Roman Persecutions of Christians - Essay Example

?Roman Persecutions of Christians The attitude of the Romans to religion, in the early days of the empire, was very practical and tolerant. In fact the Romans added many of the gods of areas that they conquered, to their own pantheon of gods, and gave them Roman names. The Roman idea of religion was somewhat different from the generally accepted one. Romans considered religion as something of an attitude that was consistent with loyalty and unity to the state. They believed that the gods helped their cities and people to thrive, and any new customs that deviated from those that had been handed down from ancestors, would bring down the wrath of the gods upon them. Many historians are of the opinion, that the Romans believed that the neglect of the old gods who had made Rome strong, was responsible for the disasters that Rome faced. Is it then safe to assume that the persecutions of Christians, stemmed from a distrust of something alien to the Romans, or were there other causes for these persecutions? The persecutions began slowly but after the middle of the third century, were initiated intensively by some of the Roman emperors. In the beginning, these persecutions were generally a result of personal hostilities between people, where the real issues were hidden behind the excuse of their being of a different faith. However, slowly Christians began to be looked upon as people who took part in weird rites, like partaking of Christ’s flesh and blood, that was mistaken for cannibalism. The distrust grew as Christians refused to take part in the pagan rites of sacrifice to Roman gods, and to the emperor who was considered a semi divine being. This was considered an insult to the gods who looked after the well being of the people, and therefore endangered the empire.There were also other reasons why the people considered the Christians unpatriotic. The Romans took pride in their Roman citizenship, while the Christians declared that they were citizens of heaven. They also shrank from obligations of public and military service. However, a closer look at the events that preceded the persecutions, paints a different picture. Persecutions were generally sparked off by certain events that went against an emperor. Is it then possible that periods of crisis like a threatening invasion, or an economic or political instability, were triggers that led to these persecutions? This seems to have been the case in the persecutions that took place when a disastrous fire broke out in Rome during the reign of Nero. The first persecution sanctioned by an emperor was in A.D. 64 by the eccentric emperor Nero. During the early years of Nero’s reign, he was guided by the wisdom of his tutor Seneca and Burrus. By A.D. 62, Burrus died and Seneca retired, after which the wise constraints on Nero’s eccentric character were gone, and Nero was free to indulge himself . The costly war against Parthia and the revolts in Britain had drained the treasury and the Roman empire was in turmoil. Against this background, Nero was more interested in poetry, music and such other pursuits, and surrounded himself with frivolous and riotous companions that offended the public. His extravagances only served to further drain the imperial coffers, and taking advantage of his inattention to affairs of state, rebellions began to erupt. In the midst of these distressing events, Rome suffered the most disastrous fire in its history. Nero had become so unpopular, that people believed he had started the fire in order to be able to rebuild the city in the Greek style that he greatly admired, and also build a new and grand palace for himself. Although historians are unanimous in their opinion that Nero gave help to those left homeless in the fire and also rebuilt the city excellently; the rumor that the fire was the act of the self indulgence of the ruthless tyrant Nero, refused to die down. Unable to find other means of convincing his people that he was not responsible for the fire, Nero played on the fears of the people and made scapegoats of the Christians, whom he blamed for trying to completely destroy Rome. Nero had those who admitted to being Christians arrested, and then condemned them for hatred of the human race. He turned the burning of Christians into a sport. The words of the historian Tacitus are a telling comment on the depravity of the emperor. He says “Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths. Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination, when daylight had expired. Nero offered his gardens for the spectacle, and was exhibiting a show in the circus, while he mingled with the people in the dress of a charioteer or stood aloft on a car.” (Tacitus, Annal xv. 44) Tacitus goes on to add, “Hence, even for criminals who deserved extreme and exemplary punishment, there arose a feeling of compassion; for it was not, as it seemed, for the public good, but to glut one man's cruelty, that they were being destroyed.” (Tacitus, Annal xv. 44) It is widely believed that St Peter who was crucified upside down in Rome was a victim of this first persecution of Christians. Thus the emperor shifted the blame for the fire levelled against him on to a community that was already looked upon with suspicion and distrust. Through the reigns of Trajan, Hadrian and Antoninus Pius, the Christians were not actively persecuted and this led to the belief that the Nero episode was only the aberration of a an eccentric and depraved character. In complete contrast to the frivolous and eccentric Nero, was the emperor Marcus Aurelius who is also known as the philosopher king. A well educated, kind and reasonable human being; he still scorned the Christian principle of immortality of the soul. In his own words, "What an admirable soul, that is, which is ready, if at any moment it must be separated from the body....This readiness must come from a man's own judgment, not from mere obstinacy, as with the Christians, but with reason and dignity if it is to persuade another, and without tragic show." (Aurelius Marcus, Meditations XI, 3) He considered Christianity as a fanatical superstition and turned a deaf ear to the pleas on behalf of persecuted Christians. Marcus Aurelius considered the Christian's love for martyrdom, as being the result of either obstinacy or a love of theatrics. F.W. Farrar, a modern Christian writer tries to explain how a man considered philosophical and humane could be the persecutor of men; when he says,: "That he shared the profound dislike with which Christians were regarded is very probable. That he was a cold-blooded and virulent persecutor is utterly unlike his whole character. The deep calamities in which during his whole reign the empire was involved caused widespread distress, and roused into peculiar fury the feelings of the provincials against men whose atheism (for such they considered it to be) had kindled the anger of the gods. Marcus, when appealed to, simply let the existing law take its course." (Farrar, Seekers After God, Pg 118) During the reign of Marcus Aurelius, many natural disasters befell the Roman empire. Floods, earthquakes, rebellions and disease plagued all parts of the empire and this strengthened the people’s belief that the cause of these calamities were the non believers, who had incited the wrath of the gods on the people. The story of the Thundering Legion has been told in different ways to suit various groups. The story goes that in A.D. 174, the Roman army led by Marcus Aurelius, against the Quadi was thirsty and exhausted and was on the verge of defeat. The twelfth legion which was made up of Christians, prayed for rain and were rewarded by thundershowers that quenched their thirst. The enemy was so fearful of the thunderstorm that they dispersed in fear and the army of Marcus Aurelius was victorious. Both Christian and pagan writers attest to the authenticity of this story. However, while Christian versions attribute the thunderstorm to the result of the prayers of the Christians in the twelfth legion, and point out that Marcus Aurelius forbade the persecutions of Christians after this event; pagan writers attribute the thunderstorm to the prayers to their gods. Some accounts even mention that Marcus Aurelius prayed to Jupiter. Whatever the authenticity of these tales, the persecutions of Christians continued unabated and yet, the followers of Christianity only increased. It is said that in the churches of southern France, slaves were tortured to confess that their Christian masters practised unnatural rites and these were enough to justify the atrocities against Christians. These Christians displayed no fear, nor did they bow to the wishes of their torturers who subjected them to all kinds of abuse. The corpses of the martyrs were strewn on the streets and mutilated and then burnt and their ashes thrown into the river lest their remains desecrate the soil. Only three years after the incident of the thundering legion, in the year 177 A.D., the persecutions in Lyons were carried out, undoubtedly on the orders of Marcus Aurelius. Francois Guizot in his writing about the persecutions in Gaul says, “Marcus Aurelius was, without any doubt, a virtuous ruler, and one who had it in his heart to be just and humane; but he was an absolute ruler, that is to say, one fed entirely on his own ideas, very ill-informed about the facts on which he had to decide, and without a free public to warn him of the errors of his ideas or the practical results of his decrees. He ordered the persecution of the Christians without knowing what the Christians were or what the persecution would be, and this conscientious philosopher let loose at Lyons, against the most conscientious of subjects, the zealous servility of his agents, and the atrocious passions of the mob.” (Guizot, Francois P. G., History of Christianity) The persecutions did not stop with Marcus Aurelius or those that took place at Lyons. Persecutions became commonplace in all parts of the empire in the third century. Septimius Severus who ascended the throne at the end of the second century,was not really personally against the Christian faith. He followed the long established Roman policies, that did not actively seek out Christians for persecution, but if people were accused of being Christians, they could either make offerings to the Roman gods or be executed. It is believed that he suffered an illness from which he was cured by a Christian, and he therefore for a time favored the community. For the first few years of his rule, there appears to have been a period of relative peace. Some historians believe that Severus tried to bring about harmony among his people by combining the beliefs of his people with those of Christianity. When his efforts failed to yield results, he outlawed conversions and ordered severe punishments for those converting to Christianity or Judaism. Severe persecutions broke out in North Africa and Syria, Alexandria and Egypt. Many of the saints of Christianity became martyrs during this fifth persecution of Christians in Carthage. When the edict forbidding conversions was passed, individual officials availed of the law to persecute the Christians. The Christian church was gaining popularity and growing numbers were converting to Christianity. This incensed the common people and led to the persecutions between A.D. 202 and 210. From the first years, the Roman empire had gradually been extended with the conquests of new provinces and this continued expansion brought with it a multitude of problems. The countless wars and the natural disasters such as disease and earthquakes pushed Rome into a crisis. One then wonders that despite the good governance of the Roman emperors, what caused them to inflict such cruel persecutions on a set of people who wanted to follow a different mode of worship? In the words of Edward Gibbon “what new provocation could exasperate the mild indifference of antiquity, and what new motives could urge the Roman princes, who beheld without concern a thousand forms of religion subsisting in peace under their gentle sway, to inflict a severe punishment on any part of their subjects, who had chosen for themselves a singular but an inoffensive mode of faith and worship.” (Gibbon Edward, Conduct Towards The Christians, From Nero To Constantine.—Part I. Para 1) Is it possible that these persecutions could have been avoided? Since to the Romans religion was only really an official pledge of allegiance to the emperor on ceremonial occasions, could this bloodshed have been avoided if the Christians had not openly flaunted their views on religion? After all religion is supposed to be a personal belief and could have been practised without offending the local people. The historian William Lecky says “The Christians had for many reasons become obnoxious.....Their abstinence from public amusements and the belief that their hostility to the Gods was the cause of every physical calamity were special causes of antipathy” (Lecky William, The History of European Morals, pg 436) Hence he concludes “The fact that the Christian Church existing as a State within a State with government, ideals, enthusiasms and hopes wholly different from those of the nation,was incompatible with the existing nature of the Empire.”(Lecky William, The History of European Morals, pg 440) Perhaps with a little tolerance and goodwill on both sides these persecutions could have been avoided. History teaches us to learn from mistakes made by our ancestors. Perhaps a few good lessons learnt from these incidents would help us in our attitudes to peoples of different faiths and cultures. Yet even today we see a lot of religious intolerance taking place in the world and wonder if there is truth in the saying that history repeats itself. Works Cited Aurelius Marcus , Meditations XI,3 The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius Web 6 April 2012 Farrar. F.W. Seekers After God ,Pg 118 Web 6 April 2012 Gibbon Edward History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Volume two Chapter XVI Conduct Towards The Christians, From Nero To Constantine.—Part I. Para 1 Web 6 April 2012 Guizot, Francois P. G., History of Christianity Persecution Of The Christians In Gaul, Para 36 Web 6 April 2012 Lecky William History of European Morals The Conversion of Rome pages 436 &440 Web 6 April 2012 Tacitus, Annal xv. 44 Tacitus, The Annals Web 6 April 2012 Read More