
the sweeping edict which came from the hands of
Decius, and which aimed at the complete eradica-
tion of the Christian religion. Decius himself ex-
pressed the opinion that he would rather see a
rival Emperor in the field than another Pope in
Rome.2 With the new needs forced on the atten-
tion of the Roman authorities by the general decay,
a new factor entered into the relations between
^ Cum dicas plurimos conquer! et quod bella crebrius surgant,
quod lues, quod fames saeviant, quodque imbres et pluvias serena
longa suspendant nobis imputari. Cyprian, Ad Demet. 2. Dixisti
per nos fieri, et quod nobis debeant imputari omnia ista quibus
nunc mundus quatitur et urguetur, quod dii vestri a nobis non
colantur. Ibid. 3.
2 St. Cyprian, Ep. 52.
RENEWAL OF CONFLICT 123
Christianity and the State.^ Political expediency
clamored for reform, for a restoration of the old
" mores " as the only means of salvation for the
Empire. To all schemes of reform, Christianity
was an insuperable barrier. The old theocratic
ideas of government were still in force, and though
the Christians might not be compelled to renounce
their own God, they could never be anything but
outlaws as long as they refused homage to the gods
of Rome .2
In addition to these legal, religious, and political
motives for the extinction of Christianity, the per-
secution of the Church and the confiscation of her
property seemed to promise relief from the financial
burden which was threatening the ruin of the Em-
pire.^ The mass of the people were paupers and the
government bankrupt. False economic principles,
civil wars, the spoliation of whole provinces by in-
vaders, and the debasing of the currency* had
^ Schiller is of opinion that this policy orig^inated with Max-
iminus. Die bewusste und politisch geplante Verfolgung heginnt
erst niit dem Kaiser, der die starkste Reaktion gegen das Senats-
kaisertum und die Kompromisspolitik seines Vorg-angers herbei-
fiihrte, unter Maximinus. Geschichte der Rumischen Eaiserzeit,
vol. i, pt. 2, p. 902.
2 Cf. AUard, Hist, des Persecutions pendant la Premiere MoitU
du Troisieme Siecle, pp. 273-291.
8 Schiller, loc cit. vol. i, p. 890.
* Der aureus, die Goldraiinze, welche eigentlich 6, 55 Gramm
fein Gold enthalten soUte, wurde eine Ware und enthielt nur 5-6
Gramm ; die Silhormiinze sank um das Jahr 25G in ihrem Feinge-
124 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
ruined commerce and agriculture, impoverished the
people, and had thus cut off all sources of revenue.
The prodigality and luxury of the court and the in-
cessant demands made on the public treasury had
long since exhausted whatever reserve funds the
government could command, and inasmuch as the
custom of borrowing money on the national credit
had never been adopted, there were no resources at
hand for the prosecution of the many wars which
the salvation of the Empire demanded.
In striking contrast to this state of public insol-
vency was the apparent prosperity of the Church. It
was always possessed of sufficient means to support
the clergy, to defray the expenses of services in the
churches, and to maintain the cemeteries. Large
sums were needed to carry on the manifold charities
of the churches. These were obtained through vol-
untary contributions,^ the donations of wealthy con-
halte von 50-40 Prozent auf 20-5 Prozent und wurde nicht bloss
mit Kupfer legiert, sondem zura Teil infolge der in den kaiser-
lichen Miinzstatten herrschenden Unterschlief e des Personals dureh
reichlichen Zusatz von Blei, Zinn und Zink verunreinigt ; alle
Glaubiger und Stiftungen mussten zugrunde gehen, wenn mit
diesem Gelde die Schulden abgezahlt werden konnten. Die Kupf er-
miinze endlich, woraus der Staat den meisten Gewinn ziehen muss
und kann, war selten geworden und wertvoUer als das Pseudosil-
ber (Weisskupfer), und wo sie noch auftrat, wurde sie zuriickge-
halten und vergraben, obgleich sie an Gewicht auf die Halfte,
gesunken oder nur beschnitten im Kurse war. Schiller, loc. cit.
p. 843.
1 St. Justin, Apol. i, 67.
'^
RENEWAL OF CONFLICT 125
verts,! weekly collections,2 and a monthly tax.3 Out
of the funds thus provided the poor, the widows,
and the orphans were supported,^ those who could
not earn a livelihood or who had lost their means
of support by becoming Christians were aided,^ free-
dom was purchased for Christian slaves, and Chris-
tian captives ransomed. Large sums were necessary
to carry out these schemes of charity.^ In the time
of Pope Cornelius fifteen hundred poor people,
widows, and orphans, were supported by the Church
in Rome ; ' and at a later date three thousand were
cared for by the Church in Antioch.^ Nor was the
liberality of particular churches confined to its own
members. St. Cyprian collected 100,000 sesterces
(about f5000) in the Church of Carthage for the
ransom of Christians in Numidia ; ^ and Pope St.
Stephen supplied with necessaries the churches in
1 When Marcion left the Church, the sum of 200 sesterces, which
he had given at his baptism, was restored to him. Tertullian, De
Praescr. 30 ; Adv. Mar. iv, 4. St. Cyprian sold his gardens on
the day of his baptism and presented the proceeds to the Church.
Pontius, Vita Cypr. c. 2.
2 Offerings made during the celebration of the mass.
3 Tertullian, Apol. c. 39.
* The names of those who were to receive aid were kept in a
special register. St. Cyprian, Ep. 41.
^ St. Cyprian offered to support a converted actor until such
time as he could provide for himself in a way sanctioned by the
Church. St. Cyprian, Ep. 61.
^ Con. Ap. iv, 0. "^ Eusebius, loc. cit. vi, 43.
8 Chrysoatom, Uom. 60 in Matt. Hi.
' St. Cyprian, Ep. 59.
126 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
the provinces of Syria and Arabia.^ Some isolated
attacks on the Christians in Rome which took place
before the promulgation of any edict show clearly
that Valerian's good will towards the followers of
Christ was changing little by little to hatred. Cu-
pidity was manifestly the motive for these attacks.
A wealthy Greek family ^ consisting of two brothers,
Hippolytus and Hadrias, and the latter's wife,
Paidina, and their two children, Neo and Maria, after
a stormy voyage by sea in which they vowed sacri-
fices to the Stygian Jupiter if they were saved, be-
came Christians shortly after their arrival in Rome.^
Hippolytus was the first to renounce paganism, and
after his conversion he commenced to lead the life
of a solitary in a grotto, where he devoted himself
to the work of preparing cemeteries for the faith-
ful either by working with the Fossores or having
^ Eusebius, loc. cit. vii, 5.
2 De Rossi has been at considerable pains to elucidate the many
dif&cvilties which centre around this group of martyrs known only
through Acta of doubtful value, and a few Epigrammata. Aub6
says of the Acta : Sont absolument d^nu^s d'autorit^. L'Eglise et
VEtat, p. 332. Dufourcq says : II est infiniment probable que
I'^pigramme, et les gestes qu'elle cite, sont ant^rieurs k Symmaque
(499-514), ou en sont contemporains. Gesta Martyrum Bomains,
p. 301. Cf. De Rossi, Bom. Sott. tom. iii, pp. 208-213, for a critical
discussion of the whole subject.
2 Olim sacrilegam quam ndsit Graecia tiirbam,
Martyrii mentis nunc decorata nitet.
Quae medio pelagi votum miserabile fecit,
Reddere funereo dona nefando Jovi.
Epig. 78. Ihm.
RENEWAL OF CONFLICT 127
the work done by others at his expense.^ One by
one the remaining members of the family were con-
verted. They were instructed in the Christian faith
by Eusebius, a priest, and Marcellus, a deacon, and
received baptism from the hand of Pope St. Stephen.
Their eagerness to observe all the Gospel precepts
led them to renounce their earthly possessions, which
they distributed among the Christian poor. This
attracted the attention of Maximus, prefect of the
city, who conveyed the information to the Emperor
or his representatives and had the Christians ar-
rested on a charge of attempting to subvert the
pagan worship.^ The entire family, together with
Eusebius and Marcellus, were summoned before the
tribunal to answer this accusation. The same ques-
tion asked of each one — " Whence did you pro-
cure this enormous wealth and all this money with
which you seduce the people ? " — shows that a sus-
picion existed in the minds of the Roman authori-
ties of some immense fund available as a means to
an active Christian propaganda. The examination
elicited nothing confirmatory of such a belief. All
^ Qiiein monachi ritu tenuit spelunca latentem,
Christicolis gregibus dulce cubile parans.
Ibid.
2 Divulgatum est Valeriano a quodam Maximo pref ecto urbis.
Passio ; De Rossi, Eom. Sott. torn, iii, p. 206. On the importance of
this mention of Maximus in regard to the date, vide de Rossi, loc.
cit. p. 211. Allard, Les Dernieres Persecutions du Troisieme Siecle,
p. 44, note ; Dufourcq, loc. cit. p. 181.
128 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
the accused boldly confessed their faith and were
put to death. Paulina, the first to suffer, was buried
in a cemetery on the Appian Way, one mile from
Kome, where they used to hold their meetings.^ The
children, Neo and Maria, were decapitated in the
presence of Hippolytus and Hadrias, who were
themselves executed shortly afterwards and buried
with Paulina and her children in the same ceme-
tery on the Appian Way. An agent of the prefect,
named Maximus, who had been appointed to watch
the Christians, became a convert himself, and paid
for his faith with his life.
To this period in all probability must be assigned
the martyrdom of the Christian spouses, Chrysan-
thus and Daria.^ A convert himself, Chrysanthus
became a very eager apostle of Christianity and,
1 Sepelivit Via Appia, ex praecepto S. Stephani episcopi, millia-
rio ab urbe Roma primo, juxta corpora sanctorum in arenario ubi
frequenter conveniebant. Passio. The place of burial is discussed
by De Rossi, Bom. Sott. torn, i, pp. 262 seq. ; tom. ii, pp. 180-184 ;
and the date by Dufourcq, loc. cit. p. 181.
* The " paleographical traditions " are unanimous in assigning
thb martyrdom to the reign of Numerian. Vide Dufourcq, loc. cit.
p. 226. Most commentators, however, assume that the word Nu-
merianus is a copyist's error for Valerianus. For authorities, vide
Allard, loc. cii. p. 46, note. While admitting that the topo-
graphical indications in the Acta have been confirmed by the
Itineraries and by the discoveries of archaeologists, M. Dufourcq
(loc. cit. p. 226) is of opinion that the later date — time of Nume-
rian — cannot easily be set aside. But as Numerian while em-
peror never visited Rome, he comes to the conclusion that, " Uu
redacteur a combing une tradition de Constantinople avec une
tradition Salarienne.'* Loc. cit. p. 227.
RENEWAL OF CONFLICT 129
according to the Acta, before his death saw many
of those to whom he had brought the knowledge of
Christ die by the sword for the faith. After suffer-
ing many indignities and cruelties, Chrysanthus and
his wife were finally buried alive m an arenarium
on the Via Salaria Nova.
CHAPTER V
FIRST EDICT
Text lost — Reconstruction from Proconsular Acts of St. Cyprian
and letter of Denis of Alexandria — Clauses of edict — New
spirit in anti-Christian legislation — Abjuration of Christ
not required — Cemeteries confiscated — Purpose of edict —
Aimed principally at hierarchy — Effect of edict — St.
Stephen — Tarcisius — Unknown martyrs of the crypt of
Chrysanthus — Cyprian exiled to Curubis. — Visited by many
Christians — Vision — Letters to confessors in the prisons and
mines — Suffering's of exiled Christians — Aided by Cyprian
and Quirinus — Denis of Alexandria — Exiled to Kephron —
Makes many converts — General survey.
Whether Valerian yielded himself blindly to the
influence of Macrianus, or whether he was swayed
by political, legal, or religious motives, a decree pro-
mulgated about the middle of the year 257, bearing
his name and addressed to the provincial governors,
shows that his attitude towards the followers of
Christ had undergone a complete change. It is very
much to be regretted that neither the edict itself
nor the instructions which accompanied it have
come down to us. The Proconsular Acts ^ of St.
1 The documents relating to the martyrdom of St. Cyprian are
two, viz. the Acta Proconsularia, and the Vita Cypriani by the
deacon Pontius. Their absolute authenticity is beyond question.
Cf. Paul Monceaux, " Examen Critique dcs Documents rdlatifs
FIRST EDICT 131
Cyi)rian and a letter of Denis of Alexandria which
contains an account of his trial enable us to recon-
struct if not the exact phraselogy, at least the drift
and general terms of this enactment.
The Acts of St. C^'prian relate that on the third
day before the Kalends of September (August 30),
St. Cyprian was summoned to the private office
(^secretariurn) of the proconsul in Carthage to be
judged by Aspasius Patemus the proconsul. The
following conversation took place : —
Aspasius Paternus. The most sacred Em-
perors Valerian and Gallienus have sent me letters
in which they command that persons not conform-
ing to the Roman religion must be compelled to
practise the ceremonies. I have inquired regarding
you.i What do you answer ?
Cyprian. I am a Christian and a Bishop. I know
no gods but the one true God, who made the hea-
vens and the earth, the sea and all they contain.
This is the God we Christians serve ; we pray to
Him night and day for ourselves and for all men,
and for the safety of the Emperors themselves.
au Martyre de Saint Cyprien," Bevue ArcMologique, 3"^^ s^rie,
tom.xxxviii (1901), pp. 249-271. Of the Acta Proconsularta, M.
Monceaux says : ' ' On n'en a jamais mis en doute la parfaite
authenticity. On s'accorde h le consid^rer comme Tun des r^cits
martyrologiques les plus dig-nes de foi, les plus purs de toute al-
teration, meme comme le type par excellence de cette classe de
documents." Loc. cit. p. 251.
^ Exquisivi de nomine tuo. Acta, c. 1.
132 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
Pateknus. Do you stiU persevere in this course ?
Cypkian. It is not possible to change a good
resolution known to God.
Paternus. Will it be possible ^ for you in ac-
cordance with the commands of the Emperors to
go as an exile to the city of Curubis ?
Cyprian. I go.
Paternus. They have deigned also in writing
to me to mention priests as weU as bishops. I
wish, therefore, to know from you the names of the
priests who are in this city.
The proconsul's previous play on words had
brought forth no answer from Cyprian. Now the
lawyer had his chance.
Cyprian. By your laws you have well and wisely
decreed that men should not be inf ormers.^ There-
fore I will neither reveal their names nor betray
them. You will find them in their respective cities.
Paternus. I demand their names to-day and in
this place.
Cyprian. Since our discipline forbids that a man
should voluntarily surrender himself, and since such
a thing is repugnant even to your laws, they can-
1 Bona voluntas quae Deum novit, immutari non potest ....
Poteris ergo secundum mandatum, etc. Acta, c. 1.
2 Legibus vestris bene atque utiliter censuistis, delatores non
esse. Ibid. Trajan (Ep. ad Plin.) forbade the anonymous delatio
of Christians. Hadrian was still stricter : he ordered the dela-
tores to be punished. See page 42 above.
FIRST EDICT 133
not surrender themselves, but if you search for
them, they will be found.
Paternus. They will be caught.
And he added : It is furthermore commanded
that you hold no assemblies, and that you must not
enter your cemeteries. Any one who fails to observe
this salutary precept will be put to death.
Cyprian. Do as you are commanded.
Then Paternus the proconsul gave orders that
the blessed Cyprian should be " deported " into
exile.^
About the same time Denis of Alexandria was
summoned before the Proconsul Aemilianus.^ What
took place at the trial he himself relates in a letter
^ En rdalit^, ces pr^tendus Actes Proconsulaires se composent
de trois documents distincts, et de quelques Idg-^res additions.
Ces trois documents sont : 1. Le proc6s-verbal de I'interrogatoire
de 257 ; 2. Le proc^s-verbal de I'arrestation de Cyprien et du sec-
ond interrogatoire en septembre 258 ; 3. Le r^cit du martyre
proprement dit. Monceaux, loc. cit. p. 254.
The first two parts are undoubtedly official documents. With-
out assigning any reason for his opinion, M. Monceaux seems to
think they were drawn up by clerics in Carthage {loc. cit.). It is
more probable, however, that they were taken from the archives
in the office of the proconsul. Cf . Compte-rendu, Analecta Bollan-
diana, torn, xx (1901), p. 473.
2 During the reign of Gallienus this Aemilianus became one of
the " Thirty Tyrants." He was possessed of considerable mili-
tary genius, and after being forcibly elected to the purple, he
brought the whole of Egypt and the Thebais into subjection ; for
which he received from his followers the name of Alexander or
Alexandrinus. Theodotus, one of Gallienus' generals, defeated
him and cast him into prison, where he died — Strangulatus in
carcere captivorum veterum more. Pollio, Trig. Tyr. c. 22.
134 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
written in answer to Germanus,^ a bishop who
had endeavored to slander him. Fortunately Denis
is careful to record minutely the questions and
answers. " Listen," he says, " to the very words
which were spoken on both sides as they were
recorded.
" Dionysius, Faustus,^ Maximus,^ Marcellus,* and
Chaeremon ^ being arraigned, Aemilianus the pre-
fect said : *• I have reasoned verbally with you con-
cerning the clemency which our rulers have shown
to you ; for they have given you the opportunity to
save yourselves, if you will turn to that which is
according to nature, and worship the gods which
preserve their Empire, and forget those that are
contrary to nature. What, then, do you say to this ?
For I do not think that you will be ungrateful for
their kindness, since they would turn you to a better
course.' Dionysius replied : ' Not all people worship
all gods, but each one those whom he approves.
We therefore reverence and worship the one God,
1 All that is known of this Germanus is that he accused Denis
of cowardice. In all probability this letter was a public epistle,
intended for the Christians at large.
^ Faustus was a companion of Denis in the Decian persecution.
Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica, vi, 40. He lived to a gieat
age, and was martyred duiing the Diocletian persecution. Ibid.
vii, 11.
^ The successor of Denis in the See of Alexandria. Ibid.
vii, 28.
* Not otherwise known.
^ The only notice of him we find is in this chapter of Eusebius.
FIRST EDICT 135
the Maker of all ; who hath given the Empire to
the divinely favored and august Valerian and Gal-
lienus, and we pray to Him continually for their
Empire that it may remain unshaken.' Aemihanus
the prefect said to them : ' But who forbids you to
worship him, if he is a god, together with those that
are gods by nature. For ye have been commanded
to neverence the gods, and the gods whom all know.'
Dionysius answered : * We worship no other.' Aemil-
ianus the prefect said to them : ' I see that you are
at once ungrateful and insensible to the kindness
of our sovereigns. Wherefore ye shall not remain
in this city. But ye shall be sent into the regions
of Libya, to a place called Kephro. For I have
chosen this place at the command of our sover-
eigns, and it shall be by no means permitted you
or any others, either to hold assemblies, or to
enter into the so-caUed cemeteries. But if any
one shall be seen without the place which I have
commanded, or be found in any assembly, he will
bring peril on himself. For suitable punishment
shall not fail. Go, therefore, where ye have been
ordered." ^
These two documents are of incontestable histori-
cal value and contemporary with the facts they relate.
Agreeing in all general features, and completely in-
^ The translation is taken from the American edition of Euse-
biu3, by Professor McGifEert, New York, 1890.
136 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
dependent of one another, they enable us to repro-
duce in outline at least the decree of Valerian and
the instructions which accompanied it. M. Aube
has sunnnarized these instructions under four
heads.^ In the first place, the leaders of the Chris-
tian communities, the bishops and priests, were to
be immediately seized. Secondly, without resorting
to rigorous measures, but appealing as much as
possible to conciliatory means, the magistrates were
to compel these members of the Christian hierarchy
to render homage as other men did to the gods of
Rome without requiring them to renounce their
faith. In neither document is there any question
of compelling the Christians to abjure. Thirdly, in
case of persistent refusal to perform acts of wor-
ship to the pagan deities, to send them into exile.
Fourthly, to warn the Christians that the holding
of any assemblies or even entering their cemeteries
would be punished with death.
The minuteness of these provisions shows clearly
the intimate knowledge which the Roman authorities
possessed regarding the constitution and discipline
of the Church, the destruction of which was the mani-
fest purpose of the edict. In this it was in harmony
with all the preceding laws on the subject of Chris-
tianity. It marked, however, the commencement of
a new policy, a policy of compromise, in which means
1 L'Eglise et VEtat, pp. 343 seq.
FIRST EDICT 137
less cruel to the individual were to be employed,
but none the less fatal to Christianity as a corporate
organization enjopng in some measure the protec-
tion of the laws. In two essential points this edict
was different from all previous enactments.
In the first place, no one was to be compelled to
abjure Christ, as was the case seven years before
during the Decian persecution. Instead of a formal
act of denial, the Christians should participate in
some way in the pagan rites and make formal ac-
knowledgment of the pagan deities. They could
remain followers of Christ if they chose ; but they
must nevertheless show their allegiance to the na-
tional cult. It is difficult to explain this radical de-
parture from the old policy, if we regard the omission
of abjuration as a step towards a more lenient regime.
M. AUard thinks that because " Valerian was less
despotic than " Decius, more cautious, and hence
less inclined to proceed to extreme measures, he was
mercifully inclined towards the Christians, whom
he had formerly favored, and allowed them a middle
course.^ It is true that this syncretistic expedient
might have appealed to a man who was the friend
of Plotinus. Such a course of action was nothing
new in Rome ; Alexander Severus and Elagabalus
had tried it ; and a few years later the Mithraic
worshipper Aurelian would ascribe his victories
* Les Dernieres Persecutions du Troisieme Siecle, p. 51.
138 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
over the Palmyrenians to the great gods of Rome.^
But could the Roman authorities have known so
little of Christianity as to believe that the promise
of immunity would induce the Christians to cast
incense at the feet of Jupiter or Janus ? As had
been proved during the Decian persecution, the
faithful would more readily condone actual denial
of Christ, or the purchase of a certificate from the
magistrate attesting such denial, than they would
the slightest participation in the unclean rites of
paganism.
The second point of notable difference between
Valerian's edict and the laws of his predecessors
was the clause it contained regarding the Christian
cemeteries.2 Hitherto these places of sepulture had
escaped the fury of the pagans. For whether the
Christians had enrolled themselves as a " burial
club," and as such obtained a legal title to their
cemeteries, or whether they omitted this formality,
the fact that these cemeteries were the last resting-
places of the dead gave them a religious character
1 Vopiscus, Vita Aureliani, c. 26. Credo adjuturos Romanam
rem p. veros deos, qui nunquam nostris conatibus defuenint.
2 La parola cimitero proviene dal greco idioma, e la radice fon-
damentale ne e /cei affine al latino quie, dalla quale derivano
molti vocaboli come il verbo KcT/xai significa giaccio, riposo, dormo ;
quindi mutando la e in o da la radice koi, unde deriva il tema Koifxa
e percio il verbo Koiixdw equivalente al latino dormitum duco;
quindi Koi/jirjT-ffpiov propriamente significa il luogo ove si dorme.
Armellini, Gli Antichi Cimiteri Cristiani di Boma e d^ Italia, p. 14.
FIRST EDICT 139
which placed them under the protection of the com-
mon law of Rome.^ Careless and prodigal of human
life as they were, the Romans regarded a grave as a
sacred thing, the violation of which they punished
with condemnation to the mines .2 For the Christians,
however, the cemeteries were more than places for
burial ; they were meeting-places for the living, de-
voted to prayer and sacrifice. The fact that popular
outbreaks against the Christian cemeteries began to
occur about the beginning of the third century, pre-
cisely at the time the Christians are supposed to
have formed themselves into burial clubs, and that
the Christians remained in undisturbed legal posses-
sion of their cemeteries for nearly fifty years after-
wards, strengthens the theory that they took advan-
tage of the law allowing the organization of collegia
funeratlcia in order to escape popidar hatred, or
confiscation of their possessions by the Roman au-
thorities.3 Such an expedient would of course have
placed Christianity in the invidious position of being
illegal as a religion and legal as an association. If
such a legal fiction was tolerated, it ceased with the
promulgation of Valerian's edict.
1 Religiosum locum unusquisque sua voluntate f acit, dum mor-
tuum infert in locum suum. Marcian, Digest, i, 8, 6, 4.
2 Qui sepulchrum violaverint, aut de sepulchre aliquid detule-
rint, pro personarum qualitate aut in metallum dantur aut in insu-
1am deportantur. Pauli, Sent, ii, c. 13.
2 Armellini, loc. cit. pp. GG seq.
140 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
The appearance of having recourse to conciliatory
measures, and the insidious nature of the proceed-
ings adopted to enforce the edict, prove clearly that
there was a well-defined plan on foot to effect the
total suppression of Christianity, or at least to de-
prive it of its distinctive character of a separate
and independent religion by merging it in the
melange of creeds and cults which made up the
religion of the Empire. The idea that such a pro-
cess was possible must have arisen either from a
profoimd knowledge or a lamentable ignorance of
the Christian Church ; for the merest acknowledg-
ment, either in word or action, of any pagan deity
cut a Christian off from intercourse with his breth-
ren as effectually as if he became a worshipper of
Isis or Mithra.
The edict was aimed principally at the clergy,
and it was to be enforced without the shedding of
blood. If the clergy performed the rites, they might
remain with their flocks ; if they refused, banishment
awaited them. In either case their influence would
immediately cease. If they lapsed by outward con-
formity with pagan practices, they would have to join
the ranks of the penitents before being readmitted
to the Church, and the example of such defections
could not but weaken the allegiance of the great
mass of their people. In exile they could neither
instruct nor advise their flocks, and thus it was
FIRST EDICT 141
thought that the people, deprived of the example and
guidance of their leaders, and without places of as-
sembly, would soon peld to the seductions of pagan
life and abandon their strange superstition. Vale-
rian, from the prominent position he occupied in
the time of Decius, must have seen that denying
Chi-ist and conforming to the pagan rites was an
expedient on the part of the Christians to escape
punislunent and death, and that as soon as danger
had passed they were eager to associate themselves
once more with their brethren. With this know-
ledge to guide him, he adopted measures milder
than those of Decius, but far more effective for the
purpose he had in view. He sought to put Chris-
tianity to a slow death in the stifling atmosphere
of Paganism by depriving it of its vital elements,
preached by the bishops, and the mutual support
the living word afforded by congregational gather-
ings.
It is impossible to say what effect the edict pro-
duced at first on the Christian communities. It is
not unlikely that the kindness of the Emperor dis-
armed their fears of persecution to some extent ;
but previous experiences, and the conviction that
the laws which were already in existence could be
put into operation at any time, must have made
them watchful.
In Rome Pope St. Stephen died on the second day
142 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
of August, 257,1 and was succeeded by St. Xystus
on the 30th of the same^ month, the day St. Cy-
prian was tried at Carthage. This is sufficient
indication that in Kome, at least, the Christians had
succeeded in evading to some extent the pursuit of
their enemies. Pope Stephen was buried in the
cemetery of CaUixtus on the Appian Way ,2 there-
fore the Christians had access to this their princi-
pal meeting-place even at the time of his death.
There can be little doubt that Pope Stephen was
not martyred. The tradition that both he and his
successor were slain at the altar arose in all prob-
ability from the proximity of their burial places ;
but the silence of St. Cyprian and his biographer,
Pontius, on the subject, and the fact that the Libe-
rian Catalogue makes no mention of his martyrdom,
while the Philocalian Catalogue places him among
1 Duchesne, Lib. Pont, i, p. ccix; Les Origines Chritiennes, p. 437.
2 For the different dates assigned to this event see Goyau,
Chronologic de P Empire Bomain, sub anno 257. Aub^ is of opinion
that Xystus was elected about the 25th of August, and therefore
before the edict was issued : Est-il supposable que I'authorit^ ro-
maine efit admis Sixte comme organe attitr^ de la communaut^,
quaud I'^dit avait pour objet de la dissoudre en mettant ses chefs
dana I'alternative de reconnaitre la religion de I'^tat ou de partir
en exil ? X' Eglise et VEtat, p. 366. His position as Pope and his
election to the office were altogether independent of his position as
Actor or Syndicus of the Christian corporation. Enrolment in the
register of the Urban Prefect was not a necessary condition to his
election.
^ Cf . Dufourcq, Gesta Martyrum Bomains, p. 179 ; De Rossi,
Bom. Sott. torn, i, p. 180 ; torn, ii, pp. 82 seq.
FIRST EDICT 143
the bishops and not the martyrs, seems to be con-
clusive proof that he was not caUed on to shed his
blood in defence of the faith. The manner of his
death is not kno\Nqi ; but there is nothing impossible
in the conjecture that he may have died in prison
or on his way to exile.^ It is significant, however,
that the election of Xystus took place so soon after
the death of Stephen. That such an occurrence
was possible, and that Xystus could remain unmo-
lested and active in Rome, seems strange in view
of the banishment of other bishops at the same
time.
There were many Christians in Rome, neverthe-
less, who felt the weight of Roman justice precisely
at this juncture for violating that clause of the edict
regarding the use of the cemeteries. In the Acts of
St. Stephen we find an account of the death of a
young acol}i;e named Tarcisius, who had some offi-
cial connection with one of the cemeteries, probably
that of Callixtus.2 He was engaged in carrying the
Blessed Sacrament to some of the confessors, when
his movements aroused the suspicion of a band of sol-
diers, who seized him, and in the struggle to retain
possession of the sacred burden, which he woidd not
expose to profanation by surrendering it, he was
slain. His brethren obtained possession of his body
and interred it in the papal crj^t, where Pope Da-
1 Tillemont, M^moires, torn, iv, note on St. Stephen.
2 De Rossi, -Rom. Sott. torn, ii, pp. 7-10 seq.
144 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
masus in the fourth century set up an inscription
in his honor.i
The vigilance of the Eoman authorities in pre-
venting the Christians from using their cemeteries as
meeting-places, which led to the death of the acolyte
Tarcisius, brought about also the martyrdom of a
large number of the faithful who had assembled in
a crypt near the tomb of Chrysanthus and Daria, in
order to celebrate the first anniversary of the death
of these martyrs. While the Holy Sacrifice was be-
ing offered, soldiers stationed themselves at all the
exits and allowed no one to escape. Thus trapped,
the helpless Christians were put to death by being
buried alive under a mass of stones and sand.^ The
place where they died was forgotten until long after
the persecutions had ceased.^ In making some re-
pairs to the tombs of Chrysanthus and Daria, Pope
Damasus discovered the skeletons of a multitude of
men, women, and children, and even the sacred ves-
sels used in the Sacrifice of the Mass, which were
still clasped in the hands of the priests and deacons.
He was unwilling to make any changes in this
1 Tarcisium sanctum Christi sacramenta gerentem
Cum malesana manus premeret, vulgare profanis.
Ipse animam potius voluit dimittere caesus
Prodere quam canibus rabidis coelestia membra.
Epitaph, written by Pope Damasus.
2 Gregory of Tours, Be Gloria Martyrum, i, 38.
3 Quse crypta diu sub velamento permansit operta donee urbs
Romana, relictis idoHs, Christo Domino subderetur. Ibid, f
De Rossi, Bom. Sott. torn, i, p. 201.
FIRST EDICT 145
crypt, and contented himself with recording the
glories and sufferings of the martyrs in an inscrip-
tion which he placed over their remains,^ and in
order that pilgrims to the catacombs might not be
deprived of such an edifying spectacle, he placed a
window in the wall of the tomb through which the
relics were visible even in the time of Gregory of
Tours.2
The scantiness of our knowledge regarding the
operation of the edict in Rome and other parts of
the Empire is partly compensated for by the fuller
records furnished by the African Church. The let-
ters of Cyprian written while he was in exile,^ and
his " Life " written by the deacon Pontius, give us
an accurate though incomplete picture of the suffer-
ings of the Christians in Carthage. For some reason
1 Sanctorum quicumque legis venerare sepulchrum,
Nomina nee numerum potuit retinere vetustas.
Ornavit Damasus titulum cognoscite rector.
Pro reditu cleri Christo praestante triumphans
Martyribus Sanctis reddit sua vota sacerdos.
Cf. AUard, Les Dernieres Persecutions du Troisieme Siecle, p. 73;
Arraellini, Gli Antichi Cimiteri Cristiani, p. 211 ; De Rossi, Rom.
Sott. tom. i, p. 213.
2 Veruratamen pariete illo qui est in medio positus, fenestram
structor patefactam reliquit ut ad contemplanda sanctorum cor-
pora aditus aspiciendi patesceret. Gregory of Tours, Ibid.
8 Vide Epp. 76, 77, 78, 79, 80. The first of these Epistles was
written by St. Cyprian to the martyrs in the mines. Epp. 77, 78,
and 79 are answers to Cyprian's letters from three difEerent groups
of confessors. Ep. 80 was written to the Christians in the Cartha-
ginian prisons.
146 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
the sentence whicli the proconsul inflicted on Cy-
prian, of which we have already spoken, was not
put into execution for several days. He did not
reach Curubis, the place assigned for his banish-
ment, until September 14.^ This was " an out-of-
the-way, clean, pleasant, well-walled little coast-town
about fifty miles from Carthage, in a lonely not
savage district, at the back of the great eastward
promontory of the Gulf of Tunis." ^ He was ac-
companied by many members of his household,
among them the deacon Pontius, who finds no fault
with the place, and, doubtless, echoes his master
Cyprian when he says no place of banishment is an
exile to the God-fearing Christian, to whom the en-
tire world is one house, and who is a stranger even
in his own city.^
Cyprian's fame and position doubtless procured
for him many exemptions and privileges. He was
subjected to no physical sufferings, and, as far as
we know, endured no hardships whatsoever. The
Christians visited him in large numbers, and the
citizens of Curubis treated him with the profound-
est respect, gladly supplying whatever was necessary
for his needs or comfort.* He had nothing to com-
1 Benson, Life of St. Cyprian, p. 467. ^ jj;^.
3 Vita Cypriani, c. xi.
* Frequentiam visitantium fratrum, ipsorum et inde civiura
caritatem, quae repraesentabat omnia, quibus videbatur esse f rau-
datus. Ibid. c. xii.
FIRST EDICT 147
plain of except that he was removed from his flock
and confined to one place.
All doubts as to his future fate vanished on the
first night of his exile. It was revealed to him in
a vision which he afterwards related to Pontius
that he was to become a martyr within a year.
" The first day we were in exile, before I was fuUy
asleep, a young man of extraordinary stature ap-
peared to me. He led me to the praetorium, where
it seemed to me I was conducted to the tribunal
of the proconsul. As soon as he saw me, he com-
menced at once to note down on his tablet some
sentence of which I knew nothing, for he had omit-
ted the customary interrogations. The young man,
however, had stationed himself behind the procon-
sul, and read carefully whatever had been written.
He could not speak to me from where he was, but
made a sign which indicated clearly what was on
the tablet. With his hand opened flat like a sword
he imitated the death stroke, thus expressing him-
self as fully as if he spoke. I understood that I
was sentenced to martyrdom. But in order that I
might arrange all my affairs, I begged for a respite
of one day. After I had repeated my petition sev-
eral times, the proconsul began again to make some
notes on his tablets. The cahnness of his face showed
me that he considered my petition a just one. The
youth, who revealed to me the tidings of my
148 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
passion, made another sign which clearly indicated
that my petition had been granted. Though no
sentence had been pronounced, I confess I was glad
to know that I was reprieved. The uncertainty of
interpretation had terrified me so much that the
remains of fright still caused my heart to throb
with fear." ^
" ' What could be clearer than this manifesta-
tion?' says Pontius. Cyprian was to suffer mar-
tyrdom. The reprieve of one day meant that his
death would take place in just one year, and in the
mean time, while every one knew the certain day of
his passion, no one spoke of it." The delay was
granted to him in order that he might arrange all
his affairs ; but as he had no will to make nor per-
sonal matters to attend to, this meant that the affairs
of the Church needed his attention .2
During his forced leisure Cyprian kept up an ac-
tive correspondence with his fellow bishops and the
members of his flock by messengers and letters.
Some attribute the composition of the " Exhortation
to Martyrdom " to this time.^ It contains nothing,
however, which would indicate that the persecution
had already commenced, while his letters to the
Christians in exile and in prison are filled with
references to their sufferings. It seems improbable,
1 Vita Cypriani, c. xii.
2 Quae vero res illi, aut quae voluntas ordinanda, nisi ecclesias-
tici status ? Ibid.
3 Benson, loc. cit. pp. 264, 474 seq.
FIRST EDICT 149
therefore, that he would have wiitten this work
while the storm was raging and omit all mention
of present trials. The mild treatment received by
Cyprian shows clearly that he made no attempt
to hold any meetings of his flock during the time
he remained in Carthage after his condemnation.
It was not so, however, with other bishops. In
many places the Christians continued to hold their
assemblies in defiance of the prohibition contained
in the edict, and for this temerity they were arrested
in crowds. The clause of the edict which forbade
the use of the cemeteries and the holding of assem-
bUes was the only one under which the laity could
be convicted. The penalty for violating this prohi-
bition was death, which it would seem was inflicted
on many persons.^ Others were sentenced to that
other form of capital pimishment, condemnation to
the mines.2 First beaten with whips and rods, they
were then branded on the foreheads and their heads
shaven on one side, so that if by any chance they
escaped they would be recognized as runaway slaves
or criminals.3 Half starved and in rags, with no
bed but the bare ground, they were driven to their
toil in the mines or smelting-fumaces, the smoke
1 Ut ex vobis pars jam martyrii sui consummatione praecesserit,
meritonim suorum coronam de Domino receptura. St. Cyprian,
Ep. 76.
2 Capitalium poenarum isti gradus sunt ; summum supplicium
. . . deinde proxima morti poena, metalli coercitio. Callistr. In
Big. Jus. xlviii, 19, 28.
8 Semitonsi capitis capillus horrescit. St. Cyprian, Ep. 77.
150 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
from which blinded and choked them.^ Among
these prisoners were nine Numidian bishops who
had sat in the Council at Carthage,^ and crowds of
Christians of all ages and conditions of life.
That they were able to survive the rigors and
privations of such an existence was due to the
fatherly care of Cyprian and the liberality of his
wealthy lay friend Quirinus. The sub-deacon He-
rennianus^ conveyed to the prisoners a letter of
exhortation and encouragement from Cyprian, and
many gifts and large sums of money by which
their urgent needs were supplied. He brought back
answers from three groups of martyrs imprisoned in
different mines, one written by Nemesianus, Dati-
vus, Felix, and Victor ; another by Lucius and his
companions ; and the third from Felix, Jader, Poli-
anus, and the other martyrs in the mines of Signs.
It must have filled Cyprian's soul with joy to know
that although the persecution had become general,
there was as yet no reason to lament the lapse of
any of the brethren.
Those who remained in the prisons of Carthage
were also objects of solicitude to the exiled bishop.
To them also he wrote a letter, exhorting them to
1 St. Cyprian, Ep. Nemesiani inter Cypr. No. 78.
2 St. Cyprian's Epistle (77) was addressed, " Nemesiano, Felici,
Lucio, alteri Felici, Litteo, Poliano, Victori, Jaderi, Dativo." All
were probably from Numidia. Cf. Benson, loc. cit. p. 471.
3 Herennianus performed a similar kind office for the Cartha-
ginian martyrs. Passio Montani, c. 9.
FIRST EDICT 151
courage, to think not of death but immortality,
not of temporary punishments but of eternal glory,
in order that they might follow in all things Rogati-
anus the presbyter and Felicissimus who had gone
before them.
In the neighboring See of Alexandria the Chris-
tians exhibited the same fidelity to their faith and
the same courage in refusing to conform to the or-
dinances which forbade congregational gatherings
and access to the cemeteries. It is regrettable that
the only information we possess regarding Alex-
andria comes from a letter written by Denis the
bishop to exculpate himself from the charges made
by Germanus, one of his colleagues in the episco-
pacy, who accused him of seeking safety in flight,
and of neglecting to hold any gatherings of his
flock.i " He hastened me away," he says, " though
I was sick, not granting me a day's respite. What
opportunity, then, did I have to hold any assem-
blies or not to hold them." 2
Notwithstanding the haste with which he was
deported, he found an opportunity to converse with
some of his clergy who were free, and on whom he
impressed the necessity of holding the customary
assemblies during his absence.
Kephron, a wretched spot on the edge of the
desert, was designated as the place of his banish-
1 Eusebius, Hist. Eccl. vii, 11. 2 jj,^/.
162 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
ment. Until he was ordered to go there, he says
he never even heard the name. After his arrival
the place became a centre of pilgrimage for the
Christians of Egypt. These visitors and the friends
who shared the exile of the bishop were numerous
enough to form a considerable congregation. The
pagan inhabitants, however, conceived an utter dis-
like for the strangers, and showed it by persecuting
them and attacking them with stones. But in the
end many of them abandoned the gods and became
followers of Christ. In order that he might the
more easily re-arrest Denis, the proconsul trans-
ferred him to CoUuthion, a " town or section of
country in the district of Mareotis." Denis frankly
confesses that the thought of such a place made
him tremble with fear. He was separated from his
friends, who were sent to different villages in the
same district ; but though he dreaded the rough in-
habitants and the bandits, he had the consolation
of being nearer to Alexandria, and of being able to
receive visits from his Christian followers. The
scope of his letter did not of course embrace any
account of the sufferings of the martyrs, " which,"
he says, " are known to all." Though in exile, and
guarded as he was, he found it possible to hold
special meetings such as were held in the more
remote suburbs of Alexandria.^
^ Eusebius, loc. cit. vii, 11.
FIRST EDICT 153
Scenes similar to those which occurred in Rome,
Carthage, and Alexandria took place doubtless in
every quarter of the Empire. The edict was appli-
cable everywhere, and its enforcement would be rigid
or lenient according as it fell into the hands of a cruel
or indulgent maffistrate.^ Multitudes had confessed
and had been crowned, so that every age and both
sexes were found in the blessed flock of the martyrs.
" Sentences, confiscations, proscription, plundering
of goods, loss of dignities, contempt of worldly
glory, disregard for the flatteries of governors and
councillors, and patient endurance of the threats of
opponents, of outcries, of perils and persecutions,
and wandering and distress and all kind of tribu-
lations " 3 had failed utterly to shake the constancy
of the followers of Christ. None of those who had
fallen into the toils had lapsed,^ and the victims
formed scarcely a moiety of the multitudes willing
and eager to thrust themselves into posts of danger.
Whether in hiding or in exile, the influence of the
1 Ruinart, Acta Martyrum Sincera, Introd. c. 24.
2 St. Cyprian, Ep. 77-
3 Denis of Alexandria in Eusebius, loc. cit. Denis says he
suffered those things under Decius and Aemilianus. It is no exag-
geration to think that he was not the only one who endured such
trials.
* M. Anb^ {VEglise et VEtat, p. 349), from a passage in Com-
modian, thinks some cases of recantation occurred.
Bed plurimi pereunt qui putant utrisque placere,
IdoliB atque Deo, placeat cum nemo duobus.
Carmen Apol. Ver. 7C2-763.
154 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
bishops over their flocks remained unimpaired.
Their emissaries went everywhere, to the prisons
and mines, carrying messages of hope and comfort.
Wealthy Christians poured out their riches to succor
their brethren in misfortune, whose faith and con-
stancy shone brighter every day.
Valerian's first essay as a religious reformer had
failed. The policy of " Moral Decapitation " had
resulted in the same way as the fire and sword
policy of Decius. Though the time was scarcely
propitious for more vigorous measures, it was
necessary that such should be adopted, or all proceed-
ings against the Christians abandoned. The com-
parative security which the Empire enjoyed when
the edict was issued was again violently disturbed ;
and though Valerian did not relinquish hope of
effecting the necessary internal reforms, the need
of being at the head of his legions now became
imperative.
CHAPTER VI
SECOND EDICT — PERSECUTION IN ROME
Peace restored to Roman Empire in 257 — Borani repulsed —
Valerian holds brilliant levee at Byzantium in 258 — Purpose
of this g-athering — War against the Persians — Shahpur cap-
tures Antioch — Valerian proceeds against him — Issues new
edict against the Christians — Harsher measures adopted —
Reason for increased severity — Did the council at Byzantium
have any connection with this new law — Christians did not
provoke harsher measures — Barbarians took many Christian
prisoners — No alliance between the Christians and the enemies
of the Empire — New edict a development of old one — Prob-
able text — Christians in Rome — Changes in the Catacombs
— Martyrdom of Pope St. Xystus — St. Laurence — St. Eu-
genia — SS. Rufina and Secunda — Protus and Hyacinthus —
St. Pancratius the boy martyr.
When Valerian issued his first edict against the
Christians, Rome was enjoying a well-earned peace.
The valor of her legions and the skiU of her gener-
als had won back the territory which the barbarian
invaders had hoped to wrest from her. Crowns and
" russet ducal tunics " ^ were awaiting the trium-
phant commanders who had restored the power and
prestige of the Roman name and set up the stand-
ards of victory along the frontier from the Rhine
to the Danube and the Black Sea.
1 Vopiscus, Vita Aurel. c. 13.
156 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
As early as 256 Aurelian, the future Emperor,
Valerian's favorite general, from wliom he expected
"as much as from Trajan were he alive," had accom-
plished his work in the Balkan Peninsula so well
that he was able to leave the field, bearing the proud
title of Liberator Illyrici, in order to devote himself
to more peaceful pursuits as inspector-general of
the army.^ The successes of GaUienus are best
indicated by the inscription on his coins, Restitutor
Galliarum^ while his judicious treaty with a prince
of the Marcommani had secured the maintenance
of Roman supremacy in Pannonia.^ The Goths
were still troublesome in the neighborhood of Ni-
copolis, but their resistance was short-lived after
Aurelian took command of the army instead of
Ulpius Crinitus, who was incapacitated by sick-
ness. With forces consisting of Roman legions and
barbarian allies, and by matching Teuton against
Teuton, Aurelian drove the Goths across the Dan-
ube, seized large quantities of booty, and, what was
of more importance, added new lustre to the glory
of Rome.*
1 Vopiscus, loc. cit. c. 9. Die Liberator Illyrici, ille Galliarum
Restitutor, ille diix magni totius exempli. Cf . Schiller, Geschichte
der Bomischen Kaiserzeit, p. 816.
2 Eckhel, 7, 402 ; Cohen, 480-486 ; Schiller, loc. cit p. 814.
8 PoUio, Vita Gall. c. 21 ; Aurelius Victor, Caes. xxxiii, 6 ;
Ep. 33, 1.
* Vopiscus, loc. cit. c. 11. The composite character of the Roman
army is shown by the enumeration of troops made by Valerian in
SECOND EDICT 157
In the same year the Borani, a tribe from beyond
the Black Sea, had suffered a signal reverse in an
attempted irruption into Asia Minor. Who these
people were is not known with certainty. Gibbon
calls them Goths ;^ but Mommsen says they are
more correctly termed Scjiihian than Gothic.^ The
small, practically defenceless kingdom of the Bos-
phorus first fell into their hands, and the inhab-
itants, always friendly to the Romans, consented
under compulsion to furnish transports to convey
them to the Roman territory south of the Black
Sea. They first descended on Pityus at the end of
the great post-road which led to the foot of the
Caucasus, a frontier-city possessed of an excellent
harbor protected by a strong wall.^ They aban-
doned their ships and laid siege to Pityus, but their
efforts to capture the place proved unavailing. The
garrison, under the command of Successianus, a
brave and efficient soldier, repulsed their attacks.
his letter designating Aurelian as commander in Moesia : Habes
sagittarios Ityraeos trecentos, Armenios sescentos, Arabes cen-
tum quinquaginta, Saracenos ducentos, Mesopotamenos auxiliares
quadiiDgentos ; habes legionen tertiam Felicem et equites cata-
fractarios octingentos. Tecum erit Hariomundus, Haldagates,
Hildomundus, Carioviscus.
1 Decline and Fall of the Boman Empire, c. x.
2 Roman Provinces, vol. i, p. 265.
* Zosimus, i, 31. Schiller is of opinion that this expedition of
the Borani took place as early as 253 (loc. cit. p. 817) ; Tillemont
and others place it in 257. Cf. Goyau, Chronologie de VEmpire
Komain, sub anno.
158 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
Fearing that their retreat would be cut off, they
abandoned the siege and withdrew to their homes
beyond the Euxine. As a reward for his meritori-
ous conduct Successianus was afterwards promoted
to the position of Praetorian Prefect and the de-
fence of Pityus given to other hands.^
Such was the happy consummation of events
which enabled Valerian to hold a brilliant levee of
all his great commanders in the Thermae near By-
zantium during the summer of 258. At no other
time in his reign could the Emperor have assem-
bled such a gathering of soldiers and administra-
tors, and at no other time was it possible for them
to be absent from their posts. There was an impos-
ing review of troops before the Emperor himself
and his court. At the right sat Baebius Macer,
Prefect of the Praetorium, and beyond him Quintus
Ancarius, the Praeses of the Orient. On the left
were Avulnius Saturninus, the Dux or commander
of the Scythian frontier; Murrentius Mauricius,
Prefect Designate of Egypt; Julius Trypho, the
Dux of the Oriental frontier ; Maesius Brundisi-
nus, Prefect of the Corn-supply of the East ; Ulpius
Crinitus, Dux of the frontiers of Illyrium and
Thrace, and Fulvius Boias, Commander in Khaetia.
The strange document which describes all the
pageantry of this occasion with so much detail was
^ Zosimus, bk. i, c. 32.
SECOND EDICT 159
copied by Vopiscus from a book written by Acho-
lius, the Lord Chamberlain of Valerian.^ No hint
is given as to the purpose of the gathering or what
took place, except that Valerian with great pomp
and ceremony singled out Aurelian as the recipient
of the highest honors. In a speech filled with the
most extravagant praises he conferred on him con-
sular honors, loaded him with dignities and deco-
rations, quadrupled and quintupled the usual re-
wards, and, in order that he might have the means
to bear his new burdens, compelled the wealthy Ul-
pius Crinitus to adopt him as his son.^
No mere love of display could have led to the mass-
ing of such a body of troops, and the presence of so
many commanders from different parts of the Em-
pire, at an epoch when all their energies were needed
to restore order and public confidence. The subject
uppermost in the thoughts of the Emperor and his
advisers at the time was the perennial Eastern
Question. This was a subject to fill their minds
with anxiety and fear, a question for the settlement
of which Rome would have to put forth her best
energies. The levee at Byzantium was a council of
war, and the soldiers assembled there were doubt-
1 Quam fidei causa inserendam credidi ex libris Acholi, qui
mat^ister admissionum Valeriani principis fuit, libro uctorum ejus
nono. Vopiscus, loc. cit. c. 14.
2 Aurelian did not become consul in the following' year. Cf.
Schiller, loc. cit. p. 810, note 5.
160 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
less intended for service against tlie Persians.
East of the Mediterranean Koman supremacy was
tottering to a fall ; the old frontiers were destroyed,
Eoman allies were killed, and Roman territory was
devastated.^ Chosroes, king of Armenia, who for
thirty years had maintained the independence of his
comitry against the attacks of the Persians, was at
last slain by the emissaries of Shahpur, and his king-
dom, so long the buffer-state between Roman and
Persian, was captured and disorganized. The friends
of Tiridates, the young son of Chosroes, were im-
ploring the aid of Rome to regain the Armenian
throne, while others of the leaders, among whom was
Artavazdes, the uncle of Tiridates, had passed over
to the enemy and were ready to resist any interfer-
ence with the plans of Shahpur.^ With Armenia
under his control, the Persian monarch set out with
an enormous force to capture the Roman possessions.
He reduced in quick succession the two important
cities of Carrhae and Nisibis, and then, under the
guidance of Cyriades, a renegade Roman, who had
attempted to set up an independent kingdom in
Syria, he turned his army toward Antioch, and by
the rapidity of his movements took possession of
the city before the inhabitants fully realized what
^ Rawlinson, Seven Great Monarchies, vol. vi, p. 253 ; Gibbon,
Decline and Fall of the Eoman Empire, cbap. x ; Schiller, loc. cit.
p. 821.
2 Pollio, Vita Valer. c. 3.
SECOND EDICT IGl
had occurred.! Nothing now stood in the way of
Persian supremacy in the whole East but the strong
fortress of Edessa, against which Shahpur's next
efforts were directed. So far all his attempts to
capture it had failed.
The disgrace inflicted on Rome by the successes
of Shahpur, and the danger, increasing with each
new victory, that Roman supremacy in the East
would be forever lost, aroused Valerian and his
lieutenants to the necessity of immediate and vigor-
ous measures. Their first care was necessarily the
rehef of Edessa and the recapture of Antioch.
For this purpose all the soldiers who could be
spared from the European commands were drafted
to Byzantium in 258. Trusting that the successes
of his generals along the Rhine and the Danube
were permanent, and that with reduced forces they
could hold what they had already won, Valerian
himself, although far advanced in years, resolved
to direct personally the campaign against Shahpur,
and immediately after the council of Byzantium he
set out with his army for Syria and Armenia.^
1 Pollio, Trig. Tyr. c. 2 ; Ammianus Marcellinus, Eer. Ges. lib.
xxiii, c. 5, thus describes the fall of Antioch : Namque cum
Antiochiae in alto silentio, scenicis ludis mimus cum uxore im-
missus, e medio sumpta quaedam iraitaretur, populo venustate at-
tonito, conjux, Nisi somnus est, inquit, en Persae : et retortis pleb8
universa cervicibus, exacervantia in se tela declinans spargitur
passim.
2 Zosimus, i, 32.
' ^ or THE
VERSITY
162 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
It was precisely at this juncture that Valerian
issued his second edict of persecution against the
Christians. Its appearance was well timed, or rather,
to speak more accurately, the time made its appear-
ance possible. With the restoration of Roman
power in the European provinces and the crushing
defeats inflicted on the barbarians, the opportunity
offered itself of effecting those internal reforms
from which so much good to the State was expected.
It is perhaps useless to speculate as to what mo-
tives could have induced Valerian to inaugurate a
new policy in his treatment of the Christians. One
thing, however, is certain, the rescript of 258 was
an open acknowledgment that the law of the pre-
ceding year was an utter failure. It had for a time
caused the Christians some suffering and great in-
convenience, nothing more ; but as an engine of de-
struction it scarcely made an impress on the num-
bers or the fidelity of the followers of Christ. They
soon adapted themselves to the changed conditions.
Though the bishops were in exile, their supervision
over the Christian fold never ceased, and though the
priests were scattered or in hiding, their ministra-
tions never failed. Benson's theory, that " the some-
thing which motived the idea that the edict was not
acting strongly enough to reform the Christians
was the removal of the bodies of St. Peter and St.
Paul to their temporary hiding-places in the Cata-
SECOND EDICT 1G3
combs," scarcely affords sufficient ground for
'' thinking that the Emperor may have been in-
duced to sharpen his decree by tidings of this trans-
lation." ^ This was simply one phase of the activity
which the Christians showed in preserving what
they esteemed sacred, and of securing the perma-
nence of their congregational life and spirit.
It is probable that the new attitude taken by
Valerian was a result of the reports he received
from his lieutenants when he assembled them at
Byzantium. In such a gathering it is natural to
suppose that a question of so much importance as
the treatment to be accorded to the Christians re-
ceived some attention. The appearance of the re-
script so soon after the convention was not a mere
coincidence. There must have been some connec-
tion between them. What this connection was, it is
impossible to say. Our information regarding what
happened at Byzantium is confined to a passage in
the life of Aurehan which Vopiscus borrowed from
the writings of Acholius, who was evidently an eye-
witness, and which he inserted for the purpose of
adding additional lustre to the renown of the con-
queror of Zenobia. Possessing the confidence of
the Emperor to the extent of being promoted to
the inspector-generalship of the army, and coming
back fresh from his victories over the Goths to
1 Life of Cyprian, pp. 476, 486.
164 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
receive the most extraordinary favors from his sov-
ereign, it may be weU supposed that Aurelian was
a prominent figure in the deHberations of the Coun-
cil. If his opinion was sought for in regard to the
Christians, enough is known of his character to con-
clude that he would have counselled none but the
harshest measures in dealing with them. Nothing
else could be expected from one of his training and
temperament. He never inclined towards leniency.
Cold-blooded, self-restrained, even austere in his
habits, he possessed none of the vices of paganism,
never indulged in excesses, and never pardoned
others who did.^ He never tolerated any license or
disorder among the soldiers under his command, and
was distinguished as a leader for his severity, cru-
elty, and rigid adherence to discipline.^ His punish-
ments were frightful.
He once inflicted death on a soldier, guilty of
seduction, by having his limbs fastened to two trees
forcibly drawn together, which when released tore
him asunder. By the command of Aurelian the
mangled body was left there as a salutary warning to
evil-doers.3 He devoted some time every day to the
1 VopiscTis, Vita Aurd. c. 6, described him thus : Fuit deco-
rus ac gratia viriliter speciosus, statura procerior, nervis vali-
dissimis, vini et eibi paulo cupidior, libidinis rarae, severitatis
immensae, disciplinae singularis, gladii exserendi cupidus.
2 Ibid. c. 7. Militibus ita timori fuit, ut sub eo, posteaquam
semel cum ingenti severitate castrensia peccata correxit, nemo
peccaverit.
3 Ibid.
SECOND EDICT 165
practice of arms, and from his skill in their use,^
and his readiness to settle all disputes by the arbi-
trament of the blade, he won for himself the name
of " Aurelian of the sword." ^ The vigor of which
age had deprived Valerian was found in abundant
measure in his lieutenant, and it was doubtless
through the influence of the cold-blooded and heart-
less Aurelian that the Christians were called on to
endure another bloody persecution.
There is absolutely no foundation for the accu-
sation made against the Christians by M. Aube,^
that their disloyalty to the State had incensed the
Emperor and his advisers. Basing his allegations
on a passage in the " Carmen Apologeticum " of
Commodian, and some statements in an Encyclical
Letter of St. Gregory Thaumaturgus, M. Aube
makes the charge that the Christians regarded the
barbarian invaders as friends and allies, to whom
they looked for deliverance from the pagan yoke.
He says that in Cappadocia and Pontus they joined
the ranks of the invaders, fought and pillaged with
them, and profiting by the general confusion, reduced
to slavery some of the unfortunate inhabitants who
were without arms or means of defence.
1 Theoclius, quoted by Vopiscus, loc. cit. c. 6, says that in
one day he slew forty-eight Sarmatians with his own hand, and in
several succeeding engagements he killed nine hundred and fifty.
2 Aurelianus manu ad ferrum. Ihid. c. 6.
8 L'Eijlise et VEtat, p- 351.
166 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
While it is true that the Christian writers of the
time pointed to the misfortunes of the Empire as a
punishment from Heaven, they never advised their
co-religionists to revolt, and their words afford no
basis for the charge that the kindness shown to the
Christian captives was the result of gratitude for
treasonable conduct towards the Roman State. Far
from condoning disloyalty, St. Gregory, in a letter
to one of his suffragan bishops, on mere hearsay
evidence lays down rules for the readmission to the
Church of rebellious Christians, so strict that they
show clearly he considered treason to be almost
synonymous with apostasy. Furthermore, the in-
vasion of his diocese did not take place until long
after the promulgation of the edict.^ As long as
Successianus remained in command, the invaders
did not succeed in passing the outposts on the
extreme east of the Euxine. But when Valerian,
in making up his army for service in the East,
removed the successful defender of Pityus and
probably reduced its garrison, the barbarians
made such good use of the opportunity thus
offered that Valerian himself was compelled to
abandon his operations against the Persians and
make a forced march to Asia Minor, in order to
prevent a junction of their forces with those of
1 Schiller places this invasion as early as 258 ; Tillemont (iii,
p. 408) and others in 259. Cf. Goyau, Chronologie, etc., sub anno.
SECOND EDICT 1C7
the Scytho-Gotbic invaders from beyond tbe
Euxine.i
Tlie friendship of tbe barbarians for their
Christian captives arose from altogether different
causes. Sozomen tells us that when Constantine
became master of the world, a long interval had
already elapsed since the Goths had received the
Christian religion, to which they were converted by
priests captured in their raids into Asia. Touched
by the kindness shown by these priests to the sick
and wounded whom they nursed and cured, and by
their exalted virtues and irreproachable lives, the
barbarians decided they could do nothing better
than imitate such excellent men and adore the same
gods they did. Hence they begged to be instructed,
listened with respect to what they were taught, re-
ceived baptism, and formed many churches.^
Philostorgius, speaking particularly of the rav-
ages which the Scythians and Goths committed in
Asia, Galatia, and Cappadocia during the reign
of Valerian and Gallienus, says that among the
captives taken from Cappadocia were the ances-
tors of the celebrated Ulphilas, whom the Goths
venerated as a prophet at the end of the fourth
century.3 In like manner the Sarmatians,^ the
1 Zosimus, i, 30 ; Schiller, loc. cit. p. 819.
2 Sozomen, Hist. lib. ii, c. G.
8 Hist. Eccl. lib. ii, c. 5.
4 St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Cat. 16.
168 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
Burgundians,^ the Gauls, and the barbarians from
the region of the Rhine received the Christian
religion at the same time and in the same way as
those of the Danube.^ And thus, says Tillemont,
was the great mercy of God manifested, inasmuch
as He made use of the marauding expeditions of
the barbarians to give them the grace of repentance
and redemption.^
The character of the second edict issued by
Valerian shows it was a product of the same brain,
and dictated by motives founded on the same con-
ception of the relations between Christianity and the
State which had produced the law of the preceding
year. It was the work of a man who, seeing condi-
tions which he considered detrimental to public
order continue to flourish in spite of repressive
enactments, found himself in the dilemma of aban-
doning all efforts for their amelioration or of pro-
ceeding to more vigorous measures. The exact text
of the edict is unfortunately not in existence ; but,
thanks to the vigilance of St. Cyprian, we know
with certainty what its main features were. Rumors
of some impending change in legislation caused the
Bishop of Carthage to send messengers to Rome in
order that he might be at once informed as to any
new move against the Christians. His first care
1 Orosius, Hist. lib. vii, c. 3.
2 Sozomen, Hist. lib. ii, c. 6.
^ Memoires, torn, iv, p. 25.
SECOND EDICT IGO
when he received the tidings which they brought
was to convey them to the members of liis flock. In
a letter Nvi-itten to Successus, Bishop of Abbir Ger-
maniciana,^ who had written to him for informa-
tion, he says : ^ The reason I could not write to
you at once, Dearest Brother, is that none of the
clergy could leave this place, because they are now
in the very fire of combat and all eager to gain the
Crown of Celestial Glory. Those whom I sent to the
city to find out the truth in regard to what has been
decreed against us have returned.^ There were num-
bers of vague and uncertam rumors in existence ;
but the truth is this : Valerian has sent a rescript
to the Senate which commands — that bishops,
priests and deacons be incontinently put to death ;
that senators and men of high rank and knights
of Rome be degraded and deprived of their posses-
sions, and if they persist in being Christians after
their means are taken away, they also must be pun-
ished with death ; that matrons be deprived of their
1 Ep. SO.
2 Quae autem sunt in vero ita se habent, rescripsisse Valerianum
ad senatum, ut episcopi et presbyteri et diacones in continent!
uniraadvertantur, senatores vero et egregii viri et equites Romani
dig"nitate amissa etiam bonis spolientur et si ademptis facultatibus
Christiani esse perseveraverint, capite quoque multentur, matronae
ademptis bonis in exilium relegentur, Caesariani autem, quicumque
vel prius conf essi fuerant vel nunc confessi fuerint, confiscentur et
vincti in Caesarianas possessiones deseripti mittautur. Subjecit
etiam Valerianus imperator orationi suae exemplum litterarura,
quas ad praesides proviuciarum de nobis fecit. Ibid.
170 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
property and banished ; that the Caesarians, whether
they confessed before or confess now, ' suffer confis-
cation, be put in bonds, entered in the slave lists, and
sent to work on Caesar's estate.' ^ The Emperor
also subjoined to this order a copy of the letters he
sent to the provincial governors regarding us, which
letters we are expecting every day, hopmg with all
our faith for strength to suffer, and expecting,
through the help and mercy of God, the Crown of
Eternal Life."
Such was in essence the second enactment of
Valerian. The most cursory comparison of its pro-
visions with those of the former edict shows clearly
that the one was a development of the other ; but
where the former was tentative, the latter was final.
Both originated from the same general conception
of the means to be adopted for the repression of
Christianity, and both were a result of the policy
first inaugurated by Decius, that the existence of
the Christian Church was fatal to the essential
unity of the Empire. There was the same conviction
that Christianity's vital point was the hierarchy,
and the same desire to wound it through its leaders,
to reduce it to inanition by cutting off its life-giving
elements, to remove its centres of unity, its capacity
1 So this passage is rendered by Benson {Life of Cyprian, p. 480),
who adds this note : Descripti, sic lege ; not inscripti, " branded."
Mart, viii, 75, 9.
SECOND EDICT 171
for concerted action, and thus paralyzed and dis-
integrated, to doom it to extinction in the noisome
atmosphere of paganism.
The edict showed the result of careful delibera-
tion based on previous anti-Christian efforts. De-
cius was satisfied if the members of the hierarchy
by word or act renounced Christ ; Valerian at first
demanded that they should openly ally themselves
with paganism. In the former case penance read-
mitted them to the Christian fold. In the latter,
exile was insufficient to prevent their active influ-
ence over their flocks. Now the mere proof of rank
made them outlaws and made their lives forfeit.
The clause in regard to Christians of rank, nobles,
knights, and senators, was an innovation, inspired
perhaps by the zeal they had shown in providing for
the needs of their Christian brethren condemned
to the prisons or to the mines. They were to be
reduced to beggary, and their lives to be spared
only on condition that they return to paganism.
Thus they could neither aid the Church from their
own purses nor hold her possessions in trust, and
the privileges of rank could not avail to mitigate
the severities which might be practised against
them, nor afford them the opportunity of relievuig
the sufferings of their co-religionists. The matrons
were likewise to be deprived of their possessions
and sent into banishment. The Caesariani, Chris-
172 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
tians of Caesar's household, who as we know from
Denis of Alexandria were present in large nrnn-
hers at the court of Valerian, were to be sent in
chains to the Ergastula on Caesar's estates.^ The
power possessed by freedmen and slaves at the
Koman court was always enormous, and in the
hands of Christians it would be an important
factor in diminishing the success of any attempts
against the welfare of the Church. Thus the edict
spared neither rank nor sex ; it cut off from Chris-
tianity all sources of power and influence, left it
without resources and without a friend in high
places.
There was no mention made of what measures
were to be adopted in regard to the lowly mem-
bers of the Christian Church (simplices fideles).
The aim of the edict was the destruction of Chris-
tianity, and the plan adopted was sufficient for the
purpose without trying to exterminate all who pro-
fessed the religion of Christ. Should such a thing
be attempted, the towns would be depopulated, the
prisons filled, and all the resources of the Empire
would be insufficient for its execution. The adop-
tion of such a scheme would make it easier for the
^ On the Christians of Caesar's household, vide De Rossi, Bul-
lettino, January, 1867, p. 15. The celebrated " Graffito " represent-
ing Alexaraenog, conjectured to be a page of the imperial house-
hold, adoring the head of an ass, is discussed by Duchesne, Nuovo
Bullettino, vol. v, p. 18 (1900).
SECOND EDICT 173
bishops, priests, and influential men to escape than
if all the efforts of the officials were directed to-
wards their capture and punishment. As long as
the great mass of Christians had no rallying-points,
and as long as they entertained their beliefs in
private, they could never be a menace to the State.
Should they attempt to hold any meetings or to
take possession of the cemeteries from which they
had been expelled, — the only way in which it was
possible for them to manifest their activity, — the
former edict was still in force, and provided ample
penalties for this form of wrong-doing.
That the Christians in Rome intended to con-
tinue their congregational life by using the Cata-
combs as meeting-places, and by making them
asylums in times of danger, is clearly indicated by
many peculiar features in the construction of these
subterranean dwellings, which manifestly belong to
the time of the Valerian persecution. According
to De Rossi, the idea of making the Catacombs inac-
cessible to the pagans by means of secret entrances
and intricate passageways was first put into execu-
tion during the reign of Septimius Severus.^ At
that date there was no law or rescript forbidding
the Christians free access to their cemeteries and
1 Bom. Sott. torn, ii, pp. 257 seq. ; part ii, pp. 45-48, plates
LI, LIU ; Xorthcote and Brownlow, Eoin. Sott. vol. i, p. 155 ;
ArmelHni, Gli Antichi Cimiteri Cristiani, p. 118.
174 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
the use of them as burial-places. But by holding
assemblies there the Christians incurred the anger of
the pagan populace, who frequently broke up their
congregational gatherings. Speaking of Africa, in
which the areae ^ of the Christians were especially
attacked, TertuUian says : " We are daily beset by
foes, we are daily betrayed ; and we are oftentimes
surprised in our meetings and congregations.^ You
know the very days of our assemblies : therefore
we are besieged and attacked and even arrested in
our secret gathering-places." ^
These words of the great African apologist are
considered by De Rossi to be an eloquent commen-
tary on some strange features which he noticed in
the cemetery of Callixtus, the first cemetery pos-
sessed by the Church as a corporate organization.
Here he observed evidence of secret entrances to
the subterranean crypts by labyrinthine passages,
whose openings were artfully concealed in neighbor-
ing sand-pits, and which were manifestly intended
for use at precisely the same time during which
there were public stairways leading to the same
Catacomb which descended boldly from the high-
1 Sub Hilariano praeside, cum de areis sepulturarum nostrarum
adclamasset, areae non sint. TertuUian, Ad Scap. c. 3.
2 Quotidie obsidemur, quotidie prodimur, in ipsis plurimum
coetibus et congregationibus nostris opprimimur. Apol. c. 7.
^ Scitis et dies eonventuum nostrorum : itaque et obsidemur et
opprimimur, et in ipsis arcanis congregationibus detinemur. Ad
Nat. bk. i, c. 7.
SECOND EDICT 175
way- This paradox he explained by the equally
strange position which in his opinion the Christians
occupied in the eye of the law. As an illegal reli-
gious association they could not lawfully hold any
assemblies, but possessed of the rights of a burial
club they could in ordinary cases enter their cem-
eteries with perfect safety for the purpose of in-
terring their dead associates.
The express prohibition to make use of the cem-
eteries for any purpose whatsoever, contained in the
first edict of Valerian, gave rise, according to De
Rossi, to greater activity on the part of the Chris-
tians in making access to the Catacombs more com-
plicated and difficult. The regular stairways were
destroyed by the Fossores themselves and cut off
from the rest of the passages ; the galleries were
blocked up with sand ; the old entrances were closed
and recourse had to the new ones opening from the
adjacent sand-pits, in order that no one could enter
who had not the key to the tortuous approaches.
These facts, which were brought to light by the
minute examination made by De Rossi's brother,
place before our eyes the scenes of which in those
bloody days the subterranean cemeteries were the
theatre, and " show us here a Christian Pompeii
which keeps fresh the imprint made by its mysteri-
ous and heroic inhabitants." ^
^ De Rossi, Bom. Sott. torn, ii, p. 257.
176 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
It could scarcely be expected that these precau-
tions would suffice to baffle the Roman officials. No
sooner was the edict promulgated than they were
able to lay violent hands on the Bishop of Rome,
who had fled to the Catacombs for security.
Cyprian's letter to Successus in regard to the new
edict contained the fearful tidings that the Pope
" Xystus was martyred in the cemetery on the 8th
day of the Ides of August, and with him four^
deacons;" that "the Prefects of the City were
every day urging the persecution, and were con-
demning aU who were brought before them, and
confiscating their property." ^
Thanks to the researches of De Rossi, there is
no doubt as to the place where this martyrdom
occurred. When the Pope, on August 6, wished to
assemble the faithful for divine worsliip, prudence
forbade him to go to the cemetery of Callixtus,
which was the principal cemetery of the Christian
community and seems to have been known as such
to the pagans. Nearly opposite this cemetery, on
the left side of the Via Appia, was the cemetery
of Praetextatus, founded by the illustrious person
1 " Quattuor," sometimes written "Quartura." Cf. De Rossi,
Bom. Sott. torn, ii, p. 87.
^ Xistum autem in cimiterio animadversum sciatis octavo iduum
augustarum die, et cum eo diacones quattuor. Sed et huic perse-
cution! quotidie insistunt praefecti in urbe, ut si qui sibi oblati
f uerint, animadvertantur, et bona eorum fisco vindicentur. Ep. 80.
SECOND EDICT 177
whose name it bears, and much more secure because
not so well known to the officials.^ As late as the
eighth century, tradition pointed out this spot as
the veritable scene of the martyrdom,^ and directly
over the cemetery of Praetextatus was built an
oratory, distinct and quite distant from that which
now rises over the papal crypt, and which was
dedicated to the honor and memory of St. Xystus.
In the cemetery itself there are numerous me-
morials of St. Xystus, which in the opinion of De
Kossi date from a time anterior to Constantine.
Here is a picture marked with the name SUSTUS,
and on a sepulchral stone a representation of an epis-
copal cathedra attesting the place of the martyr's
death, and a " graffito " of a bishop seated in his
cathedra with a listener who holds a book seated
at his feet. The obscurity of the cemetery of Prae-
textatus, and the relics found therein, all square ad-
mirably with the opinion that this was the place
resorted to by the bishop in his efforts to escape
capture and death.^
1 Rom. Sott. torn, i, pp. 181 seq., 247 ; torn, ii, pp. 87-97 ; Bullet-
tino di Archeologia Cristiana, 1863, pp. 1-4, 18, 91 ; 1870, p. 42 ;
1872, p. 76 ; 1874, pp. 36-37.
2 Rovi. Sott. torn, i, pp. 180-181 ; torn, ii, p. 88.
^ Pope Damasus wrote an inscription for the tomb of Xystus in
the cemetery of Callixtus : —
Tempore quo gladius aecuit pia viscera matria
Hie posituB Rector coelestia jussa docebam.
Adveniiuit aubito rapiunt qui forte sedentem.
Militibua missis populi tuuc colla dedere ;
178 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
Here he assembled the faithful for the celebra-
tion of the divine mysteries, and while seated in his
cathedra addressing his flock he was suddenly sur-
prised by the entrance of a band of soldiers. The
suddenness of the attack brought consternation to
the little band. Expecting a general massacre of
all who were thus found openly violating the laws,
Xystus arose and offered his life to the soldiers in
order to save his followers, who had gathered around
him to protect him with their lives. From the
fact that the Pope was put to death in the place
where he was arrested many have thought that his
martyrdom took place immediately after his arrest.
But as De Rossi has shown, it is extremely improb-
able that a band of soldiers would have murdered
five Romans as important as the bishop of the city
and four of his seven deacons without the formality
of a trial. The epitaph placed in the papal crypt
by Pope Damasus says, — Adveniunt suhito rapiunt
qui forte sedentem, and the Liber Pontificalis teUs
us that Xystus was led away (^ductus est} to offer
sacrifice. These references would seem to indicate
that the Pope was brought before some tribunal
Mox ubi cognovit senior quia tollere vellet
Palmam, seque suuinque caput prior obtulit ipse
Impatiens feritas posset ne laedere quemquam.
Ostendit Christus, reddit qui praemia vitas ;
Pastoris meritum, numerum gregis ipse tuetur.
Cf. Duchesne, Lib. Pon. i, 156.
SECOND EDICT 179
in order to be sentenced according to the regular
legal forms.
After his condemnation, he and his four deacons
were sent back ^ to the place where they had been
apprehended in order that they might be executed
on the spot where they were found violating the
laws. 2 When he reached the crypt, Xystus seated
himself in his episcopal chair, bowed his head, and
received the executioner's stroke.^
Four deacons, Januarius, Vincentius, Magnus,
and StephanuSjWere put to death in the same manner
and at the same time. Two other deacons, Felicissi-
mus and Agapitus, were martyred on the same day
but in a different place, and their bodies were in-
terred in the cemetery of Callixtus. As soon as an
opportunity offered, the Christians transferred the
remains of the martyred Pope to the papal crypt,
and enshrined behind his tomb the blood-stained
chair in which he died.
The death of St. Xystus and his six companions
left the Roman Church with but one surviving
deacon.* This was the Archdeacon Laurence.
Christian martyrology offers few incidents equal in
1 Rom. Sou. torn, ii, p. 92 ; Duchesne, lac. cit. pp. 156, 157.
2 The names of these deacons are preserved in the Liber Pon-
tificalis, loc. cit.
^ Prudentius, Peri Stephanon, ii, 21, declares that Xystus was
crucified, — Jam Xystus adfixus cruci. Vide Allard, Les Dernieres
Persecutions du Troisieme Siecle, Appendix C, p. 318.
* Sozomen, lib. vii, c. 19.
180 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
pathos and interest to the traditional story of the
sufferings and death of St. Laurence ; but unfor-
tunately the story as we know it does not come
from the hands of contemporary writers. The
Acta of his martyrdom, if they were ever written,
disappeared very soon ; those which are now in
existence were composed at least two centuries
later.i Besides these Acta there are some references
in the writings of St. Ambrose,^ and a long poem
which Prudentius composed in honor of St. Lau-
rence,^ which describe in detail the principal events
of his martyrdom.
From these unsatisfactory sources we learn that
St. Laurence was not condemned at the same time
as St. Xystus, and that when the hour of separa-
tion came he was overwhelmed with grief, not be-
cause his master was to suffer, but because they
were to be separated in death.* St. Xystus com-
forted him with the prophetic warning that he him-
self would suffer a more cruel death in three days.^
This respite was granted because the prefect of the
city desired to compel St. Laurence, who was treas-
1 Tous ces indices nous permettent de dater des environs de Tan
500 les gesta Laurentii. Duf ourcq, loc. cit. p. 309.
2 Officiorum, lib. i, c. 41 ; lib. ii, c. 28.
3 Peri Stephanon, ii.
* Flere coepit, non passionem illius, sed suam remansionem.
St. Ambrose, lib. i, c. 41.
6 Post triduum me sequeris. Ibid. Post hoc sequeria triduum.
Peri Stephanon, 28.
SECOND EDICT 181
urer and administrator of the Church, to surrender
all the property which he had under his care.^ He
was committed to the custody of a soldier named
Hippolytus, whom he converted, together with his
whole household of nineteen persons. A large num-
ber of these converts were put to death for embra-
cing the Christian faith, and Hippoljrtus himself
w^as condemned to be torn by wild horses.^
After the lapse of three days, during which St.
Laurence busied himself in gathering together the
poor and needy who were dependent on the bounty
of the Church, he presented himself to the prefect
accompanied by a multitude of the blind, the lame,
and the halt. He handed a hst of their names to
the prefect, saying : " These are the treasures of
the Church." ^ The enraged magistrate at once
condemned him to be put to death on a gridiron
over a slow fire.
How much truth, if any, is contained in this nar-
rative, it is hard to say. Recent criticism has de-
nuded the story of its most dramatic features, and
relegated to the realm of fable everything but the
single fact that St. Laurence died the death of a
^ Hoc poscit usus publicus,
Hoc fiscu3, hoc aerarimn,
Ut dedita stipendiis
Ducem juvet pecunia. Ibid. 2.3-26.
2 Cf. Dufourcq, pp. 202 seq., for the history of the different
martyrs named Hippolytus.
^ Hi sunt thesauri ecclesiae. St. Amb. loc. cit. lib. ii, c. 28.
182 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
martyr. In the first place, the Acta themselves
were written by some one unacquainted with the
main facts of Roman history. Both Decius and Va-
lerian are represented as taking part in the trial
and condenmation of the martyr, whereas Decius
was dead and Valerian in the far East at the time.
The quality of the dialogue between St. Laurence
and his bishop, savoring as it does of the tragic
drama, and the impossibility that such lengthy dis-
courses could take place at such a moment, throw
the gravest doubt on its authenticity. It was at
most, as M. Aube observes, an amplification, made
by the clever pen of St. Ambrose,^ of a few tradi-
tionary words or even looks.
It is not unlikely, however, that St. Laurence was
commanded to surrender the treasures of the Church.
The edict itself and many other contemporaneous
incidents prove conclusively that the confiscation of
ecclesiastical property was one of the means adopted
to eradicate Christianity, and it is quite probable that
the delay in executing St. Laurence was intended
for the purpose of wringing from him the secrets
which he alone possessed.^ Otherwise, it is hard to
1 VEglise et VEtat, p. 369.
2 The deacon selected among the seven to divide with the Pon-
tiff the care of the Summum Sacerdotium had charge of the area
of the Church. He administered its temporal affairs ; took charge
of the offerings of the faithful ; distributed them for the support of
the clergy, of the widows, the orphans, the poor, the confessors
SECOND EDICT 183
explain why he was not immediately executed to-
gether with St. Xystus, from whom it is difficult to
believe he was separated during the celebration of
the sacred mysteries in the Catacombs. The presen-
tation of the poor to the prefect as the treasures of
the Church is, doubtless, a pious fiction of a later
date, which does little credit to the prudence of St.
Laurence, of whom it can scarcely be believed that
he would expose beggars and cripples, could he
have succeeded in doing so with such persons, to the
fury and cruelty of a prefect of Imperial Rome.
M. Dufourcq has effectively disposed of that
portion of the narrative relating to the conversion
and death of Hippolytus and his companions, whose
names, he says, are mentioned together for no other
reason than that their tombs were situated in the
same place, and thus through some uncertain con-
nection between Hippolytus and St. Laurence the
histories of all were inextricably confused.^
of the faith condemned to the mines or shut up in the prisons, and
for the maintenance of the cemeteries. Thus the deacon neces-
sarily took charge of the archives of the Church, the matricula or
list of the clerg-y, confessors, and poor, and in this way became
naturally the head and censor of the clergy, and possessed au-
thority almost equal to that of the Pontiff himself. Consequently,
the archdeacon, because of his position as administrator of ecclesi-
astical affairs and his correspondence with other churches, was
usually selected for the Pontificate. Cf. De Rossi, Bvllettino di
Archeologia Cristiana, 1866, pp. 8 seq.
1 Le fait est que nous ignorons tout de ces martyrs, hormis ce
point seiilement : comme leur tombeau ^tait tout voisin de celui
d'Hippolyte, elles f urent associ^es k I'histoire de ce saint et en-
184 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
The most that can be said in favor of the tradi-
tional story of the death of St. Laurence, namely,
that he suffered death on a gridiron, is that it af-
fords a subject for interminable discussion. The
traditions on which this story rests are not worthy
of credence; while the extraordinary and refined
cruelty of the prefect in condemning St. Laurence
to a lingering death over a slow fire is with diffi-
culty reconciled with the express command contained
in the edict regarding bishops, priests, and deacons
(jCLnimadvertantur) which ordinarily meant decap-
itation. There can be no doubt, however, as to the
tradition itself. How did it come into existence ?
According to Pio Franchi de' Cavalieri, by a mis-
take in transcription, by which the customary and
solemn formula for announcing the death of a mar-
tyr — passus est — was made to read assus est^
The Liber Pontificalis, which, according to Du-
chesne, drew from sources independent of the ex-
isting Acta and traditions regarding St. Xystus
and St. Laurence, uses precisely this formula, pas-
sus est.^
gag^es h sa suite dans le cycle de Laurent. Loc. cit. p. 202 ; B,om.
Sou. torn, i, pp. 180, 181.
1 Ora UD passus est, col semplice cancellarsi di una lettera di-
venta assus est, ci6 che appunto significa fu cotto arrosto. Pio
Franchi de' Cavalieri, " S. Lorenzo e il Supplizio della Graticola,"
Edmische Quartalschrift, vol. xiv (1900), pp. 159-176. This is
an elaborate and scholarly discussion of all the questions connected
with the death of St. Laurence.
2 Et post passionem beati Xysti ; post tertia die passus est beatus
SECOND EDICT 185
It follows that the traditional account of the
martyrdom of St. Laurence is nothing but a legend
pure and simple. But as Franchi observes, "the
halo of glory with which the Church and the unin-
terrupted veneration of the faithful have surrounded
that brow will still remain and shine with all its
fulness, whether he died on a fiery gridiron, or
whether he received the same crown as the other
deacons of Rome, of Carthage, and Lambesa, the
crown of St. Xystus and St. Cyprian." ^
A subdeacon named Claudius, Severus a pres-
byter, Crescentius a lector, and Romanus a porter,
were put to death on the same day that St. Lau-
rence died. The bodies of all were reverently in-
terred by the Christians in the cemetery of Cyriaca
on the Via Tiburtina.^
Although the edict expressly stated that the
punishment to be inflicted on Christian matrons
was confiscation and banishment, there were several
Laurentius ejus archidiaconus IIII id. Aug., et subdiaconus
Claudius, et presbyter Severus, et Crescentius lector, et Romanus
ostiarius. Duchesne, Lib. Pont. vol. i, p. 155.
1 Loc. cit. p. 176.
2 Two of these companions of St. Laurence are absolutely un-
known except for the reference in the Liber Pontificalis. Cf . Du-
chesne, loc. cit.
The tomb of Crescentius is mentioned in the Itineraries. Roma-
nus, who is called a porter in the Liber Pontificalis, is called a sol-
dier in the Itineraries. Dufourcq, loc. cit. pp. 200, 201 ; Allard, Les
Dernieres Persecutions du Troisieme Siecle, p. 93, note ; De Rossi,
Bom. Sott. torn, i, pp. lOS, 179 ; Bullettino, 18G4, p. 33.
186 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
women of noble birth who paid the extreme penalty.
Among these was Eugenia, the daughter of a cer-
tain Philip who had held the position of governor
in Egypt. After her martyrdom her body was in-
terred in the cemetery of Apronianus on the Via
Appia. Her tomb is mentioned in the "Itineraries"
and in the Liber Pontificalis.^ Another Christian
maiden, Basilla, whose name is associated with that
of Eugenia, was denounced as a Christian by a
pagan to whom she was betrothed, and whom,
because she preferred virginity to marriage, she
refused to wed. Two others, Rufina and Secunda,
who refused to abjure Christianity, were condemned
by the prefect, Julius Donatus, and decapitated at
a place ten miles from Rome where Pope Damasus
afterwards built a church in their honor.^
Two slaves, Protus and Hyacinthus, who be-
longed to the household of Eugenia, were con-
demned to death for their activity in spreading
Christian truths. The tomb of St. Hyacinthus was
opened in 1845, and was seen to contain ashes and
charred bones and some stray threads of gold which,
it is conjectured, formed part of the precious cloth
in which the remains of the martyr were wrapped.
1 Cf. Dufoureq, loc. cit. pp. 191 seq. The Acta of St. Eugenia
were drawn up some time between 410 and 526. Ibid. p. 300 ; De
Rossi, Mom. Sott. torn, i, pp. 180, 181.
2 Cf. Dufoureq, loc. cit. pp. 232, 311 ; Acta Sanctorum, July,
torn, iii, pp. 27 sq.
SECOND EDICT 187
The condition of these relics is taken as proof pos-
itive that St. Hyacinthus and his companion were
burned at the stake.^
The fury with which the Christians in Kome
were pursued is by no means indicated by the
number of martyrs whose Acta have survived or
whose names have been preserved. Even children
of tender years did not escape. Pancratius, the son
of a Phrygian noble, refused with the greatest
fortitude to offer sacrifice to the gods and was
consequently slain.2 jjig body was interred on the
Via Aurelia.3 The place of his sepulture became
an object of veneration to pilgrims in the fifth and
sixth century, and the young saint himself was
known as the avenger of violated oaths.*
1 The Acta of these saints are not in existence. Their names
occur in the Acta of St. Eugenia, mentioned above. The tomb of
Hyacinthus escaped the changes and restorations in the Catacombs,
and remained intact until 1845, when it was discovered by the
Jesuit archaeologist, Marchi. Cf. Armellini, Gli Antichi Cimiteri
Cristiani, pp. 186 seq. ; Allard, Les Dernieres Persecutions du Troi-
sieme Siecle, Appendix G, p. 3G.3.
2 Cf. De Rossi, Rom. Sott. torn, i, pp. 182.
3 Dufourcq, loc. cit. pp. 21.5, 309.
* Est etiam hand procul ab urbis muro et Pancratius martyr,
valde in perjuribus ultor, Ad cujus sepulchrum, si cujusquam,
mens insana juramentum inane proferre voluerit, priusquam sepul-
chrum ejus adeat . . . aut arripitur a daemone, aut cadens in
pavimento emittit spiritum. Greg. Tour. Glor. Mart, i, 39. Cf.
Liber Pont if. vol. i, p. 303.
CHAPTER VII
ST. CYPRIAN AND THE AFRICAN MARTYRS
St. Cyprian receives tidings of new rescript — Warns the Chris-
tians of Africa — Summoned to Utica by Galerius Maximus, who
had succeeded Aspasius Paternus as proconsul — Withdraws
into hiding — Returns to his villa when the proconsul comes to
Carthage — Arrest — Condemnation — Death — Massa Can-
dida — Sources: St. Augustine, Prudentius — Legend or his-
tory — Cruelty of proconsul towards Christians of Carthage —
Large numbers massacred — Arrest of Lucius, Montanus, Fla-
vianus, Julianus, Victoricus, Renus — Acts of these martyrs —
Long imprisonment — Visions — Other Christian prisoners —
Trial — Execution — Martyrs in Numidia — Marianus and
James — Agapius and Secundinus — Sufferings of Marianus
and James — Visions — Trial and condemnation — Sent to
Lambesa — Execution — Other Christian confessors.
The care and foresight which St. Cyprian mani-
fested in securing the first tidings of the new
rescript were in keeping with his whole line of
conduct since the Decian persecution. His legal
attainments and his familiarity with the spirit and
traditions of the Roman Constitution showed him
that a change in dynasty or the fleeting favor of a
ruler could never alter appreciably the status of
Christianity. The followers of Christ were still out-
laws, and, when occasion demanded or opportunity
offered, all the machinery of legal repression could
THE AFRICAN MARTYRS 189
be set in motion against them. With this knowledge,
and mindful of the bloody scenes of death and
suffering and the shameful instances of apostasy
witnessed in his own church in Carthage, he bent all
his energies towards preparing his flock for the
struggle which he knew could not be long deferred.
A note of warning runs through all his writings at
this time. The true Christian must be prepared to
abandon all things and to seek happiness in heaven.
" How often has it been revealed to me," he says,
" how frequently and manifestly has it been com-
manded by the condescension of God, that I should
diligently bear witness and publicly declare that our
brethren who are freed from this world by the
Lord's summons are not to be lamented, since we
know that they are not lost but gone before." ^ In
accordance with the wishes of Fortunatus, a fellow
bishop, he prepared an " Exhortation to Martyr-
dom," "because the hateful time of Anti-Christ
was beginning to draw near, and the minds of
the brethren should be prepared and strengthened,
whereby, as soldiers of Christ, they might be ani-
mated for the heavenly and spiritual conflict." ^
His letter of exhortation to Successus at the out-
break of the persecution was the culmination of
years of labor and teaching. That which he had
expected had come to pass, and the faith and forti-
1 Be Mortalitate, c. 20. '^ Exhort, ad Martyr, c. 1.
190 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
frude of his followers were once more to be tried in
the fiery furnace of persecution. " I beg," he writes,
" that these things may be made known by your
means to the rest of our colleagues, that every-
where, by their exhortation, the brotherhood may
be strengthened and prepared for the spiritual con-
flict, that every one of us may think less of death
than immortality ; and, dedicated to the Lord with
full faith and entire courage, may rejoice rather
than fear in this confession, wherein they know
that the soldiers of God and Christ are not slain
but crowned." ^
This letter was written from Carthage, whither
Cyprian had been recalled by Galerius Maximus,
who had succeeded Aspasius Paternus as proconsul.2
Neither the Acta nor Pontius give any intimation
of the reason why his banishment had been so ab-
ruptly terminated. He was ordered, on his return,
to take up his residence in his country-house near
Carthage,^ the beautiful villa which he had sold for
the benefit of the poor in the early days of his con-
version, and which his friends had repurchased and
presented to him.* Here in the scenes of his early
manhood, surrounded by memorials of his pagan
1 Ep. 81. 2 jicta, c. 2.
^ Ex sacro praecepto in suis hortis manebat. Ibid.
* Hortos, quos inter initia fidei suae venditos, et Dei indulgentia
restitutes, pro certo iterum in usuni pauperum vendidisset, nisi
invidiam de persecutione vitaret. Pontius, Vita Cyp. c. 15.
THE AFRICAN MARTYRS 191
life, he waited day by day for the crown which had
been promised to him.^ Friends — pagan and Chris-
tian — congregated there. Men of high rank and
noble family, generous with the prodigality of the
world, came to him and urged him to fly, promising
him places of concealment and safety. But the fire
of martyrdom was already burning in his veins, and
he sternly and firmly refused to accede to their
wishes. " He would, perhaps, have done so," says
his biographer, " if a divine command had been
added to the solicitations of his friends." When-
ever an opportunity offered he set himseK to teach-
ing those around him, exhorting them to overcome
the love for temporal things by reflecting on the
glory that was to come. So eager was he to preach
Christ and to bear witness to Him that he hoped
the death stroke might come while he was speaking
about God.2
When the imperial circular containing the Em-
peror's instructions for the governors of provinces
arrived in Africa, Galerius Maximus was at Utica,
and, though in ill-health, he at once despatched
officers to Carthage to seize Cyprian and conduct
him to Utica for trial. Apprised of their coming,
and knowins: full well that such a summons meant
*&
1 Inde quotidie sperabat venire ad se, sicut illi ostensum fuerat.
Acta, c. 2.
2 Ibid.
192 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
condemnation and death, Cyprian accepted the
asylum offered by his friends, and when the emis-
saries of the proconsul arrived he was not to be
found. While there was a question merely of per-
sonal safety, he had scorned concealment ; but now
a just cause for flight arose. He would not die
anywhere but among his own people: "for the
reason that it is fit for a bishop, in that city in
which he presides over the Church of the Lord,
there to confess the Lord, so that the whole people
may be glorified by the confession of their prelate
in their presence." ^
From his hiding-place he addressed a letter to
the clergy and people of Carthage, givmg the rea-
sons for his retirement, and assuring them it would
last only while the proconsul was absent. When
Aspasius Paternus should return he would be ready
to present himself before the tribunal. Further-
more, it was his firm belief that the words spoken
by a bishop at the moment of his confession were
uttered under the influence of divine revelation.
How appalling, then, to think that he, a bishop
marked for certain death, should go to a distant
city and make his confession away from his own
people. " The honor of our church, glorious as it is,
will be mutilated, if I, a bishop placed over another
church, should receive my sentence or my confession
1 St. Cyprian, Ep. 82.
THE AFRICAN MARTYRS 193
at Utica, and should go thence as a martyr to the
Lord, when, indeed, both for my own sake and
yours, I pray with continual supplications, and with
all my desires entreat, that I may confess among
you, and there suffer, and thence depart to the Lord
even as I ought." ^
The proconsul's return was not long delayed. On
account of sickness he did not take up his residence
in the city itself, but in an adjoining villa owned by
a certain Sextus.^ From there on September 13 he
despatched two officers ^ and a numerous body of
soldiers to capture the leader and the bishop of the
Christians. Cyprian made good his promise. When
they arrived he was there to meet them, and without
hesitation resigned himself into custody. He was
placed in a chariot between his captors, the strator
and the equistrator, and was at once driven off to
the villa occupied by the proconsul. His conduct
and bearing on the journey must have surprised
the stern soldier of the Third Legion and the grim
jailer who accompanied him. His prayers and
wishes had been consummated, and with no trace
of hesitancy or fear he bore himself with dignity
and composure, manifesting, as his biographer
^ St. Cyprian, loc. cit.
2 In Sexti . . . ubi idem Galerius Maximus Proconsul, bonae
valetudinis recuperandae gratia, secesserat. Acta Procon. c. 2.
^ Principes duo, unus Strator officii Galerii Maximi Proconsulis
et alius Equistrator a custodiis ejusdera officii. Ibid. c. 2.
194 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
says, " cheerfulness in his look and courage in his
heart."!
On arriving at the proconsuFs it was learned
that, because, perhaps, of iUness, he was not yet
ready to take up the case. With the intention
probably of making the death of Cyprian serve as
a lesson to the people of the city, he remanded him
until the following day in the custody of the first
princeps who had arrested him, and in his house
situated in the street of Saturn between the Via
Venerea and the Via Salutaria, Cyprian spent the
night.2
The news that Thascius was in custody spread
at once throughout the city. No person in Car-
thage was more prominent than the aged bishop of
the Christians. During the greater part of his
long life he had been constantly in the public eye.
Renowned as a lawyer and orator long before his
conversion, his fame had increased day by day, not
only among the faithful, but even among the pagans,
to whom in the dark days of the plague he was a
constant benefactor and kind friend .^ With feel-
ings of veneration and regret they assembled from
1 Vita, c. 15.
2 In vieo, qui dicitur Saturni, inter Veneream et Salutariam.
Acta Procon. c. 2.
8 Productum esse jam Thascium, quern praeter celebrem glo-
riosa opinione notitiam, etiam de commemoratione praeclarissimi
operis nemo non noverat.
THE AFRICAN MARTYRS 195
all sides and stood in silent throngs around his
temporary prison. Lest anything should occur un-
known to them, the entire Christian population of
Carthage kept vigil throughout the whole night
around the house of the princeps. Through the
kindness of his custodians ^ C}"prian was allowed
to spend his last hours in the company of his dea-
cons and some of his intimate friends. One inci-
dent alone of this night's sorrowful vigil has been
preserved. Cyprian mth his usual care sent a mes-
sage to the waiting Christians that the maidens
should be carefully guarded during the darkness
and disorder.
The morrow dawned glorious in the brilliant
sun and cloudless sky of an African day .2 When
Cyprian came forth, the throng, whose interest and
ardor night had not diminished, were there to see
and foUow him. His way to the villa of Sextus
led across the stadium. It was right and proper,
says Pontius, that he who had finished the conflict
and was going to his reward should pass through
the scene of so many struggles.^ After a long and
tiresome walk in the midst of an ever-increasing
1 Custodia delicata. St. Cyprian, loc. cit.
- Illuxit denique dies alius, ille sig-natus, ille promissus, ille
divinus ; quem si tyrannus ipse difFerre voluisset, nunquara pror-
sus valeret ; dies de conscientia futuri Martyris laetus ; et dis-
cnssis per totum mundi ambitum nubibus, claro sole radiatus.
Vita, c. 16.
8 Ibid.
196 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
crowd, it was found when they reached the villa
that the proconsul could not at once j^roceed with
the trial. A place of retirement was provided for
the aged bishop. The seat he occupied was by
chance covered with a white cloth, and in the en-
thusiasm of the moment his followers saw in this a
providential provision by which their bishop would
take his last rest in a chair adorned like his epis-
copal cathedra. While waiting for the summons
of the proconsul, one of the officers of the court, a
lapsed Christian, noticing that Cyprian's garments
were drenched with perspiration, offered him a
change of clothing. Some feeling of reverence for
his former bishop, or the desire to possess these
relics of a martyr, may have prompted this kind-
ness, but Cyi3rian quietly refused it, saying, " Why
cure complaints that will cease forever before the
day has passed ? " ^
At last he was summoned to the proconsul's
presence, and ushered into the Atrium Sanciolum
where the trial was to take place. Guarded by
soldiers, the venerable prisoner faced his judges.
No time was lost in preliminaries. There were no
speeches by counsel or summoning of witnesses ; the
accusation was ready, and the prisoner was called
on to affirm or deny its truth.
Although a very sick man, the i)roconsiU con-
^ Pontius, loc. cit. c. 16.
THE AFRICAN MARTYRS 197
ducted the trial in person. He said : You are
Thascius Cy})rianus.
Cyprian. I am.
Galerius. You have made yourself the Pope ^
of certain sacrilegiously minded men.
Cypri.vn. I have.
Galerius. The most sacred Emperors have
ordered you to offer sacrifice.
Cyprian. I will not do so.
Galerius. Have a care for yourself.
Cyprian. Do what you are ordered. In a matter
so plain there is no need for further colloquy.
This ended the examination. The accused had
admitted his guilt, and in accordance with the
usage of the court the proconsul consulted with
his council before passing sentence. The confer-
ence was brief ; he turned to the prisoner and said :
" For a long time you have led a life of sacrilege ;
and you have gathered round you in a vile con-
spiracy a large number of others. You have lived
as a declared enemy to the gods and the sacred
laws of Rome. Even the pious and exalted Augusti,
Valerian and Gallienus, and the most noble Caesar
Valerian, have not been aljle to induce you to prac-
tise the national rites. Therefore since you are the
^ Ta papam te sacrilegae mentis hominibus praebuisti. Acta
Procon. c. 3. Ruinart has the following note on the word " pa-
pam : " Forte papatem ut legendum esse censet noster Mabillo-
nios, etc.
198 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
author of detestable crimes, and since you are a
standard-bearer in wickedness for others, you will
serve as a lesson to those whom you have made
partners in your guilt. Discipline will be vindi-
cated in your blood." This was the official state-
ment of the crime : then came the sentence which he
read from a tablet on which it had been inscribed :
"We order that Thascius Cyprianus be put to
death by the sword."
The trial and condemnation were over, and the
hush which had fallen on the crowded hall was
fh^st broken by Cyprian's fervent, " Thank God."
The Christians at once broke out in clamors. " Let
us too be beheaded with him." The sentence to
their minds was worthy of the victim. He was
glorified in his condemnation. A standard-bearer
for Christ and an enemy of the gods, he was an
example to his followers, whose tumultuous cries
seemed to threaten a disturbance of some kind.
Lest the course of justice should be interfered
with, the prisoner was immediately surrounded by
a cordon of legionaries, and all — victim, guards, and
spectators — moved at once to the scene of execution,
The spot was quickly chosen, if it had not been al-
ready selected, at a short distance from the atrium,
but within the grounds of Sextus. The place was
in the midst of a large level plain, so level, indeed,
that those on the outskirts of the crowd could not
THE AFRICAN MARTYRS 199
see what was happening inside the military lines.
Like so many Zacchaeuses, says Pontius, they
climbed the trees, that nothing in the tragic scene
might escape them.
Within a space enclosed by the soldiers the noble
old citizen of Carthage had taken his place, sur-
rounded still by his devoted little band of deacons
and friends. He removed his cape and knelt down,
and then, prostrating himself for a few moments,
gave himself up to prayer. When he arose he took
off his dalmatic or loose upper garment and gave
it to the deacons.^ Then standing upright, a strik-
ing figure in his long close-fitting tunic of linen, he
awaited the coming of the executioner.2 This was
the moment he had looked forward to as the time
in which the Holy Ghost would speak through his
lips ; but no words came. The grim form of the exe-
cutioner, who was late in arriving, aroused him from
his reverie and turned his thoughts to the final
preparation. With customary large-heartedness he
ordered his followers to give the headsman twenty-
five pieces of gold, and then taking a handkerchief
he bound it round his eyes, and, because he could
not perform the sad task himself, Julian a priest
and another Julian tied his hands. Everything was
now ready. The ground at his feet was strewn with
1 Vide Benson, Life of Cyprian, p. 513 ; the dress of Cyprian.
2 Spiculator, Acta, c. 5.
200 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
linen cloths and handkerchiefs ^ by the Christians
to catch the drops of his blood, and the martyr
waited in silence for the death-stroke. But the
headsman faltered, unnerved perhaps by the noble
mien of his victim, or touched by his kindness and
generosity ; his trembling hands could not hold the
blade. Angered by such a show of weakness, and
eager, perhaps, to have the gruesome task finished,
the centurion in command seized the sword and,
with a strength so great that it seemed preternat-
ural,^ he severed the martyr's head. " And so the
Blessed Cyprian suffered on the 18th day of the
Kalends of October, Valerian and Gallienus being
Emperors." ^
The body lay where it fell, and Christians and
pagans came and gazed on it with curious eyes.
When the chance offered the faithful removed it
to a more secluded spot, and in the darkness of the
night they carried it with torches and tapers to the
cemetery of Macrobius Candidianus, a former pro-
curator, and interred it in a pagan cemetery on the
Via Mappaliensis near the great cisterns of Car-
thage.*
Notwithstanding the immunity from persecution
which ordinary Christians (^simjjlices fideles) were
^ Linteamina et manualia. Acta., c. 5.
2 Concesso desuper vigore. Vita^ c. 19.
-.8 Acta^ c. 5.
* ♦' Where was Cyprian buried ? " Cf. Benson, loc. cit. p. 509.
THE AFRICAN MARTYRS 201
supposed to enjoy, a multitude of them suffered
death in Utica about the time that St. Cyprian
was summoned thither by the proconsul. This
hecatomb took place in the month of Au^st, 258.^
Unfortunately, no contemporary document is in ex-
istence which treats of the circumstances of this
fearful massacre. Our knowledge of the event is
derived from a few references in St. Augustine,^
a notice in an old Carthaginian Calendar, a poem
by Prudentius, and an African mscription dating
probably from the fifth century .^
In a sermon preached on the feast of St. Cyprian
and delivered in Carthage, St. Augustine ^ refers to
these martyrs as the Massa Candida Uticensis,
massa because of their number, Candida because
of their brightness. In another sermon, delivered
1 These martyrs are mentioned in the Martyr. Hierony. ; in the
Carthaginian Calendar ; in Ado ; and in the Boman Martyrology,
but on different days of August. Bvllettino di Archeologia Cristi-
ana, vol. iv, ser. 5, 1894, p. 39.
2 The historical references are all collected in Morcelli, Africa
Christiana, torn, ii, p. 150 ; Acta SS., Aug., torn, iii, pp. 761-768.
3 SUB HEC SACRO
SCO BELAMINE ALTA
RIS SUNT MEMORIAE
SCOR MASSAE CANDI
DAE SCI HESIDORI
SCOR TRIOM PUERORU
SCI MARTINI SCI ROMANI +
It was first published in the Bulletin de V Academic d^Hippone,
1893, p. xxviii. For full description and commentary, vide De
Rossi, Bullettino di Archeologia Cristiana, vol. iv, ser. 5, 1894, p.
39 ; Analecta Bollandiana, tom. xiii (1894), p. 406.
4 Sermon 311.
202 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
in Utica on the natalis or anniversary of their mar-
tyrdom, he says the number of these martyrs is not
less than 153.^ This is all we can glean from Augus-
tine ; but in a sermon sometimes attributed to him
the number of the martyrs is said to be three hun-
dred, and the manner of their death decapitation .2
Prudentius, in a poem written in honor of St. Cy-
prian, goes more fully into details.^ " It is averred,"
he says, " that a trench was hoUowed in the midst of
a great plain and fiUed to the top with quicklime.
From this glowing mass burst forth flames and
deadly fimies. At the side of the trench there was
placed an altar. The Christians were given the alter-
native of offering sacrifice of incense before this
altar, or of casting themselves into the pit. They
did not hesitate a moment. Three hundred leaped
into the glowing mass and disappeared in its
1 Sermon 306.
2 Sermon 317.
8 Fama refert foveam campi in medio patere jussam,
Calee vaporifera summos prope margines refertam.
Saxa recoeta voraunt ignem, niveusque pulvis ardet,
Urere taeta potens ; et mortif er ex odore flatus.
Appositam memorant aram, fovea stetisse summa,
Lege sub hac salis aut micam, jecur aut suis litarent
Christicolae, aut mediae sponte irruerent in ima fossae.
Prosiluere alacres cursu rapido simul trecenti.
Gurgite pulvereo mersos liquor aridus voravit,
Praecipitemque globum f undo tenus implieavit imo.
Corpora candor habet, candor vehit ad superna mentes.
CANDIDA MASSA dehinc dici meruit per omne saeclum.
Peri Stephanon, 13.
THE AFRICAN MARTYRS 203
depths. Whiteness enveloped their bodies, white-
ness carried their souls to heaven, and thus for
all time they shall be called the Massa Candida."
Though this poetic description cannot be ac-
cepted literally, it is, perhaps, going too far to say,
that " there exists nothing like history, nothing to
show at what period, or in what way the group
suffered." ^ In the first place, it can scarcely be
denied that Augustine of Hippo-Regius, the bishop
of a neighboring see, was eminently qualified to
speak of Utica and its history ; and the vagueness
of his remarks, instead of arguing ignorance of
the subject, shows that he was speaking of an inci-
dent well known to his hearers. The erection of a
basilica in Utica dedicated to the Massa Candida
shows that the legend had some foundation in
fact ; 2 wliile the inscription of Guelma (Calama)
is conclusive proof of the veneration accorded to
these martyrs in Africa in the fifth century .3
The account given by the poet Prudentius, though
doubtless erroneous in some of its details, can be
easily reconciled with the meagre references found
in Augustine. Stripped of its poetic character, the
1 Benson, Life of Cyprian, p. 518.
2 Hie martyres, vulgo Massa Candida, laudantur, quorum in basil-
ica apud Uticam serraonera habitum esse, ex Floriacensi ms. de-
prendimus. Note ad Psalm, cxliv, Migne, P. L. xxxvii, col. 1S80.
3 De Rossi, loc. cit., is of opinion that this inscription dates from
the fifth century.
204 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
story lays no burden on our credulity. It is easy to
suppose that tlie edict of Valerian in regard to con-
gregational gatherings and the use of the cemeteries
occasioned some outbursts of popular fury against
the Christians, and that large numbers were slain.
This hypothesis is doubly confirmed by the fact
that the proconsul was in Utica a short time before
the death of Cyprian, and by a passage in Cy-
prian's letter, written while he was in hiding, in
which he admonishes the Christians to refrain from
tumult of any kind, and to make no inopportune
professions of their faith.^
Though there is nothing contrary to historical
precedent in the kind of death mentioned by Pru-
dentius, it may perhaps be better to consider the
pit of quicklime as a piece of poetic imagery rather
than an actual fact. The dramatic scene of the altar
and the alternative sacrifice savor more of the realm
of fancy than of reality. Such imagery might easily
arise from the use of quicklime by the proconsul to
prevent an epidemic if a large number of bodies
remained unburied. The Christians were not al-
lowed to enter their own cemeteries, and it is quite
conceivable that their refusal to make use of pagan
burial places led the authorities to cover the un-
buried bodies of the martyrs with quicklime.
1 Aube, VEglise et VEtat, p. 386 ; AUard, Les Dernieres Persi-
cutions du Troisieme Siecle, p. 108.
THE AFRICAN MARTYRS 205
After the death of Cyprian the See of Carthage
remained vacant for a whole year. This in itself is
sufficient proof of the unrelenting fury with which
the Christians were persecuted. It is quite proba-
ble that the execution of the edict in Proconsular
Africa was entrusted to the legionaries, as in the
neighboring province of Numidia.^ Their task was
rendered easy by the fact that a large number of
the bishops and priests were in custody since the
preceding year.^ It is unfortunate that the names
of very few victims of the persecution have been
preserved ; but the character of Galerius Maximus,
the proconsul who governed the Province of Africa,
is sufficient warrant for the conclusion that a bitter
war of extermination was waged against the fol-
lowers of Christ. His appointment was a recent
one,3 and probably from innate cruelty, or because
his temper was soured by bodily infirmities, his
administration was marked from the beginning by
excessive severity.
The manifestation of loyalty and devotion made
by the Christians on the morning of Cyprian's
condemnation could easily be construed into an act
of rebellion,* and as we have said, St. Cyprian in
1 Passio Mariani et Jacobi, c. 2.
2 Ibid. c. 3.
8 He was the successor of Aspasius Patemus. Acta Procon. c. ii.
* Post hanc vero sententiam turba fratrum dicebat ; et nos cum
ipso decollemur. Propter hoc tumultus fratrum exortus est et
multa turba eum prosecuta est. Acta Procon. c. 5.
206 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
his last letter addressed to the bishops, and through
them to the Christian congregations, admonished
all of the necessity of refraining from violence ; but
shortly after his death, and in defiance of his warn-
ing and his admonition, an outbreak of some kind oc-
curred which was speedily suppressed.^ The Chris-
tians were specially singled out for the vengeance of
the proconsul on this occasion.^ Large numbers of
them were put to death in the month of January,
259, among whom were Paul and Successus, who
for many years had been important figures in the
African Church.^ The Acts of these martyrs have
not been preserved, and our knowledge of them ia
confined to an incidental reference in the Acts of
Montanus and Lucius.
The tumult among the people and the subse-
quent slaughter of the Christians were followed by
the arrest and imprisonment of six members of the
clergy, Lucius, Montanus, Flavianus, Julianus,
Victoricus, Renus, and the catechumens Primolus
and Donatianus. A peculiarity of the Acts of these
martyrs is that, with the exception of the last scenes
1 Post popularem tumultum quem ferox vultus prsesidis in
Decern concitavit. Passio Montani, etc. c. 2.
2 Postque sequentis diei acerrimam persecutionem Christian-
orum. Ibid.
^ Paulus et Successus cum comitibus suis. Passio Montani, etc.
c. 21. They are commemorated in many Martyrologies on January
19. Successus was probably present at the Council of Carthage.
Cf. Ruinart, p. 281, note.
THE AFRICAN MARTYRS 207
of condemnation and execution, they purport to
have been written by the martyrs themselves. The
torments they endured during a long imprisonment
impelled them, they say, to commit to writing an
account of their sufferings, in order that their
example might animate their brethren to courage
and fortitude in the defence of their faith. This
desire of being witnesses to the faith in life and in
death has in it something akin to Cyprian's desire
to die among his own people, and to address to them
his last words.
Until quite recently these Acts were considered
to be incontestably authentic. Baronius,^ Ruinart,^
Tillemont, Morcelli,* Le Blant,^ AUard,^ accept
them as such, and Harnack declares they were writ-
ten about the time of Cyprian.^ M. Aube, while
admitting that these Acts are of great antiquity, says
1 Annales, ad Ann. 262. Fide dignissimara omnique ex parte
sibi constantem . . . insigne antiquitatis monumentum.
2 Acta Sincera. Actis fide omnino dignis, et talibus quae merito
inter pretiosiora et sinceriora sacrae antiquitatis monumenta
computentur.
^ Memoires, torn, iv, p. 206. Une pi^ce oh tout est digne de la
gravite chretienne.
* Africa Christiana, vol. ii, p. 153, publishes the Acts in full.
' Les Pers^cuteurs et les Martyrs, p. 162. L'une des pieces les
plus pr^cieuses qu'aient laiss^es les premiers ages chr^tiens.
^ L'authenticite de la pi^ce n'est pas contest^e : le style suffi-
rait h r^tablir, . . . Ces narrateurs appartient comme Pontius k
r^cole et peut-etre h I'entourage de saint Cyprien. Les Dernieres
Persicutions du Troisieme Siecle, p. 116.
"^ Geschichte der Altchristlichen Litteratur, pt. 2, vol. 2, p. 471.
208 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
it is difficult to believe they were written by the
martyrs themselves, and considers that they were
rather an amplification of an older and briefer
document.^ J. Eendel Harris and Seth K. Gifford,
in the introduction to their edition of the Greek
text of the Acts of SS. Perpetua and Felicitas, go
still further and declare that the Acts of Montanus,
etc., are " a deliberate forgery, based chiefly on the
Acts of Perpetua and Felicitas." ^ Pio Franchi de'
Cavalieri contests the conclusions of the Cambridge
scholars in the learned introduction to his edition
of the Acts of Montanus, etc., and from a very
detailed examination and comparison of both docu-
ments arrives at the conclusion that the Acts of
Montanus were written by an imitator of St. Cy-
prian, and were drawn up some years after the
events they relate. He admits that the redactor
may have taken the Acts of Perpetua as a literary
model, and in the part which is written in the first
person he doubtless made use of some older docu-
ment which he enlarged.^
1 VEglise et VEtat, p. 399. La pifece de Ruinart n'est que
I'amplification d'un r^cit plus ancien et sans doute plus simple.
Au reste, il est bien difficile de croire que cette pi6ce ait ^t^ ^erite,
comme on le dit, par un des martyrs et qu'elle nous soit venue dans
la puret^ premiere.
2 The Acts of the Martyrdom of SS. Perpetua and Felicitas,
London, 1890, p. 27.
3 Concludiamo : La Passio Montani etc. 6 opera di un imitatore
di S. Cipriano e scritta un certo numero di anni dope I'avveni-
mento. L'autore, pur narrando un fatto, anche ne' particolari
THE AFRICAN MARTYRS 209
Tlie results of Pio Franchi's labors have not met
with universal approval, but the reasons advanced
by Gifford and Harris and those who accept their
statements are not of sufficient validity to reject
the conclusions of the learned Scriptor of the Vati-
can Library. The coincidences in style and com-
position between the two Acta are not sufficient
ground for the opinion that the Acta of Montanus
were a " tendenz-schrifW drawn up in the time of
Diocletian to check the dissensions in the church
of Carthage, while the paramount literary influence
of Cyprian points out the redactor as one who was
well acquainted with the spirit and writings of the
Bishop of Carthage.^ The expedient of making the
Acts the personal production of the martyrs them-
selves and giving it the form of a letter addressed
quasi tutti, molto diverse, prese a modello letterario la P. P. che
segui fino nella composizione, facendo raccontare, nella prima
parte, ai martiri stessi la loro prigionia e diverse visioni. Per
codesta parte per6 si valse, secondo ogni probability, d' un docu-
mento, o di un appunto, gik esistente, cui ampli6 ed aecomod6
senza troppi riguardi. La narrazione poi eh' egli scrbse in nome
proprio, la compose di getto. Dunque la Passio Montani non 6 una
deliberata falsificaaione, ma im documento di valore, ima relazione
in sostanza attendibile e sincera : 6 per6 in pari tempo un' opera
letteraria. Chi I'ha redatta ha avuto in mira di comporre un'
opera bella ed edificante, non una relazione pura e semplice.
Gli Atti dei SS. Montano, Lucio e compagni. Recensione del testo
ed introduzione sulle sue relazione con la Passio S. Perpetuae,
Rome, 1898.
1 Cf. Pio Franchi, loc. cit., Introd., passim ; La Passio SS. Mari'
ani et Jacobi, Rome, 1900, pp. 7, 8.
210 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
to the faithful ^ is nothing extraordinary ; neither
are the visions which appeared to the prisoners ; ^
but the form of the letter, addressed to no one in
particular,^ and some verbal peculiarities it con-
tains show clearly that it was written for purposes
of edification.^
On the night after their arrest, Montanus and
his fellow martyrs were not lodged in the public
prison, but left in the custody of the district com-
manders.^ The anger of the proconsul was so great
that he threatened to commit the Christians to the
flames on the following day. This information con-
veyed to them by their guards struck them with
consternation. It is related that they prayed to
God, who preserved the Three Children in the fiery
furnace, to save them from this fate, and that they
attributed to their prayers and to the power of God
the proconsul's change of plan in their behalf. He
was unable to preside at their trial on the following
1 Vide Franchi, Passio Montani, p. 23, note 2.
2 Le Blant, Les Persecuteurs et les Martyrs, pp. 96 seq.
3 Et nobis est apud vos certamen, fratres dilectissimi. Passio,
c. 1. \
4 Franchi, loc. cit. pp. 23-24.
^ Apud Regionantes in custodia constitutis. Passio, c. 3. Mor-
celli, Africa Christiana, ii, p. 153, calls them magistros regionis.
Aub^, VEglise et VEtat, p. 396, says : Confies h. la garde de quelque
agent de TOfficium. Franchi, loc. cit. p. 29 : Termine del resto
non registrato ne' lessici e privo d' altri esempi, non puo designare
alcuna sorta di guardie, si bene de' magistrati regionari. These
guards are called miliies in the same paragraph.
THE AFRICAN MARTYRS 211
day, and they were accordingly transferred to tlie
public prison.
The horrors and loathsomeness of this noisome
den were beyond description. In addition to the
hardships of prison life, they were harassed by
uncertainty regarding their ultimate fate and the
species of torture they would be called on to
undergo. This uncertainty lasted for several days,
the sickness of the proconsul rendering him unfit
for the performance of any duties. During this
period of anxiety one of the prisoners, Renus,i had
a vision, in which he saw himself and his fellow
prisoners led out to execution,^ and before each one
there went a lamp. This vision he related to his
fellow prisoners, and they were filled with joy, be-
cause it showed they were fellow travellers with
Christ, who was a light to their feet.^
^ Nothing more is said of Renus after this. Wliat became of
him ? Solo potrebbe credersi che il nome Renus sia stato inserito
da altra mano piu tarda. Franchi, loc cit. p. 29. He adds : Come
spieg-arci in tal ipotesi, la interpolazione ? He does not attempt
it ; though there seems to be no grounds for his rejection of the
opinion that this incident was inserted in imitation of a nearly
similar incident in the Acts of Perpetua, loc. cit.
'^ Produci singulos. Acta, c. 5. Qui non significa semplicemente
esser tratti dalla prigione, come spiega Tillemont (Mem. iv, 208),
n6 esser condotti al supplizio come intende Allard (Les Dernieres
Perstcutions du Troisieme Steele, p. 117), ma venir menati all' udi-
enza che seguira.
^ Franchi considers that De Rossi was mistaken in thinking he
found a reference to this vision in the Ostrian cemetery. (Bull.
Crist. ISSO, p. 0(3.) Quella che apparve al de Rossi una lucerna,
212 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
The pleasure which this vision brought was in-
terrupted on the following day by a command to
appear before the procurator, on whom had devolved
the duties of the proconsul, who had just died.^ So
much confusion, however, arose after the death of
the head of the government that the soldiers who
had charge of the Christian prisoners did not know
where to conduct them. They were led back and
forth through the streets seeking the place where
the procurator would sit in judgment. He finally
gave them an audience in his office (^secretarium)?
and, probably because he had no jurisdiction in such
matters, he postponed the case and sent them back
to prison until such time as the authorities in Rome
should appoint a new proconsul.^ Glad of any res-
pite, and filled with joy because they had escaped
death, the Christians returned to prison praising
and glorif}ang God, to whom they attributed the
delay. Because of the cruelty or avarice of their
jailer, Solon, who refused to supply them with food
and drink, they suffered intensely from hunger and
in realtk non 6 altro che il rotolo tenuto in mano, secondo il solito,
da uno dei due santi avvocati che presentano al divin Giudice
1' anima della def unta. Franchi, loc. cit. p. 29.
1 Post paucos autem dies Galerius Maximus proconsul decessit.
Acta Procon. Cypriani, c. 5. Cf . Franchi, loc. cit. pp. 30-32.
2 In secretariuni vocavit. Acta, c. 6.
^ The fact that the procuratores had no jurisdiction in capital
cases was sufficient reason for postponing at least the execution
of the edict, which read : Episcopi, presbyteri, diacones in conti-
nenti animadvertantur.
THE AFRICAN MARTYRS 213
thirst. Through lack of proper sustenance, and be-
cause of the rigors of confinemont, Donatianus, one
of the catechumens, was taken ill, and was baptized
shortly before he died. The other catechumen,
Primolus, died before he could receive baptism ;
but his brethren consoled themselves by thinking
that his courageous confession of faith sufficed
instead.^
There were many other Christian prisoners in the
jail at the same time. One of these, Victor, a priest,
had a vision in which he saw a child whose face
shone with an indescribable splendor, enter the dun-
geon.2 This child led the prisoners to all the doors
as if to set them free, but they were unable to go
forth. Then the child said to Victor, "Be cour-
ageous ; I am with you. Tell the others they will
receive a glorious crown ; for the spirit seeks God,
and the soul in the hour of anguish turns to its true
home." Victor asked him where Paradise was. " Is
it outside the world ? Show it to me." " And where,
then," was the answer, " would be your faith ? " "I
cannot fulfil your commission to my brethren," said
Victor, " imless you give me a sign." " Give them,"
^ Baptizatus in carcere statim spiritum reddidit. Passio, c. 2.
Ora 1' espressione baptizatus in carcere significa qui, secondo ogni
verosiraiglianza, battezzato col carcere, dalla pena del carcere.
Franchi, loc. cit. p. 26.
'^ Questo giovinetto (puer) non 6 di certo N. S. Franchi, loc.
cit. p. 34.
214 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
he said, "the sign of Jacob." Another of these
Christians, a widow named Quartillosa, whose hus-
band and son had been martjrred shortly before, had
a vision of her dead child. He entered the prison
and seated himself near her, saying : " God has seen
your trials and sufferings." While he was speaking,
a young man of enormous stature appeared carrying
in his hands two phials filled with milk. He ap-
proached QuartiUosa and said : " Have courage : the
Omnipotent God has not forgotten you." He pre-
sented the phials to all the prisoners and they drank,
and the milk was not diminished.^ Then the stone
muUions in the windows seemed to vanish so that
there was nothing to prevent free ingress, and the
young man, laying down the phials, one at each side
of the widow, left the prison saying : " Behold you
are satisfied, and there is still abundance. Another
vessel will be sent to you." This vision was the fore-
runner of a visit from Herennianus, a subdeacon,
and Januarius, a catechumen, who were sent by
Lucianus, a priest, to carry to the prisoners the
Food that never fails.^
Some dissension arose in the prison between
Montanus and Julianus in regard to admitting a
certain woman, who belonged to one of the hereti-
^ Whether this vision symbolized the Eucharist, and whether it
had any connection with the visit of the subdeacon, vide Franchi,
pp. 40-46.
2 Alimentum indeficiens. Acta, c. 9.
THE AFRICAN MARTYRS 215
cal sects, to the society of the orthodox prisoners.^
The eoohiess between the two confessors lasted for
some time. Montanus, a man of violent temper
and unbending severity, because he could not
brook the remonstrances of Julian us and refused
to be reconciled to him, had a vision in which he
saw the centurions conducting all the prisoners to
the place of execution. When they had arrived at
the designated spot in the midst of a vast plain,
Cyprian and Lucius appeared to them.^ The whole
scene shone with a brilliant white light. The gar-
ments of the martyrs were white, and their bodies
whiter still, and so transparent that the inmost re-
cesses of the heart were visible. Montanus saw that
there were some dark stains on his own breast, and
the discovery awoke him from his slumbers. He
related his vision to the others and added, "Do you
know what caused these stains ? They were the re-
sult of my refusal to be reconciled with Julianus."
Up to this point the Acts are written In the
^ Ob earn mixlierem quae ad nostram communionem obrepsit,
quae non communicabat. Ibid. c. 11. Peut-etre appartenait-elle h
quelque parti s^par^, celui de Marcion, ou celui de Novatianus.
Aube, L'Eglise et VEtat. p. 396.
2 Is est dubio procul qui cum ab aliis in exsilio constitutis ad
Cyprianum scripsit, ubi ait Cyprianura coronam martyrii sibi et
aliis ex prophetia spopondisse. Quattuor autem episeopi sub Lucii
nomine Concilio Carthag-. de baptismo haereticonim interfuere —
Lucius sdl., a Castro-Galba, Lucius a Thebeste, Lucius a Mem-
bresa, qui ibidem confessor appellator ; et tandem Lucius ab
Ausafa, seu Assapha. Ruinart, Acta Sincera, p. 278, note.
216 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
first person and purport to be the record of the
prison-life of the martyrs drawn up by themselves.
They spent several months in custody before they
were cited to appear before the new proconsul.
When the summons came, it is related that they
gave this narrative of their trials and afflictions
into the hands of a pious Christian, with the in-
junction that he should complete it with an account
of their trial and execution.^ In May of the year
259 2 they were brought face to face with the pro-
consul, and in answer to his questions unhesitatingly
confessed their faith, and their rank in the Chris-
tian hierarchy. At the solicitation of his friends,
who denied that he was a deacon as he had said,
Flavianus was sent back to prison until his case
could be thoroughly investigated. The others,
Lucius, Montanus, Julianus, and Victorious, were
sentenced immediately, and at once led away to
execution. An immense throng of sightseers had
gathered to witness the last scenes. Although the
Christians had seen many of their number die, they
never before assembled in such large numbers, and
never before gave such proof of their affection for
1 Haec omnes de carcere simul scripserant. Sed quia necesse
erat amnem actum martyrum beatorum pleno sermone complecti,
quia et ipsi de se per modestiam minus dixerant ; et Flavianus
quoque privatim hoc nobis munus injunxit, ut quidquid litteris
eorum deesset, adderemus : necessaria reliqua subjunximus. Acta,
c. 12.
2 Allard, loc. cit. p. 122, note.
THE AFRICAN MARTYRS 217
the confessors of the faith. The pagans were also
present in throngs, crowding around the Christian
prisoners with such eagerness that Lucius, always
weak and timid and now broken in health from his
long stay in prison, begged to be saved from the
mob, and to be taken immediately to the place of
execution ; for he feared that he could not survive
the rough treatment of the rabble, and that he
should not have the glory of shedding his blood for
Christ. Julianas and Victoricus, giving thanks to
God, and praising the Christians for their constancy
under persecution, moved on quietly in the midst
of their guards. Not so, however, with Montanus.
He was a man of great physical strength and in-
domitable courage, one who never hesitated to say
what he thought was true, and who was never influ-
enced in his declarations by the rank or station of
those to whom he spoke.^ Gaunt, unkempt, and in
rags, he moved along in the midst of the surging
crowd, crying out again and again : " He who sacri-
fices to any god but the true God will be destroyed." 2
Time and again he repeated this, asserting that it
was wrong to turn from the true God to idols and
figures made by human hands. And while he de-
nounced the pride and stubborness of the heretics,
^ Montanus et corpore et mente robustus, quaraquam et ante
martyrium gloriosus, ea semper quae Veritas postularet constanter
et fortiter dixerit, sine ulla exceptione personae. Passio, c. 14.
^ Sacrificans diis eradicabitur, nisi Domino soli. Ibid.
218 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
saying, " The number of martyrs shows you which is
the true Church," he did not spare the pusillanimous
abandonment of faith by the lapsi. " Stand fast,
brethren," he exhorted, " and fight with courage.
You have examples to inspire you. Let not the
perfidy of the lapsi lead you to destruction ; but
rather let our sufferings assist you to obtain your
crown." He admonished the virgins to guard their
sanctity. He inculcated the necessity of obedience
to the heads of the Church, and warned the prelates
that they must maintain peace among themselves if
they would expect loyalty and obedience from their
subjects.
The flood of objurgation and exhortation was
cut short only by the blade of the executioner.
After his companions had been beheaded, and
while the sword was poised over his head, Montanus
raised his hands to heaven, and in a clear voice,
loud enough to be heard by pagans and Christians
alike, he prayed to God that Flavianus might fol-
low them in three days.^ And so confident was he
that his prayer would be answered, that he tore in
two the bandage for his eyes, and requested the
Christians to keep one part for Flavianus, who
would die before three days had passed, and told
them furthermore to reserve a space near his grave
^ Cum jam camifex immineret, et gladius super cervices ejus
libratus penderet. Passio, c. 15.
THE AFRICAN MARTYRS 219
in order that Flavianus might rest with his com-
panions.
Though Flavianus grieved that the importuni-
ties of his friends had caused him to be separated
from his fellow confessors, he allowed religion to
temper his sadness. To his mother, a true mother
of the Maccabees,^ who hoping to see him die a
mart^T, was filled with disappointment when he was
remanded back to prison, he said : " You know I
have always hoped that, if I should be a martyr, I
should die only after many sufferings and many
disappointments. If, therefore, what I hoped for
has happened, why do you grieve ? "
Large crowds assembled on the third day, remem-
bering the prayer of Montanus, and eager to see its
sequel. When it became known that Flavianus was
cited to appear before the joroconsul, all who had
hitherto been incredulous, and all who gloried in
such scenes, hastened to the praetorium. The mar-
tyr approached the ordeal with a joyful countenance
and a light heart, surrounded by Christian friends
who encouraged and supported him. Those other
friends, through whose influence his trial was post-
poned, besought him to be less stubborn, to sacrifice
to the gods now, and do as he wished afterwards.^
1 O matrem religiose piam ! matrem inter Vetera exempla
numerandam ! Maccabaeicam matrem. Passio, c 16.
2 Ibi eum discipuli ejus suadebant cum lacrirais etiam, ut prae-
sumptione deposits, sacrificaret interdum postea quidquid vellet
220 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
He thanked them for their kindness and solicitude,
but refused to yield to their suppKcations. " It is
better," said he, " to suffer death than to adore
stones. He alone who created all things is the
Supreme God, and therefore He alone is deserving
of worship." Unable to move him by their prayers,
and wishing to save him from himself, those pagan
friends conceived the idea of having him put to the
torture, in order to force him to abjure Christ. The
proconsul asked why he had falsely declared him-
self a deacon. The question brought forth an indig-
nant denial. When a written statement was pre-
sented by a court officer which had been drawn up
to show that Flavianus was not a member of the
Christian hierarchy ,i he asked : " Is it not more
likely that I speak the truth than the persons who
forged that document ? " The people, unmindful of
facturus. Passio, c. 19. Cet ^change d'id^es repr^sente peut-gtre
le dialogue de Flavianus et du Praeses, impatient d'etre ob^i. Lea
paroles mises par I'auteur de ce r6cit dans la bouche des disciples
de Flavianus ne conviennent pas du tout h des fiddles, et on con-
5oit mal que les conversations suivies pussent s'engager entre le
pr^venu et les assistants. Aub6, loc. cit, p. 398. Franehi, loc. cit.
p. 50, gives a different reading of the text : Condiscepoli non, come
vuole il Ruinart, discepoli, perchS quella 6 la lezione concorde del
codici (compreso il Noallino: cumdiscipuli) che nessuna buona
ragione ci persuade a mutare. . . . Codesti condiscepoli di
Flaviano, condiscepoli, credo, in uno della tante scuole di retorica
e di eloquenza, erano dunque pagani in massima parte, non cris-
tiani.
1 Centenarius diceret notariam sibi datam esse, qua contineretur
eum fingere. Passio, c. 20.
THE AFRICAN MARTYRS 221
his wishes, cried out, " It is not." The proconsul
asked him again whether his declaration was false,
and he answered : " What interest can I have in
deceiving you ? " Only one hope and one resource
was left to his pagan friends. They rose up and
clamored that he be put to the torture, and forced
to speak the truth. The magistrate, convinced that
such a course would be futile, immediately sentenced
him to death. The martyr received his sentence
with joy. Because of a terrific storm very few be-
sides the immediate friends of the condemned man
and his Christian brethren accompanied him to the
place of execution. On the way he related the ex-
periences of his lonely sojourn of three days in the
prison, during which he was racked with fear and un-
certainty as to his ultunate fate. Cyprian appeared
to him in a vision, and in answer to the question
whether a martyr's death was painful, replied : " The
body feels nothing when the soul is wholly devoted
to God." In another vision he saw a man who asked
him the reason of his sadness, and being told said :
" You are already twice a confessor, the third time
you will be a martyr." Paul and Successus ^ ap-
1 In plerisque Martyrologiis die 19 Januarii plures raartyres
Africani recoluntur. Ibi tamen Successus non dicitur episcopus,
nee alioriim dignitates exprirauntur. S. Cyprianus paullo ante
passionera epistola 80 alias 82, Successuni monet de imminenti
persecutione. Is videtur esse Successus ab Abbir-Germaniciana,
urbe Africae in Zeugitana provincia, qui inter alios episcopos
in Concil. Carthag-. de liaereticorum baptismo sententiam dixit.
Ruinart, Acta Sincera, p. 281.
222 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
peared to him in forms so brilliant that his eyes
could not look on their angelic splendor, and they
announced to him, " We are sent to give you tidings
of your martyrdom ; " and immediately he saw him-
self led out by the centurions to be beheaded, and
heard his mother's voice saying, " Give praise ;
never has any one suffered a martyrdom such as
this."
He improved the opportunity offered by the ab-
sence of the pagan mob to impart instruction to his
friends on different matters pertaining to their wel-
fare and the welfare of the Church. He exhorted
them to preserve peace and fraternal love, and sug-
gested that Lucian should be elevated to the vacant
See of Carthage. " A soid already near to Christ
in heaven was gifted with special knowledge." ^
When he had finished his prayers and exhortations,
he quietly moved to the appointed place, covered
his eyes with the cloth Montanus had sent him, and
bowed his head for the executioner's stroke, and
finished his career with prayer.^
The severity which marked the execution of Va-
lerian's edict in Proconsular Africa found a coun-
terpart in the neighboring Province of Numidia.
Numbers of Christians were mercilessly slaugh-
tered, and no means were left untried to abolish the
1 Non enira difficile f uit, spiritu jam coelo et Christo proximante,
habere notitiam, Passio, c. 23.
^ Passiouem suam cum oratione finivit. Passio, c. 33.
THE AFRICAN MARTYRS 223
Christian hierarchy. Out of the multitude of mar-
tyrs who suffered at this time we possess the Acta
of only two, viz. Marianus and James.^ These Acta
pui'port to have been written by an eye-witness,^ and
without departing from the recital of what these
two martyrs suffered, they recount incidentally the
deaths of many other Christians, and give us a good
picture of the cruelties inflicted on the followers of
Christ in the jurisdiction of Aspasius Paternus, le-
gate and commander of the Third Legion Augusta,
which for three centuries, from the reign of Augus-
tus to that of Diocletian, was engaged principally
in repelling the attacks of the wild tribes beyond the
frontiers, and keeping the conquered people of the
province in subjection .^ Though often repulsed,
these tribes never lost confidence in their abihty to
dislodge the Romans, and under the chieftainship of
Faraxen hordes of them were now taking advan-
tage of the distress in the Empire to make another
descent on the province.^ This condition of things
rendered it comparatively easy for the legate to
direct all the energies of the legionaries under his
command against the Christians, who in a country
always ripe for revolt could easily be branded as
1 Ruinart, Acta Sincfra, p. 268.
2 Et nobis hoc praedicandae gloriae suae munus testes Dei
nobilissimi reliquerunt. Acta, c. 1.
8 Cacrnat, UArm^e Romaine d'Afrique, pp. 53-60.
* Ibid.
224 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
public enemies. As a first step in tlie accomplish-
ment of his purpose, the legate gave orders that all
the bishops and priests who had been exiled the
preceding year should be brought back from their
places of banishment and be put to death. The
trial and execution of most of the Christians took
place at Lambesa, the seat of government and the
place where the legion had its permanent camp.^
It was in such circumstances that two Christians,
Marianus and Jacobus, accompanied by a layman
who survived the persecution and acted as the
chronicler of the death of his companions, undertook
a journey through Numidia. No reason is assigned
in the Acts for this journey ; but it may not be im-
probable that the spirit of sacrifice which animated
so many of the African Christians inspired those
three to go to the place where their brethren were
most cruelly persecuted.^ One of them. Jacobus,
who had already suffered in the Decian persecution,
was warned in a vision that he would soon be called
on to shed his blood. This revelation was made to
him one day while journeying with his companions.
Fatigued with travel, he fell into a deep slumber and
thought he saw a young man of extraordinary size
1 Vide Duruy, History of Borne, vol. vii, p. 31, for description
of Lambesa. Boissier, L'Afrique Romaine, pp. 109 seq.
2 Nam pergebamus in Numidiam simul, ut semper antea socio
parique comitatu ingressi viam quae nos ad exoptatum fidei et
religionis obsequium illos jam ducebat ad coelum. Acta, c. 2.
THE AFRICAN MARTYRS 225
and so radiant that the eye could not look on his
dazzling brightness. This youth, it seemed to the
sleeping confessor, gave to Marianus and his com-
panion a purple girdle, and said to them : " Follow
me." The fidl significance of the vision did not ap-
pear to the martyr at the time, but when he awoke,
he simply told his brethren, who noticed his pertur-
bation, that he was frightened, but that he had cause
for rejoicing, and that they also had reason for hap-
piness. After this journey the three Christians re-
sided for a time at Muguas,^ a suburb of Cirta, and
while there two Christian bishops, Agapius and Se-
cundinus, passed by under a guard of soldiers on
their way from the place where they had been ban-
ished the year before to the court of the legate, to
stand trial under the new edict. Some acts of kind-
ness and generosity towards their captive brethren
directed the suspicions of the soldiers towards the
three wayfarers, and a few days afterwards a large
detachment under the command of a centurion
surrounded the village in which they lodged and
took them into custody .2 They were taken to Cirta,
the capital of the Numidian kings, and arraigned
before the municipal magistrates, who committed
them to prison on their confession that they were
1 Vide Tissot, Giographie de la Province Romaine d'Afrique,
p. 394.
2 Violenta manus, et improba multitudo sic ad villain, quae nos
habebat, quasi ad famosam sedem fidei convolaret. Acta, c. 4.
226 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
Christians. The official ^ who was charged with
their safe keeping tried in various way to compel
them to abjure the detested superstition for which
they had braved so much. Jacobus remained firm
in asserting that he was a Christian, and removed all
hope of acquittal by avowing that he was a deacon.
Marianus was a lector, and his captors, fearing
that he might escape punishment on the technical
plea of not belonging to the clergy, tortured him
in order to make him repent or confess himself
a priest. They suspended him by the thumbs, and
attached weights to his feet in order to increase the
strain on those suffering members. His constancy
under suffering wearied even the brutality of his
foes, and, unable to terrify him, they cut him down
and returned him to the prison where the other
Christians were confined.
Exhausted and racked from the ordeal of the
torture chamber, Marianus fell into a deep slumber
in which he had a vision of a great, high tribunal
on which was seated a judge. Near the judgment
seat was an immense scaffold reached by a long
stairway, up which were passing bands of confes-
sors, all of whom, at the command of the judge,
were immediately conducted to execution. Then
he heard a voice saying, " Bring forth Marianus."
He saw himself go up the steps leading to the scaf-
^ Stationarium militem. Acta, c. 4.
THE AFRICAN MARTYRS 227
fold, aiid when lie reached the top, St. Cyprian,
who was seated at the right of the judge, stretched
forth his hand and said, " Come sit with me." And
while he sat there other bands of Christians passed
before the judge and received their cro^vns. After
some time the judge arose, and all who were there
accompanied him to the praetorium by a way beau-
tiful with trees and streams, until he suddenly
disappeared from their gaze. Then Cyprian, taking
a phial from the side of a glittering pool, filled it
from a fountain and drank, and filling it a second
time gave it to Marianus, who drained it. While
he was giving thanks to God, he awoke.
Among the Christians whom Jacobus and Mari-
anus saw in the prison there was a Roman knight,
Aemilianus, who for fifty years had devoted his life
to God, and who was now portioning out the close
of his career between fasting and prayer.
After a few days the Christians were again sum-
moned before the legate. During the trial, one of
the bystanders, whose looks and actions betrayed
his sympathy for the prisoners,^ was arrested, and
in answer to the interrogations confessed that he too
was a believer in Christ. This avowal, and similar
declarations from the other prisoners, satisfied the
judge of their guilt, and having no jurisdiction in
capital cases, he forwarded the evidence to the
1 Christus in ore ejus et facie relucebat. Acta, c. 9.
228 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
legate, and sent the prisoners under a strong guard
to Lambesa for sentence and death.
After a long and fatiguing journey they were
brought before the legate in the praetorium at
Lambesa. Several days elapsed, however, before he
could find time to attend to their case. So many
of the Christian laity were under accusation that
the legate, Caius Macrinius Decianus, adopted the
policy of separating them from the clergy in the
hope that the fear of death would lead many of
the former to renounce Christ. The charge against
these men and women was not so much that they
were Christians, but that they had, in open defi-
ance of the Emperor's decree, been guilty of hold-
ing congregational assemblies.^ In a country such
as Numidia, inhabited by people ready at a mo-
ment's notice for revolt, and kept in subjection
only by force of arms, this in itself constituted a
serious charge. Several days were occupied in dis-
posing of these cases, and numbers of Christians
were hourly led to execution.
While Marianus and Jacobus lay in the dungeon
awaiting sentence, their hopes of joining their
^ La condanna a morte di quei laici deve avere una qualche
ragione speciale, che il nostro agiografo non ci pennitte di deter-
minaFe. Forse erano stati colti nell' atto di una riunione illecita
in un cimitero o in un luogo religioso ; forse avevano cercato di
dif endere dei sacerdoti al momento dell' arresto. Franchi, Passio
Mariani et Jacobi, Introd. p. 18.
THE AFRICAN MARTYRS 229
brethren on the field of death were kept alive by
visions and apparitions of the Saints. Jacobus saw
Agapius, the bishop whom lie had assisted at Mu-
guas, and who had since then suffered death with
his two wards, TertuUa and Antonia. The martyr
was seated at a banquet table with many others
whom Jacobus had seen in the prison at Cirta, and
among whom he seemed to be the most joyful.
Jacobus and Marianus, in a spirit of love and fel-
lowship, desired to share in this agape, and pre-
sented themselves at the feast, but were met by a
child who had suffered death a few days before.
This youth wore a chaplet of roses around his
neck, and carried a palm branch in his hand, and
noticing the eager haste of the two friends he
asked them, " Why do you hurry ? you will sup
with us to-morrow."
On the following day Jacobus, Marianus, and
the other clerics ^ were led before the legate and
immediately sentenced to death. The place of exe-
cution was a small plain surrounded by hills and
watered by a little river, into which the bodies of
the martyrs were thrown, so that it was said they
received a double baptism, — in the water of the
stream, and in their own blood. So great was the
number of the condemned that they were ranged in
rows, to allow the headsman to perform his task
^ Ceteros clericos . . . sententia animadversioQis. Acta, c. 12.
230 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
without the inconvenience of having the ground
soaked with blood and heaped with bodies, as
would happen if the prisoners were all executed on
the same spot.
With eyes blindfolded, and kneeling for the
death stroke, many of the Christian martyrs had
visions which they related to the devoted brethren
who stood near to aid and encourage them. Some
said that they saw glittering arrays of men, robed
in white and mounted on white steeds ; others that
they heard the neighing and tramp of war horses.
Marianus, with the true spirit of a prophet, pro-
claimed that the time was near when the blood of
the martyrs would rise in vengeance. He foretold
that evils of divers sorts would afflict the perse-
cutors ; that there would be pestilences, famines,
earthquakes, captivity, and murder.^ The whis-
pered confidences between the Christians and their
friends could not last long, nor could the ringing
1 M. Aub^ does not consider these threats prophetic ; he says
{VEglise et I' Mat, p. 403) : Les annonces d'^v^nements post^rieurs,
corame la captivity de Valerien et la coalition des chefs indigenes
numides, avec lesquels le successeur de Veturianus eut affaire deux
ou trois ans plus tard, et dont il ne vint h bout qu'apr^s plusieurs
sanglantes combats, prouvent que cette relation n'a pas ^t^ ^crite
par un de ceux qui furent immol^s h la fin d'avril ou au com-
mencement de mai 259. The writer of the Acta says nowhere that
he was a victim of the Valerian persecution. He may have lived
for several years afterwards, and some passages in the Acta them-
selves seem to imply that he did. Vide Franchi, loc. cit. pp. 19
THE AFRICAN MARTYRS 231
denunciations of Marianus deter the executioner in
his hideous work. Row after row suffered, and at
last, when Marianus' turn came, his head, severed
at one blow, rolled on the ground to the feet of his
mother, Mary, who had accompanied him there.
She threw herself on the mangled body, and, kiss-
ing the bloody lips, gave thanks to God that she
had borne such a son.
The Acts of Marianus and Jacobus, to which we
are indebted for this account of the persecution in
Numidia, claim, as has already been said, to be the
work of a Christian who was himself an eye-witness
of the events and a companion of the martyrs.
Tillemont ^ and Allard ^ regard them as incontest-
ably authentic ; so does M. Dufourcq, the rigorous
critic of the " Gesta Martyrum Roraains." ^ So
'convinced is M. Dufourcq of their antiquity and
genuiness that he places them in contrast with the
Roman Acta as a proof that the latter are the work
of later hands.* Pio Franchi de' Cavalieri, to whom
we are indebted for a new and critical edition of
the " Passio Mariani et Jacobi," ^ contests the as-
sertion of Schultze that this Passio emanated from
an African school of hagiographers, who devoted
1 Mtmoires, torn, iv, pp. 215, 649.
2 Les Dernier es Persecutions du Troisieme Siecle, p. 130, note.
8 Nul ne conteste I'autbenticit^ de ceux-ci. Gesta Martyrum
Romains, p. 07.
4 j^jt/. & Rome. Tipografia Vaticana, 1900.
232 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
themselves to the production of Acta and Passiones
modelled after the Acts of Perpetua and Felicitas.^
In the learned Introduction to his work Franchi
refutes the contentions of Schultze, and explains
the difficulties which M. Aube regarded as in-
superable to believing the Acts to be the work of
a contemporary and an eye-witness.^
1 Theologisches Literaturblatt, 1889, col. 470 j quoted by Franchi.
2 Loc. cit.
CHAPTER VIII
PERSECUTION IN THE WEST AND THE EAST
Tarragona — Caesar worship abandoned — St. Fructuosus — Es-
teemed by pagans and Christians — Arrest — Trial — Death
at the stake — Martyrdom of Augurius and Eulogius on the
same day — Martyrs in Gaul — The Orient — Death of Pria-
cus, Malchus, and Alexander — St. Cyril of Caesarea in
Cappadocia — Nicephorus of Antioch in Syria — Condemna-
tion and death of St. Paregorius — St. Leo of Patara in
Lycia.
It is not surprising that Tarragona (Tarraco),
the capital of Hispania Citerior, should have wit-
nessed a rigid enforcement of the edict against
Christianity. This place was one of the earliest
strongholds of Roman power in Spain and the
richest coast-town in the peninsula. From the
time of its first occupation Tarragona was a centre
of Roman life and culture. The numerous inscrip-
tions found among its ruins, the remains of a huge
aqueduct, the rows of seats still visible on the sea-
shore, attesting the site of its amphitheatre, all bear
witness to its character and greatness.^ The people
of Tarragona surpassed even the inhabitants of
Rome in passionate devotion to the national gods.
1 Elis^e Reclus, The Earth and its Inhabitants, vol. xvii, p. 304.
234 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
They were the first among the provincials of the
West to erect an altar to the Genius of the Em-
peror, and to profess that the destinies of Rome
were inseparable from those of the house of Au-
gustus by consecrating a temple to " Aeternitas." ^
The devotion of the Tarraconenses to these new
deities was short-lived. In the beginning of the
second century the temple of Augustus was in
ruins. Hadrian passed the winter of the year 122
in Spain, and as a rebuke to the people of Tarra-
gona rebuilt the ruined temple at his own expense.^
In a convention of the representatives of the cities
of Spain, which he convoked for the dedication
ceremonies, he spoke in the harshest terms of the
repugnance for military service shown by the inhab-
itants of " Italica." His generosity and his words
were unavailing. In the time of Septimius Severus
the temple of Augustus was again a mass of ruins.^
How can this laxity be explained? Might it not
be possible that the doctrines of Christianity had
supplanted the old beliefs which made Tarragona
" an example for all the other provinces." * At the
outbreak of the Valerian persecution it contained a
1 Bevue d'Histoire et de LittSrature Rdigieuses, 1896, p. 437.
Tacitus, Ann. i, 78. Templum ut in colonia Tarraconensi struer-
etur Augusto petentibus Hispanis permissum. Cf . Dion, lib. li.
2 Spartianus, Vita Hadriani, c. 12.
3 Spartianus, Vita Severi, c. 3.
* Tacitus, loc cit. In omnes provineias exemplum.
IN THE WEST AND THE EAST 235
flourishing Christian community ruled over by its
own bishop, Fructuosus, a man esteemed and re-
spected by Christians and pagans alike.^ This wide-
spread respect may have been the reason why lie
was not molested until January, 259. Public
opinion, however, could not prevent the execution
of the laws, and on the 17th day of the Kalends
of February, in the consulate of Aemilianus and
Bassus, after the bishop had retired for the night,
six soldiers, Aurelius, Festucius, Aelius, Pollentius,
Donatus, and Maximus, appeared before his house
with an order from the governor for his arrest.
He at once arose and surrendered himself. Two
deacons, Augurius and Eulogius, who lived with
him, were also seized and lodged in prison.
No doubts as to his fate existed in the mind of
Fructuosus, and from the beginning he devoted
himself to preparation for death. Several days
elapsed before he was brought to trial, during
^ Talem amorem habebat non tantum a fratribus sed etiam ab
ethnicis. Acta, c. 3.
The Acts of Fructuosus {Des Meilleurs du Recueil de Ruinart,
Aub6, p. 409) are certainly of great antiquity. They were used
by Prudentius {Peri Stephanon, vi) and were read publicly in the
churches of Africa in the time of St. Aug-ustine, who speaks of
them in two sermons, 213, 273. The style and several archaic
expressions, — fraternitas, in mente habere, — the precision and
exactness in the minutest details, marked them out as the work
of a contemporary. Cf. Allard, Les Dernieres, etc. p. 98, note ;
Tillemont, Mlmoires, tom. iv, article on St. Fructuosus. Aub^
is of opinion that the Acts are interpolated. Loc. cit.
236 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
which he was visited by his followers, one of whom,
Rogatianus, a catechumen, he baptized with his own
hand.^
Friday, January 21, was the day set for the
trial.2 The bishop and the two deacons were, by
the command of the governor, brought before the
tribunal at the same time. The praeses, Aemilia-
nus, at once demanded of Fructuosus : Do you
know what the Emperors have ordered ?
Fructuosus. I do not ; but I am a Christian.
Aemiliajjus. They have ordered all subjects of
the Empire to do homage to the gods.
Fructuosus. I adore one God, who made the
heavens and the earth, the sea and all it contains.
Aemilianus. Do you know that there are gods ?
Fructuosus. I do not.
Aemilianus. You will soon know it.
To this the bishop vouchsafed no reply, but
turned his eyes to heaven and prayed in silence.
Aemilianus. Who are to be obeyed, who feared,
who adored, if the gods are not honored and the
images of the Emperor not respected ?
Receiving no answer, he turned to Augurius, one
of the deacons, saying : " Do not allow yourself to
be influenced by what Fructuosus has said." Au-
1 Erat autem et f raternitas cum ipso, refrigerantes et rogantes
ut illos in mente haberet. Acta, c. 1. For the raeanting of refri-
gerantes, see De Rossi, BuUettino, 1882, p. 126.
2 Product! sunt XII Kalend. Februarii, feria sexta. Acta, c. 2.
IN THE WEST AND THE EAST 237
giirius answered : " I too worship the Omnipotent
God." To the other deacon, Eulogius, he said:
" Do you also worship Fructuosus ? " " No," he
replied, "I do not worship Fructuosus; but I
adore the God whom Fructuosus adores." Turning
again to Fructuosus, Aemilianus asked: "Are you
a bishop?" "I am," was the answer. "You were,"
he replied, and immediately condemned the three to
be burned alive.
The people followed them with tears and prayers
to the amphitheatre. On the way some one in a
spirit of mercy presented the martyrs a cup contain-
ing some beverage, probably a narcotic ; but this
Fructuosus refused to take, saying : " It is not yet
time to break the fast." ^
When the amphitheatre was reached, the stakes
and pyres were ready for the victims. Kegarding
the place of sacrifice as sacred ground, Fructuosus,
like Moses of old,2 removed his shoes, and when
this short preparation was finished, said, in answer
to a Christian named Felix, who took his hand and
1 Cumque multi ex fraterua caritate eis efferent, uti conditi per-
mixti poculum, ait, nondum est bora solvendi jejunii. Acta, c, 3.
2 Vix haec ediderat, relaxat ipse
Indumenta pedum, velut Moyses
Quondam facerat ad rubum propinquana.
Non calcare sacram cremationem
Aut adstare Deo prius licebat
Quam vestigia parce figerentur.
Peri Stephanon, vi, 85-90.
238 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
begged to be remembered in his prayers : " I shall
remember the entire Church Catholic, which spreads
from the East to the West." At the door leading
to the arena he turned to the Christians who had
accompanied him to this stage in his journey, and
in a voice loud enough to be heard by Christians
and pagans abke, he said : " You will not be long
without a bishop. The promises of God cannot fail
here nor hereafter. The present trials are merely
of the hour."
With words of encouragement and hope from
Fructuosus, the three martyrs advanced to the cen-
tre of the arena, and took their places on the piles
of fagots. They were at once bound to the stakes,
and the fires lighted. When the flames circled
around and above them the cords which bound
them were destroyed, and the three martyrs, freed
from their bonds, fell on their knees, and with arms
outstretched in the form of a cross continued to
pray while life and strength lasted.^
Two Christians of the governor's household, Ba-
bylan and Mygdonio, saw in a vision the three
martyrs ascending into heaven adorned with their
fetters and bearing on their heads crowns of victory.
When night came the Christians repaired in
1 Non ausa est cohibere poena palmas
In morem crucis ad Patrem levandas
Solvit brachia, quae Deum precentur.
Ibid. 103-105.
IN THE WEST AND THE EAST 239
crowds to the amphitheatre and poured wine on
the still smouldering fires, in order to save what
remained of the bodies of the martyrs.^ Everyone
kept whatever relics he found and took them to
his home ; but in the night Fructuosus appeared
and warned them of the wrong they had done, and
on the following morning each brought what he had
taken away, and the remains were all interred in
the same place.
The zeal shown by Aemilianus in executing the
commands of the Emperor in Spain was doubtless
equalled by his colleagues in Gaul ; but owing to
the lack of trustworthy records very little can be
said in regard to the persecution in the western
provinces. The Acta of St. Pontius of Cemenelum
(Cimiez),2 a town in the southeast of France,
which assigned the death of this martyr to the
reign of Valerian, are so manifestly legendary that
they are valueless, except in so far, perhaps, as
they preserve some slight substratum of fact re-
^ The use of wine for such a purpose is not easily explained.
The ancients used it in the libations after cremation.
Reliquias vino et bibulam lavere favillam.
Vergil, Aen. vi, 227.
Such a practice could scarcely have been in vogue among the
Christians. Tarragona was celebrated for its wines in antiquity ;
and as their most precious possession the Christians may have
poured it over the bodies of their martyrs. Cf. Martial, Epig. lib.
xiii, 118; iii, 78.
2 Acta SS., May 14, torn, iii, p. 274. Tillemont, Hist, des Emp.
torn, iii, p. 429 ; Aub^, VEglise et VEtat, pp. 413 seq.
240 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
garding the name of the martyr and the date and
place of his death.
Another Gallic martyr, St. Patroclus, whose
Acta say he was put to death by Aurelian, suffered
on Friday, January 21, the same day on which
St. Fructuosus died.^ But as January 21 did not
fall on Friday during the reign of Aurelian, com-
mentators are not agreed as to the date; some
place it as early as 253, others in 259.
The sufferings of the martyrs Privatus, Limi-
nius, Ausonius, Anatolius, and a multitude of
others who, according to St. Gregory of Tours,^
were massacred in an invasion of France by the
Alemanni under ChrocuS, cannot logically be laid
at the door of Valerian ; and, furthermore, in all
probability the raid of these barbarians did not
occur before the fifth century.^
In the eastern section of the Empire, where the
Christians were doubtless more numerous, the
havoc and disorder caused by marauding bands of
Scythians, Goths, and Persians do not seem to
have diverted the Roman magistrates from the
task of exterminating the followers of Christ. The
1 Acta SS., January 21, torn, ii, p. 322. Cf. AUard, loc. cit. p.
97, note 5 ; Tillemont, M4m. torn, iv, p. 523, note on St. Patroclus.
2 Historia Francorum, i, 31 ; Acta SS., February, torn, i, p.
766; March, torn, iii, p. 649; May, torn, iv, p. 454.
3 Cf . Goyau, Chronologie, p. 312, for the various dates assigned
to this event.
IN THE WEST AND THE EAST 241
heroism disi)layed by the martyrs whose Acta have
been preserved, in voluntarily presenting them-
selves before the tribunals and confessing their
faith, proves clearly that the existing records give
no adequate picture of the cruel warfare waged
against the Church in the Orient.
The cruelties practised against the Christians of
Caesarea in Palestine aroused such a spirit of
emulation in three youths, Priscus, Malchus, and
Alexander, who hved in a secluded place at some
distance from the city, that they left their retire-
ment and, presenting themselves before the magis-
trates, boldly confessed that they were Christians.
To live in hiding while others were every day
giving testimony to the faith seemed to them too
pusillanimous to be consistent with Christian duty.
The boldness of their action, or the necessity of
amusing the fickle mob of Caesarea, prompted the
magistrate to inflict on them the severest penalty.
He gave orders that they should be thrown to the
wild beasts in the arena. A woman who belonged
to the sect of Marcion was condemned to a similar
death during the same persecution. These simple
facts are related by Eusebius, who gives no further
details of the fierce conflict which could arouse
men to an act so desperate.^
1 Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. vii, 12. Marcionitic martyrs are men-
tioned by Eusebius, Hist. EccL iv, 15 ; Martyrs of Palestine, chap.
242 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
About the same time Caesarea in Cappadocia was
the scene of one of the most touching martyrdoms in
the annals of Christianity. A boy named Cyril, who
had been converted to Christianity a short time
before the persecution, so incensed his parents by
his fervor in the practice of his new religion, and
by constantly repeating the name of Christ, that
they tried by every means in their power to compel
him to return to paganism. They threatened him,
and scourged him, and as a last resort they disin-
herited him and drove him as an outcast from their
doors. The harshness and severity of the parents,
which met with the approval of their pagan friends,
in nowise daunted the resolution of the little Chris-
tian hero, who willingly relinquished his patrimony,
saying, " that his faith in God would provide bet-
ter and more desirable things than those he had
forfeited."
The boy's opposition to the wiU of his father,
who was evidently a man of considerable importance,
became known throughout the city, and finally
reached the ears of a magistrate, who considered the
matter so weighty that he ordered Cyril's arrest.
When the boy appeared the magistrate said to him,
"I shall not punish you for your past wickedness,
10. In Hist. Eccles. v, 16, Montanist and Marcionitic martyrs are
referred to, though the Christians would not acknowledge them
as such. All were equally guilty, however, in the eyes of the
state.
IN THE WEST AND THE EAST 243
and will allow you to return to your home if you
abandon this folly." Cyril replied : " I glory in
being accused of what I have done : for by it I
have deserved heaven. I rejoice to be deprived of
a home here, for I shall possess a greater and a
better one hereafter. Of my own free will I be-
came poor in order that I might possess eternal
riches. I do not fear death, for I see before me a
better life."
Various other expedients were tried to shake
his resolution : he was bound as if for execution ;
a sword was held over his head ; he was conducted
to the stake ; but all without avail. He maintained
his courageous demeanor throughout, and even re-
buked some of the bystanders who grieved because
of his suffering. His words and actions left no
course open to the magistrate but to enforce the
law, and the boy was immediately sentenced to
death. He bore his fate calmly and received
death as cheerfully and bravely as he had spoken
of it.i
The same disregard for physical suffering, and
the same desire to gain the martyr's crown, were
exhibited by a certain Nicephorus of Antioch in
1 Acta SS., May, torn, vii, 20th day. Ruinart (Acta Sincera et
Selecta, p. 289) is of opinion that this account of the martyrdom
of St. Cyril — written in the form of a letter — is from the pen
of St. Firmilian of Caesarea in Cappadocia. Cf. Tillemont, M4-
moires, torn, iv, article on St. Firmilian.
244 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
Syria.^ At the outbreak of the persecution a priest
named Sapricius, between whom and Nicephorus a
warm friendship had once existed, was seized and
carried before the tribunal. He boldly confessed
that he was a Christian and a priest, and bore un-
flinchingly the tortures which the magistrate in-
flicted on him in order to compel him to abjure
Christ. By his courage and steadfastness he gave
abundant proof that death had no terrors for him,
and the judge at once sentenced him, saying, " We
order that Sapricius, a priest, who contemns and
disobeys the commands of the Emperors by refusing
to offer sacrifice to the gods, shall be beheaded."
When Nicephorous heard that his one-time
friend had been condemned to death, he desired
most eagerly to be reconciled with him before he
died. He met him on the way to the place of exe-
cution, and casting himself on the ground he said :
"Martyr for Christ, pardon me if I have done
aught against thee." Sapricius paid no heed to his
plea, and passed him by in silence. He renewed it
a second time a little farther on, and was repulsed
a second time. The persistency and humility of
1 Simeon Metaphrastes is the first who states positively that
Nicephorus was martyred in Antioch. The other manuscripts
simply say, in partibus Orientis. In antiquity, however, the name
Oriens was a common designation of the diocese or patriarchate
of Antioch. Cf. Ruinart, Acta Sincera, Admonitio in Martyrium
S. Nicephori, p. 283.
IN THE WEST AND THE EAST 245
Nicepliorus astonished the pagan soldiers. They
said : " This man must be mad to ask pardon from
a condemned criminal." " You do not know," an-
swered Nicephorus, " what I ask from a confes-
sor of Christ, but God knows."
While the final preparations were being made at
the place of execution, Nicephorus again approached
the doomed priest and begged piteously for pardon
and reconciliation, without evoking a single word
of response. At the last moment, when the lie-
tors ordered Sapricius to go on his knees for the
death stroke, he faltered and said : " Why should
I kneel?" "Because," they answered, "you have
refused to offer sacrifice to the gods, and because
you have refused to obey the commands of the Em-
perors for the sake of that man who is called Christ."
" Do not strike," he begged ; " I shall obey, I shall
offer sacrifice."
This unexpected turn in events wrung a protest
from Nicephorus. He begged the quaking apostate
not to abjure Christ, not to lose the eternal crown
for which he had already suffered so much ; but his
plea was fruitless. Then, moved by the insidt offered
to Christ, and with the true spirit of the martyr, he
presented himself to the lictors, saying : " I too am
a Christian and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ
whom this man has denied. Strike me in his
stead. "
246 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
The lictors had no power to inflict the death
penalty because a man accused himseK, and one of
them set off at once to the magistrate to report
what had happened. Without waiting to summon
Nicephorus, the magistrate gave orders that if he
did not at once conform to the decree he shoidd be
instantly beheaded. No time was lost in putting the
sentence into execution, and Nicephorus died " and
ascended to heaven crowned with faith, with charity,
and with humility." ^
Though no part of the Roman dominions felt the
scourge of invasion and pillage more deeply than
Asia Minor during the last years of Valerian's
reign, the Emperor's representatives retained suffi-
cient authority and power in the cities not yet visited
by the barbarians to inflict the greatest cruelties
on the Christians. At Patara, a city on the south-
east coast of Lycia, Paregorius, about whom nothing
^ Certamen sancti magnique martyris Nicephori et contra inju-
riam memoriam. Ruinart, loc. cit.
These Acta, preserved both in Greek and in a Latin translation,
are nothing more than a treatise or exhortation on the necessity
of fraternal charity, written with a purpose of showing that no
one can truly love God if at the same time he hates his neighbor.
They contain many things that are not easily reconciled with the
terms and spirit of Valerian's edict : e. g. the torture inflicted on
Sapricius, unnecessary after his avowal that he was a priest, and
the summary condemnation of Nicephorus on the bare report of a
lictor. M. AUard (loc. cit. p. 138, note) is of opinion that in their
present form the Acta are an enlargement of an older and probably
contemporary document. Cf. Aub^, p. 424.
IN THE WEST AND THE EAST 247
is known besides a simple reference in the Acts of
his friend and fellow-martyr, Leo, was put to death
shortly after the promulgation of the edict. The
fame of his sanctity and sufferings made his tomb
an object of veneration to the faithful, many of
whom visited it every day. Among those who
cherished the memory of Paregorius was his friend
Leo, an old man who led the life of an anchorite,
and clothed himself in the skins of wild beasts.
Durins: one of his visits to the tomb of his
departed friend, Leo witnessed a fete at the temple
of Serapis, an Egyptian deity whose worship had
been introduced shortly before by the newly ap-
pointed Proconsul Lollianus. Among the worship-
pers were many who had formerly been Christians.
Thoughts of the blasphemous and idolatrous
ceremonies he had witnessed filled the mind of Leo
on his way to the tomb of the martyr the following
day when he passed by the Tychaeum, or temple of
the goddess Fortuna, which was adorned within and
without with flowers and lights for the celebration
of some festival, and without counting the conse-
quences of his act he broke the lamps and trod the
tapers under foot. The priests of the temple,
angered by such irreverence, assembled the people
and harangued them, saying the incensed goddess
would confer no more favors on the city unless the
author of this sacrilege was punished. Leo was
248 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
seized on his return from the tomb and brought
before the procurator, who sentenced him to the
torture and afterwards condemned him to death by-
being dragged over the rough stones to a neighbor-
ing torrent and cast into its depths. Long before
the river was reached the martyr was beyond the
reach of further suffering, and his executioners
contented themselves with casting the body over a
precipice. When opportunity offered, the Chris-
tians recovered it and interred it, " praising God
who had given the martyr such courage and
strength." ^
1 The only indication which the Acta of these martyrs give as
to the date of their death is contained in the words, Proconsulem
Lollianum Electum ah imperatoribus. This slight reference shows
that when the martyrs died the Empire was governed by joint
rulers as in the days of Valerian and Gallienus. Precisely at this
time a certain Lollianus was prominent in the affairs of Rome.
(PoUio, Trig. Tyr. c. 5.) Though his life was obscure (Vita in
multis obscura est {Ibid.), he succeeded in dethroning Postumus
in the kingdom of Gaul. The Acta gives every evidence that a
violent persecution, such as that of Decius, Valerian, or Diocletian
was in progress at the time. Decius, however, is usually mentioned
alone in hagiographical writings, and during the persecution of
Diocletian Lycia was not governed by a proconsul, a title which
Diocletian conferred only on the governors of Asia, Achaia, and
Africa. Though these indications are extremely meagre, they
nevertheless point more strongly to the epoch of Valerian than
to any other. Cf . AUard, loc. cit. pp. 142, 143, note 3 ; Ruinart,
Admonitio in Martyrium SS. Leonis et Paregorii; Acta SS., Feb-
ruary, tom. iii, p. 59.
CHAPTER IX
FALL OF VALERIAN — EDICT OF GALLIENUS.
Barbarians renew invasions in 258 — Berbers and Quinquegentanei
in Africa — Gaul — Postumus revolts — Franks cross the
Rhine — Ingenuus assumes the purple in Moesia — Defeated
by Gallienus — Alemanni invade Lombardy — Borani again
attack Pontus — Goths devastate Bithynia — Valerian returns
from the East to repulse them — Retraces his steps — En-
counters Shahpur — Captured — His captivity and death —
Empire in disorder — Thirty Tyrants — Revolt in Sicily —
Gallienus unmoved — Issues edict of toleration — Analysis of
edict — Effect — General summary.
Valerian's departure for the Orient in the sum-
mer of 258 was the signal for a general movement
among the seethmg, maddened hordes beyond the
frontiers. Like hungry wolves they poured into the
Empire, carrying death and desolation wherever
they went, and beating down opposition whenever
they met it. The thin line of legionaries, decimated
by disease and never thoroughly reorganized since
the civil wars that preceded Valerian's election,
was powerless to stop this inundation. Wherever
the Romans had set up their sacred termini^ there
were enemies ready to match the undisciplined
valor of multitudes against the training of the rap-
idly diminishing legions, whose courage and endur-
250 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
ance had spread and maintained the warp of Koman
civilization and Roman authority among so many-
various tribes and peoples. As if by concerted
arrangement, the whole Empire was at once gir-
dled with a contracting band of fire and steel.
In Africa the Berbers, a tribe of warriors from
the mountains of Mauretania, who invaded Numidia
from the west, taxed all the resources of the Third
Legion Augusta, and were prevented from forming
a coalition with the Quinquegentanei, who had made
an attack from another point, only by the energy
and skill of the legate, Caius Macrinius Decianus.
He defeated them at Mila, and pursuing their shat-
tered forces to the confines of Mauretania, he en-
gaged them a second time and added to their
humiliation by a second decisive victory. During
this time the Quinquegentanei, a confederation of
five desert tribes, whose names and origin are still
matters of dispute, were engaging the attention of
Quintus Gargilius Martialis, the commander of the
Eoman cavalry. Under the leadership of Faraxen,
a man whose name brought terror to the hearts of
the Romans in Africa, these five tribes united to
make common cause against the common enemy.
The white-robed followers of the Sheiks from the
desert were no match, however, for the light Moor-
ish cavalry of the Roman. Gargilius defeated them
and drove them beyond the borders, and what was
FALL OF VALERIAN 251
of more importance slew their leader Faraxen, the
man through whose skill and influence these vari-
ous tribes were made to act in concert. With a
persistency born of despair, both the Berbers and
Quinquegentanei renewed their attacks, and though
Roman supremacy was never again endangered
through their efforts, they succeeded in ambuscad-
ing and slaying the conqueror of Faraxen.^
The withdrawal of part of the garrisons from the
northern frontier to furnish material for Valerian's
army in the East left the rich territory south of
the Rhine and the Danube at the mercy of the
Teutonic peoples. As long as Gallienus remained
in command of the Rhenish Provinces he was able,
with the comparatively small force at his command,
to keep his opponents in check and to frustrate all
their attempts to gain a footing on the coveted ter-
ritory on the left bank of the river. In 25 8, ^ how-
ever, the critical condition of affairs on the Danube
required his presence, and leaving his eldest son,
P. Cornelius Licinius Valerianus,^ a mere boy, as
^ These events are known only from the inscriptions. C. I. L.
viii, 2615, 9047. Vide Cagnat, VArm^e Eomaine d^Afrique, pp.
56, 57 ; Creuly, " Les Quinquegentiens et les Barbares, Anciens
Peuples d'Afrique," Revue Archeologigue, new series, vol. 3 (18G1),
p. 51 ; Schiller, Geschichte, p. 818. M, Cagnat, loc. cit., places these
invasions in 258 or 259. Cf. Qoyau, Chronologie, p. 310.
2 Schiller, loc. cit. p. 827.
' Schiller maintains against the common opinion that it was
the elder and not the younger son of Gallienus who was slain by
Postumus Ibid.
252 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
his representative in Gaul, he entrusted the defence
of the Rhine to his lieutenants. One of these, M.
Cassianius Latinius Postumus,^ proved faithless to
his trust, and aspiring to be the ruler of a separate
and independent kingdom in Gaul, he had himself
proclaimed emperor by his troops, and at once laid
siege to Cologne, which was defended by a brave
and faithful officer, the tribune Silvanus. He was
the guardian of the Emperor's son, and refused to
surrender the city. After a long investment Cologne
fell into the hands of the usurper, and he at once
slaughtered Silvanus and his imperial charge.^
The conflicts among the Romans themselves gave
the Franks the opportunity they had so long de-
sired. Pouring across the Rhine, they pillaged
Gaul at will, and, according to some, extended
their forays to Spain, and even to the coast of Af-
rica.^ The result of these well-timed expeditions
was the loss of considerable Roman territory on the
left bank of the Rhine, and the total abolition of
Roman jurisdiction on the right. After Gallienus,
1 Trig. Tyr. c. 3.
2 Moramsen, Roman Provinces, vii, 178.
' Eutropius, Breviarium, ix, 8 ; Aureliiis Victor, De Caes. c. 33,
Francorum gentes, direpta Gallia, Hispaniam possiderent . . .
pars in usque African permearet. Mommsen, loc. cit.., thinks the
Frankish expedition to Africa took place in the reign of Gallienus.
Cagnat, loc. cit. p. 57, says that with the exception of the passage
in Aurelius Victor the histories and monuments afford no proof
of this invasion.
FALL OF VALERIAN 253
the name of no Eoman emperor is found on the
monuments on the right bank of the Rhine. The
success of the Franks, as is evident, was due not
so much to valor or ability as to lack of effective
opposition. Gallienus and his subordinates were
capable and experienced soldiers ; " but, amidst the
utter unruliness which then prevailed in the Roman
State, or rather in the Roman army, the talent or
ability of the individual profited neither himself
nor the commonwealth." ^ The reason for Gal-
lienus' hasty departure from his headquarters in
Cologne was because a usurper had appeared in
Moesia and Pannonia.^ At the instigation of his
soldiers, who were terrified by the Sarmatian inva-
ders of Dacia, Ingenuus, the governor of Panno-
nia, assumed the purple, in order that he might
have sufficient authority to regulate the affairs of
the province, free from all interference by higher
powers. As soon as Gallienus appeared on the
scene Ingenuus shut himseK up in Mursa and pre-
pared for a siege. ^ With the aid of Aurelius,
Gallienus soon compelled the city to capitulate, and
in order to escape falling into the hands of his
1 Momrasen, loc. cit. p. 179. The date of this event is certain :
Tusco et Basso coss. ; Pollio, Trig. Tyr. c. 9. Cf . Schiller, loc. cit.
p. 833, note 5.
2 Aurelius Victor, De Caesaribus, 33, 2.
8 Bei Mursa auf dem rechten Ufer der Drau, an der Stelle dea
heutigen Eszek. Schiller, loc. cit. p. 833.
254 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
implacable conqueror, Ingenuus hanged himseK.^
Gallienus wreaked a terrible vengeance on tlie
cities which had acknowledged the pretensions of
Ingenuus. He gave orders that all the male inhab-
itants, young and old, should be slain ; and his com-
mands were executed with brutal fidelity .2
Before he could relieve the provinces of Pan-
nonia and Moesia from the Sarmatian invaders,
word was brought to Gallienus that the Alemanni
had profited by his absence to pour across the
Limes Rhaeticus, and passing from thence across
the Alps had devasted Lombardy and carried their
operations as far as Ravenna.^ The inhabitants of
Rome, fearing that an attack would be made on
that city, were fiUed with dismay, and the danger
seemed so imminent that the Senate with some
show of its ancient patriotism called out the Prae-
torian guard, armed the plebeians, and prepared
^ Fertur sane idem Ingenuus, civitate capta, laqueasse se at-
que ita vitam finisse. PoUio, Ihid.
2 A letter from Gallienus to Celer Venerianus on this subject
is preserved by Pollio in order to show, he says, what cruelty
this voluptuary could be capable of. Gallienus Veneriano. Non
raihi satisfacies, si tantum armatos occideris, quos et fors in bellis
interimere potuisset. Perimendus est omnis sexus virilis, si et
senes atque inpuberes sine reprehensione nostra occidi possent.
Occidendus est quicumque male dixit contra me, contra Valeriani
filium, contra tot principum patrem et fratrem. Ingenuus factus
est imperator. Lacera, occide, concide, animum meum intellege,
mea mente irascere, qui haec manu mea scripsi.
3 Zosimus, i, 37 ; Eutropius, ix, 8 ; Zonaras, xii, 24. Cf . Schil-
ler, p. 814 ; Gibbon, chap. x.
FALL OF VALERIAN 255
to put the city in condition to stand a siege. Their
fears were groundless. Before the Alemanni could
direct their efforts against Rome, Gallienus ap-
peared at the head of his legions, and with unwonted
vigor compelled them to retreat. Loaded with
booty, pillaging and burning the cities they passed,
the Alemanni traversed Italy; but were finally
brought to bay at Milan, where Gallienus with a
force numerically far inferior to theirs inflicted on
them a crushing defeat.^ AVith a fatuity born, per-
haps, of the perplexities regarding the safety of the
throne itself, he did not pursue the defeated hosts
of the enemy, or attempt to reestablish the old
boundaries, and thus robbed his victory of its most
fruitful results. 2
While both the Emperors were engaged in dis-
tant wars, Gallienus in the West and Valerian in
the East, the Borani, smarting under the defeat
inflicted on them the year before by Successus, re-
newed their attacks on the Roman territory in Asia
Minor, and directing their first attempt against
Pityus, they buried their former disgrace in its
ruins. Profiting by the recollection of their pre-
vious mistakes, they had retained their ships, in
which they at once set sail, and following the coast
1 Zonaras, loc. cit, says the Alemanni numbered 300,000 and
the forces of Gallienus 10,000.
2 Schiller, loc. cit.
256 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
of the Euxine, they first disembarked at the mouth
of the river Phasis, near which was situated the
famous temple of Diana, which they attempted,
though without success, to pillage. Undismayed,
they resumed their journey as far as Trebizond
(Trapezus), the capital of the Province of Pontus,
a city containing an enormous population and well
fortified with a double wall. The number of in-
habitants was increased by swarms of refugees from
the surrounding cities and towns, who had fled there
for safety, carrying with them their wealth and
treasures. The impregnable defences of the city, and
its large garrison, strengthened by reinforcements
from outside, caused the besieged to neglect the
fortifications, and to give themselves over to riot
and luxury. The Borani were quick to profit by
this carelessness, and at night they easily scaled the
walls and put the garrison to flight. While the sol-
diers escaped through the gates the inhabitants were
massacred by their ruthless foes. The city was re-
duced to ruins, and the victorious barbarians, loading
their ships with booty, and chaining their prisoners
to the oars, returned to their homes in the kingdom
of the Bosphorus.
The success of the Borani incited their neigh-
bors the Goths to similar expeditions, and in the
following winter they collected an enormous army
for the invasion of Bithynia. Adopting a different
FALL OF VALERIAN 257
course, these new marauders followed the western
coast of the Euxine, and, because of the impossibil-
ity of procuring a sufficient number of transports,
they divided their forces into two parts, one of which
went by land, the other by sea.
At Byzantium they captured a number of fishing
boats and merchant vessels and set sail for Asia
Minor. Their first landing-place was near the strong
city of Chalcedon, which the garrison had aban-
doned on the news of their coming, and which now
fell into their hands with all its treasures of money
and arms. On the advice of Chrysogonus, a Greek
refugee, they next marched to Nicomedia, which
they took by siege. Although the wealthiest of the
inhabitants had fled, carrying with them as much as
they could of their possessions, the barbarians them-
selves were surprised at the amount of booty this
city afforded. They bestowed rich rewards on the
traitor who had led them there, and, still unsatis-
fied with their plunder, they pillaged Nice, Prusa,
Apamea, and Chios, and directing their steps
towards Cyzicus they met their first check. The
river Rhyndacus, swollen by recent rains, stopped
their victorious march. Satisfied doubtless with
what they had gained, and fearing an encounter
with the forces of Valerian, who, as we have seen,
returned from the East on the news of their raids,
they signalized their departure by setting fire to
268 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
the cities of Nice and Nicomedia.^ The army of
Valerian never came in sight of the Goths. When
he reached Cappadocia the information was con-
veyed to him that the invaders had fled and were
now safe from pursuit. Valerian contented himself
with sending reinforcements to Byzantium, and
immediately retraced his steps to the seat of war
in the East. He had succeeded in preventing a
union of the Persian and Gothic forces ; but be-
sides this he accomphshed nothing except, as Zosi-
mus says, the destruction of the Cappadocian cities
through which his army passed.^ This expedition,
however, probably resulted in his capture and down-
fall. When he left the East to go to the relief of
Bithynia he had already gained many victories over
the Persians. Antioch was in his possession ; for
on the arrival of his army of relief the inhabitants
had risen in revolt and slain the pretender Cyri-
ades.3 The gates were thrown open to the Romans,
1 Zosimus, i, 31-35. Cf. Mommsen, Roman Provinces, vol. i, p.
265 ; Schiller, p. 817 ; Gibbon, loc. cit. ; Tillemont, Hist, des Emp.
iii, p. 461. For chronology see Goyau, p. 314.
2 Zosimus, i, 36.
2 Gibbon, Decline and Fall, chap, x, p. 557, note 1, says : " The
reign of Cyriades appears in that collection (Pollio, Trig. Tyr. 1)
prior to the death of Valerian ; but I have preferred a probable
series of events to the doubtful chronology of a most inaccurate
writer." Rawlinson, The Seventh Great Oriental Monarchy, chap. 4,
p. 82, considers that Gibbon's nexus of events has the greatest
probability. Duruy, vi, pp. 418-421, and Allard, loc. cit. p. 159,
also place the death of Cyriades in 260, after the captivity of
FALL OF VALERIAN 259
and Antlocli immediately became the base of oper-
ations against the Persians. Edessa, too, was still
imcaptured.i The garrison had not only succeeded
in keeping the Persians at bay, but in many suc-
cessfid sorties inflicted heavy losses on them and
recovered large quantities of booty. When Valerian
returned from Cappadocia, more than half his army
had melted away from famine and pestilence. This
did not deter him, however, from making an attempt
to raise the siege of Edessa, and in pursuance of
this project he collected all his available forces and
set out at once to the rescue of the beleaguered city.^
In Mesopotamia his army met that of Shahpur, and
the aged Roman Emperor tasted the bitterness of
defeat.3 Through the malice or imprudence of one
of his generals, the Roman army was betrayed into
a situation where neither courage nor skill could
avail them, and where retreat was impossible.* The
Valerian. Tillemont, iii, pp. 405, 406, inclines to the date 258 or
259. Schiller, p. 820, says it occurred in 256. I consider that
the text of Pollio cannot be lightly set aside, and have conse-
quently assigned the death of Cyriades to 258. Ipse per insidiaa
Buorum, cum Valerianus jam ad bellum Persicum veniret occisus
est. Trig. Tyr. c. 1.
1 Zonaras, xii, 23. No two writers, as far as I am aware, are
agreed as to the dates and order of these events ; I have adopted
what I consider the simplest and most logical arrangement.
2 Zonaras, loc. cit.
2 Aurelius Victor, De Caes. c. 32 ; Eutropius, ix, 7.
* Victus est enim a Sapore rege Persarum, dum ductu cu jusdam
8ui ducis, cui sumraum omnium bellicarum rerum agendarura
comraiserat, seu fraude seu ad versa fortuna in ea esset loca de-
260 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
hopelessness of his position, and the seditious mur-
murings of his soldiers, who were driven to despera-
tion by hunger and sickness, compelled Valerian to
sue for terms. He sent large presents of money to
Shahpur ; but the wily Persian deferred his answer
until resistance was no longer possible, and until
he had disposed his troops most advantageously to
prevent escape ; then sending back the legates, he
demanded that Valerian should present himself in
person to arrange the terms of submission. The
frightful condition of his army, and the impossibil-
ity of further resistance, left no course open to the
unfortunate Emperor but to comply with the wishes
of his enemy ; and trusting to his honor, Valerian
went to the place agreed on for the conference with
only a small retinue, where Shahpur with true Ori-
ental perfidy at once seized him.i
ductus, ubi nee vigor nee disciplina militaris, quin caperetur, quic-
quain valere potuit. Pollio, Valeriani Duo, c. 3. Tillemont and the
later editors rejeet this passage as spurious. Gibbon and Rawlin-
son aceept it, and attribute to Macrian the perfidy which led to
Valerian's downfall. The letter of Valerian to the Senate shows
that Macrian was entrusted with the entire control of the army.
(See p. 120.) It is quite conceivable that Macrian's ambition to
wear the purple — Denis of Alexandria says he madly desired it —
led him to betray his master. It is certain that he was not in-
volved in Valerian's defeat, for he retained command of a sufficient
number of soldiers, probably as a reward for his treason, to make
an attempt to wrest the crown from Gallienus.
1 Zonaras, loc. cit., says that it was asserted by some that Vale-
rian fled to his enemy for protection ; but he himself inclines to
the opinion that the Emperor was betrayed. Aurelius Victor, De
Cues, xxxii, dolo circumventus est ; Petrus Patricius, Frag. 9.
FALL OF VALERIAN 261
The capture of Valerian was no mere ruse on the
part of Shahpur to wring better terms from the
disheartened Romans. He wished to lower their
pride, not to compel them to capitulate. He sent no
messengers to Rome to demand ransom, asked for
no grants of territory in return for the life and
freedom of his illustrious captive ; but kept the un-
fortunate monarch in chains until death came to his
relief. In a captive emperor he might have had a
powerful pledge of peace and a valuable hostage ;
but Oriental despotism and pride found more delight
in heaping opprobrium on the fallen sovereign, and,
through him, on the entire race of haughty Romans,
than in making use of his sad plight to promote
peace or gain political ascendancy.
It is not surprising that Roman vanity hesitated
to speak about the sad straits to which Valerian
was reduced, or to add to the glory of his conqueror
by describing his shame. The earliest pagan writ-
ers content themselves with saying that he grew old
in his captivity, and, Roman emperor as he was,
that he was treated as a slave.^ But to those of his
subjects to whom he had been an oppressor, — to
the Christians, — who saw in his downfall the hand
of divine retribution, to whom his humiliation was
1 Pollio, Valeriani Duo, c. 4, Valeriano apud Persas consenes-
cente. Trig. Tyr. c. 12, senex apud Persas consenuit. Gall. c. 1,
erat onraium maeror quod imperator Romanus in Perside servil-
iter tenetur.
262 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
strength, there was no hindrance to speak the truth.
From them we learn to what lengths Oriental bar-
barism went. We are told that the unfortunate
Emperor was loaded down with chains, and was led
around at the stirrup of his captor still robed in his
royal purple and wearing the imperial insignia of
his former greatness ; and that whenever Shahpur
mounted on horseback he placed his foot on the neck
of his imperial slave. How long the unhappy Roman
endured this shame is not known. Some say he
lived for five or six years, and that when he died his
skin was stuffed with straw and hung up in a Per-
sian temple as a perpetual memorial to the shame of
Rome.^ It would be extremely difficult to form
an estimate of the effect which Valerian's fall and
captivity produced in the Roman Empire. He was
the one cohesive force in Roman life. No sooner
was he removed from the scene than the suicidal
ambition of pretenders reduced the whole common-
wealth to a fratricidal battlefield. Usurpers ap-
peared in every province : men of different talents
and of different stations of life, but all intent on
the removal of the surviving Emperor, the clever
^ Laetantiiis, De Mortibus Persecutorum, c. 5 ; Eusebius, Vita
Constantini, i, 2 ; Orat. Constant, xxiv. Cf . Aurelius Victor, De
Caes. xxxii, 5, Epit. xxxii, 5, 6 ; Eutropius, Brev. ix, 7 ; Zonaras,
xii, 23 ; Zosimus, i, 36 ; Petrus Patricius, in Miiller, Frag. Graec.
iv. p. 188 ; Rawlinson, Seventh Great Monarchy, pp. 86 seq. ; Gib-
bon, loc. cit.
FALL OF VALERIAN 2C3
but unworthy son of the unfortunate Valerian. ^
There were many worthy and deserving sokliers
among these pretenders — the Thirty Tyrants ; but
their deeds were as ephemeral as their claims ; and
for the most part they achieved nothing but the
devastation of the Empire, which through inter-
necine strife fell an easy victim to the hordes of bar-
barians who once more poured across the f rontiers.^
The Goths again ravaged Asia, Thrace, and Greece ;
the Sarmatians spread over Illyricum ; the Ale-
manni marched at will through Gaul and Italy ; the
Franks traversed Spain. A rebellion of slaves and
bandits reduced peaceful and prosperous Sicily to
turmoil,^ and even Rome itseK was forced to rebuild
its walls to save itself from the destruction which
seemed inevitable.
With Persians in the East and Teutons in the
West it would seem that the last vestiofes of Roman
power had departed ; but great crises are only the
crucibles which refine the gold of genius ; and old
established institutions have a reserve of power
which keeps them from going down before the first
1 Quo nihil prodigiosius passa est Roraana res p. Trig. Tyr.
c. xxxi, 5.
2 Cf. Gibbon. Decline and Fall, c. x, pp. 502 seq. ; Schiller, pp.
823 seq. ; Tillemont, iii. pp. 405 seq.
^ Denique quasi eonjuratione totiiis mundi, concussis orbis par-
tibus, etiam in Siciliam quasi quoddam servile bellum extitit,
latronibus evagantibus, qui vix oppressi sunt. PoUio, Duo Gallieni^
C.4.
264 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
shock. Rome recovered from civil strife, she pushed
the barbarians back over her wide extended limites;
but she had suffered a moral awakening from which
she never receded.
When Augustus assumed the title of Summus
Pontifex, he consecrated in his house on the Pala-
tine a new sanctuary of Vesta, thus identifying the
sacred fire — the symbol of the perpetuity of the
state — with that of his own house, in order to con-
vince men that the destinies of the Empire were
for evermore inseparable from those of the house of
Caesar, that one would last as long as the other, i. e.
for all eternity. The w^orship of the Genius of the
Emperor and the deification of departed Caesars
became an integral part of Roman thought and
polity. But now that Caesar was in the toils, what
were men to think ? The letters written to Shahpur
by different Oriental kings, which are inserted in
the life of Valerian by Pollio, may be, as Simcox
says, the work of Greek sophists ; ^ but they show
how potent even in defeat was this idea of the per-
petuity of the Roman State. Velsolus says, " If I
could be convinced that the Romans could ever be
thoroughly conquered I would congratulate you on
your victory." Valenus, king of the Cadusi, writes,
"The Romans are never so much to be feared as
when they are defeated." Artabasdes, king of the
1 History of Latin Literature, vol. ii, p. 356.
FALL OF VALERIAN 265
Armenians would imply that the existence of the
Roman State was necessary for the well-being of the
rest of the world : '^ You have conquered an old man
and have made enemies of all the peoples of the
earth." ^ These are truly the Roman sentiments ;
but the course of ideas follows the course of power.
The influence of Persia was manifested not so much
in dragging a decrepit old man at a chariot wheel,
as in the spread of its customs and its ideals over
the whole Occident. Insensibly Rome began to feel
the influence of Eastern ideas, and the shadow of
popular sovereignty vanished with the substance
when Diocletian established his court at Nicomedia,
and instituted a regime modelled on the absolutism
of Persia.^ Outlaws as they were, the Christians
were nevertheless loyal Romans, and more faithful
to the traditions of the past than those whose ideas
and policy had been cradled amidst the ignominious
scenes which attended the last days of Valerian.
The only person in the Empire who seemed in-
different to the fate of Rome and the misfortunes
of Valerian was his son and co-regent, Gallienus.
He received the news of his father's defeat with
affected stoicism, saying : " I knew my father was
a mortal." Nor could he be induced to take any
measures for his release or rescue, professing that
1 Vita Valeriani, c. 2, 2.
2 Cf. Freeman, Historical Essays, third series.
266 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
he was satisfied because his father had acted as a
brave man. Though the whole world grieved for
the unfortunate captive, the servile courtiers with
whom Gallienus had surrounded himself lauded
him for his forbearance and firmness.
Inconstant and cynical, the character of Gallie-
nus defies analysis or description. He was undoubt-
edly the cleverest man of his time. Philosopher
and poet, man of affairs, successful in everything
he undertook except the administration of the Em-
pire, he lacked the quality most essential in a ruler
— patriotism. He cared nothing for the fate of
the commonwealth, and merely smiled when told
that whole provinces had been lost. When Egypt
revolted he asked, " What shall we do without
Egyptian linen ? " When Gaul seceded he laughed,
saying, " The republic will be ruined for want of
arras-cloth." ^ Voluptuary, cynic, agnostic, he yet
retained sufficient sense of justice to put a stop to
the war of extermination against the Christians.
Scarcely was he freed from the restrainmg influence
of his father, and at liberty to follow his own way,
than he took a step from which other and more
patriotic Emperors had shrunk. He issued an
edict of toleration which guaranteed to the Chris-
tians the full and free exercise of their religion.
Unfortunately the text of this edict has been
1 PoUio, Gallieni Duo, c 6.
EDICT OF GALLIENUS 2G7
lost. Its purport, however, can be easily gathered
from the rescripts wliich the Emperor addressed
to the bishops authorizing them to regain possession
of the cemeteries and the property of the Church
which had been confiscated under the laws of
Valerian. Eusebius has inserted in his History a
copy of the rescript sent to the bishops of Egypt.
The full text is as follows : ^ " Shortly after this
Valerian was reduced to slavery by the barbarians,
and his son, having become sole ruler, conducted
the government more prudently. He immediately
restrained the persecution against us by public
proclamations,^ and directed the bishops to perform
in freedom their customary duties, in a rescript
which ran as follows : —
" ' The Emperor Caesar Publius Licinius Gallie-
nus Pius Felix Augustus to Dionysius, Pinnas,
Demetrius, and other bishops. I have ordered the
bounty of my gift to be declared through all the
world, that they [i. e. the heathen] may depart
from all the places of religious worship. And for
this purpose you may use this copy of my rescript
that no one may molest you. And this, which you
are now enabled lawfully to do, has already for a
long time been conceded by me.^ Therefore Aure-
1 Hist, vii, 13.
avr
iypa<p4).
^ " The reference is doubtless to the edicts referred to above,
and which he had issued immediately after his accession, but
268 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
lius Cyrenius, who is tlie chief administrator of
affairs, will observe this ordinance which I have
given.' "
" I have given this in a translation from the
Latin," says Eusebius, " that it may be more read-
ily understood. Another decree of his is extant ad-
dressed to other bishops, permitting them to take
possession again of the so-called cemeteries."
The value of this passage from Eusebius cannot
be overestimated. There is no reason to consider it
anything but what it claims to be — a faithful
translation into Greek from a Latin copy which
the Bishop of Caesarea had before him. It shows,
in the first place, that a general edict of tolera-
tion had been issued from the Imperial Chancery
which made Christianity a religio licita before the
rescript was sent to the bishops in the various pro-
vinces. It shows, too, that in the execution of Vale-
rian's edict a different disposition was made of the
loci religiosi, the meeting-places of the Christians,
and the cemeteries. The first were confiscated and
sold by the procurator fiscalis ; the second, it would
seem, were merely seized and closed up. As we have
already seen, the religiositas of the cemeteries
exempted them from confiscation.^
"which had not been sooner put in force in Egypt because of the
usurper Macrianus." Note by the American editor, from whom I
have taken this translation.
1 De Rossi, Bom. Soft. torn, i, p. 200.
EDICT OF GALLIENUS 269
For the first tiina peace had been declared be-
tween the Church and the pagan Roman State. The
hierarchy had received official recognition, and the
bishops and priests could henceforth minister to
the faithful, and assemble them for prayer and sac-
rifice, without fear of molestation ; their meeting-
places and cemeteries were restored ; and, should
any jealous pagan attempt to interfere with them,
they had letters bearing the imperial seal guar-
anteeing them rights, to disregard which was trea-
son. This was all the advocates of Christianity, the
Apologists, had ever claimed; the Edict of Milan
fifty-three years later granted nothing more.^
The history of the Church from Nero to Gallienus
shows that the favor and good will of the Emperors
towards the Christians had never entirely stopped
the persecutions. Neither Commodus, nor Alex-
ander Severus, nor Philip the Arab had revoked
the laws which made belief in Christ a felony, and
which placed the lives of His followers at the mercy
of every governor or magistrate who cared to en-
force the iniquitous edicts of Nero and Trajan.^
Speculation has always been busy regarding the
influences and motives which could have led Gal-
henus to take such a bold step as the removal of
1 Aub^, VEglise et VEtat, pp. 439 seq.
2 Gorres, " Die Toleranzedicte des Kaisers Gallienus," etc.,
Jahrh'ucher far Protestantische Theologie, 1S77, pp. 606 seq.
270 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
all the legal disabilities under which his Chris-
tian subjects labored. Some are inclined to trace
this act of justice to the Emperor's taste for
philosophy and his attachment to Plotinus, the
leader of the Neo-Platonists.^ The aim of Neo-
Platonism was the synthesis of all the intellectual
and religious forces in one composite philosophico-
religious system, into which Christianity, though
perhaps not formally, was to be admitted. This
tendency the Christians themselves opposed. Their
hostility to amalgamating the teachings of Christ
with the tenets of Neo-Platonism provoked a bitter
intellectual struggle, which culminated in the writ-
ings of Porphyry, next to Celsus the most violent
opponent of Christianity, and which perhaps paved
the way for the revival of the spirit of persecution
under Diocletian .2 It was inevitable that some ad-
justment should take place ; but Gallienus was too
clear-sighted not to perceive that no rapprochement
was possible as long as Christianity was legally
sequestrated. His interest in the triumph of Neo-
Platonism was shown in his willingness to establish
a philosophical colony in Campania, where the prac-
tical advantages of the system advocated by Ploti-
nus could receive a real test.^ If the differences
1 Dictionary of Christian Biography, article " Gallienus."
2 Neander, Church History, vol. i, pp. 236 seq.
3 Porphyry, Vita Plotini, c. 12; Jules Simon, Histoire de
VEcole (VAlexandrie, vol. i, p. 208.
EDICT OF GALLIENUS 271
between Christianity and the newer-heathenism
were to be obliterated, this result could be more
readily obtained by transferring the scene of con-
flict from the realm of law to that of science, from
the arena to the school.
The Emperor's wife, Salonina, is by some believed
to have been a Christian.^ If so, her influence was
doubtless thrown on the side of her co-religionists ;
but the invidious position she occupied in the
household of Gallienus, and his corruption and
gross immoralities, make it extremely doubtful
whether he woiUd be amenable to a woman whose
life, if she were a Christian, was a standing reproach
to his recldessness and luxury.
The character of Gallienus, versatile, volatile, and
inconstant, allows no place for the belief that his
edict of toleration was the result of any well-
considered or consistent scheme of administration.
Paradoxical, he could be active or remiss, cruel
or lenient, sceptical or philosophical. Immersed
^ The reasons for thinking that Salonina embraced Christianity
arise solely from the inscription Augusta in Pace or Aug. in Pace
found on the medals of the Empress. This formula In Pace is
found only on Christian monuments. Hence it has been con-
cluded that Salonina was a follower of Christ. De Witte, Du
Christianisjne des quelques Imphatrices Bomaines, torn, iii, p. 10.
Kraus, Beal-EncycL, thinks that the symbol proves nothing more
than that Christianity was a pari; of the religious syncretism
professed by the Empress. Duruy, History of Pome, vi, 387,
also doubts whether the Empress was a Christian. Cf. Allard, pp.
1G3 seq., for a full discussion of the subject.
272 THE VALERIAN PERSECUTION
in luxury and sensuality, he had no regard for
tradition or vested rights, and never turned his face
towards the future. He took a bold step in ad-
vance ; but he did not proceed far enough. The
incompatibility between Christianity and the hea-
then Koman State was not a matter to be settled
by philosophers or political theorists. It was not
enough that Christianity should go forward ; idola-
try must recede. The social and political structure
of Koman life was yet interwoven with pagan be-
liefs and practices. They occupied the ground for
which Christianity was striving. The principle had
been affirmed, however, that the existence of the
Christian religion was not detrimental to the wel-
fare of the Eoman commonwealth : the old adver-
saries faced one another at last in the open, and
prepared for the final struggle in which the prize
was the hegemony of souls in imperial Rome.
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Tetrarchie (285-293). Rev. des Quest. Hist. 1888, vol.
xliv, p. 51.
Vicissitudes de la Condition Juridique de I'Eglise au
Troisi^me Siecle. Rev. des Quest. Hist. 1898, vol. Ix, p.
367.
Diocletien et les Chretiens. L'Etablissement de la
Tetrarchie et la Persecution dans TArmde. Rev. des
Quest. Hist. 1889, vol. xliv, p. 440.
Ampere. L'Eglise et les Premiers Empereurs Chretiens.
Revue des Deux Mondes, August 1, 1859.
L'Histoire et les Historiens de I'ltalie. Revue des Deux
Mondes, September 1, 1856.
AuBE. La Persecution de N^ron. Revue Contemporaine,
1865, vol. xliii.
280 BIBLIOGRAPHY
Le Christianisme de Marcia, la Favorite de rEmpereur
Commode. Revue Arch^ologique, 1879, vol. xxxvii,
p. 154.
Le Christianisme de I'Empereur Philippe. Revue
Archdologique, 1880, vol. xl, p. 140.
Les Faillis et les Libellatiques pendant la Persecution
de D^ce (250-252). Revue Historique, 1864, vol. xxiv.
Batiffol. L'Eglise Naissante. Revue Biblique, 1894, pp.
503 seq.
BoissiER. Authenticity du xliv Chapitre du Livre XV
des Annales de Tacitus. Comptes-rendus des Stances
de I'Acaddmie des Inscriptions, March 26, 1886.
La Lettre de Pline au sujet des Chretiens. Revue
Archdologique, 1876, pp. 114-126.
La Jeunesse de Marc Aurfele. Revue des Cours Lit-
tdraires, 1864, vol. i.
Les Origines de la Podsie Chrdtienne :
1. Les Apocryphes et les Sibyllins. Revue des Deux
Mondes, July 1, 1875.
2. L'Eglise etl 'Art Antique. Ibid. September, 1875.
Moeurs Romains sous I'Empire. Revue des Deux
Mondes, 1867-1871.
ApoUonius de Tyane. Revue des Deux Mondes, Jan-
uary, 1879.
Callewaert. Les Premiers Chretiens, furent-ils perse-
cutes par Edits Gen^raux, ou par Mesures de Police ?
Revue d'Histoire Ecclesiastique, October 15, 1901,
January 15, 1902.
Cabrol. Les Derniers Travaux sur I'Histoire des Perse-
cutions de I'Eglise. Revue des Quest. Hist. 1891, vol. 1,
p. 576.
DouAis. La Persecution des Chretiens de Rome en TAn-
nee 64. Rev. des Quest. Hist. 1885, vol. xxxviii,
p. 337.
BIBLIOGRAPHY 281
DuRUY. L'Enipire Romain au Milieu du Troisi6me Si^cle.
Revile Politiiiuo, 1879.
Formation d'line Religion Officielle dans I'Empire Ro-
main. Academic dcs Sciences Morales et Politiques,
1880.
Situation Economique de TEmpire Romain vers Ic
Milieu du Troisieme Si^cle. Acaddmie des Sciences
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Franchi, Pio de' Cavalieri. S. Lorenzo e il Supplizio
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GoRRES. Die Toleranzedicte des Kaisers Gallienus. Jahr-
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630.
Kneller. Hat der Romische Staat das Christenthum
Verfolgt ? Stimmen aus Maria-Laach, vol. Iv, pp. 1 seq.
Theodor Mommsen, Ueber die Christenverfolgungen.
Ibid. pp. 276 seq.
Die Martyrer und das Romische Recht. Ibid. 349 seq.
MoNCEAUx. Les Martyrs d'Utique et la Ldgende de la
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series, vol. xxxvii, pp. 404-411.
Examen Critique des Documents Relatifs au Martyre
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Naudet. Des Revolutions de I'Empire Romain vers la Fin
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Renan. Le Christianisme sous I'Empire Romain. Revue
Politique, 1881.
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INDEX
AGAPirs, 229.
Alexander, martyr, 241.
Alexander Severus, 19, G2.
Alexander the Great, worshipped
as a god, 116; magical pow-
ers attributed to images of,
120.
Alexandria, persecution in, 151.
Anatolius, 240.
Antonia, 229.
Antoninus Pius, laws of, against
Christians, 44.
Apologists, Christian, 47.
Augurius, 235.
Ausonius, 240.
Areae, 174.
Aub^, defends Macrianus, 111.
Aurelian, urges Valerian to per-
secute the Christians, 164 ; of-
fers human sacrifices, 121.
Aureolus, 113.
Baailla, 186.
Berbers, invade Numidia, 250.
Borani, 255.
Burial clubs, were the Christian
communities organized as, 55,
139.
Caesariani, 109, 171.
Caesar-worship, 264 ; in Spain,
234.
Caracalla, 52, 61.
Carthage, persecution in, 150.
Catacombs, 173.
Cemeteries, sacred in Rome, 138;
Christian, restored by Galli>
enus, 268.
Christianity, regarded as a Jew-
ish sect, 21 ; incompatible with
the Roman State, 5 ; opposed
to syncretism, 17 ; a barrier
to reform, 123.
Christians, calumnies against,
25 ; laws against, 32 ; popular
outbreaks against, 41 ; treated
leniently by some magistrates,
45 ; apologies for, 47 ; accused
of public calamities, 122 ; con-
demned to mines, 149 ; not
disloyal, 165, 265 ; barbarians
friendly to, 167 ; forbidden to
use cemeteries, 175.
Chrysanthus, 128.
Church, freed from Judaism, 32 ;
wealth of, 124 ; charities of, 125.
Claudius, Emperor, expels Jews
from Rome, 22.
Claudius, martyr, 185.
Collegia Funeraticia, see Burial
clubs.
Commodus, 51.
Crescentius, 185.
Cyprian, St., and the lapsi, 106 ;
Acta of, 130 ; exiled to Curu-
bis, 146 ; writes letters to the
confessors in the prisons and
mines, 148 ; trial, condemna-
tion, and death, 190.
Cyril, 242.
Dana, 128.
284
INDEX
Decius, 70 ; laws of, 105 ; op-
poses election of new pope,
122.
Denis of Alexandria, 121 ; ac-
cused Macrianus of magic,
109 ; exiled to Kephron, 150 ;
trial and condemnation, 153.
De Rossi, 176.
Diocletian, 265.
Domitian, 28.
Donatianus, 206.
Elagabalus, 18, 61; offers chil-
dren in sacrifice, 120.
Empire, invaded by barbarians,
92.
Eugenia, 186.
Eulogius, 235.
Eusebius, 127.
Faustina, 120.
Felicissimus, 179.
Flavian dynasty, 28.
Flavianus, 206.
Fortunatus, 105.
Fructuosus, 235.
Gallienus, 90, 111 ; character of,
265 ; promulgates edict of tol-
eration, 266.
Gnosticism, 67.
Goths, invade Asia Minor, 256.
Greek martyrs, 126.
Gregory Thaumaturgus, 165.
Hadrian, 18 ; rescript to Mini-
cius Fundanus, 41 ; letter to
Servianua, 43.
Hadrias, 126.
Herennianus, 214.
Hippolytus, 126, 183.
Human sacrifices in Rome, 120.
Ingenuus, 254.
Jacobus, 224.
Jauuarius, 179.
Jews, expelled from Rome, 21 ;
persecute the Christians, 23.
Julianus, 206.
Laurence, St.,martyrdom of, 179.
Laws against Christians, 32 ;
text of first law, 39.
Leo, 247.
Liminius, 240.
Lucius, 206.
Macrianus, induces Valerian to
persecute the Christians, 109 ;
death of, 114; magical prac-
tices of, 115 ; Valerian praises,
120.
Magnus, 179.
Malchus, 241.
Marcellus, 127.
Marcia, 51.
Marcus Aurelius, 49; consults
Chaldean magicians, 120.
Maria, 126.
Marianus, 224.
Martyrs of the crypt of Chry-
santhus and Daria, 144.
Massa Candida, 201.
Matrons, Christian, persecuted
in Rome, 185.
Maximinus Thrax, 61, 64.
Mommsen, views regarding laws
against Christians, 37.
Montanist martyrs, 241.
Montanus, 206.
Neo, 126.
Neo-Platonism, 67; of Galli-
enus, 270.
Nero, 18 ; persecutes the Chris-
tians, 23.
Nerva, 31.
Nicephorus, 243.
INDEX
285
Novatian schism, 107.
Novatus, 105.
Paganism, effect of, on Christian-
ity, 05 ; reaction of Christian-
ity on, 08; attempt at amalga-
mation with Cliristianity, 17.
Pancratius, 187.
Paregorius, 240.
Patroclus, 240.
Paul, 200.
Paulina, 120.
Persecution, causes of, 3; first
outhreaks, 20 ; of Nero, 23 ;
of Domitian, 28 ; of Trajan,
32 ; of Hadrian, 41 ; of Anto-
ninus Pius, 44; of Marcus
Aurelius, 50 ; of Commodus,
51 ; of Septimius Severus, 53 ;
of Caracalla, 01 ; of Maximi-
nus, 04 ; of Decius, 70 ; liter-
ary, 48.
Persians, invasions of, 100, 258 ;
influence of, in Rome, 205.
Philip the x\rabian, 04.
Plagues in the Roman Empire,
49, 92.
Pliny, letter to Trajan, 33.
Pontius, life of Cyprian, 140.
Pontius of Cimiez, 239.
Primolus, 200.
Priscus, 241.
Privatus, 240.
Protus and Hyacinthus, ISO.
Quartillosa, 214.
Quinquegentanei, 250.
Quirinus, 150.
Renus, 200.
Roman Empire, social, economic,
and political condition of, dur-
ing Valerian's reign, 123 ; in-
vaded by barbarians, 157.
Romans, repel the barbarians,
155.
Romanus, 185.
Rufina, 180.
Salonina the Empress, was she
a Christian, 271.
Sapricius, 244.
Sarmatians, invade the empire,
254.
Septimius Severus, 53, 234.
Severus, 185.
Shahpur, conquers Valerian,
200.
Stephanus, 179.
Stephen, Pope St., 127.
Successus, 200.
Syncretism, 0, 17, 20, 03, 137.
Tarcisius, 143.
Tarragona, persecution in, 233.
TertuUa, 229.
Teutons, invade the Empire,
251.
Thirty Tyrants, 111, 262.
Trajan, 32.
Valerian, family and history of,
75 ; made censor, 78 ; be-
comes emperor, 80; perse-
cutes the Christians, 107 ; first
edict of, 130 ; second edict of,
155; holds levee at Byzan-
tium, 158 ; takes command of
eastern army, 160 ; conquered
by Shahpur, 200 ; captivity
and death, 201.
Victoricus, 200.
Vincentius, 179.
Visions of martyrs, 147, 211,
215, 226, 230.
Xystus, becomes Pope, 143 ;
martyrdom of, 177.
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