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Decian persecution; bemg the Hulsean pr 
 
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THE DECIAN PERSECUTION 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The chief sources of information with regard to the 
 Decian persecution are the Epistles and Treatises 
 of Cyprian, and the letters of Dionysius, Bishop 
 of Alexandria, preserved by Eusebius in the sixth 
 and seventh books of his History. Besides these 
 we have the highly coloured narrative — probably 
 derived from oral tradition — of Gregory of Nyssa, 
 and the very untrustworthy 'Acta Martyrum,' 
 from which, with the exception of the 'Acta 
 Pionii,' we gain but little in tracing the history 
 of the persecution. Thus it will be seen that our 
 information is of the most fragmentary nature, 
 and for two reasons in particular we are unable 
 to gain a clear view of the course of affairs : first, 
 that in no case do different authorities narrate 
 
vi Preface. 
 
 the execution of the edict in the same province ; 
 and second, that the tone of the proceedings in 
 each case varied with the personality of the 
 governor of the province. We are therefore 
 unable to introduce with any certainty features 
 observable in one province to supply the defects 
 in our knowledge of another, and thus to set 
 before our eyes a course of procedure followed 
 uniformly in every part. 
 
 For this reason I have, after the necessary 
 introductory chapters (i.-v.), traced the history 
 of the persecution in the West, in so far as the 
 works of Cyprian and the \ Acta Martyrum ' per- 
 mit. The important questions connected with 
 the restitution of the la])si occupy chapter viii., 
 while Egypt and the East, for which our infor- 
 mation is drawn from Dionysius, Gregory of 
 Nyssa, and the various Acts of Martyrs, are 
 dealt with in chapter ix. 
 
 A study of the persecution would be incom- 
 plete withoxit a short account of the Church's 
 position under Gallus, whose antichristian policy 
 — less aggressive, for cogent reasons, than that 
 of Decius — failed no less miserably than that of 
 
Preface. vii 
 
 his predecessor. The term " Decian persecution " 
 I have interpreted in its strictest sense, following 
 Cardinal Baronius, whose note — called forth by 
 the inaccuracies of the ' Acta Martyrum,' where 
 the whole period 249-260 is sometimes called 
 the Decian persecution — I have summarised and 
 quoted in the essay. 
 
 I have endeavoured to form independent con- 
 clusions from the evidence at my disposal ; but 
 I remain deeply indebted to the work of M. 
 Aub4 ' L'%lise et I'ifitat dans la Seconde Moiti^ 
 du Troisieme Siecle ' ; the article entitled " Chris- 
 ten verfolgung," in F. X. Kraus's ' Eeal-Encyclo- 
 padie,' by Dr F. Gorres ; and also Schiller's 
 ' Geschichte der romische Kaiserzeit.' I have 
 acknowledged in footnotes my obligation to these 
 and other authors whenever I have consciously 
 reproduced their work. 
 
 . It may be well to say that the essay in its 
 first form was complete before the appearance 
 of Archbishop Benson's great study of the life 
 and times of Cyprian, which, however, I have 
 frequently consulted and quoted in preparing 
 these sheets for the press. 
 
viii Preface. 
 
 I cannot conclude without expressing my warm 
 gratitude to Dr Mason, Lady Margaret Professor 
 of Divinity, for many corrections and suggestions 
 adopted throughout the book ; and also to my 
 sister, Miss Hilda Gregg, for great assistance 
 rendered in the course of its revision. 
 
 The list of books consulted generally with 
 reference to this period is as follows : — 
 
 Ruinart, Acta Primorum Martyrum sincera et selecta. 
 
 Paris, 1689. 
 Cyprian. Ed. Hartel, 1868. (Referred to as H.) 
 Lactantiua, De mortibua persecutorum. 
 Eusebius, Historia Eoclesiastica. 
 Socrates, Historia Ecclesiastica. 
 Sozomen, Historia Ecclesiastica. 
 Origen, Adv. Celsum. 
 Trebellius Pollio, Valeriani vita. 
 Pomponius Lsetus, Compendium, Decius. 
 Sextus Aurelius Victor, De Caesaribus. 
 Jordanes (Bishop), De origins actibusque Getarum. 
 Epiphanius, De ponderibus et mensuris. 
 Orosius, Historia adv. Paganos. 
 Zosimus, Historife. 
 Zonaras (in Migne). 
 Jerome — 
 
 De viris illustribus. 
 
 Eusebii Chronicon. 
 
 Vita Pauli. 
 
Preface. ix 
 
 Chrysostom — 
 
 Babylas. 
 
 Adv. gentes. 
 Nioephorus Callistus. (A compound of Eusebius and 
 
 the 'Historia Romana.') 
 Sulpicius Severus, Historia sacra. 
 Simeon Metaphrastes (in Migne's ' Patrology '). 
 Reliquiae Sacrte. Ed. Routh. 
 Augustine, De Bapt. adv. Donatistas. 
 Pliilostorgius, Historia Eoclesise. 
 Chronicon Paaohale (in Migne's ' Patrology '). 
 Gregory of Nyssa (in Migne's 'Patrology,') vol. iii., 
 
 Gregory Thaumaturgus. 
 The Digest, for some fragments of Ulpian, De officio 
 
 proconsulis. 
 Optatus, De Donatistarum schismate. Adv. Parmeni- 
 
 anum. 
 Corpus Inscription um Latinarum. Ed. Mommsen. 
 Acta Sanctorum. Ed. the Bollandists. 
 Dexippus Atheniensis, Scythica, 17-20 (in Miiller's 
 
 ' F. H. G.,' vol. iii.) 
 TertuUian, Apologeticus, Scapula, &c. 
 Irenseus, Adv. Heereses. 
 Minucius Felix. 
 F. X. Kraus, Real-Encyclopadie der Christliohen Alter- 
 
 thiimer. Article by Dr F. Gorres, " Christenver- 
 
 folgung, pp. 232-240. 
 Lightfoot, Apostolic Fathers : Clement, vol. ii. ; Pol3'carp, 
 
 vol. i. 
 Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Ed. 
 
 Bury, 1895. 
 
Preface. 
 
 Milinaii, Latin Christianity. 
 
 Hardy, Christianity and the Roman Government. 
 
 Hefele, Christian Councils. 
 
 Mosheim — 
 
 Ecclesiastical History. 
 
 De rebus Christianis ante Constantinuni magnum. 
 Trans, by Vidal, London, 1835, vol. iii. 
 Harnack, in ' Sitzungsbericht der K. P. Akad. der 
 
 Wissensch. zu Berlin,' 1893, xx.wii., and Jvov. 14, 
 
 pp. 1007-1014. 
 Mason, The Persecution of Diocletian. 
 Aubt;, Les Chretiens et I'Empire remain. 
 E. W. Benson — 
 
 In D. C. B., Cyprian. 
 
 In D. C. A, Libellus. 
 Poole, Life and Times of Cyprian. 
 SchafF, Church History. 
 Dessau, Insoriptiones Latinse Selectee. 
 Aube, on Acta Nestoris, in ' Revue Arch.,' Nouv. Ser., 
 
 iii., 1884, pp. 215-234. 
 Plummer, The Church and the Early Fathers. 
 Cave, Lives of the Apostles. Vitee varies. 
 De Pressens6, Hist, des Trois Premiers Si&cles, vols, ii., iv. 
 Neander, Church History, vol. i. 
 Aubt, L'Bglise et I'Etat dans la Seconde Moiti(5 du Trois- 
 
 ieme Sifecle. 
 Milner, History of the Church of Christ. 
 Baronius (Cardinal), Martyrologium Romanum. 
 Uhlhorn, Der Kampf des Christenthums mit dem Heiden- 
 
 thum. 
 Keim, Rom und das Christenthum. 
 
Preface. xi 
 
 Albaspinseus, De Veteribus Ecclesise Ritibus Observationes, 
 
 lib. 2. 
 Fabricius, Lux Evangelii toti orbi exoriens. 
 Le Blant, Les Persdcuteurs et les Martyrs. 
 Prudentius Maranus, O.S.B., PiEefatio ad Baluzii editionem 
 
 operum Cypriani. 
 Doulcet, Les Rapports de FE^'li-se Chr^tienne avec I'Etat 
 
 romain. 
 Northoote and Brownlow, Roma Sotteranea. 
 Gregory of Tours, Hist. EccL Francorum, i. 
 R. A. Lipsius, Chronologie der romischen Bischofe bis 
 
 zur mitte des vierten jahrhuiiderts. 
 Dodwell, Dissertationes Cyprianicse, xi. De paucitate 
 
 maityrum. 
 Hamack — 
 
 Theologisclie Literaturzeitung, 1877. 
 Altobristliohe Literatur. 
 Miiller (Karl) in Breslau, Die Bussinstitution in Karthago 
 
 unter Cyprian. 
 Mommsen, Provinces of the Roman Empire. English 
 
 translation. 
 Duchesne, Liber pontificalis. 
 Wetzer and Welte, Kirchen-Lexicon, Deoius (Peters), Ab- 
 
 gefallene (Hefele). 
 Schiller, Geschichte der romische Kaiserzeit, vol. i. 
 Eckhel, Doctrina Nummorum Veterum, vii. 
 Cohen, Description historique des Monnaies frapp^es 
 
 sous I'Empire romain, vol. v. 
 Lipomannus, Vitae Sanctorum. 
 
 Liebenam, Zur Geschichte und Organisation des rciniischtn 
 Vereinswesens. 
 
xii Preface. 
 
 Mommsen, Der Eeligionsfrevel nach romischem Reclit. 
 
 Hist. Zeitschr., 1890. 
 Gorres, Kirche und Statt von Decius bis zum Eegierungs- 
 
 antritt Diocletians (249-284), in ' Jahrbiicher fiir pro- 
 
 testantische Theol.,' xvi., 1890. 
 Neumann, Der romische Staat nnd die allgemeine Kirche 
 
 bis auf Diocletian, i. 
 Bekker, U. J. H., Decins, in Ersch and Gruber's 'Allge- 
 meine Encyclopadie.' 
 Massebieau (pp. 65-84), Les Sacrifices ordonnes a Car- 
 thage ; ' R^viie de I'Histoiro des Religions,' vol. ix., 
 
 1884. 
 Allard— 
 
 Histoire des PersiJcutions pendant la Premiere Moitii^ 
 du Troisieme Siecle. 
 
 Les Dernieres Persecutions du Troisieme Sieole. 
 Le Plant, Polyeucte et le Zele temeraire ; Mem. de I'Aca- 
 
 demie des Inscr., torn, xxviii., 1876, pt. ii., 335-352. 
 Marquardt, Romische Staatsverwaltung, iii. Das Sac- 
 
 ralwesen. 
 Gorres, in ' Zeitschrift fur Wissenschaftliche Theologie, 
 
 xxii., 1879. Der Bekenner Achatius. 
 Sallet, Daten den Kaisermtmzeren. 
 Ramsay, The Church in the Roman Empire. 
 Benson, Cyprian ; his Life, his Times, his Work. 
 Tillemont — 
 
 Memoires ecclesiastiques. 
 
 Empereurs. 
 
 Acta Pionii, from the Greek in St Mark's Library, Venice 
 
 (CCOLIX.) 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 I. DECIUS ... .1 
 
 II. DECIUS : HIS CHARACTER AND AIMS . 16 
 
 • III. THE EMPIRE AND THE CHURCH BEFORE 249 A.D. 27 
 » Vfj DECIUS : HIS ATTITUDE TOWARDS CHRISTIANITY 48 
 '• V. THE CHURCH AND THE EDICT . . .60 
 
 APPENDIX A. THE FORM OP THE EDICT . 82 
 
 APPENDIX B. THE LEGAL BASIS OF PUNISH- 
 MENT . . . . .86 
 VI. THE PERSECUTION IN EUROPE . . 91 
 VIL THE PERSECUTION IN AFRICA . 115 
 APPENDIX. THE " LIBELLUS " . . 153 
 VIII. PROBLEMS CONNECTED WITH THE " LAPSI " . 160 
 
 ix. the persecution in egypt and the east . 210 
 appendix a. on the bases of the 'acta 
 
 sanctorum' . . . 263 
 
 appendix b. linguistic resemblances be- 
 
xiv Contents. 
 
 twben ' acta pionii ' and the two 
 smyknjKan records op POLYCARP . 264 
 
 x. the chtjkch under gallus . . . 267 
 
 appendix. on the technical distinction 
 between " martyr " and " confessor " . 289 
 
 298 
 
THE DECIAN PERSECUTION. 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 DECIUS. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. PASNONIA AND ILLYRICUM — DECIUS : HIS ORIGIN 
 — HIS FIRST PUBLIC APPEARANCE — HE IS PEOCLAIMED EM- 
 PEROR — REVIVES THE CENSORSHIP — ENTERS ROME — LEAVES 
 FOR THE DANUBE PROVINCES — INSURRECTION OF JULIUS 
 VALEN8 — THE GOTHS — THE FINAL STRUGGLE — THE DEATH OP 
 DECIUS. 
 
 By the middle of the third century of our era 
 the time had already arrived when the Eoman 
 empire, her vital forces exhausted alike by nat- 
 ural decay and the corruption which is at once 
 the result and the punishment of excess, was 
 forced to look abroad for counsel and support. 
 The aged mother might now with justice claim 
 from her more vigorous children some return for 
 the gifts which she had lavished upon them in 
 A 
 
2 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 days gone by. To them she might look for a fresh 
 accession of vitality, for a new policy, untouched 
 by the infection of the past. Which of her de- 
 pendencies would accept the responsibility of 
 helping to bear her burden ? 
 
 Pannonia answered to the call, and lUyricum 
 followed speedily in her train. Pannonia was 
 the latest of the acquisitions of Eome, and still 
 retained in full possession her natural energy.^ 
 From these two provinces sprang a line of Roman 
 generals, who, in strengthening the defences of 
 the empire, secured for themselves in turn the 
 imperial throne. 
 
 Decius was the gift of Pannonia to Eome, while 
 lUyricum sent Claudius, Aurelian, and Diocletian. 
 For a period of sixty years these soldier-emperors 
 held sway, and, notwithstanding temporary checks 
 and serious interruptions, succeeded in effecting 
 a continuous solidification of the empire. One 
 hostile inlluence, however, impeded their pro- 
 gress. A conflict was inevitable between the 
 reviving empire and a religion whose aims were 
 also world-wide ; and for ten years at the com- 
 mencement of this period, and an equal number 
 at its conclusion, Christianity was confronted by 
 an uncompromising hostility such as it has never 
 
 1 Schiller, p. 805. 
 
Decius. 3 
 
 known before or since : it was a battle between 
 giants, and on its issue hung the mastery of man- 
 kind. But Eome was too late : the vigour of 
 youth and purity, once hers, but long ago dis- 
 carded, to her everlasting damage, now adorned 
 her foe. There could be but one termination to 
 the contest, and when it ceased, Christianity, in 
 ruling the empire, ruled the world. 
 
 Caius Messius Quintus Trajanus Decius was 
 born at Bubalia, a country town in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Sirmium in Pannonia Inferior : ^ 
 he sprang from a Eoman family, or more pro- 
 bably, as Schiller suggests, from one which had 
 received Eoman rights. The date of his birth is 
 uncertain, some authorities giving his age at the 
 time of his accession as fifty, others as sixty ; 
 but this point is of little importance to our dis- 
 cussion. Of his early life we know nothing : the 
 ' Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum ' gives a large 
 number of provincial inscriptions of the time of 
 Maximin, in which a certain administrator of the 
 name of Decius is recorded to have done much in 
 the way of building bridges and making roads ; 
 but with this possible exception, we have no re- 
 cord of his doings until he is sent in the year 248 
 
 1 Sext. Aur. Vict., De Ctcss., 29. 1. 
 
4 The Decian Perseadion. 
 
 by the Emperor Philip to quell an insurrection 
 in Moesia. 
 
 In this disturbed region the soldiers had 
 given the title of Imperator to Marinus Paca- 
 tianus/ a taxiarch. The overthrow of this pre- 
 tender gave the army a new head in the person 
 of his conqueror; and Decius, who had set out 
 from Italy in the full confidence of his master, 
 was unanimously proclaimed Imperator by the 
 soldiers. The general character of Decius leaves 
 us little room for thinking that he was in any 
 way a party to this new state of things;^ indeed 
 it is almost certain that nothing but the know- 
 ledge that his personal safety depended upon his 
 accepting the purple could have induced him to 
 violate his trust.^ 
 
 His recognition by the army probably dates 
 from A.D. 248 ; and if we accept this date, we 
 shall be able to understand how it was that 
 he held the trihunicia potestas four times. 
 Whether this conjecture be correct or not, it is 
 plain that he was not officially regarded as 
 
 1 Cf. Eckhel, 7. 337 : "Imp. Ti. CI. Mar. Pacatianus Aug." 
 " Zonaras, 12. 19. 
 
 "' Sext, Aur. Vict., however, accuses him of treachery 
 (De CLcsa., 29. 1). 
 
Death of Philip. 5 
 
 emperor until after the end of August 249.^ 
 This date is fixed for us as our superior limit 
 by the Alexandrian coins ^ of the period, while 
 the inferior limit, as we shall shortly see, is 
 October 27, 249. We may conclude, then, that 
 during September^ Decius, who had been em- 
 ploying his respite in conciliating the friend- 
 ship of the provinces on the Danube, found 
 himself confronted at Verona by Philip, who 
 had advanced thither with his army, leaving 
 his son at Eome. The elder Philip was killed 
 on the field of battle, while his son was assas- 
 sinated by the praetorians at Eome.* 
 
 Before proceeding to the capital Decius 
 struck the key-note of his reign in a letter to 
 
 1 Dessau, Inscr. Lat. Sel., 517 : " Trie. Pot. nil." Mommsen 
 (Bull, deir Inst., 1865, p. 27) conjectured that 248 was the date 
 of his proclamation by the soldiers, 249 that of his recognition 
 at Rome, and therefore in 250 he could be said to be trib. pot. 
 ii. (as in Dessau, 514, 516) or trib. pot. iii. (Dessau, 518). This 
 latter stone is, however, not' official ; of. Schiller, p. 807. 
 
 ^ LB is the latest coin of Decius's reign : this belongs to 
 251, his second year, and no later in that year than August 29, 
 when the new year begins (Sallet, Daten, p. 66). 
 
 " Tillemont (Empereurs, iii. p. 275) concludes that Philip 
 died between mid-August and October, basing his argument 
 for his first limit on the laws of Philip's reign. 
 
 ^ Gf. Aub(5, L'Eglise et I'Etat, p. 8. Sext. Aur. Vict., 29. 1 : 
 " Lajtior hoatium nece. " 
 
6 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 the Senate. The new emperor had decided to 
 revive the censorship and vest it in that 
 assembly, and with this object he desired them 
 to meet on the 27th of October, and appoint 
 their most distinguished member to the office. 
 They assembled in the temple of Castor and 
 Pollux, and, probably at the prompting of 
 Decius, elected P. Licinius Valerianus.^ For 
 various reasons we venture to think that Gibbon, 
 in assigning this event to the date 251, has 
 placed it too late, more especially because it 
 was a conciliatory measure, likely to win the 
 favour of the Senate at the outset. Again, are 
 we entitled totally to discredit certain edicts of 
 persecution ^ which have come down to us, and 
 in which we find the names of Decius and 
 Valerian associated ? In October 250 the per- 
 secution had wellnigh spent its force, and it is 
 scarcely probable that if Valerian had not occu- 
 pied some such commanding position, he would 
 have been associated with Decius in originating 
 the persecution.^ The Senate despatched to the 
 
 ^ Trebellius PoUio, Valerian, 5-7. Zonaras, 12. 20. 
 Cf . Metaphrast, NovemLer 24. Cf . Appendix to chap, i , , 
 "The Form of the Edict." 
 
 ' Cf. Zonaras, 12. 20. Tillemont, Emp., iii. p. 280, actually 
 assigns it to the following year, 251, by which time the Em- 
 peror Decius was dead. 
 
Valerian as Censor. 7 
 
 camp the news of the election, and Deciiis pressed 
 the office on the acceptance of the unwilling 
 Valerian, who was serving with him, in a speech 
 full of extravagant hopefulness. His policy was 
 now declared : his overtures had been accepted 
 by the Senate; nothing remained but to enter 
 Eome,^ and endure for a short season the 
 honours that were to be thrust upon him by 
 that obsequious body. 
 
 His full title would now be : Imperator • 
 Csesar Caius • Messius • Quintus ■ Trajanus • 
 Decius Pius • Felix • Invictus Augustus • Pon- 
 tifex Maximus • Optimus Maximusque Princeps • 
 Tribunicise potestatis Pater patriae Consul.^ 
 The title of Caesar was without delay conferred 
 upon his eldest son, Quintus Herennius Etruscus 
 Messius Decius,^ who was immediately despatched 
 to Illyricum, while Decius remained for a short 
 time longer in Eome,* devoting himself to the 
 
 1 Eckhel, 7. 342 : "Adventus Ave." 
 
 ^ Dessau. From an inscription (517) of 251 A.D., found near 
 Barcino. 
 
 ^ Dessau, 521. By his wife, Herennia Cupressenia Etruscilla, 
 he had two sons, Herennius Etruscus, who was killed with him 
 at Abrytus, and C. Valens Hostilianus, who survived them a 
 few months. 
 
 " Sext. Aur. Vict., 29. 
 
8 The Dccian Persecution. 
 
 execution of his public duties, and deliberating 
 witii Valerian and the Senate on the proposed 
 rehabilitation of religion and morals. During 
 this period '^ he received the gratifying news 
 that Jotapianus, whose pretensions to power 
 had troubled Syria and Cappadocia in the reign 
 of Philip, had fallen before the caprice of his 
 own soldiers. 
 
 The emperor's stay in Eome lasted in all 
 probability until March 250. We hear of his 
 building baths ' and restoring walls in the city ; 
 and it is evident that the personal superintend- 
 ence of the prosecution of his edict, coupled 
 with the work of administrative reform, required 
 his presence for some months at the seat of 
 government. 
 
 Having laid the foundations of his pro- 
 posed scheme of restoration, Decius found him- 
 self compelled to proceed with all haste to the 
 provinces on the Danube. The north-eastern 
 frontier was the most insecure of all the borders 
 of the empire, which from this time was com- 
 pelled to wage a defensive warfare against the 
 
 1 Sext. Aur. Vict., 29. 
 
 "^ Chron. M. Aurel. Cassiod., p. 695, 2. 13. Cf. Pomp. 
 Lretus, Compendium. 
 
Decius leaves Rome. 9 
 
 barbarians within the boi^ndaries of its nominal 
 dominions. No sooner had the title of Cassar 
 been conferred on his eldest son than Decius 
 hurried him off to Illyricum, wliither he himself 
 proceeded in March 250. The territories of 
 Illyricum and Pannonia had, without doubt, 
 been exposed to a succession of barbarian 
 inroads during the past two years of deadly 
 strife for the purple ; and it was no trifling- 
 danger which led Decius to turn his steps again 
 to the province of his birth.^ 
 
 His departure was the signal for the out- 
 break of trouble at Eome also, for hardly had 
 he left the capital when the news reached him 
 of the insurrection of Julius Valens. This out- 
 break was probably confined to Italy, and was 
 speedily suppressed.^ 
 
 1 Cf. Sohilier, i. p. 804. 
 
 ^ Sext. Aur. Vict., 29 : " Decio quam potuit maturrime Eoma 
 digressn, Julius Valens cupientissimo volgo Imperium cepit : 
 verum utrique [Valens and Priscus in Macedonia] mox caesi." 
 Mommsen (Bull, dell' Inst., 1865, p. 27) concludes from the 
 erasure of the name of Decius on an inscription from Falerii 
 that the insurrection broke out in Italy. The inscription is 
 given in Dessau, I. L. S. , 518. Besides, it is not likely to 
 have occurred in Illj'ria, as one author relates, where Etruscus 
 already was, and Decius had just arrived. Cf, Schiller, 
 i. p. 805. 
 
TO The Deciaii Pc7'scaitw7i. 
 
 The Goths meanwhile had seized the op- 
 portunity presented to them by the concen- 
 tration of the Eoman troops at the heart of the 
 empire, and under the command of Cniva had 
 united with the Carpi and invaded Moesia ^ and 
 Thracia,^ which they found without their due 
 complement of troops. They spent the year 
 250 in ravaging the country, and collecting such 
 booty as could be acquired without extensive siege 
 operations, at the same time preparing to invest 
 Mcopolis, an important city on the Jatrus. 
 
 The emperor, having secured the borders of 
 Illyricum and Pannonia, passed northwards 
 across the Danube into the territory of the 
 Eastern Germans, who were menacing Dacia on 
 the west. This campaign terminated success- 
 fully for Decius and his son, whose achieve- 
 ments are recorded on a series of commemorative 
 coins.^ From German territory he entered Dacia, 
 
 ' Mommsen, Provinces, ii. p. 240. 
 
 - Lactantius, De mort. persec, § 4. Pomponius Lcetus, 
 Compendium ; " Una cum filio ad liberandas Thracias pro- 
 fectus est, nam Seytliia; et navalibus et terrestribus copiis 
 omnia iufestabant. 
 
 " Eckhel, 7. 345, " Imp. C;;e. Ti-a. Deo. Aug. Victoria Ger- 
 manica" ; and 394, "Imp. C. Q. Her. Etr. Mess. Decio. Aug. 
 Victoria Germanica. '' Gorres arbitrarily, it would seem, in an 
 article in the ' Zeitschr. f. Wiss. Theol.,' 1879, says that the 
 younger Decius was not Augustus till 251. 
 
The Gothic Campaign. 1 1 
 
 which he succeeded in restoring to quiet and 
 prosperity.^ 
 
 The winter found the Goths hemmed in be- 
 tween the Danube and the sea, and with an 
 energetic soldier like Trebonianus Gallus, the 
 then governor of Mcesia, occupying an excellent 
 position in the heart of the country, Decius 
 might reasonably look forward to a favourable 
 issue of the campaign in the following year. 
 
 Early in 251 the Goths divided themselves 
 into two large bodies ; one of these remained in 
 Moesia, while the other went southwards into 
 Thrace. The northern force laid siege at once to 
 Nicopolis, which Trebonianus Gallus had put into 
 a state of defence. The Goths now found them- 
 selves in a trap, with Gallus in front, and Decius, 
 who had thrown his forces across the Danube, 
 in the rear. In these circumstances they were 
 forced to retreat to Philippopolis, after losing, it 
 is said, 30,000 men. Here they found their 
 southern force, with which they effected a 
 
 ^ Dessau, I. L. S. Decius is called "restitutor Daciarum." 
 Eckhel, 7. 343, gives a coin Dacia, and another with Dacia 
 Felix. Cohen, p. 193, gives a coin of this reign with Pan- 
 NONiiE on it. He gives many others with (Genivs) Exerc. 
 Illtriciani. Dacia was an easy prey to the Goths, who would 
 overrun it on their way to the fertile territories of Mo3sia and 
 Thracia. 
 
1 2 The Dccian Persecution. 
 
 junction before the beleaguered city. With 
 admirable foresight they took no steps to block 
 up the passes by which they had traversed the 
 Balkan range, and Decius, following them pre- 
 cipitately, and without due caution, encamped at 
 Beroea in Macedonia, sixty miles from Philip- 
 popolis. Here he was surprised by Cniva, who 
 made a sudden descent on his encampment, and 
 took him entirely unawares, with the result that 
 the imperial forces were routed, as many as 
 100,000 Eomans being left dead on the field.i 
 
 At this juncture Lucius Priscus, governor of 
 Macedonia, handed over Philippopolis to the 
 Goths on the condition that they should accord 
 him their protection while he created a diversion 
 in their favour by assuming the title of Ccusar.^ 
 A tradition is extant that he was a brother of 
 the late emperor, Philip the Arabian ; ^ but it is 
 hardly likely that Decius would have suffered 
 so near a relative of his predecessor to retain a 
 position of such importance. He was at once 
 
 ^ Ammiauus Marc. , xxxi. 5. 
 
 ^ Sext. Aur. Vict., 29 : " Luoio Frisco, (jui JIacedonas 
 prECsidatu regebat, delata dominatio, Gothorum concursu, 
 postquam direpti.'i Thracife pleris.iue illo [i.e., in Macedoniam] 
 pervenerant," 
 
 ^ The story is given in Zo.simus, i. 19, and is accepted by. 
 Gibbon. 
 
The Got/lie Campaign. 13 
 
 declared a public enemy/ and was without delay 
 deposed." 
 
 There is no reason to believe that Decius 
 ever saw Eome again after he had set out for 
 Illyricum in April 250. Nevertheless, he must 
 have realised that his Dacian success in that 
 year would be altogether discounted in the eyes 
 of a fickle populace by his defeat at Beroea ; and 
 his prolonged absence from the capital, coupled 
 with the news of the rebellion, however speedily 
 suppressed, of Lucius Priscus, could scarcely fail 
 to obliterate the grateful memory of his services. 
 Spurred on by the thought, he resolved on a 
 desperate plan. Immediately after the rout at 
 Eeroea he had set about repairing his losses, and 
 now made his way with all speed to the Danube. 
 Here he determined to strike a blow at the 
 Goths, who were moving northwards, encumbered 
 with their vast spoils, which they were anxious 
 to deposit in safety on the northern side of the 
 
 1 Sext. Aur. Vict., 29. 2. 
 
 ^ Probably by the Roman element within the city. This 
 account is based generally upon Dexippus Ath. in JIuller, 
 'F. H. G. ,' fr. 19. 20, and Jordanes, 'De orig. aotibusque 
 Getarum,' § 18 f. The chronology throughout is very 
 involved. Cf. also Mommsen, Provinces, ii. 240 f., and 
 Schiller, i. p. 806. 
 
14 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 river. But misfortune dogged his footsteps. 
 The treachery of a subordinate officer was his 
 undoing, and the example set by his own rise 
 was followed in his fall. 
 
 The last scene of the drama was enacted 
 on Scythian soil.^ At Abrytus^ Decius con- 
 fronted the victorious Goths, and, misled by a 
 feigned retreat on the part of the enemy, a 
 stratagem suggested to them by his own second- 
 in-command, Gallus, perished with his son in a 
 morass. His cold philosophy did not fail him 
 even when the news was brought of his son's 
 death. "It only means one soldier less in the 
 army," was his characteristic reply. He was 
 himself killed shortly afterwards : neither his 
 body nor that of his son was ever recovered. 
 Gallus received the purple as the result of his 
 treachery,^ and secured immunity from Gothic 
 invasions by a renewal of the shameful tribute, 
 which Philip had refused to pay.* 
 
 The Goths had inflicted on the Roman arms a 
 disgrace hitherto unparalleled ; a Eoman emperor 
 
 ^ In the marshes of Dobrudsha, Schiller, i. p. 806. Bury, 
 iu his edition of Gibbon, i. p. 249, seems to agree with this view. 
 - Sext. Aur. Vict., 29. = Zosimus, i. 23. 
 
 •' Cf. Schiller, i. p. 808. 
 
Death of Deems. 1 5 
 
 had been defeated and slain by a foreign enemy 
 on Eoman soil. 
 
 Decius had reigned barely two years, dying in 
 July or August 251.^ 
 
 From the few indications which remain to us 
 we should be inclined to judge that the last and 
 fatal year of his reign terminated a period within 
 which the empire had enjoyed a reasonable 
 measure of peace coupled with considerable 
 prosperity.- 
 
 ^ Sallet, Daten, p. 66 f., gives Alexandrian coins of no later 
 date than the second year of Decius's reign — i.e., LB. The 
 year, for this purpose, ended on August 29. 
 
 ^ Cf. Eckhel, 7. 343, "Abvhdanti.v Avq." ; and Cohen, p. 
 189, "Felicitas SiECVLl"; p. 195, "PiiJX ^Eteena"; p. 196, 
 'Vberitas Avg." 
 
 Note. — We tave been unable to suggest with any rea- 
 sonable certainty a date for the expedition of Deoius to 
 Gaul. 
 
 Eutropius (Brev., i. 9, cp. 4. ed. Bipont) says that 
 Deoius had to put down a sedition in Gaul, but whether 
 this occurred before his return to Borne after the battle 
 with Philip, or later in his reign, we can find no means 
 of deciding. 
 
i6 
 
 CHAPTEE II. 
 
 DECIUS {continued) HIS CtlAEACTEE AND AlilS. 
 
 DIFFICULTY OF DEPICTING HIS CHARACTER — DECIUS AN IDEALIST — 
 THIES TO HEAD A CRUSADE AGAINST THE PREVAILING NON- 
 ROMAN INFLUENCES — A DISAPPOINTED MAN — A MAN OF 
 VIRTUOUS LIFE — NO STATESMAN — HIS ASSUMPTION OF THE 
 NAME TRAJAN — HIS AIMS — MORAL REFORMS. 
 
 The writer who would depict the character of 
 Decius is confronted by a serious difficulty at the 
 outset of his task. In addition to the remarkable 
 paucity of trustworthy evidence, the writers from 
 whom details may be taken range themselves 
 with unswerving constancy in two camps, Chris- 
 tian sources representing the emperor as the 
 incarnation of all that is evil, while heathen 
 testimony supplies a diametrically opposite view. 
 Such being the case, it is necessary to discrimi- 
 nate between the evidence of those whose in- 
 terest it is to blacken his character or whose 
 hostility would colour their judgment, and that 
 
Character of Decius. 1 7 
 
 of others who are merely chronicling the facts 
 for an audience of unprejudiced readers. We 
 must therefore exercise great caution in accept- 
 ing the statements of such writers as Eusebius, 
 Gregory of Nyssa, Cyprian, or Lactantius,^ see- 
 ing that we find in direct opposition to their 
 accounts the testimony of Zosimus and Vopis- 
 cus.^ ISTo estimate of his character will be com- 
 plete that is not largely based on a consideration 
 of his political purposes and aspirations. 
 
 Decius was a man of high aims, and of the type 
 of disposition which, finding satisfaction in soli- 
 tude, is inclined to live as it were in the clouds, 
 and thus to form unchecked theories and ideals 
 of its own. Such a temperament, united to a 
 strong and severe nature, almost of necessity 
 breeds a reformer. And such was Decius ; the 
 reforming spirit breathes in every word of the 
 speech to Valerian ^ on his election to the cen- 
 sorship, to which we have already alluded. To 
 
 ' Lactantius, De mort. persec, 4, says, "Exatitit . . . ex- 
 ecrabile animal Decius." Cyprian, Ep. 22 (H., p. 533, 11): 
 "Maior anguis, metator antioliristi. " 
 
 ^ Zosimus, i. 21 ; Ae/cios — Trcttrais SiaTrpe-jrwy tols dpcrais. 
 Vop. Aur., cp. 42: " Decios quorum et vita et mors veteri- 
 bus comparanda est.'' 
 
 ^ This speech is taken from the acoouut of Valerian iu the 
 Augustan history. 
 
 B 
 
1 8 The Decian Pei^secution. 
 
 quote Gibbon's translation : " ' Happy Valerian,' 
 said the prince to his distinguished subject, ' happy 
 in the general approbation of the Senate and the 
 Koman Eepublic ! Accept the censorship of 
 mankind, and judge of our manners. You will 
 select those who deserve to continue members of 
 the Senate. You will restore the equestrian 
 order to its ancient splendour ; you will improve 
 the revenue, yet moderate the public burdens. 
 You will distinguish into regular classes the 
 various and infinite multitude of citizens, and 
 accurately review the military strength, the 
 wealth, the virtue, and the resources of Eome. 
 Your decisions shall obtain the force of laws. 
 The army, the palace, the ministers of justice, 
 and the great officers of the empire, are all sub- 
 ject to your tribunal. None are exempted, ex- 
 cepting only the ordinary consuls, the prefect 
 of the city, the king of the sacrifices, and (as 
 long as she preserves her chastity inviolate) the 
 eldest of the vestal virgins. Even these few, who 
 may not dread the severity, will anxiously solicit 
 the esteem, of the Eoman Censor.' " 
 
 If the speech here given represents at all 
 closely the emperor's actual words, our estimate 
 of the character of his political idealism can 
 scarcely be incorrect. We cannot help wonder- 
 
Deems, a Patriot. 19 
 
 ing whether, previous to his sudden exaltation, 
 he had not been a complete stranger to Eome. 
 Does not his enthusiasm savour rather of a 
 contemplative life that had been spent in his 
 provincial villa, far av?ay from the enervating 
 atmosphere and despondent weariness of Roman 
 thought ? Was not his mind too fresh, was not 
 the man himself too poor in experience, to con- 
 trol the fortunes of an empire withering with 
 age? 
 
 His aims were serious and patriotic, and to the 
 aid of his enthusiasm he brought all the energy 
 of a nature well disciplined and unflinching in 
 its severity.! But for the attainment of success 
 circumstances must meet the reformer half-way, 
 and this was not the case with Decius. He had 
 come too late, and the world knew it : to us he 
 seems like the Brutus of an age outworn. 
 
 Decius represents a momentary reaction to- 
 wards everything that was Eoman from all that 
 was most markedly the reverse. He clung with 
 the inborn tenacity of his character to the antique 
 traditions of the mother-city, and was convinced 
 that in a return to the old Eoman idea lay the 
 only hope of salvation for an orientalised empire. 
 Eeligion had degenerated into a mere congeries 
 
 1 Cf. UhUiorn, Kamirf, p. l!34. 
 
20 The Dcciau PersectLtioii. 
 
 of foreign rites and cults : morality could gain 
 nothing from the East, and was in abeyance. 
 The only creed which aimed at a moral life had 
 attained such influence as to threaten the very 
 cause for which he was contending; and there- 
 fore the theorist decided to annihilate a move- 
 ment which a more practical man might have 
 turned to the advantage of the empire and 
 society.! Defeat was inevitable, but with a 
 cynical resolution he entered the arena, hoping 
 fondly to suppress by means of a sweeping edict 
 a faith of two centuries' gi'owth. 
 
 The world turned on the failure of his proscrip- 
 tion of Christianity the same indifferent eyes that 
 would have scanned his revival of the censorship, 
 had he lived long enough to give it practical 
 effect. Disappointment marked his course in 
 domestic as in external politics. The Christians 
 attributed his defeat to divine vengeance ; a later 
 age would have wondered had he triumphed." 
 
 We are entitled to see in him, however he 
 
 ' Cf. Plummer, The Church and the Early Fathers. 
 Cf. Dr F. Gorres in F. X. Kraus's 'Keal-Eucyclopadie.' 
 That Decius lived amid notions of the past is shown by the 
 relation in which he stood to the Senate, and the influence he 
 gave it. Cf. Pomp. Liut., Compendium: " Cupiens nihil agere 
 nisi quantum senatus juberet, censuram amplissimo orcUni 
 permisit." Cf. Uhlliorn, Kampf, p. 334. 
 
Deems, a Rcligio2is Man. 2 1 
 
 may have been led away by his enthusiasm 
 for ancient standards, one of the noblest repre- 
 sentatives of later heathenism, animated by the 
 same virtuous principles in private as in public 
 life.^ The testimony of his coins, and that already 
 adduced from heathen writers, is indirectly con- 
 firmed by the silence of Christian authorities, 
 who bring no definite accusation against his 
 moral character. 
 
 Whatever varying opinions may exist re- 
 garding Decius as a man, there can be but one 
 respecting his reign. As a statesman he was 
 absolutely unsuccessful. His attempt to revive 
 the censorship was anachronistic : the one force 
 which could have assisted his restoration of 
 
 1 Cf. Treb. Poll., Claudius, cp. 13: "Decius Imperator 
 . . . et virtutem et verecundiam Claudii publice pra3dicavit." 
 Cf. Eckhel, 7. 345, " Pvdicitia Avqvsti " ; p. 343, " Con- 
 cordia AvGG." ; p. 342, " Liberalitas Avgg. (Decius et 
 Herennius congiario pnosidentes)." Cf. Pomp. La3t., Com- 
 pendium : "Ad amplissimas dignitates non ambitio, non 
 empta suffragia, non corrupta3 amioitia;, sed boni mores per- 
 duxere. " Decius was a religious man: he paid special atten- 
 tion, it would seem, to the cult of Mercury : cf. Cohen, p. 
 195, "PiETAS AvGO.," with a picture of Mercury half-erect, 
 Cf. Pomp. Ij[ct., Compendium : " Decius, cujus vita sanctis- 
 simis institutis nunquam adversata est." Cf. Sext. Aur. Vict., 
 29 : " Vir artibus cunctis virtutibusque instructus, plaoidus et 
 communis domi." 
 
2 2 The Deciaii Perscciition. 
 
 society he was obliged, for the salce of consist- 
 ency, to combat; hence he was foredoomed to 
 failure. His lot was indeed hard. The heathen 
 reformer's attacks passed like a dread storm 
 over the Church, but it rose triumphant and 
 mocked him : before he could assail corruption 
 at home, a foreign enemy confronted him, and 
 he fell. 
 
 His reputation as a general has doubtless 
 suffered through his ill-fated Gothic campaign ; 
 but here again his ill-fortune pursued him. His 
 successes against the Daciaus and Germans were 
 forgotten when the tide turned ; his life was 
 lost at a critical moment, and the opportunity 
 of recovering his renown was gone. There is 
 little reason to doubt that had he lived longer 
 he would have anticipated the successes of 
 Aurelian,'^ and prevented Home from slipping 
 back into the position of a tributary to the 
 Goths.2 A courageous soldier and experienced 
 general, he possessed in no small degree the 
 stoical calmness of his old Eoman namesake.^ 
 
 ^ Cf. Sext. Aur. Vict., 29 : "In armis promptissimus. " 
 ^ As happened immediately, under Trebouianus Gallus. 
 " When he heard "f his son's death in the course of the 
 battle at Abrytus, he said quietly: " Detriiuentum unius 
 militis parum sibi videri," and went on fighting with renewed 
 energy (Sext. Aur. Vict., 20). 
 
His resemblance to Trajan. 23 
 
 He had endeared himself deeply to the lUyrian 
 army, which took the lead in proclaiming him 
 Imperator.i 
 
 It is impossible to fix accurately the time 
 at which he assumed the name of Trajanus. 
 Whether he recognised in himself qualities 
 resembling those of Trajan, or whether he saw 
 in him a model of princely excellence, we can- 
 not decide ; but the likeness will be apparent 
 if we consider the two emperors side by side. 
 The character of Decius we have already traced ; 
 that of Trajan has been drawn for us by M. 
 de Pressens^ : - — 
 
 "Trajan was neither a Nero nor a Domitian. 
 He was a man of elevated mind, ... an illus- 
 trious general, a consummate politician. He 
 allowed himself to be guided by reasons of 
 state ; but these seemed to incline him to per- 
 secution. He had set himself the task of re- 
 generating Roman society, he was the great 
 protector of paganism ; Pliny, in his Panegyric, 
 praises him for his piety. A scornful scepticism 
 
 ' Cohen, p. 189, gives large numbers of coins with such 
 inscriptions as (Genivs) Exero. Illyuiciani. Cf. Pomp. La3t., 
 Compendium : " Qui a militibus ante Imperator faotus fuerat, 
 a Senatu Augustus eat appellatus." 
 
 ^ De Pressense, Histoire des Trois Premiers Sidcles, t- ii. 
 cp. .3. 
 
24 
 
 The Decian Pcisccvtion. 
 
 lurked beneath this seeming devotion; but it 
 was all the more needful, from a political point 
 of view, to encourage the revival of the ancient 
 faiths among the people." ^ 
 
 A short survey only is necessary of the 
 plan which the emperor pursued in attempting 
 to give practical effect to his great scheme. The 
 Eonian idea of the State was that government 
 and religion should be one — the State an idol 
 before whicli every citizen should bow, the 
 national religion an institution sharing the 
 sanctity and inviolability of the State" — and 
 that this union, so long as it remained intact, 
 would guarantee purity of morals. 
 
 But what did Decius find ? In religion every 
 man did that which was right in his own eyes ; 
 morality was at a discount ; the government was 
 in the hands of a capricious soldiery. On the 
 borders were the barbarians, growing bolder with 
 
 ' Aub^, p. 8 ff., in discussing Decius suggests that he may 
 have been a scejDtic in religion. We doubt it : his coins with 
 religious inscriptions would make him out to be either a devout 
 worshipper or a hypocrite ; and Decius was certainly not the 
 latter. Zosimus, whose testimony, however, must be received 
 with great caution, .says, i. 23, AeKt^j . . . ^piara ^€^a(ji\^vK6rt 
 r4\os TQiSvSe (Tvyi^r). 
 
 " Of. Peters, art. on Decius in Wetzer and Wolte's Kircheu- 
 Lexicon. 
 
Administrative Reforms. 25 
 
 each successful incursion ; at home were rehgions 
 collected from every corner of the East, and 
 above them all rose one, the votaries of which, 
 while living a peaceable life, were yet a constant 
 menace to public authority and institutions : its 
 aim was world-wide, it could brook no rival.^ 
 
 His first measure was to set on foot a reform 
 in the higher ranks of society : this he did by 
 pressing upon the Senate the election of a censor. 
 
 This step, followed as it was by other smaller 
 concessions,^ was conciliatory in its effect, as the 
 Senate was thereby reinvested with the moral 
 guardianship of the State. 
 
 The principle of the division of power between 
 a military and a civil Cffisar was not new ; ^ still, 
 to go back to the censorship, and at the same 
 time considerably to widen its sphere,* was a 
 dangerous experiment. Had not Decius been 
 spared by his early death the pain of seeing the 
 failure of his measure, friction would inevitably 
 
 ^ Cf. Aubd, L'Eglise et I'Etat, p. 6. 
 
 ^ Cf. Pomponius Lfctu.?, Compendium : " Nam jus quintfe 
 relationis et proconsulare imperium, unde Augusti omnes pro 
 consulibus, nee non et jus tribunicijE potestatis, quod Augustus 
 primus sibi vindicaverat, arbitrio spqr permisit. " 
 
 ' E.g., insert under Pupienus and Balbinus. 
 
 ' See the speech of Decius to Valerian earlier in this chapter. 
 Valerian, on his accession, reduced the scope of the Senate's 
 and the censor's action. 
 
26 The Dccian Pcrscciition. 
 
 have arisen which would have necessitated the 
 weakening of the censor's power. 
 
 It is probable that both parties felt an equal 
 interest in the new scheme : the Senate was 
 pleased to welcome any proposal from the 
 emperor that was calculated to show how in- 
 dispensable a portion of the State machinery 
 was the senatorial order ; while the emperor, 
 who was not well versed in the art of civil 
 administration, desired to secure the stability 
 of the revived office by basing it on the acqui- 
 escence of so venerable a body. His penetration 
 was singularly at fault : he was attempting to 
 impose on a universal empire the organisation 
 fitted for a small state. ^ Had he lived longer, 
 experience would doubtless have shown him that 
 his talents were hotter suited for the camp than 
 for the Senate. 
 
 His attitude towards religion and Christianity 
 will demand a SL'p)arate chapter.^ 
 
 ^ ThiB section nn the censorship is reproduced from Schiller, 
 i. pp. 807, 808. 
 " Cliap)tnr iv. 
 
CHAPTEE III. 
 
 THE EMPIRE AND THE CHURCH BEFORE 249 A.D. 
 
 TRAJAN — HADEIAN — ANTONINUS TIUS — COMMODUS — SEVEnUS — 
 CAEACALLA — ALEXANDER SEVERUS — MAXIMIN — GOEDIAN III. 
 — PHILIP THE ARABIAN — OUTBREAK AT ALEXANDRIA — WAS 
 PHILIP A CHRISTIAN ? — CONCLUSION. 
 
 Before considering the attitude of Decius to- 
 wards the Christian Church, it will be well to 
 examine briefly that of the emperors who pre- 
 ceded him. 
 
 Not until the time of Trajan (112 A.D.) was 
 the legal basis for future official action respecting 
 Christianity clearly defined. It is true that Nero 
 and Domitian had recognised the existence of the 
 sect : the former had taken advantage of the 
 popular reports which ascribed flagrant im- 
 morality and a blind hatred of humanity to the 
 professors of the faith/ to punish them for an 
 
 1 Tacitus, Annals, 1.5. 44. Cf. Ramsay, C. in R. E., p. 242. 
 
2 8 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 imaginary complicity in the burning of Eome.^ 
 Domitian was not a general persecutor, but his 
 fury exhausted itself upon those in high places, his 
 actions being as capricious as they were unjust.^ 
 
 By the time of Trajan, the fall of Jerusalem 
 and the rapid growth of the Christians, combined 
 with the Jewish repudiation of any connection 
 with them, had made it obvious that Jews and 
 Christians were entirely different in religion, 
 aims, and legal standing. An indication of the 
 difficulties consequent on this state of things is 
 to be found in the official correspondence of Pliny 
 the Younger and the Emperor Trajan in 112 
 A.D. ; ^ the outcome of which was that rules were 
 laid down for the guidance of provincial gov- 
 ernors, which were not actually repealed till the 
 edict of Gallieuus in 261 a.d. The change now 
 recognised was this : hitherto, as much as at any 
 later period, Christianity had been an " illicit 
 religion," not having received official sanction : 
 henceforward Christianity was a crime. No in- 
 
 ' Tacitus, I. c. 
 
 ^ Among his victims were his relatives Flavius Clemens and 
 Plavia Domitilla, Cf. Bus., H. E., 3, 18; Suet., Domitian, 
 op. 15. 
 
 ^ Pliny, Epp. 96, 97. Professor Ramsay's conclusions on 
 this correspondence are very valuable (C. in R. E. , cp. ,\-., and 
 esp. p. 22.3). 
 
Procedicre under Trajan. 29 
 
 formal accusation was to be received, but a formal 
 indictment and conviction were to be followed 
 by summary punishment. ISTo search was to be 
 made for Christians, and any who were accused 
 were given by the governor the opportunity of 
 denying the charge. If they were willing to 
 invoke the gods, to offer incense before the image 
 of the emperor, and to curse Christ, they were 
 released ; otherwise death was the penalty for 
 their defiant constancy to this " unsettling super- 
 stition." The Christians were by this imperial 
 rescript secured a fair trial, and given full oppor- 
 tunity of recantation. Strangely enough, its 
 provisions proved at once a safeguard and a 
 disadvantage. It now lay with the individual 
 governor to decide on the interpretation of the 
 law. A man of clement character need take no 
 steps in the matter, yet a popular outbreak might 
 force him to move ; there were, in fact, many 
 possibilities of fear and few of hope under the 
 new rules. A governor who wished to conciliate 
 local feeling, or to obtain recognition from a 
 superior, would find no means more likely to give 
 pleasure, and none more ready to his hand,i than 
 action against this unpopular sect. 
 
 ^ Cf. the attack by Serenianus, in Maximin's reign (Cyprian, 
 Ep. 75, § 10). 
 
30 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 To the reigns of Hadrian and Antoninus Pius, 
 which together extended over forty-three years, 
 belong the Apologies of Quadratus and Aristides, 
 which were presented to Hadrian, and that of 
 Justin Martyr, which was presented to his suc- 
 cessor. The Church was making great advances ^ 
 in Hadrian's time ; but although we have reason 
 to believe^ that the emperor himself was no 
 persecutor, there were certainly local governors 
 to whom it seemed that the goodwill of their 
 provinces was best to be secured by giving 
 victims to the popular fury.^ The fact also of 
 the writing of the Apologies would seem to be 
 sufficient evidence for the existence of some 
 ground of complaint. The first year of the reign 
 of Antoninus Pius was marked by the martyrdom 
 of Telesphorus of Eome : riots broke out against 
 the Church in Greece,* while the Christians of 
 Asia appealed for protection.^ It was in all 
 probability one of the waves of this tide of 
 popular excitement which passed over Smyrna 
 and occasioned the outbreak which issued in the 
 death of Polycarp.^ 
 
 1 Eusebius, H. E., 4. 7. - Tertullian, Apol., 5. 
 
 3 Jerome, Ep. 8i. " Eusebius, H. E., 4. 26. = Ibid., 4. 12. 
 
 '' The proceedings wore of a thoroughly judicial nature, 
 although set on foot by the people. Cf. Martyrdora of Poly- 
 carp, Lightfoot, Ap. Fathers. 
 
Marcus Aurelius. 31 
 
 The reign of Marcus Aurelius was the most 
 inauspicious that the Christians had yet known. 
 With his connivance, perhaps even with his 
 authority, various edicts were published hostile 
 to the Church. By these a premium was set 
 on delation : ^ informers were to receive the con- 
 fiscated property of those Christians whose con- 
 demnation they secured. The emperor, in 
 developing the principles laid down by Trajan, 
 gave his sanction to the popular movement 
 against Christianity. Evidently the Stoic saw 
 no contradiction involved in the contrast between 
 his words and deeds, when he could speak of 
 himself as one whose hands were free from blood, 
 and at the same time issue edicts the outcome of 
 which was torture and bloodshed.^ 
 
 The Christians were henceforth to be sought 
 out, and for the previous prescription of execu- 
 
 ■^ A step in advance. Hadrian's rescript to Minucius Fun- 
 danus {circa 124 a.d.) had merely provided for the punishment 
 of false accusers. 
 
 ^ Neander, i. p. 147, gives the following edict from the Acts 
 of St Symphorian, which he suggests may really belong to this 
 emperor's reign : "Aurelianus [Aurelius?] Imp. omnibus admin- 
 istratoribus suis atque reotoribus. Comperimus ab his, qui se 
 temporibus nostris Christianos dicunt, legum prEocepta violari. 
 Hos comprehensos, nisi diis nostris sacrificaverint, diversis 
 punite cruciatibus, quatenus habeat districtio prolata justitiam, 
 et in resecaudis criniinibus ultio teruiinata jam finem." 
 
32 The Dcciau Persecution. 
 
 tion without torture in the case of those who 
 steadfastly adhered to their profession, there was 
 now substituted a series of attempts to force 
 them by torture to deny their faith.^ 
 
 Eome, Gaul,- and Asia Minor ^ were visited by 
 the storm, and it is probable that they did not 
 stand alone. Numerous Apologies were presented 
 to the emperor, the most noteworthy of which 
 was that written by Melito of Sardis, who refers 
 piteously to the confiscatory clauses of the 
 edicts.* 
 
 Persecution raged less hotly during the last 
 years of this reign, and ceased upon the accession 
 of Commodus, who under the influence of his mis- 
 tress Marcia ^ allowed the presence of Christians 
 about his person,^ and released many who had 
 been condemned to the mines. An unsettled 
 period of political disorder was succeeded by 
 
 ■' Neander, i. p. 146. 
 
 ^ E.rj., the martyrdoms at Lugdunum and Vienna (Eusebius, 
 H. E., .5. 1). 
 
 3 See the Apology of Melito of Sardis, Eus., H. E., 4. 26. 
 
 ^ Eusebius, /.. u. Apollinarius of Hierapolis presented an 
 Apology ; and .5. 17, Miltiades, irpijs rovs Kocr/xiKovs dpxoi^ras inv^p 
 ■qs fieri^ei (fji\oiTO(pias 7veir6n]Tai atroXoyiav. 
 
 = (fiAffeeos 7raAAa|. (Hippolytus, lief., ix. 12. p. 288.) 
 
 ^ Cf. Neander, i. p. 146. Cf. also Irenaaus, Adv. Hter. , iv. 
 30 (written e. 186) : " Quid autem et hi qui in regali aula sunt 
 fideles ' " 
 
Septimius Severus. 33 
 
 the reign of Septimius Severus, who permitted 
 general liberty of conscience until 202 a.d. The 
 past twenty years had witnessed numerous acces- 
 sions to the Jewish and Christian creeds ; but 
 hitherto Severus, whose relations with the Senate 
 were strained, and who was in consequence 
 inclined to disregard the interests of that home 
 of heathenism,! had taken no notice of the 
 inroads of these religions. It was, in fact, a 
 matter of common knowledge that after the 
 renewal in 198 of the law dealing with religious 
 colleges the Christians were registered under the 
 head of " burial clubs." ^ But in the year 202, in 
 the view, possibly, of restraining Christianity and 
 Judaism from making such encroachments as to 
 eclipse the religions of heathenism,^ the emperor 
 issued a proclamation forbidding proselytism on 
 behalf of either of those creeds.* The necessity 
 for such an edict seems to show that Christianity 
 
 ^ On the other hand, Decius, who wished to conciliate the 
 Senate, was a persecutor. 
 
 2 Cf. Doulcet, p. 163, where he quotes de Rossi, R.S., i. p. 
 105. TertuUian, Apologet., 39. Cf. Ramsay, C. in R. E., 
 p. 359. 
 
 » Cf. Baur, Part v. § 2. 
 
 ^.Spartian, Severus, 17- " ludfeos fieri sub gravi poena 
 vetuit : idem de Christianis sanxit." This is the first official 
 distinction we possess between Jews and Christians. Cf., 
 however, Ramsay, C. in R. E., p. 194. 
 C 
 
34 The Deciaii Persecution. 
 
 had latterly enjoyed a tacit recognition ; but now 
 pestilence and barbarian inroads made men ask 
 what were the causes of these and other troubles. 
 The only answer was that the gods must have 
 been estranged from the nation by some grievous 
 fault, and the easiest way of recovering their 
 favour was to persecute the adherents of the 
 upstart religion, who repudiated the claims of 
 civil duties and imperial defence, and arrogated 
 to themselves the right of laying down the 
 principles of morals and religion.^ This was the 
 cause of the edict of Severus, which was accom- 
 panied probably by hostile action on the part of 
 certain provincial governors, acting on their own 
 initiative or that of the populace. In Severus 
 we see again a true persecutor,^ whose rigour ^ 
 produced the impression that Antichrist must be 
 close at hand.^ The storm raged with especial 
 fury in Egypt and Africa,^ and there were many 
 examples of individual constancy, among which 
 should be noticed the martyrdoms of Leonides, 
 
 1 Cf. Schiller, i. p. 898. ^ g^jp^ gg^^ 2. 32. 
 
 ^ Eusebius, H. E., 6. 7. 
 
 ^ Doulcet (p. 165) suggests that pereecution was aimed at 
 the catechumens. Such class persecutions took place under 
 Maximin, and perhaps Decius, wlio directed them against the 
 clergy, and Valerian, who prescribed penalties for different 
 civil classes and ranks. •^' Eusebius, H. E,, 6. 1. 
 
Alexander Severiis. 35 
 
 the father of Origen, and of Perpetua and Pelicitas 
 at Carthage. 
 
 The reigns of Caracalla, Macrinus, and Elaga- 
 balus passed uneventfully for the Christian 
 Church : the last-named emperor was too much 
 engrossed by the sensual orgies of his Syrian 
 worship to pay any attention to a question more 
 attractive to politicians than to a votary of pleas- 
 ure.^ It still rested with the individual governor 
 of a province to decide on the interpretation to 
 be given to the anti-Christian regulations, and we 
 hear that some magistrates even devised exped- 
 ients whereby, without open violation of the law, 
 they might spare the lives of Christians arraigned 
 before their tribunals.^ 
 
 During the reign of Alexander Severus (222- 
 234 A.D.) ^ the Church continued to enjoy its 
 season of rest.* The emperor, who began his 
 
 ^ It is curious to notice that the emperors of the worst moral 
 characters gave the Church the least anxiety. 
 
 ^ TertuUian, Ad Scap., 4. Cincius Severus and Vespronius 
 Candidus did their best to suggest subterfuges for the Chris- 
 tians. 
 
 3 Schiller, i. p. 783 u. 
 
 '' ^lius Lampridiua, Alex. Sev., cp. 22: "Christianos esse 
 passus est." Cf. Eusebius, H. E., 7. 10, where he is probably 
 referred to as one of the emperors: "oi K^x^ivT^s i.va.'pmil'bv 
 XpuTTiavol ■yeyovivai." Doulcet says that at this time churches 
 began to appear inside cities. 
 
36 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 reign at the age of fourteen, never revolted from 
 the guidance of his mother, Julia Mammsea, 
 whose counsels were attended with better suc- 
 cess than those which Julia Mfesa had offered to 
 Elagabalus.i 
 
 The emperor's preference for things oriental 
 was clearly marked ; the Syrian element was as 
 strongly developed in him as in any of his pre- 
 decessors, while his own prepossessions were 
 supported by the powerful influence which was 
 successively exercised by the women of the house 
 of Severus over their male relations. Hence, with 
 the diminution of the imperial interest in things 
 essentially Eoman, we can see a corresponding 
 advance towards a cosmopolitanism which, al- 
 though not positively attached to Christianity, 
 was by no means opposed to it. In this reign 
 accusations against the Christians based on the 
 charge of maiestas ceased to be put forward,^ but 
 Christianity was not yet made a religio licita 
 — a step which the emperor was far from 
 strong enough to take in face of the passive 
 strength of heathenism : indeed, it was under 
 Alexander that Ulpian drew up his tractate 
 
 1 Herod., 6, 1. 1. 
 
 ^ Ccd. Just., i., ad leg. Jul. Majest. a,. 224 [x. 8], in Le Blant, 
 362 n. : " JIaiestatis crimina cessant meo sa-'culo." 
 
Maximin. 3 7 
 
 ' De officio proconsulis,' summarising the imperial 
 rescripts directed against the Christians before 
 the middle of the third century. The emperor's 
 mother, whose religious feelings inclined towards 
 an eclectic monotheism gathered out of the many 
 cults of the day, held conversations with Origen ; 
 while we read that Alexander, whose household 
 contained many Christians,^ caused a Christian 
 maxim to be inscribed on various public buildings. 
 
 The death of Alexander and his mother at the 
 hands of the soldiery ^ on the Rhine brought to 
 an end the liberal rule of the house of Severus, 
 and a sharp reaction followed.^ The Senate, the 
 influence of which had gradually been reviving, 
 was rudely set at nought, and the army stood 
 forth as the source of power. 
 
 The new - comer, Maximin, was a Thracian 
 peasant by birth and a soldier by profession. 
 He had never filled a public office before the 
 army proclaimed him Imperator in the year 234, 
 and was so illiterate as to be unable to speak 
 Latin correctly. The circumstances of his eleva- 
 tion marked him out as an opponent of the sena- 
 
 > Eusebius, H. E., 6. 23. 
 
 2 Sext. Aur. Vict., De Cecss., 24. 4. 
 
 3 Cf. Schiller, i. pp. 765-771, and pp. 897-900 ; and Neander, 
 i. p, 170 <&. 
 
38 The Decian PersectUion. 
 
 torial body : the army gave him the title of 
 Augustus, and it was in the presence of a mili- 
 tary assembly that he associated with himself, as 
 joint-ruler, his son, on whom he had bestowed an 
 excellent education.^ It is probable that his re- 
 versal of the policy of Alexander was due not so 
 much to any rancour against him as a man,^ as 
 to a radical opposition to his principles, intensi- 
 fied by the knowledge that his own character 
 would inevitably make him unpopular with all 
 those who had enjoyed the favour of his gentle 
 predecessor. Aware as he was of the patronage 
 which the bishops of the Christian Church had 
 received from Alexander, he must have antici- 
 pated that, so long as they enjoyed their former 
 liberty of speaking and teaching, the whole 
 weight of their influence would be thrown into 
 the balance against him, and for this reason he 
 decided to order their execution. He was, more- 
 over, not ignorant that the household of Alex- 
 ander contained a large Christian element.'^ 
 
 Here was a persecution aimed solely at a par- 
 ticular class, that of the rulers of the 'Church 
 
 ' Schiller, pp. 7S.3-795. 
 Eusebius, H. E., 6. 28 : 6s 5j) kuto. Korhp wphs rhv 'AAe^av- 
 dpov olnov. 
 
 3 Eusebiu.s, H. E., 6. 28. 
 
Maxiniin. 39 
 
 Maximin had no desire to annihilate Christi- 
 anity : his object was merely repressive. From 
 this time forward every emperor was forced to 
 take a side in the struggle : if he did not show 
 himself hostile to Christianity, he was held to 
 be favourable to it.^ But in Maximin the spirit 
 of the army took bodily shape ; - in the army 
 the old Eoman superstition was strong, and the 
 military mind had no sympathy for monotheistic 
 religions which led men to seek immunity from 
 service. But the efforts of Maximin were not 
 well supported ; public opinion refused to be 
 coerced into intolerance, and with the exception 
 of Eome and Cassarea in Palestine, we hear of 
 no place where the imperial edict was put into 
 effect. From Eome, Pontianus and Hippolytus 
 were deported to Sardinia, but at Ctesarea the 
 officials were so lukewarm in their efforts that 
 Origen found it possible to escape. At Cfesarea 
 in Cappadocia, however, the fugitive found that 
 a popular outbreak had arisen, caused by a series 
 of earthquakes in the district, which had en- 
 
 1 Cf. Aub(5, p. 165. 
 
 " Schiller, i. p. 90-3. Decius also was a genuine represen- 
 tative of the soldiers' creed; cf. Jordanes, Get., 18. 103 : " Qui 
 locus hodieque Decii ara dicitur, eo quod ibi ante pugnam 
 mirabiliter idolis immolasset." 
 
40 The Decian Persectition. 
 
 couraged the governor to make scapegoats of 
 the Christians; this danger, again, it was pos- 
 sible to escape by passing ■ to another place.^ 
 Elsewhere no attack upon the Christians is 
 heard of ; in fact, Gordian's proconsulate (236, 
 237) in Africa was very favourable to the 
 Church, while persecution must have speedily 
 ceased even in Eome, where Fabianus was ap- 
 pointed bishop in 236. The stress cannot have 
 been very severe, as Eusebius has no names 
 of martyrs to record, and we hear of but few 
 confessors. - 
 
 This period of unrest terminated with the 
 death of Maximin at the hands of his discon- 
 tented troops, and during the next few months 
 the political atmosphere was too threatening to 
 allow of any special interference with the Christ- 
 ians. Five aspirants^ to the purple had suc- 
 cumbed, before Gordian III., a boy of fourteen, 
 was saluted as Augustus by the soldiers, a.d. 238, 
 apparently in opposition to the will of the Senate. 
 
 1 Cf. Cyprian, Ep. 75. 
 
 2 Sulp. Sev., Chr. ii. 32. Cf. Gorres in F. X. Kraus, Real- 
 Encyclopadie, i. p. 230. Neumann, p. 225 ff., and Aube, p. 167 f. 
 Eusebiu8, H. E., 6. 28, gives the names of only Ambro.sius and 
 Protoctetus. 
 
 ^ Maximua (son of Maximin), Pupienus, Balbinus, Gordian I., 
 Gordian II. 
 
Philip the Arabian. 41 
 
 His reign is shrouded in almost total darkness ; 
 we know only that about the beginning of 242 
 he married Furia Sabina Tranquillina/ whose 
 father was immediately advanced to a high posi- 
 tion, and installed as chief adviser of the young 
 emperor. The death of this counsellor in 243 
 was followed by the elevation to the same office 
 of M. Julius Philippus, an Arabian. The new- 
 comer had no scruples about pointing out to the 
 army the utter incapacity of Gordian in military 
 matters, and pressure was brought to bear on the 
 emperor to make Philip joint-ruler with himself. 
 Not unnaturally he demurred to setting up so 
 powerful a rival, with the result that the army 
 took the matter into its own hands, and, killing 
 Gordian, transferred the purple to Philip at the 
 beginning of 244 a.d.° Philip bestowed the title 
 of Augustus on his son in 247, and celebrated 
 the festival of the thousandth anniversary of the 
 foundation of Eome with great pomp in 248. 
 The later years of his reign were marked by 
 various disastrous inroads of the barbarians on 
 the north, and by the appearance of several 
 pretenders to the imperial title — Jotapianus in 
 
 ^ Zosimus, i. 17. 
 
 ^ The ' Historia Augusta ' fails us from the reign of Gordian 
 in. until that of Valerian. 
 
42 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 Syria,^ Pacatianus Marinus in Moesia,- and finally, 
 Trajanus Decius, who alone succeeded in making 
 good his claim. ^ It seems that Egypt was visited 
 at this time by a pestilence, which carried off 
 some of the officials of the Church at Alexandria.* 
 
 Since the time of jNIaximin the Christians had 
 been entirely undisturbed, but in 248 a terrible 
 outbreak of popular fury occurred in Alexandria. 
 This year^ marks the border-line between two 
 periods in the history of the Church — that of 
 official toleration and popular dislike, and that, 
 on the other hand, of popular sympathy and 
 official disfavour. 
 
 It was no imperial edict that fired the excit- 
 able mob of Alexandria, but the rhapsodies of a 
 frenzied poet who played upon the popular super- 
 stition. In a letter to the Bishop of Antioch,^ 
 the Bishop Dionysius describes vividly some of 
 the scenes then enacted, and adds that no sooner 
 had the mob been forced by exhaustion to cease 
 from its attacks than the news arrived that the 
 sympathetic rule of Philip was at an end,' while 
 
 "i Coheu, p. 229, gives three coins with his name. 
 
 = Zosimus, i. 20. i Cf. Schiller, i. pp. 79.5-S03. 
 
 -• Eusebius, H. E., 7. 11. 24. = Cf. Neumann, p. 2.54. 
 
 « In Eusebius, H. E., 6. 41. 
 
 ^ Eusebius, /. c-. ; ^ tt^s ^aaiK^ias iKe'ivrjs Tqs eu^iei/eo-T^pas 
 
IVas Philip a Christian ? 43 
 
 the new emperor's unfriendly attitude gave the 
 signal for general alarm. 
 
 It is necessary to pause for a moment and 
 inquire whether the Emperor Philip was a 
 Christian or not. A tradition to this effect is 
 first given in Eusebius,-"^ and is repeated by 
 Chrysostom,^ while it appears again in the Alex- 
 andrian Chronicle and in Orosius.^ The whole 
 story is therefore, in all probability, to be traced 
 to Eusebius, who dared not relate it as a fact, but 
 left the matter open to debate, prefixing his 
 remarks with the words, " The saying goes." 
 The entire silence preserved by Origen, and the 
 fact that Decius did not find Christianity a 
 religio licita, serve to throw doubt upon the 
 legend. On the other hand, the evidence in 
 support of it is as follows : Eusebius,* writing of 
 Valerian, remarks of him that at first he was " as 
 favourable as any of the emperors who had been 
 openly called Christian," and these could only have 
 been Alexander Severus and Philip. In another 
 passage he tells that there were extant in his 
 day two letters — one from Origen to Philip, and 
 
 1 Eusebius, H. E., 6. 34. 
 ^ Chrysostom, Adv. Julianuin et Gentes, 6. 
 ^ Chron. Alex., ed. 1615, p. 630. Orosius, 7. 20: "Hie 
 primus imperatorum omnium Christianus fuit." 
 ■» Eusebius, H. E., 7. 10. 
 
44 The Decian Persendioii. 
 
 another to the Empress Otacilia Severa.^ This 
 second piece of evidence is certainly not strong 
 enougli to convince us that Philip was a Christ- 
 ian, especially when we consider that he was 
 responsible for the death of his predecessor, 
 Grordian III., and that he publicly conformed to 
 the State worship,^ while both he and his son 
 were deified at their death.^ But how are we 
 to explain the existence of the tradition ? It 
 is highly probable that the story arose from 
 heathen sources. Philip's friendly policy was 
 doubtless the object of much adverse criticism 
 from pagan writers and thinkers, and this resent- 
 ment would be intensified by the correspondence 
 which was known to have passed between Origen 
 and the emperor and his wife.* As time went 
 on, and the story passed from mouth to mouth, 
 his negative sympathy would be intensified into 
 a positive profession of Christianity on Philip's 
 part, and hence perhaps on the part of Alexander 
 also, whose standpoint — namely, that of a broad 
 eclecticism — would be identified with that of 
 
 ' Eusebius, H. E., 6. 36. 
 
 ^ Cohen, p. 139, 14, gives us coins, which point with their 
 inscriptions to the dawn of a new sceculum, and show us the 
 Cjeaar offering. His wife also did not fail in her duty : of. 
 Cohen, pp. 146, 34 ; 147, 39. 
 
 ' Eutropius, 9. 3. ^ Neumann, p. 246 ff. 
 
Pagan Intolerance. 45 
 
 Philip. It appears to us that MM. Allard and 
 Aub^i have adopted a different view without 
 sufficient grounds. We are not compelled to 
 resort to the hypothesis of a profession of Christ- 
 ianity by Philip in order to explain the anti- 
 Christian reaction of 248 and the following years. 
 The change finds abundant explanation in the 
 fact that paganism had been stimulated by the 
 millenary festival of 248, and recognised in the 
 Gothic invasions and the pestilence in Egypt 
 signs of divine disapproval of the policy of 
 Philip, whose conscientious tolerance forbade 
 him to continue proceedings against the Christ- 
 ians,^ and thus became an instrument in the 
 propagation of their doctrines. There is but a 
 step between religious enthusiasm and religious 
 intolerance, and the Christians, holding aloof from 
 the public giving of thanks, may almost be said to 
 have invited the punishment, which began only 
 a few months later with the outbreak at Alex- 
 andria. A short quotation 3 will serve to illus- 
 trate the zealous paganism of the time. " Through 
 all countries, provinces, and cities we see indi- 
 
 1 Allard, cp. 6, § 1. Aub^, p. 471. 
 
 2 Origen, Adv. C, iii. 15. He foresees a speedy conclusion 
 of the present tranquillity. 
 
 ^ Minuoius Felix, 6. 1. 2. 
 
4-6 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 viduals devoted to their national cults and the 
 honour of their local gods ; the Eleusinians to 
 Ceres, the Phrygians to the Mother of the gods, 
 the Epidaurians to ^sculapius, the Chaldeans 
 to Bel, the Syrians to Astarte, the Taurians to 
 Diana, the Gauls to Mercury, but the Romans 
 to all gods. Their power and importance have 
 captivated the world." 
 
 We have now completed our review of the 
 attitude of the emperors towards the Christian 
 Church prior to the year 249. The importance 
 of the sect does not seem to have been recognised 
 before the close of the second century : it passed 
 as an unsettling superstition, which could be kept 
 in check by repressive measures. After the ac- 
 cession of Severus, although the same statutes 
 were liable to be enforced either generally or 
 locally at the caprice of an individual, the State 
 interfered but little with Christianity : Severus 
 and Maximin made the only official attacks on 
 the Church, and these in no way had for their 
 object the general body of Christian believers, 
 but were aimed in the one case at the bishops, 
 and in the other at the growing practice of pros- 
 elytism. The progress of the Church was inter- 
 rupted by a few local outbreaks, from which it 
 was not difficult to escape ; but these served 
 
Progress of Christianity. 47 
 
 rather to test and confirm the strength of belief 
 and purity of motive necessary for healthy de- 
 velopment. 
 
 Throughout the period, wellnigh continuous, of 
 sixty years of non-Eoman Csesars, the Church 
 was silently extending its influence throughout 
 all grades of society. That it numbered among 
 its sons any of the emperors, even in secret, we 
 cannot allow : in no case did they extend towards 
 it more than a purely negative sympathy. The 
 legalisation of Christianity was a positive step 
 which the throne was too weak to force on the 
 world, and too much isolated to propose with any 
 reasonable hope of acceptance. 
 
48 
 
 CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 DECIUS : HIS ATTITUDE TOWAEDS CHEISTIANITY. 
 
 THE DIFFICULTY OF THE PROBLEM BEFOEE DECIUS — THE ROMAN 
 BELIGION — RISE OF FOREIGN CULTS — M0VE3IENT TOWARDS 
 MONOTHEISM — THE CULTUS OF C^SAE — REACTION PROM THE 
 MILDNESS OP PHILIP— SUGGESTED CAUSES — A FRESH ERA IN 
 THE GREAT STRUGGLE —THE MOVEMENT NO LONGER POPULAR 
 BUT OFFICIAL — ETHICAL VIEW OF THE CASE — ATTITUDE OF 
 THE ROMAN GOVERNMENT — CONTRAST BETWEEN JUDAISM AND 
 CHRISTIANITY — A TRADITIONAL RELIGION MUST BE JEALOUS 
 — DECIUS FOLKJWED OLD MAXIMS. 
 
 The religious question as it presented itself to 
 Decius was encumbered with grave difficulties. 
 No preceding emperor — at least if we may judge 
 from recorded history — had realised as vividly as 
 did Decius how vitally essential it was to the true 
 conception of the Eoman State-idea that religion 
 and the State should be absolutely identified with 
 one another ; in fact, that no man could be a true 
 citizen who was not a steadfast adherent of the 
 State form of worship. Hence Decius could 
 
Oriental Cults. 49 
 
 profit by the experience of no predecessor in for- 
 mulating a plan of action, in facing a problem 
 hitherto untouched. That he approached it with 
 due gravity and conscientiousness we can scarcely 
 doubt, while his consistency and thoroughness in 
 the attempt demand at least our respect. 
 
 The religion on behalf of which Decius was 
 struggling ^ was one based on the ancient Greek 
 and Eoman polytheism, with the Caesar-cult as a 
 dominating element. By means of this eclectic 
 creed he wished to supplant the numerous cults 
 which had collected at Eome, and had so long 
 usurped its sway. Before the time of Hadrian 
 there had been introduced the worship of the 
 Phrygian and Egyptian deities, such as Magna 
 Mater, Isis, and Osiris,^ while a large number of 
 freedmen had become proselytes to Judaism.^ 
 The second great period of religious development 
 coincided in date with the dynasty of the Anton- 
 ines, when the Syrian* and Persian forms of 
 belief found favour ; Syrian worships were repre- 
 sented chiefly by that of the sun-god of Emesa, 
 
 1 Cf. Ramsay, C. in R. E., p. 191 flf. 
 
 2 And Christianity as well, but it had not yet attained such 
 growth as to appear dangerous. 
 
 ' Juvenal and Persius have many allusions to the Jewish 
 proselytism of that time. 
 * Cf. Juvenal, Satire iii. 62. 
 D 
 
50 The Dccian Persecution. 
 
 of whose rites the voluptuous Elagabalus a cen- 
 tury later was the most notable adherent ; but 
 in this last and almost despairing revival of 
 heathenism every other cult paled before that of 
 Mithras, the Persian sun-god. 
 
 Mithras - worship had been permitted under 
 Tiberius, but only attained prominence under the 
 Antonines, and retained its lofty position until 
 about 400 A.D. A writer in the fourth century ^ 
 assigns the highest places in the motley Pantheon 
 to Isis, Cybele, Virgo Cselestis (Astarte, the Car- 
 thaginian deity), and Mithras, the deities respec- 
 tively of water, earth, air, and fire. The only 
 possible solution of the difficulty arising from the 
 existence of so many deities was to regard them 
 as different manifestations or aspects of the same 
 supreme power, and this expedient recommended 
 itself gradually to the heathen mind. The gen- 
 eral trend of thought was towards monotheism, 
 and, although the time was as yet not ripe for it, 
 Christianity was waiting to satisfy the cravings 
 of the age. The actual contest between the 
 Church and paganism for the possession of the 
 world did not begin until, at the opening of the 
 third century, the Church could number among 
 
 ^ Firtnicus Maternus (c. 346), in his work ' De errore pro- 
 fanarum religiouum.' 
 
The State Religion. 5 1 
 
 her sons the men of law and letters, philosophy 
 and rhetoric, who held possession of the world of 
 literature-^ In the course of this rivalry the two 
 forms of monotheism, the pure and the imperfect, 
 acted and reacted on one another in a marked 
 degree. 
 
 Side by side with these manifold forms of wor- 
 ship stood the cultus of the Csesar. Springing 
 out of the characteristic reverence of Eome for 
 the Manes, the Lares, and the Genius of the 
 family, it found support first in the provinces, 
 and then in Eome itself, under the influence of 
 Greek and oriental tendencies. To this cultus 
 many public priesthoods and private guilds owed 
 their existence." Here was the nucleus for the 
 new Eoman State religion, with the old polythe- 
 ism of Greece and Eome as its fitting comple- 
 ment ; and by adopting it Decius found himself 
 in conflict with Christianity. An outward con- 
 formity was all that was required ; when this was 
 rendered, a citizen had testified his loyalty to the 
 State, and was free to indulge his private reli- 
 gious fancies as he wished. To a pagan this con- 
 formity would present no difficulty ; in the case 
 
 1 E.<j., TertuUian, Clement of Alexandria, Origen. 
 
 2 This section is based entirely on Marquardt, Sacralwesen, 
 iii. p. 75 ff. 
 
52 The Deciaii Persecution. 
 
 of a Christian, compromise was impossible, for 
 Christ demanded an undivided allegiance. 
 
 We cannot but observe the unfailing regular- 
 ity witli which, as in politics so in religion, the 
 pendulum of change swings backwards and for- 
 wards. The sternness of Decius following on the 
 clemency of Philip the Arabian recalls to our 
 minds the barbarity of Maximin succeeding the 
 tolerant liberality of Alexander Severus ; and 
 again, Diocletian's attack on the Church follows 
 a spell of peace that had lasted almost unbroken 
 for forty years. 
 
 Perhaps the decline of interest in the State 
 religion^ had been finally borne in upon the mind 
 of Decius in the preceding reign, when Piome had 
 celebrated the festival of her thousandth year, 
 from which the Christians had ostentatiously held 
 aloof : in such circumstances, he must have felt 
 — for he was a shrewd observer — that there was 
 at work in the world a force too lightly estimated 
 hitherto. And when at last power was placed in 
 his own hands, the repressive spirit of the military 
 religionist rose strong within him, and he decreed 
 that Christianity should be exterminated. Against 
 the Christians as individuals he had no grudge 
 
 ' Officially it had always been rigorously observed. 
 
The Christians must Conform. 53 
 
 they were at any rate peaceable citizens — but, in 
 so far as they were Christians, they were a hostile 
 camp. A religion which had done more than any 
 other to foster a neglect of the ancient gods, whose 
 votaries disclaimed all civil and military obli- 
 gations and repudiated the cultus of the emperor, 
 could be dealt with by no half measures. Gentle 
 persuasion, with the suggestion in the background 
 of punishment for the unyielding, might first be 
 tried ; but that the inquiry should be searching, 
 and that compliance with the State religion 
 should be urged, and, if necessary, forced upon, 
 every man, woman, and child who was suspected 
 of professing Christianity, was the emperor's 
 deliberate determination. His aim was similar 
 to that of Julian a century later ; but for Decius 
 there is more excuse : he was by birth a heathen, 
 and desirous of reforming a heathen country. 
 Julian, on the other hand, had been brought up 
 as a Christian, and his statesmanship was singu- 
 larly at fault in his attempt to restore an effete 
 and banished religion.^ 
 
 The source of the blow which now fell on the 
 Christians indicated a fresh era in the struggle. 
 For forty years (with the exception of a short 
 
 1 Cf. article "Decius," by U. J. H. Bekker, in Erscii and 
 Gruber's Lexicon. 
 
54 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 and severe attack on the bishops by Maximin) 
 the supreme power had regarded the growing 
 Church with indifference : all attacks upon it 
 had emanated from the people, who, led astray by 
 their ignorance of Christianity or fired by fana- 
 ticism, either took the law into their own hands 
 or prevailed on a plastic governor to put in force 
 the regulations dealing with illicit religions, which 
 as a general rule were allowed to lie dormant. 
 But when the common people had at length been 
 brought to see that their blind charges against 
 the Christians were unfounded, a more formidable 
 opponent advanced to the attack : in the name 
 of public safety, the emperor, supported by all 
 the power of the law, vetoed the existence of 
 Christianity, As guardian of the State order, he 
 was determined to put down an organisation 
 which threatened the welfare of the empire. No 
 compromise was possible: the old laws,^ never 
 repealed, but allowed by the imperial tolerance 
 to fall into abeyance, were to be put into force 
 once more, backed by such new enactments as 
 the nature of the case might require.^ The 
 Syrian Cassars had introduced cosmopolitanism 
 
 ^ E.g., the rescript of Trajan; the law of Septiinius Severus 
 {whose existence Neumann denies). 
 2 Cf. Aub(5, p. 10 ff. 
 
Oj'-ganised Persecution. 55 
 
 in religion, and, ia consequence, Christianity had 
 been allowed to flourish, and had seized the 
 opportunity of spreading far and wide through 
 the empire. ITow, however, the head of the State 
 saw in the followers of this movement nothing 
 but a hostile force, whose advance was to be 
 combated from headquarters. Hence, in this 
 persecution, and in those of Valerian and Dio- 
 cletian, which followed the same lines, the number 
 of victims was very large ; whereas Origen ^ tells 
 us that in the earlier persecutions " only a few 
 persons, who could easily be counted, died at 
 certain times for the Christian religion." Por 
 local outbreaks there was now substituted a 
 universal and methodically organised scheme ai 
 annihilation.^ 
 
 The personal convictions of Decius corres- 
 ponded closely with those of the genuine Eoman 
 of an earlier date. In the ethical system of each, 
 the idea of the State was supreme ; consequently, 
 any exercise of private judgment in the individual, 
 which led him to practise an illicit cult to the 
 exclusion of the State religion, demanded imme- 
 diate suppression. " The ideas of man's universal 
 rights, of universal religious freedom and liberty 
 
 ■■ Origen, Adv. CeLsum, iii. 8. 
 2 Cf. Baur, Pt. v. § 2. 
 
56 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 of conscience, were quite alien to the views of 
 the whole ancient world." ^ 
 
 The Eoman Government was essentially toler- 
 ant ; but anything like an association not accred- 
 ited by the State was regarded with considerable 
 apprehension. Here was a wide organisation, 
 pervading every province of the empire. It was 
 governed by officials — often men of inferior birth 
 — who, in their immediate sphere, wielded a 
 greater power than the emperor himself; while, 
 in addition, the society regarded as paramount, 
 and as far outweighing any imperial obligations, 
 the claims of a king whose dominion was to be 
 the world. The anger which in earlier days had 
 inspired heathen mobs to attack those who had 
 the effrontery to declare the established religion 
 false and their own true, had now developed 
 into terror, and terror drove the Government 
 to those counsels of frantic despair which have 
 marked the reigns of Decius and Diocletian with 
 blood.^ 
 
 It may seem strange that the Eoman Govern- 
 ment tolerated Judaism among other foreign 
 religions, and yet opposed Christianity with so 
 much vehemence. But the reason for the dis- 
 
 1 Cf. Neander, i. p. 117. 
 
 ' Cf. Plummer, The Church and the Early Fathers, 161 ff. 
 
ytidaism, a National Religion. 5 7 
 
 tinction lay in the fact that while Judaism was 
 the religion of a conquered people, Christianity- 
 could claim no special race as its heritage. Rome 
 was wont to conciliate the goodwill of freshly 
 conquered nations, and as a mere matter of policy 
 to leave them in the undisturbed enjoyment of 
 their traditional modes of worship, thus lightening 
 as far as possible the burden of their servitude. 
 But who were the Christians ? They had sprung 
 from the same soil as the Jews ; yet the Jews 
 disowned them and stimulated Eoman hatred 
 against them.^ Where was their country ? They 
 had none, and as soon as they were suppressed in 
 one place they sprang up in another. In short, 
 they were indestructible ; their organisation was 
 hydra-headed; as fast as one official was put down, 
 another rose up in his place. The Jews might 
 claim toleration because they had been conquered, 
 but the Christians could offer no such plea ; the 
 Jews had their synagogues and their well-known 
 rites, but the Christians were dOeoi. " Show us 
 your gods," was a familiar demand, which the 
 Christians were never able to answer. In the 
 mind of a conscientious ruler like Decius, this 
 
 1 As at Smyrna, in the case of Polycarp and Pionius. Cf . 
 also TertulUan, Soorp. 1 : " Synagoges Judseorum fontes per- 
 secutionum. " 
 
58 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 aspect of the problem can have served only to 
 deepen the conviction that action was necessary. 
 It was an inevitable consequence of the posses- 
 sion of a traditional religion, and the feeling that 
 loyalty to the State was impossible without ad- 
 herence to its creed, that an earnest and con- 
 servative Government should be at the same 
 time a jealous one : a less stringent union between 
 religion and the State was not possible until 
 Christianity could lead the way, with its insistence 
 on the necessity of deliberate choice or refusal on 
 the part of the individual conscience. 
 
 Cicero's fundamental maxim on the subject of 
 religion,! that " no man shall worship by himself 
 any new or foreign gods nisi publics culscitos,'' and 
 the advice of Mtecenas to Augustus, " Compel all 
 others to worship the gods of your country ; 
 punish innovators in religion," '^ were founded on 
 a conception which was in no long time to pass 
 away. Decius was unfortunate in having to 
 put his theories to the test at such a time 
 and with so strong a force against him. We 
 cannot help regretting that the reigns of some 
 of the most grossly immoral of Eoman emperors ^ 
 
 '■ Cicero, De legibus, 1. ii. cp. 8. 
 
 ^ Given by Neander, i. 118 ff. 
 
 ■' £.;j., Commodus and Elagabalus. 
 
Ill-fortune of Decius. 59 
 
 should have proved the most favourable to 
 the interests of Christianity, while one of 
 the most high - minded of them has earned 
 for himself a name of infamy in the annals 
 -of the Church. 
 
6o 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE CHUKCH AND THE EDICT. 
 
 THE CHUKOH BEFOEE 212 — GROWTH OF LAXITY FROM 212 TO 24U 
 — THE GOSPEL IN THE WORLD — THE EDICT — THE MOTIVES OF 
 DECIUS, AS GIVEN BY EUSEBIDS — THE EDICT PUT FORWARD AT 
 AN UNPROPITIOUS TIME — DATE OF ITS APPEARANCE — ITS PRO- 
 VISIONS — INVITATION TO SACRIFICE A DAY APPOINTED THE 
 
 BISHOPS DENOUNCED — MEETINGS PROBABLY FORBIDDEN — THE 
 
 SANCTIONS OF THE EDICT DIRECTIONS TO THE MAGISTRATES 
 
 THREATS TO CARELESS OFFICIALS — METHODS OF PUNISHMENT 
 OF OFFENDERS. 
 
 APPENDIX A. THE FORM OF THE EDICT : EDICT ISSUED BY 
 DECIUS AND VALERIAN — HOW PUBLISHED — SUGGESTED TEXTS. 
 
 APPENDIX B. THE LEGAL BASIS OF PUNISHMENT ; A DIL- 
 EMMA — FOUR CLASSES OF CRIME UNDER THE ROMAN LAW — 
 CONCLUSIONS. 
 
 I. It will be desirable to glance briefly at the 
 general state of the Chnrch in the middle of the 
 third century, before discussing the edict of 
 Decius and the effect it produced. 
 
 "We know from inscriptions the names of a 
 considerable number of patricians who had 
 
The Age of Septimius Severtis. 6i 
 
 embraced the new faith; since the end of the 
 second century . . . there had arisen a regular 
 Christian aristocracy." ^ From the time of Corn- 
 modus the doctrines of Christianity had begun to 
 find adherents in the highest circles at Eome/ 
 and this advance continued without interruption 
 during the reign of Septimius Severus. Tertullian, 
 writing about 197 a.d./ mentions the complaints 
 of the heathen respecting the daily increase in 
 the numbers of the Christian body. " You have 
 taken the State by storm," they exclaimed ; 
 " every rank, every sex, every office is passing 
 into your power." The same writer says again : * 
 "We are but the growth of yesterday, and yet 
 we have taken possession of everything that 
 belonged to you, — your cities and your armies, 
 the imperial palace, the Senate and the law 
 courts : we have left you nothing but your 
 temples." About the year 212 he writes again : 
 " Although the emperor knew that men and 
 women in the highest positions were followers 
 of our persuasion, so far was he from attacking 
 us that he withstood the angry menaces directed 
 against us by the crowd." 
 
 > AUard, p. 2il. ^ Eusebius, H. E., 5. 21. 
 
 ■' Tertullian, Ad nationes, i. 1. 
 
 * Ad scapulam, 4. About 212 a.d. 
 
62 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 "We are quite prepared to grant that the lan- 
 guage of TertuUian is exaggerated ; but the 
 startling assertions which he makes here and 
 elsewhere in his apologies must have had some 
 foundation in fact. 
 
 The necessary result of the adoption of Chris- 
 tianity by persons in the higher walks of life was 
 a gradual reversal of popular opinion. This, 
 together with the fact that there were already 
 in many families Christians living side by side 
 with heathens (as in the case of Perpetua, whose 
 father was a heathen, while she and her brothers 
 were Christians)/ enabled the purity of the new 
 faith to be seen and tested. The light of day 
 dispelled gradually the darkness that had 
 gathered round Christian rites ; the evidence 
 of sense and of fact undermined the infamous 
 charges 2 which, even in the early part of the 
 third century, though with ever - diminishing 
 acceptance, were brought against the Church. 
 The blind ignorance of a previous generation 
 was giving way to a better knowledge of the 
 facts. ^ Still, although wanton misinterpretation 
 
 1 Cf. Acta Perpetuffi, §§ 2-9, in Euinart. 
 
 ^ Eusebius, H. E., 4. 7. Cf. also Athenagoras, Apol. 3, and 
 Origen, Adv. Celsum, vi. 40. 
 
 ' Cf. F. Gorres in F. X. Kraus, Real-Encyclopadie, i. p. 
 232 ff. 
 
The Work of Origen. 63 
 
 was less common, the Christians were long known 
 as aQ^oi, and any public calamity might be safely 
 put down to their account. " If there is no rain, 
 blame the Christians," was a proverbial expres- 
 sion, as Augustine tells us, in the province of 
 North Africa.^ The teachers of the Church drew 
 their support particularly from the upper classes, 
 and Origen tells us that noble men and women 
 received the doctors of the Church^ into their 
 houses and entertained them. 
 
 From 212 to 249 progress was practically un- 
 interrupted.^ The work of Origen was of untold 
 value to the Church ; he was active in dissemi- 
 nating the Scriptures, translations of which were 
 multiplying. Eusebius tells us that he laid to 
 rest the heresy of the Arabians. From the men- 
 tion of this sect and that of the Helcesaites,* we 
 
 ' Neancler, i. p. 118. ^ Origen, Adv. Celsum, iv. 9. 
 
 ■' Lactantius, De mort. persec, § 3. After the death of Masi- 
 min " a period followed during which Rome was governed by 
 a number of good rulers. During this time the Church was 
 attacked by no enemies, and spread out her arms to the east 
 and the west, so that there was no corner of the world so 
 remote that the Gospel had not reached it, no nation so savage 
 that it had not been civilised by the worship of God." Gregory 
 Nyssen writes {Migne, p. 944) "that [in Pontus] before the 
 Decian edict temples and images had been thrown down, human 
 life had been cleansed from the pollution of idol-worshii^, and 
 Christians were everywhere erecting houses of prayer in the 
 name of Christ." " Eusebius, H. E., 6. 37. 8. 
 
64 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 shall perhaps not be wrong if we say that the 
 great dangers threatening the growing life of the 
 Church were laxity of thought arising out of its 
 exuberant vitality, and laxity of life, due to the 
 absence of opposition sufficient to deter those 
 who had not counted the cost from the profession 
 of Christianity. As yet no general persecution 
 had taken place ; such troubles as had arisen 
 had passed speedily from men's minds ; not many 
 Christians had suffered for their faith,^ and the 
 unthinking multitude could not see what was 
 apparent to the experienced eye of Origen, that 
 the tranquillity of the present was but the calm 
 before the storm.^ Many unworthy elements 
 had crept into the Church, and who can wonder 
 if they brought weakness in their train ? Cyp- 
 rian ^ complains that the practice of mixed 
 marriages had sprung up, and had broken down 
 the apostolic tradition. Long peace had weak- 
 ened the vigour of the Church's discipline, and 
 softened its primitive austerity. Peace had 
 brought with it a love of ease, and the acces- 
 sions to the Church from the families of the rich 
 and noble were accompanied by a corresponding 
 advance in wealth and public esteem, which 
 
 ' Origen, Adv. Celsum, iii. 8. ^ Ibid., 15. 
 
 ■i C:yprian, De lapsls, § 6 (Hartel, p. 240). 
 
Laxity of Chitrch Life. 65 
 
 proved inimical to the old-time Christian virtues 
 of humility and charity. " At Alexandria, as at 
 Eome and Carthage, eloquent voices were de- 
 ploring the melancholy condition of the Church. 
 It was especially in the great cities that this 
 declension of the Christian life was observable ; 
 there, temptations were many, and apart from 
 the seductions of pagan life, the Church, enriched 
 and dignified, . . . itself spread more than one 
 snare for pride and ambition." ^ For example 
 Origen relates of the Church of Athens that, 
 instead of attempting to please G-od by a gentle 
 and consistent behaviour, it was rent by factions, 
 and very unlike what the Church of God should 
 be.2 Cyprian rebukes some of the celibate clergy ^ 
 and virgins for the questionable intimacy which 
 they were reported to maintain ; while elsewhere * 
 he deals with the case of an actor who had him- 
 self retired from the stage, but wished to con- 
 tinue the training of pupils, and at the same time 
 to retain his membership in the Church. Else- 
 where ^ he complains that the scope of the 
 Church's action is narrowed through the weak- 
 
 ' De PressensfJ, ii. cp. 4. ^ Origen, Adv. Celsum, iii. 30. 
 
 3 Cyprian, Ep. 4, § 1 (Hartel, pp. 472, 473). 
 
 ■■ Cyprian, Ep. 2. 
 
 = Cyprian, De Cath. Eccl. unit., § 26 (H., p. 236). 
 
 E 
 
66 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 ening of the bonds of sj'mpathy between its 
 members. " In old days people laid up treasure 
 in heaven, and sold their property and laid it 
 before the apostles, for them to divide among the 
 poor. But now we never pay tithes on our 
 patrimony, we disobey our Lord's command to 
 sell our goods, and instead, we buy and get gain. 
 Hence our spiritual vigour is weakened, and the 
 strength of believers is crippled." " So lax had 
 the Church's discipline become after the long 
 peace," writes the same bishop after the perse- 
 cution had subsided, "that the Lord saw that 
 He must prove His children. Yet in His abun- 
 dant mercy He sent not a persecution but an 
 examination. Men had forgotten the charity of 
 the days of the apostles, and were bent on in- 
 creasing their property ; the clergy had lost 
 devoutness in religion, and faithfulness in ser- 
 vice; they had forgotten pity for the poor and 
 holiness of life. Men and women dishonoured 
 the image of their Creator. Fraud and deception 
 were rampant ; believers were joined in marriage 
 with unbelievers. Oaths were taken lightly, and 
 as lightly broken; those in authority were set 
 at nought; rancour and hatred ran riot. Even 
 bishops left their sees and their God-given duties, 
 and took office under the rulers of this world, 
 
The Spread of the Gospel. 67 
 
 himting greedily for gain. While the brethren 
 in the Church were crying for food, they were 
 laying crafty hands on estates, and increasing 
 their capital by means of compound interest. 
 Did not the Church deserve the most grievous 
 punishment ? " ^ 
 
 Almost the entire known world had already 
 been evangelised. Christianity was known from 
 Wales to Mauretania.^ Tertullian in a highly 
 rhetorical passage ^ writes that all Asia, Egypt, and 
 Africa confessed Christ, as well as the extremities 
 of Spain, the tribes of Gaul, and the inaccessible 
 regions of Britain, in addition to the Sarmatians, 
 the Dacians, the Germans, the Scythians, and 
 many remoter provinces, nations, and islands. 
 Origen * leads us to modify in some degree this 
 statement by saying that the Dacians, the Sar- 
 matians, and the Scythians were as yet untouched 
 by the Gospel, as well as the regions of Ethiopia 
 situated beyond the Nile, and in Asia the Seres, 
 
 1 Cyprian, De lapsis, §§ 5, 6 (H., p. 240, ]. 7). 
 
 ^ Origen, Tract. Matth. , xxviii. It is probable, however, that 
 in the province of N. Africa Christianity had barely touched 
 the native Phoenician population (Benson, Cyprian, p. xxxv) ; 
 while in Egypt we are led to think that the native Egyptian 
 population had not yet been reached by the Gospel (Vita 
 Pachomii). 
 
 ' Tertullian, Adv. Judajos, § 7. 
 
 * Origen, Adv. Celsum, ii. Cf. AUard, pp. 244, 245. 
 
68 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 whose merchants had reached Eome, but who had 
 not yet been visited by missionaries. 
 
 We are now in a position to understand the 
 character and extent of the Church at the moment 
 when the Edict of Decius was published through- 
 out the Koman world. 
 
 II. Eusebius/ followed by Eufinus,- accounts 
 for the persecution of Decius by representing 
 him as animated in his attack on the Christians 
 by hatred of Philip, and he explains the per- 
 secution of Maximin on like grounds.^ It is 
 most improbable that he gives the true cause 
 in either case; since policy, no doubt, suggested 
 to Maximin what a sense of duty imposed on 
 Decius. It has been pointed out by Zonaras 
 that the latter intended to act honestly by 
 Philip,* and the tradition may be true which 
 says that Lucius Prisons, whom Decius left at 
 the head of the Macedonian legions, was 
 Philip's brother.^ Further, in view of the 
 fact that not one of the three contemporary 
 
 1 Eusebius, H. E., 6. 39. ^ Rufinus, 6. 29. 
 
 3 Eusebiua, H. E., 6. 28. 
 
 * Zonaras, 12. 19, who in other respects was not favourable 
 to Decius. 
 
 '■' Cf. U. J. H. Bekker, in art. " Decius," in Ersch and 
 Gruber's Encyclopjedia. 
 
Persecution wrongly Timed. 69 
 
 bishops 1 who touch upon this persecution has 
 assigned any reason for the emperor's attitude, 
 we must form our judgment from the few in- 
 direct indications we possess.^ A sufficient cause 
 for the persecution will be found in the aims of 
 Decius as set forth in chapter iv. 
 
 The edict for the first systematic persecution of 
 the Church appeared at a most inopportune time. 
 " The barbarians were surging on the frontiers : 
 on the north the German tribes, on the south-east 
 the Persians, were threatening to inundate the 
 empire. The Franks were already making in- 
 roads over the Pyrenees, . . . the Persians pene- 
 trating as far as Antioch in Syria." ^ The empire 
 was distracted with anxieties of so diverse a 
 nature, that a concentration of its forces on any 
 one point was impossible. Further, a religious 
 reform requires, for success, to be carried out with 
 steady persistence, but in this case what do we 
 find ? The Decian persecution dragged on with 
 continually decreasing energy from December 
 249 until March or April 251 ; from that date 
 until 257 the Christians enjoyed for the most 
 part a period of tranquillity, precarious perhaps, 
 
 '^ I.e., Cyprian, Cornelius, Dionysius of Alexandria. 
 
 2 Cf. F. Gbrres in F. L. Kraus, Real-Encyclopiidie, i. p. 232. 
 
 3 Uhlhorn, Kampf, p. 331. 
 
JO The Decian Perseaition. 
 
 but of sufficient duration to allow recovery of 
 strength. From 257 to 260 Valerian put forth 
 his best energies against the Church, but from 
 that time onwards a peace unbroken for forty 
 years enabled Christianity to build up a fortress 
 against which paganism hurled in vain the forces 
 of the world. The secret of Eome's early power 
 lay in continuity of policy, and the years of her 
 decline were marked by the lack of it. 
 
 The loathsome edict,^ as it is called in the ' Acta 
 Sanctorum,' appeared in the last days of 249 or 
 very early in 250 ; for by January 20 two martyr- 
 doms had already taken place.- The language in 
 which it was couched was of so severe a nature 
 " as, if it were possible, to cause even the elect to 
 stumble."^ The exact wording of the edict has 
 not been preserved to us, although several more 
 or less fictitious versions of it are extant in 
 various "Acta Sanctorum." In 1663 appeared a 
 rendering of the edict, published by Bernard 
 
 ^ T^ ySSeAupii' irp6(rrayfj.a. 
 
 ^ That of Fabian of Rome, on ' January 20. Cf . ' Episco- 
 porum urbis Catalogus ex Chron. Lib.' (Lipsius ed.), p. 266 : 
 " Fabi[an]us ann. xiiii. m. 1, d. x. . Passus xii[i.] Kal. Feb." 
 And that of Polyeuotes, which Duchesne (Bull. Grit., Nov. 
 1882) has shown to have taken place probably on January 10, 
 250. 
 
 "Euaebius, H. E., 6. 41. 
 
Provisions of the Edict. 7 1 
 
 Medon of Toulouse, who professed to have taken 
 it from some very ancient manuscripts. The 
 present writer has tried in vain to find a copy 
 of this so-called reproduction, but Aub6, who 
 has seen it, pronounces it to be an effort of the 
 imagination, and sees great improbabilities in the 
 evidence tendered on its behalf.^ It is, then, our 
 duty to examine such testimony, direct or in- 
 direct, as we can gather, in order to discover the 
 nature of the edict. 
 
 Its provisions were divided into two parts, 
 one of which was addressed to the public and 
 the other to the officials. It seems likely that 
 only the provisions relating directly to the public 
 were generally announced and exhibited, while 
 the instructions to the magistrates were attached 
 to the edict as a private commentary upon the 
 public clauses. 
 
 («) The world was called upon to sacrifice to 
 the gods and to the genius of the emperor. 
 That the invitation was general and not con- 
 fined to the Christians may be gathered from 
 various indications. 
 
 We can scarcely imagine that any official lists 
 of the Christians would be in the hands of the 
 authorities, while, if the bishops possessed any, 
 1 Aub6, pp. 16, 17. 
 
72 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 it would be unreasonable to expect that they 
 would deliver them up.^ Again, it was for the 
 welfare of the Roman world that the sacrifices 
 should be offered by every inhabitant of every 
 city, in order to secure a united observance of 
 the State worship. Dionysius of Alexandria 
 tells us that men and women were summoned 
 to the sacrifices by name : this points to official 
 lists of the inhabitants ^ rather than to a know- 
 ledge of names gained by informal delation, a 
 method of obtaining intelligence which would of 
 necessity prove highly inaccurate." If we may 
 draw any inferences from later edicts — namely, 
 those of Gallus and Maximin Daza — we shall 
 find this suggestion confirmed ; * for in all prob- 
 ability, the edict of Decius, as the first which 
 enjoined systematic and universal sacrifices, 
 would be closely followed in future enactments. 
 
 ^ In the ' Acta Achatii ' the prefect says, ' ' Omnium trade 
 mihi nomina, ne ipse succumbas." The demand was of course 
 unhesitatingly refused. 
 
 ^ Cf. Eusebius, De Mart. Pal., 4. 8: ovo/iacrri X'^'^PX'"" 
 awd ypa(pris eKaffrov avaKoi\ovix4vwv. 
 
 ^ ovojxa.(TTi re Ka.\ov/j.ePoiy tols dvaryvois Koi dt/t€pots 6u(rLais 
 trpoCTJeffav. 
 
 " For Gallus's edict cf. Cyprian, Ep. 59, § 6 (H., p. 673). 
 Cf. Eusebius, De Mart. Pal., 3. 1, for Maximin's : KaSoKMcji 
 Trpofjrdyf^aTL iravTas iravSri/x^l robs kut^ n6\tv Oiiew t€ koX 
 
Popular Sacrifices. 73 
 
 (&) A day was named on which all the subjects 
 of the empire must comply with the requirements 
 of the edict.^ 
 
 These popular sacrifices,^ with a prescribed 
 limit of one to fifty days, before the expiration 
 of which each tribe was to sacrifice,^ were an 
 institution of old standing, and for that reason 
 appropriate to the purpose of Decius, in his 
 attempt to revive the customs of the past. It 
 is certain that at Carthage the people went in 
 large bodies to sacrifice,* while it is probable 
 that the same thing took place at Eome, where 
 we hear of a woman slipping away before she 
 had reached the altar.^ There were doubtless 
 rules prescribing the order which the various 
 tribes and families were to follow in sacrificing, 
 but many feeble souls, immediately on receiving 
 the news, hurried off to the forum to protest their 
 loyalty to paganism. Such persons may have 
 received Kbdli — certificates which attested their 
 
 ' Cyprian, De lapsis, 2 (H., p. 238): "Explorandse fidei 
 dies prsefiniebatur. " De lapsis, 3 (H., p. 238): "Diesnegan- 
 tibus preestitutus. " 
 
 ^ Cf. Massebieau, Les Sacrifices ordonnes Si Carthage, p. 68. 
 
 ■ Livy, 7. 28. 8 : " Ordoque iis, quo quisque die supplicarent, 
 statutu.?. " 
 
 ■* Cyprian, De lapsis, 25 (H., p. 255): " Illio apud idolum 
 quo populus confluebat." 
 
 ■■' Ep. 21, § 3 (H., p. 531). 
 
74 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 compliance with the edict/ and which would 
 excuse them from attendinf^ again on the occa- 
 sion of the tribal sacrifice, when husbands would 
 bring their wives, and parents their children.^ 
 Those who had not presented themselves by the 
 fixed date were presumed to be Christians, and 
 were liable to be dealt with accordingly.^ Any 
 one who disobeyed an imperial edict was liable 
 under ordinary conditions to capital punishment ; 
 but on this occasion it was not the intention 
 of the authorities to take the lives of the recus- 
 ant Christians, but merely to enforce compliance : 
 hence, when gentle persuasion failed of success, 
 compulsion was to be employed.* 
 
 (r) A clause was added which was specially 
 directed against the Christians. The profession 
 of Christianity was denounced, in so far as it 
 forbade conformity with the demands of the 
 State.^ The Christians were ordered to sacri- 
 
 1 Delapsis, § 8 (H., p. 242). 
 
 ° Ep. 24 (H., p. 537). De lapsb, § 9 (H., p. 243). Dion. 
 Alex., ap. Eusebium, H. E., 6. 41. 
 
 3 Delapsis, §3 (H., p. 238). 
 
 "* The gradual increase of pressure may easily be observed 
 in the better established ' Acta Sanctorum ' — e.g. , ' Acta 
 Piouii,' 'Acta Maximi. ' 
 
 '' Cf. perhaps 'Acta Maximi' (Ruinart, p. 144) : "Decretum 
 ut omnes Christiani relicta superfiua superstitione cognoscant 
 verura principem cui omnia subiacent, et eius deos adorent." 
 
Decius and the Bishops. 7 5 
 
 fice/ their officers were proscribed,- and it is 
 probable that their meetings were forbidden. 
 
 Dr Gorres denies ^ that Decius anticipated the 
 policy of Valerian in issuing special enactments 
 against the bishops. But Cyprian tells us that 
 Decius was " tyrannus infestus sacerdotibus 
 Dei,"* and that the see of Eome was vacant 
 for sixteen months, Fabianus having been mar- 
 tyred immediately after the publication of the 
 edict. Moreover, the passage cited by the Ger- 
 man critic,^ instead of proving that Decius left 
 the bishops unmolested, is rather an evidence 
 that the fury of the storm had somewhat abated 
 when Cornelius was made bishop. In the Acts 
 of Calocerus and Parthenius ^ we read that Decius 
 was led on " by a mad hope that if he removed 
 all the heads of the Church, the entire fabric 
 would dissolve.'' Dionysius writes '' that, even 
 before the persecution began, an officer was sent 
 
 ^ Cf. ■ Acta Carpi et Papyli ' (Aube) : rd Tvpoa-rayixaTa -wep] 
 Tov Se^if vjxas (Te^etv tovs deovs Torjs ra irdpra StoiKovPTa$. 
 
 ^ Cyprian, Ep. 55, § 24 (H., p. 642) : "Sunt episeopi . 
 in perseoutione proscripti." 
 
 ■' Zeitschrift fur Wiss. Theol., p. 73, Der Bekeuner Ach- 
 atius. 
 
 '' Cyprian, Ep. 65, § 9 (H., p. 630). Cf. Benson, Cyprian, 
 p. 65. '' Ibid. 
 
 " Acta Caloceri et Parthenii, Acta Sanctorum, May 4. 
 
 ' Dion. Alex., Ap. Eusebium, 6. 40. 2. 
 
76 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 for his arrest, while Cyprian also found himself 
 compelled to withdraw into the country. The 
 suggestion that meetings were forbidden is drawn 
 from the fact of their prohibition under Valerian. 
 "You and all others," says iEmilianus the pre- 
 fect, " will be absolutely prohibited from holding 
 meetings or gathering in your so-called ' sleeping- 
 places ' for the dead. If any one ... is found 
 in a place of meeting, he shall be punished." ^ 
 Dionysius ^ had written above : " ^milianus had 
 not said to me, ' Hold no meetings ; ' the question 
 was not one of holding meetings so much as 
 of actually being Christians." The object of 
 the edict was not punitive^ so much as com- 
 pulsive ; its scope was universal and at the 
 same time particular.* If we attach any im- 
 portance to the accounts preserved in the ' Acta 
 Sanctorun,' we cannot but be struck by the 
 gentleness of the prefects and judges, who con- 
 tinually appealed to the defendant to obey for 
 
 ' Dion. Alex., Ap. Eusebium, 7. 10. 11. 
 
 '■' Eusebius, 7. 11. 4. 
 
 ^ Cf. 'Acta Achatii.' Martianus, the " consularis," says, 
 "Ego non sum iussus iudicare sed cogere. " 
 
 '' Le Blant, p. 312, says, "Personue ne pouvait ^chapper : 
 la population enti^re etait mise a I'^preuve : c'^tait une sorte 
 de recensement uiiiversel, oil radmiuistration comptait les 
 
Penalties Prescribed. 'jj 
 
 his own sake, although their sympathies were 
 frequently alienated by an attitude of defiant 
 provocation. 
 
 {d) The requirements of the edict were en- 
 forced by heavy penalties : ^ these, however, were 
 not defined, but with the intention of promoting 
 compliance by their awful vagueness, the em- 
 peror refrained from entering into details of 
 criminal procedure, or of any graduated scale of 
 tortures.- The widely different interpretations 
 put upon the edict by various magistrates must 
 have produced a result unsatisfactory in practice : 
 an edict not administered on fixed principles 
 gave every opportunity to a magistrate to be 
 lax or severe at will ; hence in Valerian's 
 great edict a regular scale of penalties was 
 set forth, and the Christians were dealt with 
 on, at any rate, a " known and intelligible 
 system." ^ 
 
 Such, then, was the purport of the edict as 
 published : it called upon the world to sacrifice 
 before a particular day ; the Christian body, and 
 especially its officials, was denounced, and all 
 
 1 Cyprian, De lapsis, 13 (H., p. 246). 
 
 ^ Gregory Nyssen, Vita Thaumaturgi (Migne), iii. p. 944 : 
 et fx-i] irpotraydyot^v TrdXiv auToi/s (p6^if t€ koX rrj TiJov atKta-fJ.aii' 
 dvayKT] Tp warpc^a Ticv 5atfi.6pajp \aTpeia. 
 
 " Mason, Persecution of Diocletian, p. 115. 
 
78 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 such as had not sacrificed by the prescribed date 
 would be liable to prosecution ; lastly, grave pen- 
 alties were threatened in case of disobedience to 
 the imperial order. 
 
 To the public provisions of the edict were 
 attached a private commentary, in the shape of 
 suggestions to the magistrates as to the enforce- 
 ment of its regulations. 
 
 (1) All preliminary steps were to be taken by 
 the local magistrates, assisted by a commission 
 composed of notable citizens of the place,^ who 
 were to preside at the appointed sacrifices, give 
 certificates to all that had conformed, and mark 
 on their list the names of such families and in- 
 dividuals as had attended in their order. No 
 steps were to be taken to enforce the law before 
 the prescribed day had passed ; but after that, the 
 search for recusants, and the examination of 
 those who were suspected of professing Chris- 
 tianity, were to begin. The local magistrates 
 had not the right of inflicting capital punish- 
 ment, but might imprison and torture, in order 
 to induce compliance, until the arrival of the 
 proconsul, who would appear in the course of 
 March or April, and would finally pronounce 
 
 1 Cyprian, Ep. 43 (H., p. ,'592) ; Eusebius, H. E., 6. 41. 20 : 
 t6v t6 riyifj.ova Kol rovs avi/eSpous. 
 
The Official Course of Enqtdry. 79 
 
 judgment on the prisoners after further exam- 
 ination. 
 
 The Acts of Pionius, to which reference will 
 be made in a later chapter, form the best illus- 
 tration of the course of procedure, and record 
 that at Smyrna the apostate bishop, Euctemon, 
 joined in the official examination of his more 
 constant brethren. Cyprian,^ in writing to the 
 elders of Capsa, mentions that Ninus and others 
 had been arrested in the course of the persecu- 
 tion, and had in their confession withstood the 
 fury of the magistrates and the turbulence of 
 the angry mob, although, when the proconsul 
 appeared, they succumbed to the renewed tor- 
 tures. 
 
 (2) Gregory of Nyssa, in a passage which 
 seems highly coloured and partial, tells us ^ that 
 when the emperor sent his edict to the governors, 
 he threatened them with an awful vengeance if 
 they did not employ every kind of horror to f(jrce 
 the worshippers of Christ to apostatise, and to 
 bring them back by means of fear and compul- 
 sion to the ancient faith. In this case popular 
 fury united with a brutal governor to attack the 
 Church. The effect of the strictures of the edict 
 
 1 Cyprian, Ep. 56, § 1 (H., p. 648). 
 
 ■' In his ' Vita Thaumaturgi ' (Migne), iii. p. 944. 
 
8o The Decian PersectUion. 
 
 was heightened by the ingenuity of the governor, 
 who devised new species of torture, and exposed 
 to public view frightful instruments which were 
 to be employed in the infliction of punishments 
 hitherto unknown. 
 
 To what extent the statements of Gregory can 
 be accepted, it is hard to decide, since we have 
 no other documents touching on the inducements 
 offered to governors to carry out the edict in the 
 spirit in which it was put forth. 
 
 (3) Methods of dealing with obstinate recus- 
 ants were suggested by the emperor. Lucianus ^ 
 writes that " by the emperor's commands " he and 
 his friends had been condemned to starvation : 
 from this we may conclude that, although the 
 infliction of the death-penalty was not actually 
 ordered, yet punishments which would issue in 
 death were permitted ; further, the proconsul 
 always possessed the right of inflicting the death- 
 penalty on any one who might obstinately refuse 
 compliance with an imperial decree.- Banish- 
 ment and torture were to be employed ; ^ but 
 what was to be the order of the various penal- 
 
 I Cyprian, Ep. 22 (H., p. 534, 1. 11). 
 
 ''■ Thus in ' Acta Pionii,' § 20, we read, OioViov kavihv dfioAo- 
 yil(TavTa ejVat Xpiariavhu ((vvra KaijpaL Trpocr6Ta|a/x6f. 
 
 ^ Cyprian, De lapsis, 2 (H., p. 238) : " Non prEescripta exilia, 
 non destinata tormenta." 
 
The Punishments Inflicted. 8i 
 
 ties, or whether their infliction was left to the 
 absolute discretion of the individual governor, 
 it is impossible to say. Banishment ^ or volun- 
 tary exile ^ would equally be followed by the 
 coniiscation of all personal property. 
 
 1 Ep. 19 (H., p. 526). 
 
 " De lapsis, 10 (H., p. 243). Ep. 24 (H., p. 537) : " Extorres 
 faeti reliquerunt possessiones quas nunc fiscus tenet." 
 
82 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 THE FORM OF THE EDICT. 
 
 It is more than possible tliat the persecuting edict was 
 issued in the joint names of Deciiis as emperor and 
 Valerian as censor. It is difTicult to account other- 
 wise for the tradition ^ that Xystus the bishop and 
 Laurentius the deacon suffered under Decius and 
 Valerian. The same collocation of names appears in the 
 ' Acta Polyeucti.' Baronius ^ enters into an elaborate 
 elucidation of the difficulty, and distinguishes carefully 
 the persecution of Decius as the seventh and that of 
 Valerian as the eighth. He quotes from ' Trebellius 
 PoUio's ' Life of Valerian ' to show that the laws and 
 edicts of Decius were issued in the names of both 
 imperator and censor, and that the edict of Decius, 
 issued in the names of Decius and Valerian, was in 
 force until repealed by the edict of Gallienus in 260, 
 having been merely supplemented in 257 by the more 
 strictly codified regulations of Valerian. 
 
 It was possiljly some such consideration as this 
 which led Eusebius ' to write of the " interval ex- 
 
 ' Cf. Jerome, De vir. illustr., § 83, and ' De ^'ita Pauli.' 
 ^ In his ' Martyrologium Romauum,' August 10. 
 = Eusebius, H. E., S. 4. 2. 
 
The Form of the Edict. 83 
 
 tending from the reigns of Decius and Valerian (to 
 that of Diocletian)." The Metaphrast gives an edict 
 in the life of a martyr assigned to November 24th 
 beginning, " Imperatores, triumphatores, victores, Au- 
 gusti, pii, Decius et Valerianus." '^ 
 
 The official form of the edict was put forth in 
 Latin,^ the proconsuls issuing their official pronounce- 
 ments in that language even among entirely Greek- 
 speaking communities.^ It was forwarded to all 
 governors of provinces and local authorities, and was 
 made known to the public in various ways. In one 
 case we hear that it was fastened up on the city gates.* 
 Maximin's edict was proclaimed aloud by heralds : ^ 
 again, the people might be assembled in the circus to 
 
 ' Cf. ' Acta Terentii ' (Venice, Greek, CCCLIX.) : tSi iceAeucrflei' 
 irapa -rasv a,i]TTr\'v S)v ^aaiXiav. 'Acta Polyeucti' (January 10) : 
 Kara Toi/s Aettiou kuX Oua\€plavov xp^^ovs TOiv jSao'tAewl'. 'Acta 
 Carpi et Papyli (Aubd) : eyj'OJo'Tai ffoi iravTus to irpotrrdy^aTa 
 
 TOIV A.vyOV{TT(jJV. 
 
 ^ If we may judge from the edict of Galeriua, Eus., H. E., 8. 
 17. 11 : TttOra Kara rT)v twv Viafxaitjov <^covt}v (eiri t^v 'EAAaSa 
 7AwTToy Kara rh Bvvarhv fjiira^X7)QivTa) rovrov ex^i rby 
 TfidiTov. There was plainly no official translation into Greek 
 in this case. 
 
 ^ Cf. ' Acta Pionii ' : the proconsul at Smyrna gave his judg- 
 ment : KaX aird TTtyaKiSos avGyV(i>frS'ri VaifiaiuTl, 
 
 ■* Cf. 'Acta Eulampife ' : ms irpds ras ^aaiXiKas TfTiviae Sia- 
 Ta|e(s, cd Tuv irv\u)V virepdev avdypaTTTOL iraffLV ^rvyX'^vov. Eus., 
 De Mart. Pal., 1. 1. : ^irKaTo 5' adp6as Travraxov ypafip-aTa. 
 
 ■> Eus., De Mart. Pal., 4. 8 : K-npvKav re kclB^ SAi)s ttjs Kaitr- 
 apfwf TToKeus dvSpas dfia yvvuL^l Kal tckuols iirl tovs Toiv eiSoiAco^ 
 oIkovs e| T]yifxoviKov KeXiva^aros dva^oa:fj.4fuv. Id., 9. 2: Trpo- 
 ypaf^fxacri Kal eTriCToAaTs Kol brj^aaioLS Siardyfj-aaL, 
 
84 The Decian Perseaition. 
 
 hear the decree read.^ As we have said above, we do 
 not possess a genuine text of the edict, hut a form 
 given by the ilutaphrast ^ presents a very fair resem- 
 blance to what was in all probability the original 
 form : — 
 
 " Imperatores, triumphatores, victores, Augusti, pii, 
 Decius et Valerianus, simul cum senatu heec communi 
 consilio. Cum deorum benefioia et munera didiceri- 
 mus, et simul etiam fruamur victoria, quEe nobis ah 
 ipsis data est adversus inimicos, quin etiam aeris tem- 
 peratione et omne genus fructuum abundantia. Cum 
 eos ergo didioerimus esse benefactores et ea suppedi- 
 tare quEe sunt in commune utilia ; ea de causa uno 
 decreto decernimus ut [stato die] omnis condioio liber- 
 orum et servorum, militum et privatorum, diis expian- 
 tia offerant sacriiicia, procidentes et supplicantes. Si 
 quis autem voluerit divinum nostrum jussum violare, 
 qui communi sententia est a nobis expositus, eum 
 jubemus conici in vincula, deinde variis tormentis 
 subici. Prsecipue vero si fuerint inventi aliqui 
 
 ex religione Christianorum [decernimus, ut reliota 
 superfiua superstitione cognoscant verum principem 
 cui omnia subiacent, et eius deos adorent.] ^ . . . 
 Valete f elicissimi. " 
 
 In discussing the recently discovered libellus* Dr 
 
 ^ Cf. Le Blant, p. 140. He understands that the forum was 
 the commonest place for the exhibition of the edict. Cf. 
 Cyprian, Ep. 58. 9: " Ne audiant edicta feralia.'' 
 
 - Metaphrastes, November 24. 
 
 ^ Introduced from 'Acta Maximl,' Ruinart, p. 144. 
 
 •* In ' Sitzungsbericht der K. P. Ak. der Wiss.,' BerUn, 
 
The Form of the Edict. 85 
 
 Harnack suggests a restoration of part of the lost edict, 
 basing it on that of Maximin Daza/ as compared with 
 the terms of the libellus. It runs as follows : is {6vo- 
 IxacrrV) Travras avSpai afJLa yvvaL^l Koi oiKCrais koI 
 avTOL? wo/ia^tots Tratcri 6vuv Koi CTTrei/Setv avTwv t€ 
 aK/3t^ais TOiv Ov(TLuiV a7royev€(rOo.i'^ coo"T€ Travras Toy's 
 XptcTTtavoT;? iiTLdveiv T0t9 ^tois /cat airoXveadai, tovs 8k 
 dvTtXeyoi'Tas rots irpoo'Ta.yfj.aa'i /jl^t alKitrixwv Kal j3aaa.- 
 vtov TTOLKiXmv ii<j>el Kal Trvpl avaip^ladai. 
 
 Lastly, two other extracts deserve notice, unearthed 
 by M. Aub6 in the Paris library : — 
 
 (a) From Decius to Turcius Eufius Apollonius 
 Valerianus,^ " prsefectus pratorio " : " Admonemus ur- 
 gentes ut, si quos Christianos inveneris in urbe, pro- 
 tinus ad tormenta trahi non differas, qui nolunt Diis 
 nostris humiliari et saorificia eis oflferre, ut possimus 
 eos placatos habere et victores ubique consistere et 
 possit Eomana libertas augeri." 
 
 (&) " Cum Decius Eomani regni apicem Deo 
 invisus teneret, jussit omnes a propria secta abstrahi 
 et invocantes nomen Domini Jesu Christi ad im- 
 munda sacrificia provocari. Si qui autem contra- 
 dixissent judici offerri et pcenis validis necari." * 
 
 1 Eusebius, H. E., 9. 2. 2. 
 
 ^ This corresponds with the scene described in Cyprian, De 
 lapsis, 25, where a nurse brings a child to the idol, and it is 
 made to taste of the sacrificed food. Also with the terms of the 
 libdlua, as provisionally restored : koX t&v Upeiuv (iy€v)craixT]v. 
 
 ' In the ' Acta Abdonia et Sennis ' (MS. de la Bibliothfecxue 
 nat. de Paris, fonds latin, No. 5323, fol. 159 r), Aubd, p. 19. 
 
 « MS. de la Biblioth. nat. de Paris, fonds latin, No. 17,626, 
 fol. 22 V, Aub^, p. 20. 
 
86 The Deciaii Persecution. 
 
 This latter text is only of slight value, as the form is 
 not official. 
 
 Fresh documents must be brought to light before 
 we can hope to arrive at a satisfactory restoration. 
 At present it is only possible to reach a mere approxi- 
 mation to the true form of the edict. 
 
 APPENDIX B. 
 
 THE LEGAL BASIS OF PUNISHMENT. 
 
 A brief glance at the crimes of which the Christians 
 were technically guilty, and the penalties due for them, 
 may be interesting. 
 
 ]Mommsen ^ points out that the repressive measures 
 put in force agamst the Christians by earlier emperors 
 were not criminal prosecutions, but " police precau- 
 tions." But when Decius became emperor the con- 
 ception of Christianity as a treasonable system had 
 considerable weight. 
 
 The conception at the base of legal punishment is 
 that crime once committed remains until full requital 
 has been made. Pliny, in his early trials, punished 
 even those who had renounced Christianity ; the 
 noiiien alone was enough to bring them within the 
 reach of the law. But after the famous rescript of 
 
 ^ Der Beligionsfrevel nacli Romischem Recht, in ' Historische 
 Zeitschrift,' 1890, p. 397. 
 
The Legal Basis of Punishmeitt. 8 7 
 
 Trajan to Pliny the accepted principle was that any 
 man who renounced Christianity was ipso facto freed 
 from guilt. It was this anomaly — viz., that the pro- 
 fession of Christianity was a crime, but that the re- 
 nunciation of it meant immediate release — that made 
 Origen say,^ " Christians are the only [criminal] class 
 of men who are allowed to live at home in peace if 
 they renounce Christianity and satisfy the require- 
 ments of the State religion." Here, then, was a 
 dilemma : if it was a crime to profess Christianity, 
 how could its renimciation, unaccompanied by pun- 
 ishment, acquit of all guUt % If, on the other 
 hand, Christianity was no crime, why then was it 
 punishable % 
 
 We can only answer this question by recognising 
 that there were four kinds of technical charges against 
 the Christians : " — 
 
 (a) As introducers of a religio illicita. 
 
 (b) As guilty of Icesa maiestas. 
 (e) As guilty of sacrilegium. 
 {cl) As guilty of magic. 
 
 (a) Persons introducing a I'eligio illicita were 
 liable to — 
 
 (1) D'eath, or 
 
 (2) (If Iwnestiores) banishment, or (if humi- 
 
 liores) condemnation to the mines. 
 Banishment,^ the punishment inflicted by Maximin 
 on the bishops Pontianus and Hippolytus, who were 
 
 ' Origen, Adv. Celsum, ii. 13. 
 
 ^ From Le Blant, Les Pers^cuteurs et les Martyrs. 
 
 " From AUard, p. 331. 
 
88 The Decian Persecutiott. 
 
 sent to Sardinia, was " a prohibition to reside in the 
 province." It did not involve loss of civil rights, 
 nor necessarily imply confiscation of property ; and 
 where in exceptional cases this additional penalty 
 was prescribed, it did not touch the entire property 
 of the accused. But, for the Christians, the scope of 
 this punishment was considerably extended by the 
 Decian edict ; it entailed the entire loss of patri- 
 mony,i which went to the fiscus, while it might now 
 be inflicted by a municipal magistrate. 
 
 (6) and (c) " Proximum sacrilegio crimen est quod 
 maiestatis dicitur," writes Ulpian;^ and the same 
 writer explains maiestus ^ thus : " Maiestatis autem 
 crimen illud est, quod adversus populum Eomanum 
 vel adversus securitatem eius committitur. Quo tene- 
 tur is cuius opera dolo malo consilium initum erit 
 . quo coetus conventusve fiat hominesve ad sedi- 
 tionem convocentur." Any man accused of violating 
 the laws of maiestas (whether honestior or humiUor) 
 was entirely outside the protection of the law, and 
 became liable to torture.* All pagans guilty of Icesa 
 maiesiaa lost social rank, but the Christians by virtue 
 of their very name became outlaws. Those guiltj"^ of 
 sarrilegium were (if honestwr^es) liable to be beheaded, 
 or (if humiliores) to be crucified or exposed to wild 
 
 1 Cyprian, Ep. 19 (H., p. 526, 1. 10). 
 ^ Ulpian, De proconsule, bk. vii. 
 ' Ulpian, Dig., xlviii. 4. 1. 
 
 •* Paullus, Sentent., v. 29. 2 : " Cum de eo quseritur, nulla 
 dignitas a tormentis exoipitur." 
 
The Legal Basis of Punishment. 89 
 
 beasts in the circus ; ^ those guilty of maiestas were 
 liable (if honestiores) to be beheaded, or (if humiliores) 
 to be burnt alive or exposed in the circus, torture 
 having been already administered.^ Tertullian^ com- 
 plains of the additional cruelty displayed towards the 
 Christians, and writes to Scapula, the governor : " You 
 are merely commanded to condemn the guilty on their 
 confession, and put to renewed torture those who 
 refuse compliance ; but we are burned — a punishment 
 you are not in the habit of inflicting on saerilegi, or 
 genuine public enemies, or all the people convicted of 
 maiestas." To the class of those convicted of sacri- 
 It'i/ium belongs Cyprian of Carthage,* while Pionius 
 of Smyrna was irreligiosus in principex, and was 
 burnt alive as an acr^jiri';, his crime being technically 
 maiestas.^ 
 
 (d) Those guilty of practising magic were liable to 
 crucifixion or exposure to wild beasts in the circus.® 
 
 TertuUian,'' writing at the beginning of the third 
 
 1 Cf. Ulpian, Dig., 1. i. Ad leg. Jul. majest. (xlviil. 4), and 
 PauUus, Sentent., v. 29. 1. 
 
 2 Gf. Paullus, Sentent., v. 29. 1 : " Humiliores bestiis obi- 
 ciuntur vel vivi exuruntur, honestiores capite puniuntur." 
 
 ^ TertuUian, Ad Scapulam, 4. 
 
 '' Cypriani Acta Proconsularia, § 4. 
 
 ^ Pionius had refused the invitation of Polemo, Kan eTriSutroi/ 
 rep aiiTOKparopi, and was burnt. 
 
 * Cf. Paullus, Sentent., v. 23. 17: "Magicaj artis consoios 
 summo supplicio adfici placuit" (i.e., bestiis obici, aut cruci 
 suffigi). In the 'Acta Achatii' the judge says that he holds 
 Christianity to be equal to magic. 
 
 ' Tertullian, Apologet., 25. 35. 37. 
 
90 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 century, points out that every epithet of execration 
 was heaped upon the Christians. They were called 
 enemies, public enemies, enemies of the gods, of the 
 emperors, and of the law, foes of the entire human 
 race. The sternest punishments of the law were not 
 too severe for such wretches.^ 
 
 While bearing in mind the fact that most of the 
 penalties inflicted upon the Christians were those 
 appropriate to the four special classes of crime above 
 mentioned — viz., the introduction of a religio illicita, 
 hesa maiestas, sacrilegium, and the use of magic — we 
 must not forget that the persecution introduced a 
 process of law which differed widely from all pre- 
 cedents, and was no longer directed against individuals 
 separately accused. We need go no further than to 
 admit the possibility that the particular circumstances 
 of each case guided the magistrates in determining 
 the specific category of crime under which it fell, and 
 the punishment most appropriate to it. 
 
 ^ This appendix is drawn mostly from Le Slant's chapter, 
 " Les bases juridiques des poursuites," in his "work, ' Les Pers^- 
 cuteurs et les Martyrs.' 
 
91 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE PEESECUTION IN EUEOPE. 
 
 THE EDICT AT ROME — DIRECTED AXD EXECUTED AGAINST THE 
 BISHOPS — THE CHURCH IN ROME — THE DEATH OF FABIANUS 
 — HIS GRAVE — ELECTION OP HIS SUCCESSOR, CORNELIUS, DE- 
 LAYED — DISCUSSION AS TO ITS DATE — INTREPID BEARING OP 
 THE NEW BISHOP — RECEPTION OP THE EDICT AT ROME — 
 CONFESSORS — DEATH OF MOTSES — BRAVERY OF CELERINUS — 
 OTHER CONFESSORS — PABTHENIUS AND CALOCERUS — ABDON 
 AND SENNEN — METHODS OP EVADING THE EDICT — PRESEY- 
 TERAL COUNCIL — ROME A REFUGE FOR SUFFERERS — THE 
 STORM PASSES OVER — REASON ASSIGNED — TWO SPANISH 
 BISHOPS RENOUNCE CHRISTIANITY — ' ACTA ' OF LITTLE AUTHO- 
 RITY — MARTYRDOM OP SATURNINUS OF TOULOUSE. 
 
 The documentary evidence extant is of so in- 
 direct a nature that it is impossible to give a 
 very complete account of the course which the 
 persecution took in the capital. 
 
 In the previous chapter it has been shown that 
 the edict was published before January 20, 250, 
 and in chapter i. that the emperor left Eome in 
 the following March or April. We may conclude 
 
92 The Decian Pei^seadion. 
 
 that during the first three months of 250 the 
 persecution was carried out under the immediate 
 superintendence of the emperor, while from April 
 250 till his death in the summer of 251 (during 
 which period we have reason to believe that he 
 did not again visit Eome) the edict was put in 
 force with constantly diminishing energy, until 
 what was practically an amnesty succeeded. In 
 March 251 a new bishop, who held his position, 
 undisturbed by interference from without, during 
 the last few months of the reign of Decius, was 
 appointed to the see of Eome. It is probable 
 that the ordinary members of the Church did not 
 feel the full force of the persecution, which was 
 purposely directed against their officials. It was 
 the emperor's deliberate intention to reduce the 
 Church at large to impotence by striking at its 
 head : ^ hence none but the bishop, the presbyters, 
 and some leading members of the Church were 
 arrested, although further steps — which, however, 
 were never actually taken — may have been in 
 contemplation. This may account for the fact 
 that we read of far less bloodshed at Eome than 
 either in N^orth Africa or in Egypt. It is possible 
 
 ' Cf . ' Acta Caloceri et Parthenii ' : " Sperans insanus quod 
 si istoB qui erant capita eccleeiarum toUeret, corpus omne 
 Ecclesife interiret." 
 
The Church at Rome. 93 
 
 that the emperor's presence at Eome gave the 
 persecution a less savage character than it ex- 
 hibited in the provinces which were more remote 
 from his supervision, and in which the oppor- 
 tunities of an appeal to his authority were few 
 and far between. 
 
 Dodwell 1 calls attention to the very limited 
 number of actual martyrdoms which took place 
 in this persecution. We have seen that the 
 emperor aimed at conversion rather than death, 
 and it seems certain that although the present 
 trial was more harassing than any of those that 
 preceded it, the number of confessors was greater 
 than that of the martyrs who died for their faith. 
 
 The Church at Eome was by this time very 
 large, if we may judge from a statement of the 
 numbers of its officials, which we find in a letter ^ 
 of Cornelius of Eome to Fabius of Antioch : " In 
 the Church there are forty-six presbyters, seven 
 deacons, seven subdeacons, forty-two attendants, 
 fifty exorcists and readers, together with door- 
 keepers, and more than fifteen hundred widows 
 and afflicted." We read that Fabianus (probably 
 in the reign of Philip) assigned to his seven 
 deacons the care of the fourteen districts into 
 
 1 Dissert. Cyprianicae, No. xi., De paucitate martyrum, § 53. 
 
 2 Euaebius, H. E., 6. 43. 11. 
 
94 The Decian PersectUion. 
 
 which Augustus had divided the city, and gave 
 orders for the erection of a number of fahricce ^ 
 (perhaps oratories) in the cemeteries. The same 
 bishop ordained tvs'enty-two presbyters and eight 
 deacons ^ during his tenure of office. 
 
 The life of the Church at Eome was very 
 closely connected with the cemeteries, where, 
 during the long interval of peace which began 
 with Caracalla, a number of oratories had been 
 built by Fabianus. We have no evidence to show 
 that Decius forbade, as did Valerian later, all 
 visits to the sepulchres. 
 
 The first name which confronts us in the list 
 of sufferers at Eome is that of Fabianus, the 
 bishop. As being the most conspicuous person 
 in the Church, he was the first to be arrested. 
 Eusebius tells us that he had been miraculously 
 chosen to succeed Anteros,^ and " died at Eome 
 when Decius began to persecute." * Having held 
 the see for a little over fourteen years, he was 
 martyred on January 20, 250, and was buried in 
 the cemetery of St Callistus.^ No details remain 
 
 ^ Cf. ' Episcoporum Urbis Catalogus ' es Chron. Lib. (ed. 
 Lipsius), p. 266. Cf. Benson, Cyprian, p. 67. 
 
 - Cf. ' Depositio Martyrum ' in Cat. Lib. (ed. Duchesne), 
 p. 11. = Cf. Eusebius, 6. 29. 
 
 ^ Cf. Eusebius, 6. 39, and Epiphanius, De pondd. et menss., 18. 
 
 ' Cf. Duchesne, Lib. Pontif., pp. 11 and 65. 
 
Martyrdom of Fabianus. 95 
 
 respecting his trial or death. In a small chamber 
 in the catacombs identified by de Eossi '^ as his 
 cdla memorice have been discovered several 
 memorial stones which had been hidden be- 
 neath the accumulated rubbish. We have 
 every reason to believe that these are the 
 original monuments of St Anteros, St Fabianus, 
 St Lucius, and St Eutychianus. The inscription 
 on one of them reads : — 
 
 *ABIANOC . E(n)l + ftp 
 
 The monogram, which is doubtless intended to 
 show that he had suffered martyrdom, is not the 
 work of the same hand as the earlier part of the 
 inscription, and would seem to have been added 
 after the stone had been fixed in its place. The 
 cause of this difference in the date of the various 
 words is due to the fact, pointed out by de Eossi, 
 that in consequence of the prolonged vacancy in 
 the Holy See after his death, there was no, one to 
 authenticate the claims of St Fabian to the vener- 
 ation of the faithful ; for at least eighteen months 
 he was not a martyr vinclicatus. His death ^ was 
 
 ' Northcote and Brownlow, Roma Sotterauea, pt. i., 1879. 
 2 Cf. Cyprian, Ep. 30 (H., p. 553. 5.) : "Post exoessum . . . 
 Fabiani." 
 
96 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 followed by an interval of considerable length/ 
 during which, owing to the severity of the perse- 
 cution, no successor could with any safety be 
 appointed.^ The general management of the 
 affairs of the Church devolved on a presbyteral 
 council, who wisely decided to take no official 
 steps with respect to such disputed points as the 
 treatment of the lapsi, but to wait for the restora- 
 tion of peace, when a new bishop might be elected. 
 The date of the election of Cornelius is uncer- 
 tain, but the suggestion of Lipsius that it occurred 
 in March 251 seems more probable than that of 
 Tillemont, who would assign it to June.^ We 
 are guided in accepting the date suggested by 
 Lipsius by the following facts. Lucius, who suc- 
 ceeded Cornelius in 253, was sent into banishment 
 almost immediately on his accession. This could 
 only have happened under Gallus, since the state 
 of affairs was too unsettled to allow JEmilianus 
 to take any part in religious matters, and Val- 
 erian did not attack the Church till 257. Xow 
 Gallus, as will be shown hereafter, died not later 
 
 1 Cf. Cyprian, Ep. 21 (H., p. 531, 21). Lipsius, Verzeich- 
 niss, reckons that the vacancy lasted about fourteen mouths, 
 till early in March 251. 
 
 - Cf. Cyprian, Ep. 55 (H., p. 630). 
 
 ' Tillemont, Empereurs, iii. p. 282. Cf. Benson, Cyprian, 
 p. 127. 
 
The Election of Cornelms. 97 
 
 than June 253. Hence, if we may suppose 
 Lucius to have been elected in May 253, and 
 banished in the same month, we shall find that 
 the interval between the date of the election of 
 Cornelius in March 251 and tliat of Lucius in 
 May 253 is two years and two months, the exact 
 length of the episcopate of Cornelius, as given by 
 Duchesne^ in his restoration of the 'Liber Ponti- 
 ficalis.' It is suggested by Tillemont that the 
 Christians seized the opportunity of electing a 
 bishop when Julius Valens was master of Eome,^ 
 but it seems probable, as we saw in chapter i., 
 that his usurpation took place immediately after 
 Decius had left Eome in 250. The words of 
 Cyprian^ would be far more appropriate to the 
 time when Decius found himself confronted by 
 the opposition of Lucius Priscus in Macedonia, 
 early in 251, and heard that at Eome a new 
 bishop had been appointed to succeed Fabianus. 
 The details of the opposition within the Church 
 to the election of Cornelius need not detain us 
 
 ' Duchesne, Lib. Pontif., p. 65 : " xxii. Cornelms natione 
 RomanuB, sedit ann. ii. m. ii. d. iii." 
 
 '' Cf. also Pearson, Annales Cyprianiose, 29. 
 
 ^ Cyprian, Ep. 55 (H., p. 630). The stress laid on Rrnnw by 
 its position in the sentence almost implies that the "asmulus 
 prineeps" was not in the city, where some suppose that Valeng' 
 rising took place. 
 
 G 
 
98 The Decidn Persecution. 
 
 here, but will be dealt with in the chapter relat- 
 ing to the schism of Novatian : suffice it here to 
 record that after a considerable interval ^ he was 
 duly appointed^ to the see of Eome, which he 
 held until May 253. Cyprian adverts to the 
 remarkable intrepidity with which, when elected, 
 he faced the violent threats and denunciations 
 launched against the clergy by the emperor. 
 Inasmuch, however, as the confessors had by 
 this time been set at liberty, and it was thought 
 safe to proceed to the election of a new bishop, 
 we must conclude that Cyprian was referring 
 merely to the edict of the absent emperor ,3 which 
 was practically in abeyance by March 251. 
 
 We gather, therefore, that the Church at Rome 
 lost its bishop in January 250, from which date, 
 until March 251, it was governed by a council 
 of presbyters. The election of Cornelius was 
 followed by the return of the confessors* who 
 had joined the schism of Kovatian, and by the 
 
 1 Ep. 30 (H., p. 553). 
 
 " Ep. 69 (H., p. 752). Cf. 'Chron. Pasch.,' 01. 258. Eusebius, 
 H. E., 6. 39. 
 
 3 Cyprian, Ep. 55 (H., p. 630), " Sedisse intrepidum . eo 
 tempore cum tyrannus infestus sacerdotibus Dei fanda atque 
 infanda comminaretur." 
 
 * Lib. Pontif. (Duchesne), p. 65 : " Sub episcopatu eius 
 confessores qui se separaverant a Cornelio, cum Maximo pres- 
 bytero qui cum Moyse fuit, ad ecclesiam sunt reversi fideles." 
 
Reception of the Edict at Rome. 99 
 
 synod held at Eome and composed of Italian and 
 African bishops, to decide the question of the 
 restoration of the lapsi} As this chapter deals 
 only with the course of events in the Decian 
 persecution, we may for the present leave Cor- 
 nelius, and consider the persecution as it affected 
 other members of the Eoman Church. 
 
 In a letter from the presbyters at Eome to 
 those at Carthage we find a short account^ of 
 the way in which the edict had been received. 
 "We besought the brethren," they wrote, "to 
 stand fast in the faith, and to be ready to meet 
 the Lord. We actually called back some who 
 were even mounting to the Capitol to obey the 
 summons to sacrifice. The Church holds firmly 
 to the faith, although some fell through fear, 
 whether it was that they were in high positions, 
 or that they were moved by the fear of man : we 
 have not deserted these, but we have separated 
 them from communion, and exhort them to 
 penitence.'' 
 
 But although there were many lapsi, we possess 
 the names of several men whose confession main- 
 
 ^ Jerome, De vir. ill., § 66 : "Cornelius . . . scripsit epistolam 
 ad Fabium Antioche« ecclesife episcopum de Synodo Romana 
 Italica Africana.'' 
 
 2 Cf. Cyprian, Ep. 8 (H., p. 487), 1. 5 ff. 
 
lOO The Decian Persecution. 
 
 tained the honour of the faith to which others in 
 the imperial city bore so poor a testimony. Of 
 these confessors, one only, so far as we know,^ 
 obtained the final glory of a martyr's death, and 
 that because his enfeebled constitution could no 
 longer endure the tortures to which his com- 
 panions had equally been subjected. 
 
 Two presbyters, Moyses and Maximus, and 
 two deacons, Nicostratus and Eufinus,^ were 
 imprisoned shortly after the death of Fabianus 
 on January 20.^ We append a short extract 
 from a letter to Cyprian written in the name 
 of these four confessors : * "To what prouder for- 
 tune could we look forward than to confess the 
 Lord God before the very executioners without 
 a fear, or than amid the endless torments of the 
 powers of the world, though the body be mangled 
 and tortured, to confess with unfaltering lips that 
 Christ is the Son of God, to refuse to deny our 
 faith by obeying the profane laws of man, to 
 proclaim the truth to the world, and by death 
 
 ^ In this statement the names of those given in the ' Acta 
 Sanctorum ' are purposely withheld, as by no means suffici- 
 ently authenticated. 
 
 ^ These namea<are associated in Cyprian, Ep. 32 (H., p. 565). 
 
 ' Episc. urb. Catal. (Lipsius), p. 266. Rufinus is not men- 
 tioned in this passage. 
 
 ^ Cyprian, Ep. 31, § 3 (H., p. 559), and Ep. 27 (H., p. 544). 
 
Rotnan Confessors in Prison. loi 
 
 to subdue the very death that others fear ? " 
 From words used elsewhere by Cyprian/ we 
 should judge that although these men were the 
 first to suffer imprisonment, it was the lot of 
 others to win the crown of martyrdom ^ before 
 them : they set a good example, and gave promise 
 of the coming triumph. He gives it as his opinion 
 that those who were first in the battle and led the 
 way to victory, should be held in equal honour 
 with those to whom it was granted to attain to 
 martyrdom. A letter^ from Cyprian to these 
 confessors is preserved, tracing the course of their 
 year in prison through the seasons, from winter 
 to spring, from spring to summer, from summer 
 to autumn : " The wine is now being trodden in 
 the wine-press ; ye are rich clusters from the 
 vineyard of the Lord : your grapes are ripe, ye 
 are trodden down by the attack of the powers of 
 this world, the tortures of the prison-house have 
 been for you the wine-press ; but instead of wine 
 ye shed your blood ; strong in enduring pain, ye 
 drink with joy the cup of martyrdom. Thus does 
 the year roll on for the servants of God." Their 
 constancy triumphed over hunger and thirst, over 
 the filth and other horrors of the prison-house. 
 
 1 Ep. 28 (H., p. 545). ^ See note at end of chapter x. 
 
 3 Ep. 37 (H., p. 677). 
 
I02 The Decian Persecuhon. 
 
 At last, early in January 251, Moyses, worn out 
 with his prolonged trial and the severity of the 
 winter, succumbed to his sufferings, after an im- 
 prisonment of eleven months and eleven days.^ 
 
 At the same time as these four confessors, 
 there were confined in prison Urbanus, who 
 twice witnessed a noble confession, Sidouius and 
 Macarius, and Celerinus. In a letter to Fabius 
 of Antioch,^ Cornelius mentions all of these 
 except Macarius, while he singles out Celerinus 
 for particular commendation, writing of him as 
 a man who had endured every torture with the 
 utmost bravery, and had overcome the weakness 
 of his flesh by the strength of his faith, beating 
 down his antagonist by sheer resolution. Cele- 
 rinus was a lector,^ and came of a stock which 
 had produced several confessors.* Two letters 
 have been preserved — one from Celerimis to 
 Lucianus, and its answer, of which Cyprian 
 writes : ■' "I have sent you also copies of the 
 
 ' Epise. urb. Catal (Lipsius), p. 266. 
 
 2 Eusebius, H. E., 6. "43, gives this letter. 
 
 ' Lib. Poutif. (Duchesne), p. 66 : " Et de Celerino lectore." 
 
 * Cyprian, Ep. 39 (H., p. 583). His grandmother was a 
 martyr ; so were also two other relations. Archbishop Benson 
 gives a long and interesting account of Celerinus, Cyprian, 
 pp. 69-72. 
 
 = Cyprian, Ep. 27, § 3 (H., p. 543). 
 
Celerinus the Confessor. 103 
 
 etter which that strong and noble confessor 
 Celerinus wrote to Lucianus, and also Lucianus' 
 answer, in order that you may know how careful 
 and self-restrained Celerinus is, and what dutiful 
 regard he pays to our body." 
 
 It is probable that he was officially examined 
 and set free before Easter, as at the time of the 
 feast he seems to have been much exercised on 
 behalf of his two sisters, Numeria and Candida, 
 who had denied their faith, and to have wept 
 for them in dust and ashes.' He was certainly 
 at liberty, and visiting Cyprian at Carthage, 
 while Moyses was yet alive ; ^ at whatever time 
 it was that he was imprisoned, he was released 
 after nineteen days of torture and questioning.^ 
 He faced the terrible emperor himself, and dis- 
 armed his fury by his confession.* Of his noble 
 endurance Cyprian writes : ^ " Though his body 
 was in chains, his spirit remained free and un- 
 trammelled ; his flesh wasted away through long 
 hunger and thirst, but God fed his faithful soul 
 with spiritual food. There he lay amid his tor- 
 
 1 Ep. 21, "Celerinus Luciano," § 2: "In die Isetitise 
 PaschEe." 
 
 ^ Ep. 37, § 1, writing to Moyses and the rest, Cyprian says, 
 " Celerinus adveniens." 
 
 3 Ep. 39, § 2 (H., p. 582). ' Ep. 22, § 1 (H., p. 533). 
 
 5 Ep. 39, § 2 (H., p. 582). 
 
I04 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 tures, stronger than the torture ; he was captive, 
 but stronger than his captors ; though bound, he 
 was stronger than those who bound him ; im- 
 printed on his limbs and muscles may still be 
 seen the traces of his long privations." 
 
 Urbanus, Sidonius, and Macarius are probably 
 among the ceteri'^ to whom, with Moyses and 
 Maximus, the letters of Cyprian are addressed. 
 These confessors were permitted to write ^ and 
 receive letters,^ and, if the practice was the same 
 as at Carthage, visitors were admitted to their 
 prison-chamber. The Eoman presbyteral council 
 admit the deep debt which they owe to Cyprian 
 for his cheering letters to the confessors of their 
 Church,* whereby they were sustained in their 
 long trial, while continually refusing to win 
 release by denying their faith,^ and yet earnestly 
 desiring the death which was as rigorously refused 
 to them.^ These are the only Eoman confessors 
 of whom we receive any information from the 
 letters of Cyprian. One and all (with the excep- 
 
 ' E.g., the title to Cyprian's Ep. 37. To these add Augen- 
 du3 (Ep. 50, 1. 6), and Saturninus (Ep. 21, § 4). 
 
 2 Cyprian, Ep. 30 (H., p. 562). 
 
 ^ Ep. xxxi. is to Cyprian from the confessors, who say (1. 3), 
 " acceptis litteris tuis erecti sumus." 
 
 " Ep. 30, § 5 (H., p. 553). 
 
 = Ep. 37 (H., p. 576, 1. 23). « gp. 31 (H., p. 561), 
 
The Roman Confessors. 105 
 
 tion, of course, of Celerinus, who had returned to 
 Africa, and of Moyses, who died in prison, and 
 was not rigorously inclined towards the lapsi)} 
 the confessors, on obtaining their liberty, joined 
 the schism of Novatian, maintaining a severe 
 attitude towards the lapsi, and a violent opposi- 
 tion to Cornelius.^ It is probable that they were 
 set free in the course of the spring of 251, and 
 their subsequent action in the matter of the 
 schism of Novatian will be discussed in a later 
 chapter. 
 
 We are indebted to Lucianus^ for a list of 
 twelve confessors at Home, of whom we know 
 nothing but their names. Celerinus is asked to 
 salute Saturninus and his friends, Collecta and 
 Emerita, Calpurnius and Maria, Sabina, Spesina, 
 and three sisters, Januaria, Dativa, and Donata. 
 The preponderance of female names in this com- 
 pany of confessors is very remarkable. Celerinus 
 himself was by this time at liberty, but whether 
 these confessors were awaiting trial or not it is 
 impossible to decide. 
 
 In the ' Acta Sanctorum ' for May 19 * we 
 
 1 Ep. 55 (H., p. 627, 1. 7). 
 
 ^ Ep. 54 (H., p. 622, 1. 9). In granting libelli as confessors, 
 however, their conduct was unexceptionable. 
 
 2 Ep. 22, " Lucianus Celerino " (H., p. 535, 10-14). 
 '' Bollandists, May, vol. iv. p. 301. 
 
io6 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 find the Acta of Parthenius and Calocerus, who 
 were apparently martyred in this persecution.^ 
 The point has been much discussed, but the 
 balance of evidence is slightly in favour of this 
 conclusion. That they were actually martyred 
 is certain, from the discovery in a chamber in 
 the cemetery of Callistus of a stone bearing the 
 inscription — 
 
 PABTENIO MAETIKI. CALOCERO MAETIEI. 
 
 De Eossi suggests they were originally buried 
 here, and their remains removed in the reign 
 of Diocletian to avoid profanation when the 
 cemeteries were confiscated in 303 by the em- 
 peror's order.^ They were accused before Decius 
 himself of being Christians and of having 
 wasted the fortune of Anatolia, who had been 
 left in their charge by her father iEmilianus on 
 his death. The emperor, irritated by their 
 refusal to sacrifice in obedience to his threats, 
 
 ^ Against the words in the ' Martyrol. Hierou. , " a Decio occisi 
 sunt," must be set those in the ' Index Philocah' (Depositio 
 martyrum), which says, " xiii. KaL Junias Partheni et Caloceri 
 in Callisti Diooletiano viiii. et Maximiano viii. coss." But tli 
 internal evidence, which gives rightly the name of the consul 
 for 2.50, in whose service they were, is stronger than the asser- 
 tion that Decius killed them after Xystus the bishop and 
 Laurentius the deacon. (From Aub(5, p. 253.) 
 
 2 De Rossi, R. S., vol. ii. cp. 34, pp. 210-219. 
 
Martyrs at Rome. 107 
 
 handed them over to Libanius the prefect, who, 
 after torturing them unsuccessfully, ordered them 
 to be burnt alive. 
 
 There is, without doubt, a considerable substra- 
 tum of fact in this account of the examination and 
 death of the two Armenian eunuchs, but the in- 
 sertion of a promise from Libanius and Decius 
 that if they sacrifice they shall gain the friend- 
 ship of the emperor, seems lacking in authority. 
 
 Our official information carries us but little 
 further. We learn that two Persians of high 
 position, Abdon and Sennen, were buried in the 
 cemetery of Pontianus, " quod est ad ursum pile- 
 atum," on July 30. From their appearing in this 
 list we gather that they were martyrs.^ 
 
 It will be seen that this investigation enables 
 us only to give the names of, at most, six Christ- 
 ians who met their deaths at Eome during the 
 Decian persecution. It is probable that, with so 
 vast a population, anything like a systematic in- 
 quiry into the religious faith of the lower strata 
 of the community was impracticable. We know 
 that it was possible in Eome to avoid sacrificing 
 by the payment of a sum of money ,^ while there 
 
 ^ Dep. Martyr, in 'Cat. Lib. (Duchesne), p. 11. 
 ^ Cyprian, Ep. 21 (H., p. 531). Celerinus writes of his sister : 
 " Quia pro se dona numeravit ne sacrificaret." 
 
io8 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 were doubtless many other ways of evading actual 
 obedience to the law. In Spain we read that 
 even two bishops received certificates attesting 
 compliance with the edict.^ The granting of these 
 certificates was in force also at Eome, as will be 
 seen from a letter to Cyprian - from the Eoman 
 clergy, who describe the general situation with 
 regard to the la'psi. " We have carefully ex- 
 plained our attitude," they write, " towards those 
 who betrayed their faith by unlawfully putting 
 forward those blasphemous certificates, as though 
 they thought they were thus to escape the meshes 
 of the devil's net, although they were as guilty as 
 if they had really sacrificed, because they attested 
 that they had actually done so ; and not only to- 
 wards these, but also towards those who had their 
 names enrolled as having complied, although they 
 were not present in person when it was done ; 
 and yet they were virtually present, seeing they 
 gave orders for their names to be inscribed. He 
 has denied Christianity who wishes to give the 
 impression that he has complied with the edicts 
 against Christianity, in virtue of the very fact 
 that he was anxious to appear to have done so. 
 Further, we have shown our unanimous condem- 
 
 1 Cyprian, Ep. 67 (H., p. 735). Ep. 67, § 6 (H., p. 740). 
 " Ep. 30, § 3 (H., p. 650). 
 
Presbyteral Council at Rome. 109 
 
 nation of those who, led away by the pollution of 
 their minds, have polluted with forbidden sacri- 
 fices their hands and lips." From this passage 
 we gather that large numbers had lapsed during 
 the persecution, while elsewhere in the same 
 epistle we learn ^ that there were very many of 
 these who sought to be restored to Church mem- 
 bership. We read that the two sisters of Cele- 
 rinus^ sought to atone for their past fall by 
 ministering zealously to the wants of certain re- 
 fugees in Eome. 
 
 While the persecution was at its height a suffi- 
 cient number of the officials of the Roman Church 
 were at large to form a presbyteral council, pro- 
 bably directed from the catacombs, and to carry 
 on 3 the ordinary duties of the Church, such as 
 the consolation of penitents, the relief of widows 
 and afflicted, the visiting of those who were in 
 prison or whose goods had been confiscated, the 
 strengthening of the faith of the catechumens, 
 and above all the burial of the dead, and especi- 
 ally of the martyrs — a work seemingly attended 
 with the greatest danger. We thus see that it 
 
 1 Ep. 30, § 6 (H., p. 554). 
 
 '^ Ep. 21 (H., p. 532). Numeria and Candida ministered to 
 sixty-five confessors who arrived at the port. 
 3 Ep. 8, § 3 (H., p. 487). 
 
I lo The Decian Persecution. 
 
 was possible for many Christians to move about 
 unnoticed among the vast population of Eome : 
 this conclusion is confirmed in the strongest man- 
 ner by the fact that no fewer than sixty-five con- 
 fessors arrived in Eome from Africa,^ who were 
 met at the harbour, escorted to the city, and 
 ministered to by such penitent women as those 
 mentioned above. We read also that several 
 bishops ^ from neighbouring provinces took refuge 
 in the imperial city from the severity of the per- 
 secution. 
 
 We have thus seen that by the end of 250 only 
 five Christians with whose names we are ac- 
 quainted had suffered death, while many others 
 had endured the torture and the prison-house ; 
 and that in January 251 Moyses died, while in 
 the spring his companions were set at liberty, 
 and joined in the dispute over the election of a 
 bishop. Thereafter ensued a copious correspond- 
 ence between the churchmen of Carthage and 
 Eome, while in September Cornelius, at length 
 recognised as bishop by Cyprian, held a synod at 
 Eome, which was attended by sixty bishops and 
 many priests and laymen.^ 
 
 1 Cyprian, Ep. 21 (H., p. 532). 
 
 2 Ep. 30, § 8 (H., p. 556). 
 
 3 Ep. 55, § 6 (H., p. 628). 
 
Abatement of Persecution. 1 1 1 
 
 There is a wide divergence of opinion among 
 critics as to the reason for the abatement of the 
 persecution in the early part of 251, so far as to 
 allow a bishop not only to be elected but to re- 
 main undisturbed in his position. Tillemont sug- 
 gests 1 that the emperor (after having experienced 
 the constancy of Celerinus and heard the faithful 
 answers of Achatius) changed his attitude, and 
 relented so far as to permit the Christians to live 
 in peace, and to realise that they were a harmless 
 and loyal people. But he goes so far as to admit 
 that the relative immunity which Cornelius en- 
 joyed in performing the duties of his office coin- 
 cided with the absence from Eome of Decius, 
 who was engaged in the campaign against the 
 Goths, and in suppressing the rebellion of Lucius 
 Priscus in Macedonia. M. Aube ^ suggests that 
 the emperor found that public opinion was in- 
 different, and did not support his policy of com- 
 pulsion, which disturbed profoundly the ordinary 
 relations of civic intercourse, and that he there- 
 fore allowed the flame of persecution to burn 
 itself out. We may put aside at once the idea 
 that Decius had relented at the time of the elec- 
 tion of Cornelius, if we accept Cyprian's state- 
 
 ^ Tillemont, M^m. Eccl^s., iii. pt. ii. p. 157. 
 ^ AuM, cp. i. p. 71. 
 
112 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 ment ^ that the emperor received the news of the 
 appearance of a rival for the empire with more 
 equanimity than that of the election of a bishop 
 at Rome. If we hear in mind the fact that he had 
 been away from the city since May in the previous 
 year, we shall easily understand how the public 
 ardour would cool, and how the magistrates, feel- 
 ing that the task on which they were engaged was 
 at once unprofitable and unpopular, and trusting 
 that the campaign against the Goths would prove 
 to be a long one, would be disposed to turn their 
 attention to other matters more congenial to their 
 tastes than the persecution of a creed which num- 
 bered among its adherents many of their most 
 intimate acquaintances. 
 
 We know very little of the effect of the edict 
 in other parts of Europe. Cyprian mentions^ 
 that Basilides and Martialis, the bishops of Legio 
 and Asturica in Spain respectively, had defiled 
 themselves by receiving libelli ; and that, while 
 Basilides had blasphemed Christ, Martialis (who 
 frequented the filthy banquets of the Gentiles, 
 and had buried his sons in company with the 
 heathen in unconsecrated ground) had ratified his 
 
 1 Cyprian, Ep. 55, § 9 (H., p. 630, 1. 17). 
 ■' Cyprian, Ep. 67, § 6 (H., p. 740). 
 
Saturninus of Toulouse. 113 
 
 denial of Christ by a public declaration before 
 the ducenary procurator, besides involving him- 
 self in other heinous actions. 
 
 The BoUandists give the "Acta" of certain 
 other martyrs, which are, however, without 
 authority. We read of Fusca, who died at Eav- 
 enna,i and Nicon, who was martyred at Messina.^ 
 The Acts of St Agatha of Catana, as given by the 
 Metaphrast, are also probably worthless ; since, 
 even if the chronicler had obtained a biography 
 of the martyr, it must be admitted that any truth 
 there is in the history is so overlaid with the 
 miraculous that it is difficult to discover the bor- 
 der-line between history and fiction. Lastly, we 
 have the account of the death of Saturninus,^ 
 Bishop of Tolosa, at the hands of an infuriated 
 mob. Although he was not a victim of official 
 persecution, it is interesting to notice in his case 
 one of the last survivals of popular prejudice 
 against the Christians. We read* that he was 
 one of seven bishops ordained for missionary 
 work in Gaul, five of whom died a natural 
 
 1 A. S., February, ii. p. 645. 
 
 2 A. S., March, ii. p- 442. 
 
 ^ Ruinart, Acta Selecta, p. 109. 
 
 '' Gregory of Tours, Hist. Franc, i. cp. 28. 
 
 H 
 
114 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 death, while Dionysius of Paris was slain with 
 the sword, and Saturninus was hurled from the 
 Capitol of Toulouse. 
 
 Here our somewhat meagre evidence ends, and 
 we are brought to the close of our review of the 
 persecution in Europe. 
 
115 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE PERSECUTION IN AFRICA. 
 
 RECEPTION OF THE EDICT AT CARTHAGE — VOLUNTARY EXILE — 
 CYPRIAN — HIS PREVIOUS HISTORY — DECISION TO WITHDRAW 
 PEOM THE CITY — CARE FOR HIS CHURCH — CORRESPONDENCE 
 BETWEEN ROMAN CLERGY AND CARTHAGE — CIRCUMSTANCES OF 
 AJI exile's LOT — THE " SACKIPICATI " — THE DAY FOR SACRI- 
 ficing — the first tribunal — methods of compliance — 
 the act of worship — painful sights — the command to 
 sacrifice might be repeated — some christians misled by 
 their clergy, others overcome by torture — clergy who 
 lapsed — the confessors — sergius, rogatianus, and others 
 — many were banished — arrival op the proconsul — 
 mappalious — luoianus and others — treatment of those 
 "lapsi" who vrare dangerously ill — letter of cyprian 
 to the roman confessors — saturninus and aurelius — 
 numidious — case of the " lapsi " at oapsa — ordination op 
 confessors — number of martyrs — release of confessors 
 — cyprian's prolonged absence — the ' acta terentii ' — 
 Cyprian's return, 
 appendix. the " libellus." 
 
 The edict reached Carthage, the chief seat of 
 Christianity in proconsular Africa, in the early 
 months of 250. It prescribed a day on which 
 
1 1 6 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 the inhabitants of the city should join in sacri- 
 ficing to the gods, in token of gratitude for past 
 blessings and of a pious desire for their contin- 
 uance. The interval was employed in different 
 ways by the members of the Christian body, 
 according to the part that Christianity played 
 in the life of each. 
 
 Some took no heed of the proclamation ; others 
 sought security in retirement ; while by far the 
 greater number of nominal members of the 
 Church, immediately on the receipt of the edict, 
 hurried off to sacrifice, and to procure certifi- 
 cates attesting their loyalty to the worship of the 
 empire. 
 
 Those who remained unmoved by the threats 
 of the emperor will occupy our attention later: 
 for the present we must consider the cases of 
 those who retired into voluntary exile and those 
 who complied with the edict. 
 
 Among the first to retire was Cyprian, the 
 Bishop of Carthage, who had only held his ofBce 
 for the space of two years. Converted to Chris- 
 tianity in 246, under the influence of an aged 
 presbyter named Caecilian,! he was ordained priest 
 in the following year, and succeeded Donatus ^ in 
 
 ^ Pontius, Vita Cypriani, § 4. 
 
 2 Cyprian, Ep. 59 (H., p. 677, 1. 17). 
 
Cyprian of Carthage. 117 
 
 the see of Carthage ^ in 248, much to the chagrin 
 of various officials of the local Church, whose 
 policy will be noticed in another chapter.^ " The 
 new bishop was a man of the middle classes, who, 
 while possessing the pardonable failing which 
 makes a rhetorician always smack of the schools, 
 yet brought to the service of the Church the rare 
 qualities of a strong man — firmness without harsh- 
 ness, tact in dealing with men and accommodat- 
 ing himself to circumstances, an equal sense of 
 his rights and his duties, together with a zealous 
 regard for order and discipline. In the Church 
 he was not so much a doctor as a statesman, we 
 might almost say a general." * But now, at the 
 beginning of 250, appeared the edict, by which 
 he, as a bishop of the Christian Church, was 
 proscribed.* What course was he to pursue ? 
 A deserter from the ranks of paganism, he was 
 the chief figure among the Christians ; he was 
 obnoxious to the fanatical passions of the African 
 rabble, who would so soon be crying for him to 
 
 ^ Pontius, Vita Cypriaui, § 5. 
 
 2 Cyprian, Ep. 43 (p. 591). = Aubi^, p. 78. 
 
 ' Pontius, Vita Cypriani, § 7. Cyprian, Ep. 59, § 6 (H., p. 
 679, 11). Of. also Cyprian, Ep. 66, § 4 (H., p. 729, 12) : 
 " Persecutio . . . me . . proscriptionis onere depressit cum 
 publice legeretur, Si Qvis tenet possibet de bonis C/eoili 
 Cypriani episcopi Christianokvm. " 
 
1 1 8 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 be thrown to the lions.^ What would be more 
 serviceable to the cause, what could bring greater 
 glory to himself, than to fall a martyr to his con- 
 victions, and head his soldiers in the splendid 
 battle ? " But in opposition to this question there 
 arose in his mind another : ^ What was to become 
 of the Church ? who was to exhort the lapsed 
 to seek repentance, the heretic to return to the 
 truth ? who would there be to console the Christ- 
 ians for the loss of all their earthly possessions ? 
 who would animate the confessors to face martyr- 
 dom ? Such were the considerations that forced 
 themselves upon the mind of Cyprian, and decided 
 his course for him. He was no coward : he did 
 not flee in 250 before the death which he so 
 calmly met in 258. His biographer strives to 
 remove any doubt on this point by the record of 
 Cyprian's unselfish generosity to the people of 
 Carthage during the plague which broke out in 
 the reign of Gallus.* He himself writes to the 
 clergy of Kome : ^ "As the Lord gave command- 
 ment," immediately on the appearance of trouble, 
 when the people had fiercely and repeatedly clam- 
 
 1 Ep. 59, § 6 (H., p. 673) : "Totiens ad leonem petitus." 
 
 ^ Cf. Cyprian, Ep. 55 (H., p. 625, 19). 
 
 » Pontius, Vita Cypriani, § 7. ■• Ibid., §§ 8, 9. 
 
 5 Cyprian, Ep. 20 (H., p. 527, 8). ^ St Matthew, i. 23. 
 
Cyprian withdraws. 119 
 
 cured for my blood, I withdrew, taking thought 
 rather for the tranquillity of the Church than for 
 my own safety, in order to prevent a further out- 
 break of the animosity which had been fired by 
 my unwelcome presence.^ But though absent in 
 the body, neither in mind nor in spirit was I 
 behindhand in taking what thought I could for 
 our brethren." 
 
 Cyprian was thus too thoughtful to be a cause 
 of persecution to the Church in Carthage by 
 remaining there, and too prudent to deprive his 
 people of their head. He faced, therefore, the 
 penalty following upon voluntary exile — namely, 
 the confiscation of his entire property — knowing 
 that he would be able to give all necessary direc- 
 tions to his subordinates from his hiding-place. 
 He writes to the presbyters of Carthage : ^ " Since 
 my present position prevents me from acting in 
 company with you, I appeal to your sense of 
 duty and your faith to perform in the city your 
 own duties and mine, that there be no want of 
 care or discipline. With regard to the contri- 
 bution for the confessors in prison, or the poor 
 and needy who still stand fast in the Lord, I 
 ask that everything be diligently attended to, 
 
 1 Cf. Cyprian, Ep. 7 (H., p. 485, 1-5). 
 
 2 Cyprian, Ep. 5 (H., pp. 478, 479). 
 
1 20 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 since the money which was collected was dis- 
 tributed to the clergy for objects of this nature. 
 I entreat you also to use all your energies to 
 avoid provocation : the confessors in prison should 
 only be visited by you in small numbers, and 
 with a constant change of visitors. Anything 
 like overbearing and fanatical behaviour is zeal- 
 ously to be guarded against." His care for the 
 Church in his absence may be seen from his 
 words elsewhere : ^ " Whenever you write to tell 
 me that tranquillity has been restored, or if the 
 Lord think fit to warn me, I will return to 
 you. . . . Take, I entreat you, diligent care of 
 the widows, the sick, and all the poor ; but 
 especially help any poor strangers out of my 
 own property, which I left in the charge of 
 our fellow - presbyter, Eogatianus. In case it 
 has all been expended, I have sent him another 
 portion by the hand of Naricus the acolyth, 
 that the work may be carried on more speedily 
 and liberally." In another passage he points 
 out^ that the inferior clergy are the proper 
 channels for dispensing charity under the cir- 
 cumstances, as no irritation was caused by 
 their presence, and consequently there was little 
 reason for alarm. He gives directions also that, 
 1 Ep. 7 (H., p. 485, 5). » Ep. 14 (H., p. 510, 12). 
 
Cypria7i still directs Affairs. 1 2 1 
 
 although the wants of most of the confessors 
 were carefully supplied by the brethren, if there 
 were any exceptions, the need should be sup- 
 plied from the Church funds. 
 
 We thus see that, although Cyprian was com- 
 pelled to retire from personal intercourse with 
 the Church, his care for it was in no way dimin- 
 ished, while the dangerous crisis was successfully 
 faced, thanks to Tertullus,i a dear brother, as 
 he is called, who not only acted as special 
 messenger between the bishop and his flock, but 
 was also the author of the plan whereby Cyprian 
 entered upon a " less public mode of life, and 
 was able to avoid appearing before the eyes of 
 the people, and particularly of the frequenters 
 of that spot where he had been so frequently 
 shouted for." 
 
 It is to the earlier part of Cyprian's retire- 
 ment, probably before April ^ 250, that we must 
 assign the curious correspondence, which is ex- 
 tant, between the Bishop of Carthage and the 
 Eoman clergy. The latter, having lost their 
 
 1 Ep. 14 (H., p. 510, 7). 
 
 ^ We gather this from Ep. viii. (from the Roman clergy) : 
 " Strengthen with your exhortations the hearts of those that 
 are fallen, that if they be arraigned again, they may make 
 confession of their faith " ; referring to the trial first before 
 the ■' pusilliores, " then before the proconsul. 
 
122 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 bishop, Fabianus, prepared a letter ^ to Cyprian, 
 as Bishop of Carthage, detailing the facts of 
 his martyrdom. While they were waiting for 
 a messenger, Crementius, a subdeacon, arrived 
 from Carthage, bearing the news that the Church 
 there had also lost its bishop, who had aban- 
 doned his flock.^ The Eoman clergy, on hearing 
 the report of Crementius, thought it their duty, 
 as the representative clergy^ of the Church of the 
 metropolis, to write a letter of counsel* to the 
 deserted clergy : this letter was written in vulgar 
 Latin, probably on paper differing from that of 
 the epistle already prepared, and by another hand, 
 a fact which immediately filled Cyprian with sus- 
 picion, seeing that neither the writers nor the in- 
 tended receivers of the letter were specified.^ By 
 some means, perhaps through the instrumentality 
 of Crementius, these letters fell into Cyprian's 
 hands : he returned the second, that to the clergy, 
 with the request that he might be informed 
 whether it was genuine, while later on he wrote 
 again,^ explaining the cause of his withdrawal. 
 The letter from the Eoman clergy to those of 
 
 1 Cyprian, Ep. 9 (H., p. 489, 1). 
 
 ''■ Ep. 8 : " Didioimus secessisse benediotum Papatem Cypri- 
 
 anum, 
 
 3 
 
 Ep. 8 (H., p. 486, 1. 6). < I.e., Ep. 8. 
 
 Cyprian, Ep. 9, § 2 (H., p. 489, 1. 12). « Ep. 20. 
 
Letter from the Roman Clergy. 123 
 
 Carthage had been highly practical : knowing 
 that Cyprian, as a bishop, could be deposed by 
 none but a bishop, they regarded his influence 
 and authority as temporarily in abeyance, and 
 gave such advice as their own experience sug- 
 gested, being the while unaware of the fact that 
 Cyprian was ruling his Church with the same 
 care as in time past.^ Cyprian was naturally 
 indignant (Ep. 9) at the reference to the hire- 
 ling in the Roman letter, and simultaneously 
 with the detailed description of his position (Ep. 
 20) which he wrote when the momentary irri- 
 tation had passed off, he forwarded as many as 
 thirteen letters, written previously, and contain- 
 ing words of counsel to his clergy or to the 
 Church at large.^ Immediately on discovering 
 their error, the Eoman clergy wrote to those of 
 Carthage, and resumed communion with Cyprian 
 himself, to the great satisfaction of the bishop.^ 
 The temporary retirement of Cyprian does not 
 seem to have been passed under the conditions 
 
 ^ Crementius (had left Carthage "imminente agone" ; Cyp- 
 rian evidently (Ep. 9) regarded his position as endangered, 
 although there is no evidence of any presumptuous intention 
 on the part of the Roman clergy. 
 
 2 Ep. 20 (H., p. 527, 1. 16). 
 
 ^ Cyprian, Ep. 27 (H., p. 644, 9). Cf. generally Miiller, p. 
 209 ff., and Cyprian, Ep. 31 (H., p. 562, 1). 
 
1 24 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 of discomfort which were wont to surround 
 exiles of this class. Dionysius of Alexandria 
 and Gregory Thaumaturgus of Neo - Ceesarea 
 suffered hardships such as we have no hint 
 from Cyprian that he himself endured, although 
 he gives pictures of the risks run by those who 
 took this step : "A man leaves his entire property 
 and goes into exile, and when he is in the desert 
 or in hiding, he perhaps encounters robbers, or 
 dies through fever or exhaustion." ^ Elsewhere 
 he writes : ^ " If, in his flight over the mountains 
 or deserts, he is met by a robber, or attacked by 
 a wild beast, or afflicted with cold or hunger or 
 thirst, or if, as he speeds across the sea, he per- 
 ishes in a storm, Christ watches over His soldier 
 wherever he is fighting, and, if he dies by per- 
 secution for the glory of His name. He gives 
 him his reward." 
 
 The names of those who had withdrawn into 
 voluntary exile would become known as soon as 
 the time came to go through the lists of the 
 inhabitants, when such as had fled would be 
 noted, and their property confiscated. They 
 were doubtless anxious to return as soon as 
 possible, but Cyprian knew that their reappear- 
 
 1 Cyprian, Ep. 57 (H., p. 654, 1). 
 "^ Ep. 58 (H., p. 659, 23). 
 
Return- of the Exiles. 125 
 
 ance would be nearly as dangerous to the general 
 peace as his own, since they were now more than 
 ever obnoxious to the law. In the early summer 
 of 250 he writes ^ that the time for his return 
 was not yet at hand ; and in the following letter ^ 
 he adds that, when the confessors who had been 
 exiled and despoiled had not yet returned, it was 
 very early for the lapsed to be knocking at the 
 door of the Church. In his letter to the clergy 
 of Eome ^ he mentions sending a message of 
 reproof to the confessors, who were probably 
 over-anxious to return. When the persecution 
 was at last over, the exiles were received into the 
 houses of friends, who extended to them hospi- 
 tality ; and we read of one man who, though 
 himself a lapsus, had compensated for the injury 
 he had inflicted on his own soul by his gift of 
 safety and protection to many others.* From 
 those who thus took advantage of the oppor- 
 tunity, afforded by the short interval preceding 
 the day of sacrifice, to secrete themselves, we 
 pass to those who obeyed the commands of the 
 emperor. 
 
 The number of those who, when the blow fell, 
 
 1 Ep. 18 (H., p. 523, 17). ^ Ep. 19 (H., p. 526, 10). 
 
 s Ep. 20 (H., p. 527, 19). Cf. also Ep. 13 (H., p. 507, 2). 
 * Ep. 55 (H., p. 633, 10). 
 
126 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 were prepared to sacrifice everything for their 
 faith, was comparatively small. We have seen 
 in an earlier chapter how very different was the 
 spirit which now actuated the Church from that 
 which had swayed it a century before, and we 
 are therefore not surprised to read Cyprian's com- 
 plaints : ^ "At the very first publication of the 
 threatening words of our foe, the greater part of 
 the brethren, far from being stunned by the blow, 
 voluntarily fell away and betrayed their faith. . . . 
 All the past vanished from their minds ; they 
 did not even wait to be summoned, much less to 
 refuse to obey the command. Before the battle 
 began many were conquered and overthrown 
 without meeting the shock, not even delaying 
 long enough to give the appearance of sacrificing 
 against their will. Unbidden they hastened to 
 the forum, bent upon spiritual death, as though 
 this had been their long -cherished desire, and 
 they were now embracing an opportunity they 
 had urgently sought. As night fell, the magis- 
 trates put off a great number till the morrow, but 
 how many ofthem entreated that their fall might 
 not be delayed ! . . . They spurred one another 
 on with encouraging words, and in turn pledged 
 each other in the cup of death." We should 
 1 De lapsis, §§ 7, 8, 9. 
 
The First Enquiry. 127 
 
 gather from the words of Cyprian ^ that by far 
 the greater number of the members of the Church 
 apostatised, among whom were actually some of 
 the clergy.^ 
 
 It is probable that only such as felt that they 
 would incur suspicion or might become the 
 objects of the popular fury rushed to sacrifice 
 (and perhaps to obtain libelli) with the haste 
 which Cyprian describes. Those who had in 
 this way obtained the libellus would feel them- 
 selves secure henceforth against any of the 
 vaguely awful threats of the edict. 
 
 The appointed day having arrived, the citizens 
 would appear in due order before the tribunal, 
 where a body of inquisitors specially commis- 
 sioned for the occasion was assembled, composed 
 of the local magistrates and five of the magnates 
 of the place. ^ 
 
 This tribunal was spoken of as that of the 
 2msilliores* and to face it was the first test of the 
 strength of a Christian's faith. Cyprian, writing 
 to Eogatianus and the other confessors, exhorts 
 
 1 Ep. 14 (H., p. 509, 8), Ep. 11 (H., p. 495, 17), and Ep. 11 
 (H., p. 501, 16). 
 
 2 Ep. 14 (H., p. 509, 8) and Ep. 40 (H., p. 586, 8). 
 
 3 Cf. Cyprian, Ep. 43 (H., p. 592, 9). 
 
 ■> Cyprian, Ep. 22 (Lucianus Celerino) (H., p. 533, 9): " Hom- 
 inis qui ayuii. pusilliores nomen Dei confeasus sum." 
 
128 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 them "by their common faith, by the true and 
 unmixed love he felt for them, bravely to per- 
 severe in their glorious career, after defeating 
 the adversary in their first conflict." ^ To these 
 magistrates were intrusted all the preliminary 
 stages of the prosecution, in order that when the 
 proconsul arrived in April or May a complete 
 report might be ready for him, while the few 
 remaining Christians whose refractory behaviour 
 had baffled the lower officials might be amenable 
 to his greater powers. This body did not possess 
 the ius gladii, — it could only order proscrip- 
 tion, banishment, confiscation, and imprisonment. 
 There were therefore no martyrs before the 
 arrival of the proconsul, but even these milder 
 methods were sufficient to overcome the scruples 
 of many.^ The threats of the local magistrates ^ 
 and the jeers of the excited multitude were 
 enough to shake the faith, at no time very strong, 
 of many of Cyprian's flock. 
 
 It was possible to deny the Christian faith 
 either by public act or by private declaration. 
 In the latter case, the magistrate, for a given 
 
 1 Cyprian, Ep. 13 (H,, p. 505, 5). 
 ^ Cf. Dodwell, Dissert. Cyprian., xi. § 53. 
 ^ Cyprian, De lapsis, § 28 (H., p. 258). Ep. 56 (H., p. 648, 
 11). 
 
Obedience to the Edict. 129 
 
 sum, signed a certificate attesting that the in- 
 dividual in question had sacrificed, when in 
 reality he had not done so. In this way safety 
 was ensured to the holder of the certificate with- 
 out his having actually complied with the edict. 
 The fallacy in the distinction is apparent, but 
 the la-psi were regularly divided into two classes, 
 the sacrificati and the libellatici. With the 
 sacrificati and tliurificati we shall now proceed to 
 deal, but, having explained the significance of 
 the term libellatici, it will suffice to discuss the 
 lihellits in an appendix to this chapter. 
 
 It is probable that the act of worship consisted 
 of two parts. 1 The worshipper would approach 
 the altar in the morning, and, if a person of 
 property, would sacrifice the flesh of some animal 
 he brought with him,'^ while, if poor, he would 
 throw a handful of incense on the altar : in the 
 afternoon a sacrificial feast would take place, pre- 
 sided over by the temple officials, the veancopoi, 
 at which the eiSm\60vTa would be eaten, and 
 the seal set upon the apostasy of the morning. 
 Writing of the confessors,^ Cyprian says : " Their 
 
 ^ Cf. ' Acta Pionii,' sub init. . ol rfTayixivot ana^ifre'ii' Kol 
 €\Keiv rovs Xpi(TTlavoifs iiriBveli' Kal fji.iapo<paye'iv. 
 
 2 Cyprian, De lapsis, § 8 (H., p. 243). 
 
 3 Ibid., § 2 (H., p. 237, 21). 
 
 I 
 
130 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 faithful voice proclaimed Chrigt, on whom they 
 had once for all believed : the noble hands, 
 accustomed to none but holy works, refused the 
 profane sacrifices ; their lips, hallowed with food 
 divine, could not endure, after the body and blood 
 of the Lord, the unholy touch of the food that 
 remained over from the idol-feasts ; their heads 
 remained free from the accursed veil wherewith 
 those who offered covered themselves." It was 
 in the Capitol ^ that the official sacrifices took 
 place on the fixed day : previously, as we have 
 seen, the forum ^ had sufficed for an informal and 
 premature compliance. The general apostasy 
 was not unaccompanied by terrible portents.^ 
 " One who had voluntarily mounted to the Capi- 
 tol with the purpose of sacrificing was seized with 
 dumbness immediately after he had done the 
 deed. A woman while standing in the baths bit 
 through her tongue, which had tasted and uttered 
 the evil thing. After she had taken the accursed 
 food, the folly she had wrought with her mouth 
 turned to her destruction. She became her own 
 murderer, and soon died after suffering internal 
 agonies." The fear of divine vengeance tortured 
 
 1 Cyprian, De lapsis, § 8 (H., p. 242, 18). 
 ^ L. c. : " Ultro ad forum currere." 
 
 2 De lapsis, §§ 24, 25 (H., pp. 255, 256). 
 
Obedience to the Edict. 1 3 1 
 
 the minds of many who had denied their God. 
 Cyprian relates another case : a Christian child, 
 whose parents had fled from the persecution, was 
 brought by its nurse before the magistrates. Too 
 young to eat meat, it was given bread soaked in 
 wine, which remained over from the sacrifices of 
 those who had preceded it. A short time after, 
 the child was restored to its mother, who brought 
 it with her to the Christian assembly, when the 
 Eucharist was about to be celebrated. The deacon 
 offered the cup to the child, which was seized 
 with such a violent fit of choking that the by- 
 standers beheld in the circumstance an act of 
 divine justice, and remembered that the child 
 had partaken of unhallowed food. 
 
 The twofold act of compliance was apparently 
 in use at Eome as well as at Carthage, if we may 
 judge from the words of the Eoman confessors 
 to Cyprian:^ "The hands stained with the pro- 
 fane sacrifice must be cleansed by good works, 
 the lips befouled with the blasphemous food 
 must be purified by the speech of true peni- 
 tence." It is reasonable to suppose that, in 
 writing his epistle to Antonianus,^ Cyprian had 
 before his mind actual examples of men who 
 
 1 Cyprian, Ep. 31 (H., p. 563, 11). 
 
 2 Ep. 55 (H., p. 633, 1-14). 
 
132 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 had lapsed and compelled their entire families 
 to lapse also, and again of others whose own 
 obedience to the edict answered for that of their 
 families, and who were thus able to relieve them 
 from the necessity of sacrificing. 
 
 It is plain that many who had once satisfied 
 the requirements of the edict, were again put to 
 the test,i perhaps as the result of delation. Cyp- 
 rian writes : ^ " Some who had sacrificed were, 
 later on, upon a repeated examination, sent into 
 exile : they seem to have atoned for their fault by 
 giving up their property and houses, and peni- 
 tently following Christ. Felix, who had been a 
 presbyter under Decimus, Victoria his wife, and 
 Lucius, all members of the Church, were banished, 
 and forsook their property, which is now confis- 
 cated. Again, a woman named Bona was dragged 
 to the altar by her husband, although she had no 
 share in the act, and her hands were held while 
 the sacrifice was performed, when she loudly pro- 
 tested, ' It is not I, but you, who have sacrificed ' : 
 she also has gone into banishment." Again, we 
 read of "iEmilius and Castus,^ to whom the Lord 
 extended His pardon, inasmuch as in the first 
 
 1 Ep. 55 (H., p. 625, 24). 
 
 2 Ep. 24;passim (H., pp. 536, 537). 
 
 3 De lapsis, § 13 (H., p. 246). 
 
Cases of Apostasy. 133 
 
 conflict they had been overcome, but in the second 
 were made conquerors, so that they scorned the 
 fire that had before appalled them, and gained 
 the victory in the very point in which they had 
 failed." 
 
 Some were actually led into apostasy by their 
 own clergy, since we read ^ of Eepostus, who in 
 the persecution not only gave way himself, but 
 by his vicious example persuaded the greater part 
 of his flock to follow him. 
 
 Others, again, could claim that they had only 
 sacrificed when compelled to do so by torture, 
 and by the knowledge that still worse horrors re- 
 mained in store for the refractory. Cyprian offers 
 an excuse for such persons in words which he 
 supposes one of them to utter : ^ " I was anxious 
 to struggle bravely, and remembering my oath, I 
 put on the armour of faith and devotion, but the 
 endless series of tortures overcame my resolution. 
 My mind stood firm, my faith was strong, and for 
 a long while the pains of torture made no impres- 
 sion on my soul. But when the fury of the judge 
 had broken forth again, and my weary body was 
 being torn with lashes, bruised with clubs, 
 stretched on the rack, pierced with hooks, and 
 burned with fire, my flesh failed, my weakness 
 1 Ep. 59, § 10 (H., p. 678). ' De lapsis, § 13 (H., p. 246). 
 
134 ^^^^ Decian Persecution. 
 
 overcame me, and pain subdued my body, though 
 not my heart.'' 
 
 We have seen that a number of the inferior 
 clergy fell away ; ^ it remains to mention the 
 names of certain bishops who also denied their 
 faith. Jovinus and Maximus were two bishops 
 who afterwards joined Privatus and Eepostus (the 
 latter, as we have seen, himself a lapsus)- in a 
 schismatic movement. Cyprian says of Jovinus 
 and Maximus that they had been condemned by 
 the sentence of a council of his colleagues for 
 sacrificing to idols, and on other charges which 
 had been brought against them. Fortunatianus 
 also, the Bishop of Assuras,^ caused Cyprian great 
 anxiety, because he " dared to claim the priest- 
 hood which he had deserted, as though it were 
 allowable to pass from the altars of the devil to 
 the altar of God." 
 
 It is probable that by far the greater number 
 of the lapsi fell away before the advent of the 
 proconsul, although it seems likely that on his 
 arrival a further demand was made on the more 
 important of those Christians who had sacrificed, 
 in order to ascertain whether their conversion was 
 
 1 Ep. 14 (H., p. 509, 8). Cf. also Ep. 24, where we read of 
 Felix, " qui presbyterium subministrabat." 
 
 2 Ep. 59, § 10 (H., p. 678, 5). •' Ep. 65 passim (H., p. 721). 
 
Search for the Recusants. 135 
 
 genuine : perhaps also delation was at work in 
 cases of this kind.^ 
 
 The problems connected with the restitution of 
 the lapsi will require a separate chapter, and we 
 may now pass without delay to those who con- 
 fessed their faith. 
 
 All those who had no intention of complying 
 with the demands of the edict let the appointed 
 day pass without appearing at the altars. From 
 the moment that they did not answer to their 
 names, which one of the officers of the tribunal 
 called out from a list, they had rendered them- 
 selves liable to punishment. Search was insti- 
 tuted for them, and on their apprehension they 
 were either brought before the tribunal without 
 delay, or thrown into prison until it was conven- 
 ient for their case to be tried. The search for the 
 Christians and their arrest by the police marks 
 the end of the first phase of the persecution 
 (called by Aube a period of " effroi preventif") 
 and the beginning of the second. 
 
 We can have but little doubt that during this 
 first period the utmost use was made of informers, 
 who could penetrate where the ofiicial eye might 
 
 1 Ep. 24 (H., p. 536, 12) : " Iterato temptati." Gf. De lapsis, 
 § 13 (H., p. il46, 22). Cf. I. V. : " Durissimi iudicis recrudescente 
 saevitia." 
 
136 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 never reach, and, in consideration of receiving 
 some portion of the property of the accused, could 
 be trusted not to allow their power to lie dormant. 
 The passion for delation grew into a fanatic fury,^ 
 which spurred on the officials, who were anxious 
 to conciliate the popular favour, with the result 
 that the more prominent Christians had little 
 chance of escape. 
 
 The first confessors of whom we read are Ser- 
 gius,^ Eogatianus, and Felicissimus,^ who with 
 others — not a few of whom were women* — had 
 been cast into prison.^ Eogatianus, of whom 
 Cyprian speaks in terms of the highest praise," 
 had been intrusted by the bishop with a consider- 
 able sum,'' to be distributed among the poor and 
 any strangers who required assistance ; but that 
 task, together with the duty of visiting^ and 
 assisting ' the confessors, would now of necessity 
 devolve upon others. The tribunal put into force 
 immediately its power of condemning to exile,!" 
 
 ^ Cf. Peters in his article " Decius " in Wetzer and Welte's 
 ' Kirchen-Lexicon.' 
 
 ^ Ep. 6 (H., p. 480) : " Sergio et Rogatiano et ceteris 
 CONFESSORIBVS." Cf. also p. 484, 10. 
 
 3 Ep. 6 (H., p. 484, 9). ■■ Ep. 6 (H., p. 482, 22). 
 
 = Ep. 6 (H., p. 480, 19). « Ep. 6 (H., p. 484, 6). 
 
 ' Ep. 7 (H., p. 485, 11). 
 
 8 Ep. 5 (H., p. 479, 8) and Ep. 14 (H., p. 510, 20). 
 
 9 Ep. 5 (H., p. 478, 16). 1" Ep. 10 (H., p. 490, 6). 
 
The First Tribunal. 137 
 
 while, in order doubtless to engage the popular 
 sympathy/ it exceeded its powers, and went so 
 far as to put to torture a number of Christians.^ 
 Cyprian writes at this time to the confessors in a 
 triumphant strain : ^ " The more bravely your 
 confession is made, the greater is the honour due 
 to you. As the battle grows fiercer, so grows the 
 fame of the combatants. So far from being held 
 back from the fray by fear of torture, ye were 
 rather spurred on by the very anguish, and, strong 
 in your devotion, ye stepped forth to engage in 
 the great fight. Some, I hear, have already re- 
 ceived the crown, some have nearly attained to 
 it ; all those soldiers of the noble army who have 
 been imprisoned have burned with one desire for 
 the fight, as is only right in the holy camp of 
 Christ ; your constancy is not deceived and made 
 to fail by means of enticing words, threats have 
 no weight, tortures and anguish are unsuccessful, 
 because greater is He that is in us than he that 
 is in the world. Why should the pains of earth 
 cast you dowir rather than the support of heaven 
 raise you ? Proof was given when our brethren 
 entered the proud fight, for they showed all the 
 others how to overcome torture, and gave an ex- 
 
 1 Ep. 6 (H., p. 484, 9). ^ Ep. 10 (H., p. 491, 5). 
 
 3 Ep. 10 (H., p. 490, 7 ; p. 491, 2). 
 
138 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 ample of valour and faith : they fought in the 
 forefront of the battle, until the enemy retired 
 vanquished before them." 
 
 How it was that some of the clergy and deacons, 
 while regularly visiting the confessors in prison,^ 
 burying the bodies of the martyrs^ (a duty in- 
 volving no small risk), and granting assistance to 
 such poor persons as were ostensibly Christians, 
 succeeded in escaping arrest, it is impossible to 
 say ; but throughout the persecution we find the 
 work of the Church continuously carried on, while 
 messengers passed between Rome or Carthage 
 and Cyprian in his retirement. 
 
 The first tribunal awarded the punishment of 
 exile in a very large number of cases. We read 
 that Statius and Severianus, accompanied by 
 sixty-three others, took refuge in Eonie, where 
 they were ministered to by women belonging to 
 the local church.^ Others were less fortunate. 
 Of Aurelius * we learn that he was first banished, 
 and, on the arrival of the proconsul, tortured. If 
 with these passages we compare that which de- 
 scribes the hard case of Mnus, Clementianus, and 
 
 1 Ep. 5 (H., p. 479, 14, 15). 
 
 " Ep. 8 (H., p. 488, 3-5). Ep. 12 (H., p. 502, 15). 
 
 3 Ep. 21 (H., p. 532, 9). * Ep. 38 (H., p. 581, 1 ff.) 
 
A ri-ival of the Proconsitl. 1 39 
 
 Florus/ who braved the threats of the magistrates, 
 but on the arrival of the proconsul yielded to 
 torture, we shall be forced to disagree with Dod- 
 well, who asserts ^ that it was the proconsul who 
 began by inflicting banishment, and later, on find- 
 ing this plan unsuccessful, proceeded to more 
 violent measures. 
 
 With the month of ]\Iay arrived the procon- 
 sul,3 whose advent initiated the second phase of 
 the prosecution. It is probable that but little 
 blood had been shed hitherto, and that the 
 Church, guided by Cyprian, whose hiding-place 
 remained undiscovered, was rallying in a small 
 degree from the effects of the first shock. The 
 proconsul, therefore, proceeded to severe measures 
 without delay. 
 
 Mappalicus * was the first to appear before the 
 new and more terrible tribunal. In the midst of 
 his tortures he cried out to the proconsul, " Thou 
 
 1 Ep. 56 (H., p. 648, 9). 
 Dodwell, Dissert. Cypriau., si. § 53. 
 
 ^ Cf. Lightfoot, Ai^ostolic Fatliers, pt,. ii. vol. i. p. 657. The 
 goYernors of senatorial provinces, by an order of Claudius (in 
 force in a.d. 115), were required to start for their provinces 
 before the middle of April (Dion. Cass., Ix. 17). The procon- 
 suls would not enter on their office till May. 
 
 J Cyprian, Ep. 10 (H., p. 492, 15). 
 
140 The Decian Persectttion. 
 
 slialt see a battle to-morrow " ; and the next day, 
 amid renewed tortures, he attained the crown of 
 martyrdom. Cyprian writes : ^ " This, then, was 
 the battle spoken of before by the prophets, 
 fought by Christ, waged by the apostles, which 
 Mappalicus, in his own name and that of his 
 fellows, promised the proconsul that he should 
 see. And he spoke truly, indeed. They saw the 
 battle he had foretold, and he received the palm 
 he so richly deserved. It is my prayer that all 
 ye who remain may follow the example of the 
 blessed martyr and his companions in this en- 
 counter, in their strong faith, their endurance of 
 pain, their victory over torture. I exhort you, 
 that as ye have been joined together by the 
 bonds of one confession and the confinement in 
 one prison-house, so ye may be joined together 
 by the consummation of your valour and by the 
 heavenly crown, that ye may gladden the Church, 
 your mother, and wipe from her eyes the tears she 
 sheds for the spiritual death of so many of her 
 sons, and that by your example ye may provoke 
 to emulation all the brethren who yet stand." 
 
 Shortly after the death of Mappalicus and his 
 unnamed companions, the bishop writes to his 
 clergy, desiring them to keep a record of the date 
 
 1 Ep. 10 (H., p. 493, 16). 
 
Examination of Ettciamis. 141 
 
 of death of all who died in prison.^ Tertullus, it 
 is evident, from an allusion to him in this passage, 
 was a very faithful servant to the Church in 
 Carthage. We remember that it was he who 
 prompted Cyprian's retirement, and now we ob- 
 serve that he keeps him well informed as to the 
 dates on which the deaths of martyrs occurred, 
 besides rendering all the assistance in his power 
 to the brethren who still survived. 
 
 Not long after Easter Lucianus,^ whose corre- 
 spondence with Celerinus remains to us, and some 
 others, experienced the rigour of the proconsul. 
 On his first appearance before the magistrates, 
 several confessors had been arraigned with him,^ 
 and now he gives us the names of seventeen of 
 his fellow-sufferers who had succumbed to the 
 aggravated tortures ordered by the proconsul. 
 This official seems to have been inspired by a 
 suggestion emanating directly from the emperor* 
 to torment his victims first of all by means of 
 
 1 Ep. 12 (H., p. 503, § 2). 
 
 ^ We gather this from the fact that Lucianus had been tried 
 before the first tribunal before Celerinus wrote to him, which 
 he did shortly after Easter, calling forth an immediate reply 
 from Lucianus : as the news of Luoianus's first confession would 
 have taken some time to reach Rome, it is probable it occurred 
 before Easter. Cf. Ep. 21, from Celerinus (H., p. 630, 19), "in 
 die lastitise Paschae flens ... in cilicio . . . dies exegi et exigo." 
 
 3 Ep. 21 (H., p. 531, 14, 15). " Ep. 22 (H., p. 534, 11). 
 
142 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 hunger and thirst, thirteen out of the number 
 dying from these privations. This band of suf- 
 ferers, among whom Mappalicus is again men- 
 tioned, included four women. The names of the 
 party were : Bassus, who was sentenced to the 
 quarries ; Fortunio, who succumbed to the hard- 
 ships of prison life ; and Paulus, who died after 
 the torture : the rest — Fortunata, A^ictorinus, 
 Victor, Herennius, Credula, Hereda, Donatus, 
 Firmus, Venustus, Fructus, Julia, Martialis, and 
 Ariston — died in prison of hunger and thirst. 
 Lucianus writes to Celerinus that he expects soon 
 to follow those whose names he had given ; for 
 he had now been incarcerated for a week, and 
 had only been allowed the most scanty pittance 
 of bread and water.^ 
 
 Cyprian, who was continually seeking an op- 
 portunity of returning to his flock,^ writes to his 
 clergy at the beginning of the summer,^ directing 
 them how to treat such of the Ici'psi as were seri- 
 ously ill. A short time after, there follows a 
 grateful letter to the Eoman confessors,* Maximus 
 and Moyses, who had encouraged their Cartha- 
 
 ^ Cyprian, Ep. 22, Lucianus C'elerino (H., p. 535, 2). 
 
 " Ep. 12 (H., p. 504, 1). 3 Ep. 18 (H., p. 523, 17). 
 
 -• Ep. 28 (H.,p. 545), §2. 
 
The Roman Confessors. 143 
 
 ginian brethren in affliction, Satiirninus and 
 Aurelius : ^ " Your splendid confession and the 
 good omen of your victory you have supple- 
 mented with the tone of dutiful obedience shin- 
 ing through the stronij and loving counsels of 
 the letter which you have but recently sent to 
 your brethren, whom their confession of the Lord 
 has bound closely to you, in order that the sacred 
 precepts of the Gospel and the commands once 
 for all delivered to us may be kept with their 
 vitality unimpaired, firmly and consistently. Your 
 glory has advanced to a still higher plane : you 
 have followed your confession with yet a second 
 service to your God : firmly you took your stand 
 in the battle against those who would assail the 
 Gospel ; with unfaltering constancy you drove 
 back those whose impious hands attempted to 
 undermine the commandments of God ; hitherto 
 you have displayed the rudiments of the virtues, 
 now you exhibit your powers as instructors in 
 sound manners.'' 
 
 We know no more of the above-mentioned con- 
 fessor Saturninus than that he was put to the 
 torture by the proconsul, and sent back to prison, 
 and that he did not follow the example of Luci- 
 
 1 Ep. 27 (H., p. 544, 10). 
 
144 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 anus in his hot-headed eagerness to restore the 
 lapsed.^ For Aurehus let Cyprian speak : ^ 
 " Aurelius our brother is an honourable youth 
 whom the Lord has already tested : a child of 
 God, in years he is yet a stripling, but in faith 
 and constancy he is far advanced ; his youth en- 
 hances his glory. Twice has he striven in the 
 battle, twice has he confessed and twice gained 
 glory by his victorious confession, first when on 
 the race-course he was sentenced to banishment, 
 and again when the battle raged more fiercely, 
 and he came forth conqueror from the strife of 
 suffering. As often as the adversary challenged 
 the servants of God, this brave soldier was always 
 to the front and fought and conquered. It was 
 not enough for him to enter the battle the first 
 time before but few eyes, when he received sen- 
 tence of banishment ; he was counted worthy to 
 fight in the forum also, that his valour might 
 shine with yet purer lustre, by adding to his 
 defeat of the magistrates the defeat of the pro- 
 consul, and by following up the victory over 
 exile with a victory over the anguish of the 
 torture.'' 
 
 To the number of the confessors mentioned by 
 Cyprian must be added one more name, that of 
 1 Ep. 27 (H., p. 541, 7-9). ^ Ep. 38 (H., p. 580, 1 ff.) 
 
Resctie of Niiviidicus. 145 
 
 Numidicus/ " who saw many, encouraged by his 
 exhortations, meet their end and attain to a proud 
 martyrdom, burned or stoned to death ; who with 
 a glad heart could look upon his own wife cling- 
 ing to him, while with the rest the flames con- 
 sumed her, or (shall I say ?) preserved her. He 
 was covered with stones and severely burned, and 
 left for dead ; but when his daughter with anxious 
 affection came to seek for the remains of her 
 father," she found him still breathing, and rescued 
 him. 
 
 A letter from Cyprian is preserved ^ in which 
 the bishop deals with a painful case at Capsa, 
 where Ninus, Clementianus, and Floras had faced 
 boldly the anger of the magistrates and the fury 
 of the mob, but had yielded later to the compul- 
 sion exercised by the proconsul, and had fallen 
 from the lofty pinnacle of their first confession. 
 Cyprian decides that pardon is to be granted to 
 Iwpsi such as these, for they had given certain 
 proof that it was merely in consequence of the 
 utter incapacity of the flesh to endure further 
 torture that they had submitted. 
 
 To the end of 250 or the early months of 251 
 belongs a group of three letters from Cyprian 
 (Epistles 38-40), in which he announces that he 
 
 1 Ep. 40 (H., p. 585 ■passim). ^ Ep. 56 (H., p. 648), § 1 
 
 K 
 
1 46 The Decia7i Persecution. 
 
 has made the confessor Aurelius, though very 
 young, a lector, and has conferred the same dis- 
 tinction upon tlie confessor Celerinus. " I would 
 have," he writes,^ " Celerinus joined in the office 
 of lector with Aurelius, with whom he is already 
 joined in the fellowship of divine honour, and to 
 whom he is linked by every mark of valour and 
 worth. They are both alike ; their honour is as 
 high as their modesty is great; their advance- 
 ment in the estimation of heaven corresponds 
 with their submissiveness and humility." Epistle 
 40 expresses his desire that Numidicus should be 
 enrolled as one of the presbyters at Carthage, and 
 should take his seat on the bench of the council. 
 
 It is impossible, after our review of the persecu- 
 tion in North Africa, to agree with the assertion 
 of Dodwell that the martyrdoms in that province 
 were very limited in number.- The letters of 
 Cyprian alone, which do not profess to give a 
 complete list of the various confessions and 
 martyrdoms, record by name seventeen persons 
 who died violent deaths, while we know that 
 others died in prison without having undergone 
 the infliction of actual torture. 
 
 It must have been at the end of 250 that the 
 
 ' Ep. 39 (H., p. 584, 6 ff.) 
 
 ^ Dodwel], Dissert. Cyprian., xi. § 53. 
 
Cyprian prepares to return. 147 
 
 popular excitement cooled down, and the pro- 
 consul, in view of the hopeless nature of the 
 attempt to extinguish the Church, turned his 
 attention to other matters sufficiently to allow 
 the presbyter Eogatianus to be set at liberty, as 
 well as the other confessors on whom Church 
 offices had been bestowed. We possess an epistle 
 of Cyprian to four of his colleagues,^ Caldonius 
 and Herculanus, who, so far as we know, had 
 never been arrested, and Eogatianus and Numidi- 
 cus, who were both confessors, but who must have 
 been already set at liberty,^ to be able to carry 
 out the pro-episcopal visitation which Cyprian 
 requested them to undertake prior to his 
 return. Between the commencement of the visi- 
 tation and Easter 251 we must allow time for 
 the resuscitation of the faction opposed to 
 Cyprian,^ for the excommunication of all who 
 allied themselves with it,* for notice of these 
 events to be sent to Cyprian, and for the receipt 
 of a reply from him, in which he stated that he 
 would be unable to return before Easter.^ In 
 view of these considerations, we shall not be far 
 wrong if we regard the liberation of Eogatianus, 
 
 ' Cyprian, Ep. 41, Title. ^ Ep. 41 (H., p. 5S7, 12). 
 
 ^ Ep. 41 (H., p. 588, 10). ■■ Ep. 42 (H., p. 590), jtassim. 
 
 5Ep. 43 (H.,p. 591, 6). 
 
148 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 Numidicus, Aurelius, and the other confessors 
 as having taken place towards the close of the 
 year 250. 
 
 In February or March arrived a letter ^ from 
 Cyprian to the entire Church. He expressed his 
 grief for the fact that his banishment, which was 
 now extending into a second year,- was prolonged, 
 not by any trouble from without, but by the 
 seditious action of his old antagonists among the 
 clergy.^ " A greater sorrow falls upon my aching 
 heart, because I am prevented from joining you 
 in this time of anxiety and need, by my desire not 
 to bring upon you greater disquietude by inflam- 
 ing the minds of those faithless plotters ; and 
 whereas it is the duty of a bishop to seek in all 
 things to promote quietness and order, in this 
 case his arrival would seem likely to fan the 
 flame and to cause another outburst of persecu- 
 tion.* 
 
 Various phrases in the letter point to the fact 
 that the persecution was now a thing of the past. 
 We read, for instance : ^ " Now is the time, dearly 
 beloved brethren, that ye who stand should 
 bravely persevere, and guard with unbroken 
 
 ^ Ep. 43. 2 Ep. 43 (H., p. 593, 4). 
 
 =• Ep. 43 (H., p. 591, 5). ^ Ep. 43 (H., p. 593, 9 £E.) 
 
 5 Ep. 43 (H., p. 596, 11). 
 
The sufferings of the Chtirch. 1 49 
 
 vigilance that proud position which ye main- 
 tained in the time of persecution." " This" (the 
 temptation to schismatic action) " is the last, the 
 final assault of the persecution ; but through the 
 protecting' care of God it also will quickly pass, 
 so that after Easter-day I may stand before you 
 in company with my brother-clergy." ^ 
 
 During the remainder of his life Cyprian could 
 never forget the agonies which the Church had 
 endured in this short but sharp struggle ; they 
 had been burned into his memory. In 255 he 
 writes : ^ " Patience is the best balm for toil and 
 weariness ; it is suitable and necessary for every 
 one in this world, but for none more so than for 
 us, who are harassed above all men by the 
 assaults of the devil ; who stand day by day in 
 the ranks of battle, and are never free from 
 wrestling with that old and practised foe. Be- 
 sides the varying and never - ceasing struggle 
 against temptation, we have to face also the 
 attack of persecution : we have to forsake our pro- 
 perty, undergo imprisonment, submit to chains, 
 and count our lives as but nothing — in fact, we 
 have to endure in faith and patience every kind 
 
 1 Cyprian, Ep. 43 (H., p. 596, 19), and of. Ep. 43 (H., p. 
 592, 9). 
 
 2 Ibid., De bono patientia; (H., p. 405, 19 flf.), § 12. 
 
1 50 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 of torture and penalty, in accordance with the 
 words of our Lord Himself ,1 ' These things I have 
 spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace. 
 In the world ye shall have tribulation : but be of 
 good cheer ; I have overcome the world.' " 
 
 Before closing this chapter we must call atten- 
 tion to the ' Acts of Terentius,' a Greek MS. copy 
 of which was examined by the writer in St Mark's 
 Library at Venice.^ The date of the martyrdom 
 of Terentius and his companions is April 10. We 
 are not told the scene of the occurrence. We 
 read that " Decius, in his anxiety to drag down 
 all men into the gulf of perdition by means of 
 his worship, sent out a decree into the whole of 
 the kingdom that was subject to him, that all 
 who invoked the name of Christ should be com- 
 pelled to eat of the unholy things, and that those 
 who refused compliance should be brought before 
 the tribunal. The impious decree was forwarded 
 to Fortunatianus,^ who was governor in Africa, 
 and with the arrival of the edict in his province 
 he received the imperial letter. Then he took his 
 seat on the tribune, and gave orders that the 
 
 1 St John xvi. 33. 
 
 ^ Greek MSS. occux., Vito; Sanclorum, March and April. 
 ^ We have no other indication of the name of the proconsul 
 of Africa. 
 
The Acts of Tereiitms. 151 
 
 people of the city should be gathered before him. 
 The Christians were brought into his presence, 
 and he said, ' Sacrifice to the gods : if ye refuse, 
 ye shall die miserably.' At the same time he gave 
 orders that the implements of torture should be 
 set in the midst. Growing angry at the continued 
 refusal of the Christians, he ordered that they 
 should be stripped and brought into the temple. 
 . . . Then said Fortunatianus, ' Sacrifice to the 
 great Heracles.' But they persistently refused ; 
 therefore, maddened with rage, he ordered that 
 Terentius and Maximus the African and Pom- 
 peius should be cast into the inner ward and 
 guarded with all care. Then Zeno, Alexander, 
 and Theodorus, with a number of friends, were 
 brought before him to the tribune, and the gover- 
 nor, saying, ' I am compelled to fulfil the behest 
 of the Invicti Augusti,' ordered them to be beaten 
 with rough thongs and wands. They were beaten 
 till they exhausted thirty centurions, and by that 
 time all the available scourges were destroyed." 
 Here ends the only part of the record which is of 
 any historical value ; but in the summary which 
 we have given we find numerous details which 
 are evidently drawn from a genuine source : the 
 season of the year also corresponds accurately 
 with that at which the proconsul held his exami- 
 
152 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 nation in Africa. Nevertheless, there is not 
 sufficient positive evidence in the record to 
 justify us in basing any conclusions upon it. 
 
 The return of Cyprian to Carthage in April 251 
 is a suitable point at which to close our present 
 survey. His personality will reappear in the next 
 chapter, and again in the short discussion of the 
 reign of Gallus. Although a large proportion of 
 his flock fell away, yet we cannot feel that he was 
 in any way responsible for their apostasy ; where- 
 as, on the other hand, he was a constant factor in 
 the life of the struggling Church, and there can 
 be but few candid students of this period who 
 will not feel that to his firmness and judgment is 
 largely due the fact that the Church in the West 
 recovered its earlier discipline after the persecu- 
 tion, and renewed the vitality which had suffered 
 so severe a shock. 
 
15; 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 THB LIBELLUS. 
 
 The present is a suitable opportunity for a brief dis- 
 cussion of the libelli, of which we read so much in 
 Cyprian, as, in spite of the curious fact that the only 
 two copies we possess of such documents were found 
 in Egypt, we shall, so far as the Decian persecution is 
 concerned, hear no more about them after leaving 
 Eome and proconsular Africa. "We give the text of 
 both, but as they resemble one another closely, it will 
 suffice to give the translation of one of them — viz., 
 that in the Brugsoh collection at Berlin. It was 
 discovered in the Faioum in 1893, and was repro- 
 duced in facsimile by Krebs (cf. Note 2). 
 
 I. LiBELLUS IN THE BrUGSCH COLLECTION. 
 
 TOIS CTTt TWV 6vCnO)V yipTfj- 
 
 jj.evoi'S KUi(ixrj^) aXe^i^avSpov) vrjcrov 
 Trapa avp7j\(^L(yv) 8toy€i/oij(?) (rara- 
 fiovTOi airo Ku)(/;i7ys) aX.E^avS(pov) 
 5 vrjo-QV (OS Lo/S ovX.(t]) 
 o(j>pvi, 8e^(ia) Kttt a€i 
 
154 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 6v(J)V TOL'S OeoLs Sl£Te- 
 
 Aecra Kat vvv €7rt Tra- 
 
 povaiv Vjxuv Kara 
 10 Ta '7r/joa'TeTaTa['y//.e] 
 
 ra eOvcra \_Kaji e7r[...J 
 
 [...J . 1 riD)/ t[e]pe6a))'[ . . . J 
 
 (rafx-rfV Kat aftu) u[(uas] 
 
 VTTOcrij/iiaicracr^ai 
 15 8t£UTu;^etTat 
 
 aup77X[tos] [StJoyevTjs e7rt8[e(8(DKa)] 
 avpy]{Xio'i) cr... p. ..[...] 
 ^woi^ra ;U,u(r[...] 
 ...VMvos crea-(i7/xetco/xai) 
 20 [La] avTOKpaTopo[?] /cat[o-apos] 
 
 [yajiov /xeacrtov K^ojiv^TOv] 
 
 [Tp]ai[ai'ou] [ScJkiow €ucr[e/3oi;s] 
 
 [e]uT[D;)(ODs] cre[/3]a[cr]T0i) 
 
 £7r[etc^] /? 
 
 II. LiBELLUS IN THE ArCHDUKB EaINER's 
 
 Collection. 
 
 This lilidlus is very much the same as I., except for 
 the necessary changes where the personal particulars 
 are inserted: — 
 
 Tots €irt Tuyv dvaiuiv rjprjfjL^voi'; 
 
 Trapa avprjXtuiv avpov Kat TracrlSeiov tov 
 aSeXcf>uv Kat Srjfji.rjTpi.a'i Kat crapairtaSos 
 yvvaiKwv [ijJ/xouf i^ioTrvXeircav 
 au ^DOi'[Tes] Tots ^eots StereXt- 
 
The L ibellus. 155 
 
 crajttei' Kat vvv ewi irapovTusv Vjxwv 
 Kara ra iTpo(TTay(B(.vra Kat, 6cr7ri(Ta/X£v 
 Kat [t<d]i/ t[£p6i<ov] ([yevarafjLeOa Kai] 
 [ati.0UyU.CF DjUas VTTOcri'jfJ.uoyj 
 aaaOai tjjjllv SievT[yx^i-T^'\ 
 
 avprj^ (Tvpo's Kai iracr/ST]? eTrtSeScu" 
 icrtowpos £yp | v av'^ ayp | 
 
 Tean.slatiox of I. 
 
 " To those who have heen elected to preside over 
 the sacrifices iu the village of Alexander's Island 
 [comes this petition] from Aurelius Diogenes, son of 
 Satabus, of the village of Alexander's Island, aged 
 seventy-two, with a scar on his right eyebrow. I have 
 always sacrificed to the gods, and now in your pres- 
 ence, and according to the terms of the edict, I have 
 sacrificed and [poured libations 1 ■'] and [tasted] the 
 sacrificial victims, and I ask you to append your signa- 
 ture. Farewell. Presented by Aurelius Diogenes." 
 Then follow three lines of a signature in a different 
 hand, which is doubtless the attestation of the prctset;. 
 The document closes with the date, and the name of 
 the emperor. It is impossible to say whether this is 
 the same kind of lihellus as that referred to in Cyprian's 
 writings ; but it so thoroughly resembles the document 
 which Cyprian's words would lead us to expect, that 
 we are prepared to accept it as solving a problem which 
 
 ^ Harnack's suggested reading, eSutra koI ea-iretcra Kai tZv 
 Upeioiv iyevadfirip, is confirmed by the HheUiis in the Archduke 
 Rainer's collection. 
 
156 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 could hitherto only be approached tentatively. It has 
 been so carefully annotated by Krebs ■*■ and Harnack ^ 
 that it would be difficult to add to what they have 
 said. 
 
 The lihellus was to .be obtained from the inferior 
 tribunal constituted by the edict, at a price ^ pro- 
 portionate to the avarice of the presiding magistrate. 
 It was to be obtained in two ways, and was a means 
 whereby a man might avoid an actual compliance with 
 the law. Cyprian writes : * " Seeing there is so great 
 a difference between the people who have sacrifioed, 
 what a cruel severity it wovild be to rank the receiver 
 of a lihellus with one who has sacrificed, since the 
 former merely says, 'I had read and learnt from my 
 bishop that the servant of God should not sacrifice or 
 worship idols, and therefore to avoid disobedience, 
 when the opportunity was given me of receiving a 
 Ubellus, which I could never have obtained had not 
 the chance ofl^ered, I went to the magistrate or sent a 
 friend saying that I was a Christian and might not 
 sacrifice or approach the altars of the devil, and so 
 paid to be allowed to escape doing what I ought not.' " 
 What object the Ubellus served, when granted, it is 
 difficult to see, unless we are to imagine that some 
 
 1 Sitzungsbericht der K. P. Ak. der Wiss. Berlin, 1893. 
 November 30, 1007-14. 
 
 ^ Theol. Literatur., January 20, 1894. Dr Harnack describea 
 the second in ' Theolog. Literaturzeitutig.' Leipzig, March 17, 
 1894. 
 
 3 Ep. 21 (H., p. 531, 18). Ep. 55 (H., p. 634, 1). 
 
 " Ep. 55 (H., p. 633, 17), § 14. 
 
The Libellus. 157 
 
 higher body supervised the actions of the lower 
 tribunal ; but if so, how would that body be satisfied 
 with the production of certificates by some professed 
 apostates, whereas others were required to sacrifice? 
 Further evidence must be brought to light before we 
 can hope to explain the real service done to the posses- 
 sors by their lihelli. 
 
 That there were two distinct methods of obtaining 
 lihelli is plain from the words of the Eoman presbyters, 
 who write to Cyprian,-"- drawing a definite distinction 
 between those who had sho-wn themselves to be traitors 
 to the truth by proffering for the magistrate's signat-ure 
 libelli obtained by means of a false statement {libel- 
 loru7n professions) and others who had accepted ^ them, 
 although they had not been present in person when 
 they were drawn out. This distinction does away 
 with Krebs's theory that trwlere liJidlmn and aecipere 
 libellum are parts of the same process, since in the 
 passage cited profiteri ( = tradere) lihellum is opposed 
 to aceepta facere. That the first method was put in 
 action by the applicant in person is shown by the 
 emphasis on ipsos in 1. 23,^ the libellus being handed 
 either to himself or a friend ; whereas in the second 
 
 1 Cyprian, Ep. 30 (H., p. 550, 23). 
 
 ^ Hartel rightly reads aocepta (not acta, a likely error) ; 
 other-wise there would be no antithesis. 
 
 " Cf. Peter of Alexandria, Canon v.: tois Se KaBvTroKpu'aij.evois 
 Kal fiT) yufivws airoypaipa^et/ois ret irphs &pv7]iTtu a\\^ SiaTrai^atri. 
 
 , . Tas ruv ixBp<^^ iiri^ovAas — ^TOl ws X€tpo7pa(/)T7(raj'Tes. 
 XapoypacpeTv -would refer to those who presented the libelli 
 aTToypa<piaSa.i to the magistrates. 
 
1 5'"^ The Dccian Persecution. 
 
 case the apostate (or his friend) was merely a passive 
 recipient,! the Hhplliiji emanating from the magistrate, 
 who might never even see the person to whom he was 
 granting indulgence." 
 
 A step still more criminal than the mere acceptance 
 of a lihellus was for a man to allow or cause to he read 
 in public a declaration to the intent that he had sacri- 
 ficed : this was done by ilartialis, a Spanish bishop, 
 the procedure being called acta I'luhlica liaheve, or 
 fari'i'e. Basilides and iVlartialis were both defiled by 
 the possession of lih(;lli, but the latter added to this 
 crime by his action before the ducenary procurator, 
 when he avouched by public profession his acquiescence 
 in idolatry and his rejection of (Jhrist.^ The Eoman 
 presbyters elsewhere* write: "He is not free from 
 guilt who gave instructions for the preparation of a 
 lihellas, nor is he free from blame by whose permission 
 public notice was given of his guilty act, even although 
 he had never performed it.'' Acfa farere thus means 
 more than would be admitted by Mosheim," who says 
 it is the same as libellum profUeri. 
 
 Cyprian gives it as his opinion that the lihellaticus 
 has sinned involuntarily, and has done so thinking 
 that the omission of actual compliance was sufficient.^ 
 
 1 Ep. .'.5 (H., p. 633, 16, 19). 
 
 ^ Hefele's division into five groups (in Wetzer and tt'elte's 
 ' Kirchen-Lexicon ') is too elaborate. They may be reduced to 
 our two, if, aa seems probable, the reading in Aug., De Bapt. 
 adv. Don., Lib. 4, 6, iK thurijicatos, not thurijicaturos. 
 
 '■< Ep. 67 (H., p. 740, 21). ■• Ep. 30 (H., p. 551, 7). 
 
 ^ Mosheim, De rebus Christ, ante Const. Mag., i. 62. 
 
 " Ep. 55 (H., p. 644, 8). 
 
The Libe litis. 159 
 
 Elsewhere 1 his words point to the idea that the 
 Uhellaticus had done "violence to his conscience no 
 less than one who had actually sacrificed. Although 
 Cyprian warns Antonianus against thinking that a 
 Uhellaticus and a sacrijicatus are on the same plane,^ 
 yet the Roman confessors say that to profess to have 
 rejected Christianity is as bad as to approach the altar 
 to sacrifice, and that to give orders for the preparation 
 of a lihellus is the same as to be present in person.^ 
 LiheU'i /acinus * and lihelJo inaculari ^ are common 
 expressions." 
 
 1 Ep. 20 (H., p. .528, 1) ; De lapsis, § 27 (H., p. 256, 24). 
 
 2 Ep. 55 (H., p. 633, 2). 
 
 3 Ep. 30 (H., p. 551, 1). 
 
 " De lapsis (H., p. 257, 21), § 28. 
 ^ Ep. 67 (H., p. 740, 11). 
 
 ^ On the subject of lihelli, cf. Appendix B in Archbishop 
 Benson's Cyprian, pp. 541-544. 
 
i6o 
 
 CHAPTEE VIII. 
 
 PEOBLEMS CONNECTED WITH THE " LAPSI. 
 
 " LIEELLI PACIS " — CTPEIAN, THE CHAMPION OE EITSCOPAOT — HIS 
 NATURAL TENDENCY TO SEVEEITT — THE " LIBELLUS " NOT 
 ROMAN — DIFFICULTIES WITH UNTAUGHT CONFESSORS — PRES- 
 BYTERIAN AGGRESSION — A FACTION STIHS UP THE " LAPSI " — 
 AND THE CONFESSORS — LUOIANUS — THREE LETTERS RESPECT- 
 ING " LIEELLI " — A CONCESSION — CYPRIAN EXPLAINS HIS 
 POSITION TO HOME THE CONFESSORS GRANT GENERAL RESTOR- 
 ATION — THE " LAPSI " TURBULENT — A COUNCIL IS NECESSARY 
 — TWO PARTIES OF " LAPSI " ; THE BOLD, AND THE PATIENT — 
 THE FOUR PRESBYTERS — NOVATES — FELICISSIMUS — NOVATUS 
 MAKES FELICISSIMUS HIS DEACON — THEIR FACTION EXCOM- 
 MUNICATED — NOVATUS GOES TO ROME — HE FINDS NOVATIAN — 
 HE CHANGES HIS OPINIONS AND WINS OVER THE CONFESSORS — 
 THEY OPPOSE CORNELIUS, THE NEW BISHOP — NOVATIAN MADE 
 BISHOP — SENDS ENVOYS TO CARTHAGE — UNCERTAINTY ABOUT 
 CORNELIUS — RUMOURS RESPECTING NOVATIAN — HIS CHARACTER 
 — HIS POSITION — MISTAKE OP CORNELIUS — SECOND DEPUTA- 
 TION FROM NOVATIAN TO CARTHAGE — THE CONFESSORS RETURN 
 TO THE CHURCH — THE ROMAN SYNOD — THE AFRICAN SYNOD — 
 ITS DECISIONS — LAPSED CLERGY — NOVATIAN CONDEMNED — 
 SECOND COUNCIL, MAT 262 — FORTUNATUS MADE BISHOP — THE 
 FUTURE OP NOVATIANISM. 
 
 NOTE, ON THE RIGHTS OF MARTYRS. 
 
 The proconsul had not long been occupied in the 
 work of trying the confessors who had stood firm 
 
The Lapsed and the Confessors. 1 6 1 
 
 on their first arraignment, when the question of 
 the restitution of the la-psi forced itself on the 
 attention of the Church. The many persons of 
 this class who had sacrificed, and proved to the 
 satisfaction of the magistrates that they were 
 good heathens, were now at liberty to besiege the 
 prison-doors, and work upon the sympathy, some- 
 times the self -exaltation, of the confessors, en- 
 treating that out of the vast treasures of merit 
 which they had amassed by their glorious con- 
 fession they would grant a small portion to them 
 in order that they might regain the communion 
 with the Church, the right of which they had so 
 recklessly flung away. The question of the terms 
 on which these lafsi might be readmitted to the 
 Church confronted the Bishop of Carthage first 
 of all, and the situation was aggravated by the 
 impulsive nature of his undisciplined African 
 flock. It was only when the first causes of the 
 struggle had been obscured, and the passions of 
 the opposing factions had passed all bounds, that 
 the scene widened and an entirely new phase of 
 the difficulty appeared, which involved not only 
 the African provincials but Eome itself, the seat 
 of order. 
 
 We shall the better understand the difficulty 
 which faced Cyprian, if we bear in mind the fact 
 
 L 
 
1 62 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 that it was his continual aim to champion the 
 power of the bishops as opposed to the claims of 
 the presbyters. As the visible centre and de- 
 positary of the Church's life, the bishop had a 
 right to claim that to him should be referred all 
 questions of binding and loosing upon earth, with- 
 out exception. We shall discover that the party 
 of the presbyters in Carthage was very strong, 
 and that, from the day when it opposed the elec- 
 tion to the episcopate of the neophyte Cyprian, 
 until the time that it laid claim to the power of 
 granting restoration to the lapsed without the 
 intervention of the bishop, it proved a source of 
 constant anxiety. On this occasion it almost 
 succeeded in estranging from the Catholic Church 
 — and thereby nullifying the virtue of their con- 
 fession — those martyrs and confessors who were 
 not sufficiently well instructed in the faith to 
 discriminate between order and disorder. There 
 was great danger that these men, who were often 
 illiterate,^ might be uplifted beyond measure by 
 the sudden celebrity they had attained ; the few 
 
 ^ In Ep. 27 we read that Lucianus wrote liielli pacis in the 
 name of Aurelius, because Aurehus could not write. Again 
 (543, 9), Lucianus is called " circa intelligentiam domiuicse lec- 
 tionis minime peritus.'' Alibelluspacis was properly a letter 
 of recommendation from a confessor to the bishop, asking that 
 a particular lapsus might be restored to communion. 
 
Exaltation of the Confessors. i6 
 
 o 
 
 weeks of their confession, they learned, had been 
 sufficient to confer on them the right of restoring 
 the lapsed to communion. In their brotherly 
 love or compassion it was natural that, not real- 
 ising the probable issue of their action, they 
 should scatter broadcast letters of recommenda- 
 tion ; farther, when their petitioners came to 
 them with caressing words and feigned humility 
 in the presence of their great exploits, was it 
 likely that men of their stamp would make 
 searching inquiries into the fitness of each can- 
 didate and of his friends, or be over-careful in 
 inscribing the names of those to whom they gave 
 their certificates? That their sudden rise in 
 popular estimation had a bad influence on some 
 of the confessors, is plain from the words of 
 Cyprian, who finds it necessary to rebuke them 
 for their shameless licence, and their proneness 
 to strife.! 
 
 Cyprian was determined to enforce his own 
 views on the matter at issue. Certificates of 
 recommendation signed by confessors should not 
 be allowed to supersede the ordinary demand for 
 penitence. Again, the bishop must possess the 
 right of veto in each case. Cyprian refused to 
 be merely a machine attaching an obedient 
 1 Cyprian, Ep. 13 (H., p. 507, 21). 
 
1 64 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 signature to each certificate as it was presented 
 to him. He had no doubt in his own mind as 
 to the superiority of the priesthood to any dignity 
 that laymen, however holy, might choose to assert 
 among his flock. He retained the austere views 
 of the old school to such an extent that, although 
 he did not refuse to grant readmission to a lapsus 
 who showed due penitence and humility for his 
 fall, he would neither be content with an illusory 
 repentance, nor yet with such a subterfuge as 
 for the sorrow of the sinner would substitute the 
 superfluous merit of the saint. Not that he did 
 not himself share the popular superstitious regard 
 for the prerogative of the martyrs, but he had no 
 intention that their reckless liberality should 
 usurp the place due to repentance. 
 
 It seems probable that, had it not been for a 
 desire to assimilate the action of the Carthaginian 
 Church to that of the Roman, Cyprian would 
 have followed in the steps of Tertullian, thus 
 finding himself in harmony with Novatian's 
 party, who asserted that a lapsus was in the 
 hands of God to pardon or condemn, but that 
 having once fallen away from the body of Christ 
 on earth, he was for ever beyond the reach 
 of man, so far as the visible signs of Church 
 membership were concerned. But a remark in 
 
Cyprian and the Roman Clergy agree. 165 
 
 an early letter of the Eoman clergy "^ to those of 
 Carthage indicated their opinion on the subject 
 of such of the Iwpsi as were dangerously ill, and 
 with commendable foresight Cyprian determined 
 to shape his course accordingly. The words he 
 read were these : " If any have fallen into this 
 temptation and are seized with illness, and show 
 repentance for their deeds, and crave for com- 
 munion with the Church, the hand of mercy 
 should be extended to them."' Although the 
 letter was written in February or March, before 
 any Iwpsi had sought readmission at Carthage, 
 Cyprian was aware of the difficulties respecting 
 them that would inevitably arise, and determined 
 that on this point there should be no friction 
 between the Western Churches. 
 
 It is worthy of remark that the Eoman clergy 
 do not mention the lihellus pads in any of their 
 letters on the subject of readmission, whereas 
 Cyprian never fails to urge the necessity of such 
 a lihdlus for all lapsi who hoped for the con- 
 cession in case of sickness.^ In view of the fact 
 
 ^ Ep. 20 (H., p. 628, 25) : " Standum putavi et cum vestra 
 sententia." Cf. also Ep. 14 (H., p. 512, 9). Benson (pp. 99-101) 
 points out that the Roman Church was altogether indebted 
 to Cyprian for its policy in dealing with the lapsed. 
 
 2 Cyprian, Ep. 8 (H., p. 487, 18). 
 
 ' Ep. 8, § 3 init. ; Ep. 30, § 8 ; Ep. 55, § 5 : but for Cyprian 
 and the liheUus cf. Ep. 19, § 2 ; Ep. 20, § 3. 
 
1 66 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 that Celerinus writes to Lucianus to ask for 
 " peace " to be given to his two apostate sisters/ 
 and of that which we have just noticed — namely, 
 that the Eoman Church says nothing of restoring 
 communion in consideration of lihdli — shall we 
 be far wrong if we assume that the lihdli pads 
 did not appear at all on the north of the 
 Mediterranean ? If this assumption is true, it 
 will help to lead to the conclusion that the 
 Eoman Church, in the person of its confes- 
 sors, was mentally more advanced and more 
 rationally conducted than its younger sister in 
 Africa. 
 
 Fully realising the difficulty which was likely 
 to arise from the glorification of these (in many 
 cases) uneducated persons, Cyprian writes to his 
 clergy : ^ " Let the wants of the confessors be 
 diligently supplied, provided they hear from you 
 and learn what, according to the teaching of 
 Holy Scripture, Church discipline demands — 
 namely, that they must be humble, self- con- 
 trolled, and quiet, in order to maintain the 
 honour of their name, that those who have 
 proved noble in word should prove no less so 
 in life, that they may show themselves worthy, 
 
 1 Ep. 21, Celerinus Luciano (H., p. 531, 15). 
 
 2 Ep. 14 (H., p. 511 ff.) 
 
Cyprian and the Four Presbyters. 167 
 
 by a constant service of God, to arrive at the 
 crown of glory as the consummation of their 
 noble actions." 
 
 In Ep. 14 v?e hear for the first time of the 
 question of readmission. Four presbyters, who 
 had already proved very troublesome to Cyprian, 
 wrote to ask his opinion on the subject. He 
 answered that he could give no decision until 
 peace had been restored to the Church and he 
 had met his clergy, and that, prior to the con- 
 clusion of some settlement, the lapsi must wait 
 patiently. This was written probably in the 
 month of June. The four presbyters now de- 
 termined upon a course of action which should 
 undermine the power so studiously vindicated 
 and so carefully fostered by the bishop. The 
 most powerful men in the Church in its present 
 unsettled condition were the victorious confessors, 
 while the greater number of Church members 
 were those now reckoned as Iwpsi. Their policy, 
 therefore, was obviously to win over both these 
 parties to their interest, and thereby isolate the 
 bishop. The ordinary course pursued in the 
 readmission of a penitent 1 to the Church in 
 cases of minor misdemeanour involved the co- 
 operation of the bishop : their plan was to do 
 
 1 Cyprian, Ep. 16 (H., p. 518, 19). 
 
1 68 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 without him. Cyprian had secreted himself ; he 
 was known to be rigorously inclined towards 
 the Iwpsi I ^ the presbyters would take the matter 
 into their own hands. Cyprian tells us the story 
 himself : ^ " They " {i.e., the faction headed by 
 Felicissimus, the deacon of N"ovatus, one of the 
 party) " incited certain of the confessors to dis- 
 sent from their bishop, and to disobey the com- 
 mands of the Lord by refusing a faithful and 
 quiet adherence to Church discipline, that they 
 might prevent them from so walking as to pre- 
 serve untarnished the glory of their confession. 
 Nor was it enough to pervert the minds of 
 certain of the confessors, and to endeavour to 
 arm a part of our shattered society against the 
 episcopal authority ordained of God, but they 
 must needs seek by means of the poison of their 
 deceit the destruction of the lapsi as well, lead- 
 ing away from the salve they need the men 
 who are bleeding after the struggle, and have 
 not the strength to take wiser counsel. They 
 call upon them to forsake their prayers, where- 
 with at last they may appease the anger of 
 God, and, with a rashness that brings death in 
 its train, to accept a specious peace that is but 
 a lie." 
 
 ' Ep. .^.ft (H., p. 680, 10). ' Ep. 43 (H., p. .'•,9], 18 ff.) 
 
Eagerness of the Lapsed. 1 69 
 
 The immediate result of this seditious behaviour 
 was that long before the exiles had thought of 
 returning to the city,^ the Iwpsi were clamouring 
 at the doors of the Church, and were beguiling 
 the confessors by means of flattering words and 
 importunate prayers ^ into granting, without dis- 
 tinction and without examination of individual 
 cases, countless libelli pads every day. Cyprian 
 even hints that illicit bargaining was carried 
 on for blank certificates, which were afterwards 
 filled in by the buyers.^ 
 
 The most serious offender was Lucianus, of 
 whom Cyprian writes to the Eoman clergy * (the 
 date being probably June 250, as may be seen 
 by a comparison of this letter with that from 
 Lucianus to Celerinus, Ep. 22) : " Our brother 
 Lucianus, who is himself one of the confessors, 
 a man of burning zeal and strong character, 
 although little versed in the Word of God, has, 
 on his own authority and without precedent, 
 taken upon himself to distribute broadcast cer- 
 tificates in his own handwriting,^ made out in 
 the name of Paulus, whereas the martyr Map- 
 
 1 Ep, 19 (H., p. 526, 9 flf.) ^ gp. 20 (H. p. 528, 1 ff.) 
 
 3 Ep. 15 (H., p. 515, 22). ■> Ep. 27 (H., p. 540, 14). 
 
 5 Ep. 22, Lucianus Celerino (H,, p. 634, § 2). Paulus in- 
 structed Lucianus to give the certificates. 
 
1 70 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 palicus, careful and modest man that he is, with 
 due thought for law and order, wrote no letter 
 in disobedience to the Gospel, but, through his 
 family affection only, was induced to give in- 
 structions for the readmission of his mother and 
 sister, who had lapsed ; while Saturninus, who 
 is still in prison after the torture, has sent out 
 no letter of the kind at all. Further, Lucianus 
 distributed his libelli iri the name of Paulus, not 
 only when the latter was yet in prison, but even 
 when he was dead, saying that Paulus had so 
 instructed him, but forgetting that he ought to 
 obey the Lord rather than his fellow - servant.-*^ 
 Again, many libelli were distributed in the name 
 of Aurelius, a youth who was tortured, but were 
 written by Lucianus, because Aurelius could not 
 write." 
 
 It was in view of this difficulty, and with the 
 desire at once of checking the number and of 
 securing the formal correctness of the libelli, 
 that Cyprian says^ that he wrote the group of 
 three letters (Epp, 15-17) to the Carthaginian 
 
 ^ The disobedience here referred to Cyprian explains later in 
 the same letter (643, 11) : " Cum Dominus dixerit in nomine 
 Patris et Filii et Spiritus Saucti gentes tingui et in baptismo 
 prseterita peccata dimitti, hie . . mandat paoem dari et 
 pecoata dimitti in Pauli nomine." 
 
 = Ep. 27 (H.,p. 541, 16-18). 
 
The Libelli issued carelessly. 171 
 
 martyrs and confessors, his clergy, and the Car- 
 thaginian Church at large. These are the last 
 three of the thirteen letters which Cyprian 
 copied and sent to the Eoman clergy with an 
 earlier letter, Ep. 20. 
 
 It would seem that the martyrs and confessors 
 had before this shown due submission to the 
 bishop by writing him a private letter, in which 
 they requested him to examine their petitions, 
 as soon as peace should be restored : \ so far 
 Cyprian has no cause for blame. What he 
 wishes to have changed is the manner of filling 
 up the libelli,'^ which must henceforth be given 
 only to specified individuals, after due examina- 
 tion of each case, and must state that the bishop's 
 ratification is required. " I hear," he writes, 
 " that some have their libelli made out in such 
 a way as to read, ' Let him have communion, and 
 his friends also,' a thing which the martyrs never 
 did before, with the result that the obscure word- 
 ing of the petition causes considerable ill-feeling 
 against us. ' He, and his friends also,' is a wide 
 expression, and we shall have twenty or thirty, 
 or even more, presenting themselves, and avouch- 
 ing they are the relations, and connections, and 
 
 ' Ep. 15 (H., p, 514, 5). Cf. 16, § 3 ; 17, § 1. 
 2 Ep. 15 (H., p. 516, § 4). 
 
1 7 2 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 freedmen and servants of the receiver of the 
 certificate." ^ 
 
 To the clergy he writes in Ep. 16 : "We must 
 not blame those who are not instructed in the 
 law of Holy Scripture, but those who are over 
 them and do not counsel the [fallen] brethren 
 that they should in all cases act under the guid- 
 ance of their clergy, with the fear of God before 
 their eyes, and with a regard to the duties of 
 obedience which that fear imposes. For the 
 clergy expose the blessed martyrs to prejudice, 
 and engage the servants of God in a strife with 
 the priest [i.e., the bishop ^J of God, so that, 
 whereas the martyrs, remembering my position, 
 wrote me a letter asking for their petitions to be 
 looked into and 'peace' to be given only when 
 our mother, the Church, in the mercy of God 
 shall have recovered tranquillity, and the pro- 
 tecting hand of Providence have restored me to 
 the flock, these factious clergy leave out of sight 
 
 ' It is to this that Cyprian refers in his letter to the Roman 
 clergy, Ep. 20 (H., p. 628, 1-7). 
 
 - Cf. Pontianus, Vita Cypr., § 5: "Ad ofBcium sacerdotii et 
 episcopatus gradum." Ep. 17 (H., p. 522, 4): "Nee episcopo 
 honorem sacerdotii sui et cathedrae reservantes. '' Ep. 43 (H., 
 p. 591, 24) : "Adversus sacerdotium Dei portionem . . . frater- 
 nitatis armare." On the meaning of sacerdos in Cyprian's writ- 
 ings, cf. Benson, Cyprian, p. 33, note. 
 
The Insubordinate Presbyters. 173 
 
 the honour done me by the martyrs and con- 
 fessors. Without regard for the law of God and 
 the obedience which the confessors commanded 
 to be observed (before the fear of persecution is 
 over, before I have returned, even before the 
 martyrs have died), they hold communion with 
 the Iwpsi, offer the Eucharist on their behalf and 
 grant them communion, at a time when, if even 
 the martyrs, in the enthusiasm of their glory, 
 looked away from the Word of God and desired 
 somewhat contrary to His will, they ought to be 
 admonished by the clergy, as was always the case 
 in time past." 
 
 From this we see that the malcontents opposed 
 to Cyprian were making way in Carthage : they 
 were extending communion regularly to the Iwpsi, 
 and thus convincing the confessors that the signa- 
 ture of a confessor was quite sulficient without 
 that of the bishop. In his letter to the confessors 
 and martyrs ^ Cyprian expresses his grief that the 
 disobedient presbyters, in defiance of God, of him- 
 self, and of the dictum of the martyrs, are defiling 
 the holy body of the Lord, by giving the sacred 
 elements to the la'psi before they have done pen- 
 ance, before they have made confession of their 
 grievous sin, and before the bishop and the clergy 
 1 Ep. 15 (H., p. 514, 5 ff.) 
 
1 74 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 have laid their hands upon them. Later, he says "^ 
 that he can hide his feelings when his office is 
 insulted, but not so when any of his clergy lead 
 the brethren astray : they curry favour with the 
 lapsi, although they have no power to restore 
 them, and are a hindrance to them. The lajjsi 
 might be doing true penance, and with their 
 prayers and works be reconciling themselves 
 with their merciful Father, but instead they are 
 being led into a fall the more grievous by reason 
 of their present exaltation. Therefore he calls 
 upon the Church ^ to guide the lajisi with 
 gentle counsels according to the will of God. 
 " Let them hear," he writes, " in patience my 
 advice, let them wait for me to come back, 
 when a council shall be called and their peti- 
 tions examined." 
 
 Of the presbyters ^ who persisted in extending 
 communion to the la])si, Cyprian writes : " With 
 regard to those headstrong and contentious pres- 
 byters among you, who neither regard man nor 
 fear God, inasmuch as they have with full know- 
 ledge persevered in their course of disobedience, 
 I will put in force the admonition which the 
 
 1 Ep. 16 (H., p. 517,17). 
 
 ' Ep. 17 (H., p. 522), § 3 ^passim. Cf. Ep. 15, § 2 (H., p. 514). 
 
 » Ep. 16 (H., p. 520, § 4). 
 
Cyprian makes a Concession. 1 75 
 
 Lord commands me to employ, and forbid them 
 to offer sacrifice until such time as they shall 
 appear before the confessors and the whole 
 Church to answer for themselves in my court, 
 when with the permission of God I have been 
 restored to my flock." He is able to tell the 
 Eoman Church that his commands have been 
 obeyed,^ although he finds it necessary again ^ 
 to enforce them on his clergy somewhat later in 
 much the same terms. It was in obedience to 
 these orders that, among others, Gaius of Dida 
 was excommunicated with his deacon.^ 
 
 This group of three letters of advice was fol- 
 lowed by one containing a concession,* which 
 was drawn from Cyprian by the tension of the 
 situation. He realised the difficulties of the 
 presbyters who were on his side, and decided 
 to protect them against the violence of the 
 Iwpsi? Summer was approaching, when sickness 
 and death might be expected, but the signs of 
 the times warned him that his presence in 
 Carthage would still be undesirable. 
 
 He adopted what, as we have seen (cf. note 1, 
 p. 165), was the plan of the Eoman clergy, and 
 
 1 Ep. 20 (H., p. 528, 7-11). 2 Ep. 34 (H., p. 570, 9-13). 
 
 3 Ep. 34 (H., p. 568, 11 ff.) " Ep. 18, passim. 
 
 5 Ep. 20 (H,, p. 528, 14). 
 
176 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 decided that if any lapsus, who possessed a 
 libellus pads, was seized with a dangerous ill- 
 ness, and seemed to be at the point of death, a 
 presbyter (or, in the absence of a presbyter, a 
 deacon) might hear his confession, and, laying 
 his hand on his head, might suffer him to meet 
 his God with the peace which the martyrs desired 
 for him. Those who had no libellus must trust ^ 
 to the mercy of God, and wait for the return of 
 more peaceful times, when a council would be 
 held. If the lapsi were really eager to return 
 to full communion, the remedy lay in their own 
 hands : the persecution was still raging, let them 
 annul their earlier unfaithfulness by a bold con- 
 fession.^ Cyprian was glad to notice, that not- 
 withstanding the impetuous eagerness of some of 
 the lapsi, a real impression was being produced 
 on the minds of many others by the assiduous 
 care of the faithful clergy, whom at the beginning 
 of this letter he congratulates on their zealous 
 adherence to their duty. 
 
 With a view to vindicating his reputation in 
 the eyes of the Eoman clergy, Cyprian, as we 
 have already mentioned, despatched to Eome^ 
 
 ^ Ep. 19 (the second to the Roman clergy) (H., p. 526, 1). 
 ^ Ep. 25. This is the gist of the letter to Caldonius. 
 3 Ep. 20 (H., p. 527, 16). 
 
Cyprian explains his Position. 177 
 
 copies of the five letters (Epp. 15-19) which he 
 had sent to his flock, with eight others written at 
 various times within the last six months. These 
 were enclosed in a letter written probably early 
 in July, and sent from his retreat by the bearer 
 who took Epp. 18, 19 to Carthage. In this letter 
 (Ep. 20) he explains his general position, and 
 gives the Eoman clergy a hint of the difficulties 
 at Carthage, suggesting that there was at work 
 a factious spirit to which the unrest might be 
 attributed.^ 
 
 The same five epistles Cyprian sent round to 
 various bishops,^ one of whom was Caldonius. 
 The latter had occasion to seek the advice of 
 Cyprian, and with his answer the bishop sent 
 copies of Epp. 15-19, adding that they had given 
 satisfaction to those who had already seen them, 
 for they had written back to signify their ap- 
 proval of the contents. 
 
 Eejoicing in the thought that his brother 
 bishops were at one with himself,^ Cyprian was 
 startled to receive a communication from the 
 confessor Lucianus,* who in reply to his mild 
 
 1 Ep. 21 (H., p. 528, 14). 2 Ep, 2,5 (H., p. 538, 17). 
 
 3 Ep. 25 (H., p. 5,38, 17-20) and Ep. 26 (H., p. 539, 15). 
 * Ep. 23. Cf. Ep. 26, to his clergy (p. 539, 7), and also Ep. 
 27, to the Roman clergy (p. 541, 18). 
 M 
 
178 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 letter of advice struck a note of defiance for 
 which the disciplinarian was unprepared. It 
 grieved him that, after writing to the confessors 
 of the great need of humility and fear ^ in such 
 as were to be examples to others, he should re- 
 ceive in the name of their whole band a letter 
 instructing him, the bishop, to extend peace to 
 all whom the martyrs wished, and to advise his 
 colleagues to do the same. The note closes with 
 an abrupt sentence, which implies that the con- 
 fessors hope he will be too prudent to disregard 
 their wishes. This letter, following closely upon 
 Cyprian's concession, caused him bitter disap- 
 pointment : he could see more clearly than ever 
 that there was a powerful party arrayed against 
 him, but he felt that the matter did not rest with 
 the Carthaginian confessors to decide. The posi- 
 tion was an unpleasant one, but he had the moral 
 support of Roman opinion. He had seen the 
 recent letter from the Eoman clergy to those at 
 Carthage, and one from the Eoman confessors to 
 their African brethren, and was filled with joy at 
 the well-disciplined spirit which they evinced.^ 
 Nevertheless, he could not forget that for the 
 
 1 Ep. 13 (H., p. 506, 1-5) and Ep. 18. 
 
 ■^ Ep. 27 (H., p. 544, § 4). Neither of these Roman letters 
 are extant. 
 
The Lapsi demand "Peace." 179 
 
 moment he was in a most invidious situation ; 
 since, with the want of logical perception which 
 is so common in certain classes, the Iwpsi could 
 not understand why the clergy should take the 
 cases of others into consideration, and leave their 
 own undecided.^ " In my own province,'' he 
 writes ^ to the Eoman clergy, " there are several 
 towns where the clergy have been besieged by 
 the Iwpsi, who compelled them to confirm to 
 them on the spot the ' peace ' which they de- 
 clared the martyrs and confessors had given 
 them: the clergy who had not sufficient courage 
 or faith to resist were terrified into compliance. 
 In Carthage also there are some unruly people 
 (whom we could only with difficulty keep in 
 order in time past, and barely managed to per- 
 suade to wait until my return), who have been 
 inflamed by this note from the confessors and 
 have reiterated their demands for communion." 
 He sent to the Eoman clergy (in addition to the 
 thirteen letters which accompanied Ep. 20) copies 
 of Ep. 23 (the confessors' letter), the letter of 
 Caldonius and its answer (Epp. 24, 25), and the 
 correspondence between Celerinus and Lucianus 
 (Ep. 21, 22), which had come into his hands since 
 he had written Ep. 20. 
 
 1 Ep. 27 (H., p. 542, 8). ^ Ep. 27 (H., p. 542, 12 £f.) 
 
1 80 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 In return for the kindness which prompted the 
 confessors at Eome to write to those at Carthage 
 the letter which had given such strong moral 
 support to Cyprian, he wrote back Ep. 28, con- 
 gratulating them on their robust faith and firm 
 adherence to discipline. " Herein lies," he writes,^ 
 " the true confession of God, the true witness for 
 Christ, that a man keep his lips true in all cases 
 and steadfast, rather than that he should by the 
 grace of God become a martyr, and then endeav- 
 our to overthrow the commands of God." The 
 bishop sent also to his own clergy copies of Epp. 
 27 and 28, which he had addressed to the clergy 
 and the confessors respectively of the Eoman 
 Church.2 
 
 Ep. 30 is the answer of the Eoman clergy to 
 Ep. 27. They express themselves as being en- 
 tirely in accord with Cyprian on the question 
 of discipline, and scout the idea that Eome might 
 forget her pristine vigour. They realise that the 
 question of the readmission of the Iwpsi is one 
 which affects the whole Church ; ^ it cannot be 
 settled by a handful of provincial confessors : 
 when peace has been restored, and the Church 
 
 1 Ep. 28 (H., p. 546, 14 ff.) 
 
 ^ Ep. 29, with whiob he forwards the copies. 
 
 3 Ep. 30 (H., p. 553, 18). Cf. Ep. 19 (H., p. 526, 1). 
 
The Roman Clergy support Cyprian. 1 8 1 
 
 has time to breathe freely again, a council must 
 be held of bishops, priests, and deacons, with 
 representatives of the faithful laity .^ Till then 
 it is the duty of all in the Church to pray that 
 the la^si may be- kept patient and peniteat, 
 — knocking at the door of the Church, but not 
 assailing it with force. Until that time the 
 Eoman Church would take no fresh action, ex- 
 cept to admit to communion with all precaution 
 such of the Iwpsi as were drawing near to death 
 and exhibited the signs of true penitence. 
 
 Cyprian's confidence in the moral strength of 
 his position was further increased by the receipt 
 of Ep. 31 from the Roman confessors, who felt 
 that they might return his compliment, and 
 stated that they were thoroughly in accord with 
 him in his attitude towards the Iwpsi. At the 
 close of their letter they asked somewhat perti- 
 nently, " What is the value of confession, if one 
 who abandons his faith is permitted to return to 
 communion without delay, as though nothing 
 had ever happened to interrupt his Christian 
 life ? '' 
 
 ^ Cyprian's form of government was a, constitutional mon- 
 archy. He wished the clergy to discuss Church measures, 
 which either had been initiated by him or else would require 
 his ratification. Cf. Ep. 34 (H., p. 570, 17). 
 
1 82 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 In order that his position might be the better 
 understood by all his subordinates, Cyprian sent 
 to his clergy ^ copies of his entire correspondence 
 with the Roman Church, which he desired might 
 be read in public, and held ready for any who 
 wished to copy them. 
 
 The results of Cyprian's consistent policy did 
 not long remain in doubt. Two letters^ which 
 he received about the month of August showed 
 that the laj)si were now ranged in two camps. 
 The one party wrote to Cyprian in the name of 
 the Church,^ demanding the communion* which 
 they said Paulus had granted them — for the insub- 
 ordination hitherto prevailing ^ in other towns now 
 appeared at Carthage, and raised its head against 
 Cyprian himself.^ In this body were to be found 
 the followers of Cyprian's old opponents among 
 the presbyters. The other party refused to be 
 carried away by the persuasions of these agita- 
 tors, and wrote Cyprian a letter in very humble 
 terms, assuring him that they would prefer to 
 wait for " peace " until he himself could return 
 to bestow it. He was so much gratified by this 
 
 1 Ep. 32. 
 
 2 Ep. 33 (H., p. 666, 13) and Ep. 33 (H., p. 567, 9). 
 
 ■' Ep. 33 (H., p. 566, 13). « Ep. 35 (H., p. 571, 10). 
 
 "• Ep. 27 (H., p. 542, 12 ff.) 
 
 « Ep. 35 (H., p. 571, 14, and 572, 14). 
 
Agitation fostered from without. 183 
 
 letter that he desired to know the names of the 
 senders, in order to follow up the epistle to the 
 Iwpsi in general by a second and special one, dis- 
 cussing their particular case.^ As the autumn 
 of 250 drew near, Cyprian received a further 
 token of confidence from the Eoman clergy. 
 They saw the importance of the master-stroke of 
 policy, which had enlisted confessors and Iwpsi 
 alike on the side of the party of agitation, flatter- 
 ing the pride of the former while it raised the 
 hopes of the latter. The danger, however, was 
 one of sudden growth : ^ if time were allowed to 
 do its work, the dissatisfaction would pass away, 
 provided that the influence could be counteracted 
 of those who were offering^ sweet draughts of 
 their own in place of the wormwood of Cyprian, 
 and speedy recovery instead of the sole but 
 laborious road to health. It was obvious that 
 the petulance displayed by both the confessors 
 and the Iwpsi was not of natural growth, but was 
 fostered from without.* 
 
 The rebellion of the party of the aggrieved 
 presbyters against Cyprian's decision as to the 
 
 ^ Ep. 33, § 2 passim (H., p. 567). 
 
 2 Ep. 36, § 3 init. (H., p. 574). = Ep. 34 (H., p. 569, 16). 
 
 *^Ep. 51 (H., p. 681, 1). Cyprian gives us to understand that 
 terrorism was actually employed by the Iwpsi to extort grants 
 of peace from the jaded confessors. 
 
184 The Deciau Persecution. 
 
 lapsi was but a surface indication of an evil — 
 recognised by Cyprian and his friends at Eome — 
 whose roots extended widely underground, ready 
 to make their appearance as soon as opportunity 
 offered. The winter of 250 was at hand, and the 
 confessors were being released from prison, with 
 the result that many brethren were in distress, 
 and those who were occupied in small businesses 
 could not re-establish themselves without ex- 
 traneous assistance.^ With his usual care for 
 his flock, Cyprian decided to send a commission 
 to inquire into the circumstances of those who 
 applied for aid, and to make grants to deserving 
 cases from the Church funds. Here sedition 
 found another opportunity to challenge the 
 claims of what seemed episcopal assumption. 
 
 In the early part of this chapter we noticed 
 that a party of four presbyters took the lead in 
 the opposition to Cyprian : their names were 
 Donatus, Fortunatus, Gordius, and Novatus.^ 
 
 These were four out of the five presbyters, of 
 whom Cyprian writes^ that they were as injurious 
 to the Church as the five local magnates who 
 were chosen to constitute the preliminary court 
 
 1 Ep. 41 (H., p. 587, 13 ff.) = Ep. 14 (H., p. 612, 16, 17). 
 
 ^ Ep. 43 (H., p. 592, 9-13). Cf. Benson, Cyprian, p. 76, 
 note. 
 
The five Factious Presbyters. 185 
 
 for the trial of Christians. In time their fac- 
 tious conduct brought down upon them a richly 
 deserved sentence of excommunication from 
 the African bishops.^ These five ^ it was who, 
 joined with Felicissimus, had invented the new 
 system of restoration to the Church : they had 
 advised the fallen to ignore the bishops, and to 
 refuse to wait for the council which had been 
 promised by the authorities of the Western 
 Churches, thus striking a blow at all Church 
 discipline. We should remember that, in ac- 
 cordance with Cyprian's orders, these presbyters 
 had been excommunicated by the law - abiding 
 adherents of the bishop, but it is probable that 
 the excommunication had no effect on the Iwpsi 
 to whom they appealed,^ and who were not in 
 a position to recognise the difference between 
 episcopal and presbyteral claims. It was from 
 Novatus and Felicissimus that the chief difficulty 
 proceeded: they played the leading part in the 
 schism at Carthage. In estimating the actions 
 and characters of these firebrands, we labour 
 under a great disadvantage: the whole history 
 
 1 Ep. 59 (H., p. 676, 5, 8). 
 
 2 Ep. 43 (H., p. 592, 13). We do not know who the fifth 
 presbyter was : it could not have been Augendus (Ep. 41, H., 
 p. 589, 6), because he was only a deacon. 
 
 5 Ep. 41 (H., p. 589, 10-12). 
 
1 86 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 is recorded by an opponent, whom we know 
 to be fighting with particular zeal for his own 
 position. Felioissimus and Novatus may have 
 been quite as bad as they are represented, but, 
 on the other hand, we must not forget that 
 Cyprian was a rhetorician, and that this fact 
 insensibly coloured his utterances with a deeper 
 tinge than historic accuracy would warrant. 
 With this caution, we may give Cyprian's 
 accusations : " Novatus '^ has defrauded wards, 
 cheated widows, and robbed the Church of its 
 funds ; and for these acts of iniquity his victims 
 are crying for vengeance. His father died in the 
 streets of hunger, and he never even buried him. 
 He kicked his wife when with child, and caused 
 her to miscarry. Such are the crimes of which 
 he is guilty." Again : ^ " Novatus has been 
 always factious, arrogant, and stubborn ; his 
 avarice is unbounded, his greed insatiable. He 
 has ever been in bad repute with the bishops; 
 he has been publicly condemned as a heretic and 
 a traitor ; his heart is set on deceit, his tongue 
 loves to fawn and flatter; he is a firebrand of 
 sedition, a rock whereon the faithful make ship- 
 wreck, an enemy to all peace." Of Felicissimus, 
 
 1 Ep. 52 (H., p. 619, 1 ff.) 
 
 2 Ep. 52 (H., p. 617, 19 fif.) 
 
Novatus and his Deacon. 187 
 
 the standard-bearer of schism/ he writes: "He 
 was expelled from our society ,2 lest the author 
 of schism and discord, the thief of money- 
 deposited with him, the ravisher of maidens, 
 the breaker -up of homes, should with his 
 infamous presence and the contagion of his 
 foulness pollute the spotless bride of Christ." 
 
 Novatus, whom Cyprian regarded as the prime 
 mover* in all the discord we have been discus- 
 sing, had at some time in 250 acted upon his 
 own principle of independence, and appointed 
 Felicissimus his deacon,* without the bishop's 
 permission. Cyprian does not attempt to deny 
 the validity of the orders of Felicissimus: this, 
 coupled with the fact that no one at Carthage 
 would even at such a time of disturbance have 
 recognised presbyterian ordination,^ shows that 
 he was regularly ordained, and that Novatus — 
 as at Eome, where he pressed upon Novatian the 
 expediency of his being consecrated bishop — 
 
 1 Ep. 69 (H., p. 676, 9). 2 gp. 59 (H., p. 666, 20). 
 
 3 Ep. 52 (H., p. 618, 8-11). " Ep. 52 (H., p. 618, 11 ff.) 
 "• Neander (i. 303) and Ritschl (Gypr. von Carth., 173 f.) try 
 to show that Felicissimus was not episcopally ordained ; but 
 if we look at Ep. 52 (H., p. 618, 13) we shall see that Novatus 
 only " conitituit" Felicissimus as his deacon. Notice also the 
 parallel between his action at Rome and Carthage, p. 618, 18 : 
 " Qui istic adversus ecclesiam diaconum fecerat, illic episcopum 
 fecit." 
 
1 88 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 played the part of ageot, and secured the co- 
 operation of some bishop, possibly a heretic. 
 Felicissimus, who had doubtless been instructed to 
 assert parochial independence, met the bishop's 
 commission ^ of visitation with contumely, and 
 threatened that he would refuse the rites of 
 the Church in the hour of death ^ to any who 
 availed themselves of the aid they offered. 
 Only a few preferred the dubious offices of 
 Felicissimus to the regular assistance of the 
 Church,^ and Cyprian ordered that he and 
 Augendus, another deacon who had allied him- 
 self with the faction of disorder, and all who 
 adhered to them, should be held i'p^i) facto ex- 
 communicated.*' This sentence was duly carried 
 out,* and was not without its effect. 
 
 Novatus, for whom the persecution had come 
 at a most opportune moment, saving him from 
 
 1 Ep. 41 (H., p. 588, 2). 
 
 ^ Ep. 41 (H., p. 588, 6 and 17), reading morte with Hartel. 
 Cf. Benson, Cyprian, p. 112, note 1, in wliich he explains his 
 adoption of " in Monte." 
 
 ^ Ep. 41, § 2 init. It is suggested by Mosheim that Felicissi- 
 mus based his claim on the rule that only deacons were to be 
 mediums for carrying assistance to the poor. 
 
 •■ Ep. 41 (H., p. 588, 18) and Ep. 4.3 (H., p. 597, 1-4). 
 
 ' Ep. 42, from the bishop's commissioners, Caldonius and 
 Herculanus, bishops, and Rogatianus and Numidicus, pres- 
 byters. 
 
Novatus sails for Rome. 189 
 
 being put on his trial for his many niisdeeds,^ 
 had realised that his best hope lay in prolong- 
 ing as far as posible the absence of the bishop, 
 and with this object in view, amongst others, 
 he had lent his utmost support to the schism.^ 
 But now that Cyprian had signified his in- 
 tention of returning immediately after Easter, 
 he felt that it would be wiser for him to quit 
 the scene for a time and seek sympathy at 
 Eome, where the Church was still without a 
 bishop. Without delay he took ship for Eome, 
 in company with the excommunicated deacon 
 Augendus, and, on passing to a larger sphere, 
 scattered the seeds of a wider trouble.^ 
 
 He arrived in Eome * in February 251, and 
 found the field ready for the sower's hand. 
 Peace was within view, the prisons were about 
 to release the surviving confessors, the Church 
 was preparing to elect a bishop. The popular 
 choice had fallen upon Cornelius, a man who 
 had filled honourably various offices in the 
 
 1 Ep. 42 (H., p. 619, 10). 
 
 ^ Ep. 43 (H., p. 591, 5-11). The "conjuratio sua'' is the 
 opposition to Cyprian's election. 
 
 3 Ep. 52 (H., p. 618, 13, and 16-18). 
 
 " Episc. Urb. Cat. (ed. R. A. Lipsius) under "Fabianus"- 
 " Eo tempore supervenit Novatus ex Africa et separavit de 
 ecclesia Novatianum et quosdam confessores, postquam Moyses 
 in carcere defunctus est." 
 
igo The Decian Persecution. 
 
 Church : moreover, he held loyally the opinions 
 maintained by the Western Churches, and would 
 therefore claim the support of Cyprian. Here 
 was the opportunity for which Novatus was seek- 
 ing. He had not been long in Eome before he 
 came in contact with Novatian, a leading pres- 
 byter, and learned from him that the candidate 
 for the vacant see was too lax in his attitude 
 towards the la'psi to satisfy the more austere 
 section of the Church. The confessors, too, had 
 at the end of January lost Moyses,^ the strongest 
 personality among them, who had succumbed to 
 the severity of the winter. He it was who had 
 led them to accept the decision of their clergy, 
 with which Cyprian found himself in accord, on 
 the question of the prompt restoration of the sick 
 Iwpsi. With the readiness of resource for which 
 Cyprian gave him full credit, Novatus did not 
 hesitate. By his former declarations at Carthage 
 he had shown himself to be far more lax than 
 Cornelius was even suspected of being, and had 
 thereby committed himself, irretrievably it would 
 have seemed, to a policy of general restoration ; 
 but circumstances alter cases, and Novatus found 
 no difficulty in assuming the role of a rigorist, 
 and adopting the views of Novatian. He did not 
 1 Ep. 55 (H., p. 627, 8). 
 
Novatus as Rigorist. 191 
 
 scruple to recall ^ to the minds of the confessors 
 their words to Cyprian, which had once con- 
 demned himself ; he could descant on the need of 
 searching discipline to remove the stains which 
 befouled the Church. "Why confess Christ, and 
 endure the horrors of the prison-house, if one who 
 recants stands in no danger of being separated 
 from the faith ? Why be bound with chains, if 
 the unfaithful retain the privilege of communion ? 
 Why die a martyr's death, if traitors to their 
 faith are not made to feel the gravity of 
 their sins?" By means of these and like sugges- 
 tions he worked upon the minds of the con- 
 fessors, whom on their release^ he succeeded in 
 enlisting on the side of Novatian. The accession 
 to the rigorist ranks of these heroes of the Church 
 had the effect of largely increasing the number 
 of their adherents, while many who had hitherto 
 wavered between the two views were finally 
 decided in their choice of a leader by the example 
 of the confessors. Hence when in March 251 
 Cornelius was declared Bishop of Eome, he found 
 that considerable numbers of his people were 
 
 1 Ep. 31 (H., p. 564, § 8). 
 
 ^ Ep. 54 (H., p. 622, 9). Benson, Cyprian, p. 137, explains 
 his apparent change of policy as based upon his antagonism to 
 " the encroachments of episcopal influence," 
 
192 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 banded together against him, while almost im- 
 mediately after his elevation ^ he was confronted 
 with a rival claimant to the see, in the person of 
 Novatian,^ whom Novatus had induced to allow 
 himself to be consecrated.^ Cyprian writes (Ep. 
 44) for the first time to the Bishop of Eome 
 — namely, Cornelius — who had doubtless sent 
 letters to Carthage to inform him of his appoint- 
 ment. The Bishop of Carthage, who had heard 
 rumours of the uneasy situation, had sent two 
 fellow-bishops to Eome to ascertain from those 
 who assisted at the consecration of Cornelius the 
 true facts of the case, and to aid, as far as might 
 be, in restoring order.* Before their return two 
 other African bishops ^ arrived with a satisfactory 
 report, and Cyprian was enabled to treat with 
 fitting coolness the official envoys of Novatian. 
 Giving them to understand that they were in 
 schism and the representatives of a schismatic, 
 he ordered immediately that they should be con- 
 
 ^ Ep. 44 (H., p. 597). Cyprian's envoys had not even re- 
 turned from Rome with the true account of the ordination of 
 Cornelius, when the messengers of Novatian arrived with the 
 news of his (Novatian 's) ordination, bearing his credentials. 
 
 2 Ep. 45 (H., p. 600, 3-6). 
 
 * Episc. Urb. Cat. (ed. R. A. Lipsius) under "Cornelius'': 
 " Sub episcopatu ejus Novatus extra ecclesiam ordinavit Nova- 
 tiauum in urbe Roma." 
 
 - Ep. 45 (H., p. 599, 12 ff.) ° Ep. 44 (H., p. 598, 4). 
 
Cornelms vindicates his Claims. 193 
 
 sidered excommunicated.^ On his refusal to hear 
 their charges against Cornelius, which they pro- 
 tested they could substantiate, they proceeded to 
 a systematic visitation of the neighbourhood, in 
 the hope of securing support for the party and 
 tenets of Novatian.^ AVith the object of refuting 
 the slanders which they were commissioned to 
 publish, Cyprian instructed his clergy to read 
 aloud to their flocks the letters of Cornelius 
 which had reached him, and which were now 
 confirmed by the report of his envoys,^ Caldonius 
 and Fortunatus, as well as portions of the letter 
 from Novatian which his now excommunicated 
 messengers had brought : the text of this letter 
 Cyprian was forced to expurgate, so unfit was 
 the language * employed to be used in connection 
 with the grave office of a bishop. 
 
 He tells Cornelius that, while much regretting 
 the delay which had occurred in recognising his 
 elevation to the episcopate, he was compelled to 
 make careful inquiries in order to relieve the 
 
 ^ Of this commission of four, Augendus was already excom- 
 municated (Ep. 42), while Maximus, Longinus, and Machseus, 
 whom (Ep. 44, 15) Cyprian ordered to be excommunicated, we 
 read (Ep. 50, § 1) were duly expulsi. Thus Novatian's first bid 
 for Carthaginian support was discredited. 
 
 = Ep. 44 (H., p. 598, § S). ^ Ep. 45 (H., p. 600, 6 and 16). 
 
 • Ep. 45 (H., p. 602, 1). 
 
 N 
 
194 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 minds of his fellow-bishops,^ who had been dis- 
 turbed by receiving the letters of Novatian im- 
 mediately after those of Cornelius, and who 
 desired a thorough investigation of the rival 
 claims. 
 
 Cyprian's letter to Antonianus (Ep. 55) was 
 written in order to applaud the course which 
 that bishop had adopted. The envoys of Nova- 
 tian had, on leaving Carthage, presented their 
 credentials to Antonianus among others; but, 
 although he failed to see wherein lay the heresy 
 of ISTovatian, and was withal somewhat uneasy 
 about the laxity of his opponents,- he decided 
 to follow the example of Cyprian, and recognise 
 the claims of Cornelius. That general uncer- 
 tainty prevailed we may gather from the letter 
 of Cyprian to Cornelius, which explains why 
 certain of the churches in his province had, 
 under advice from him and his council, after 
 recognising Cornelius in early letters, addressed 
 later ones to his clergy instead of to him.^ 
 
 On the other hand, there were several African 
 bishops who joined the party of Novatian, and, 
 
 1 Ep. 49 (H., p. 602, 6). ^ gp, 55 (jj^^ p_ ggi^ 15-20). 
 
 " Ep. 48. Cornelius was evidently annoyed ; but Cyprian 
 explains that in so large a province as his, anything was 
 better than confused and divided action. Cf. Benson, Cyprian, 
 pp. 132, 133. 
 
Charges against Novatian. 195 
 
 to strengthen their hands, these consecrated 
 Maximus, one of the party from Eome, as 
 bishop 1 in the course of the year 251. 
 
 At Eome party feeling was running very high, 
 with the result that each side gave publicity to 
 the most discreditable reports about the other, 
 and these found their way into the official letters 
 of commendation which the representatives of 
 each leader carried. From the letter of Cornelius 
 to Fabius, Bishop of Antioch,^ we learn that 
 Novatian had long been seeking the vacant 
 bishopric;^ that he had succeeded by guile in 
 enlisting the confessors under his banner,* after 
 Moyses had excommunicated him and the nucleus 
 of his party ; that he had invited to Eome three 
 country bishops under the pretext of urgent 
 business, and, having made them drunk, had 
 compelled them to ordain him ; ^ that when young 
 he had been under the influence of demoniacal 
 possession,^ and was only baptised when appar- 
 ently in his last agony ; that in the persecution 
 he had denied that he was a presbyter, and had 
 shut himself up in his house, refusing to take any 
 
 1 Ep. 59 (H., p. 676, 17). 
 
 ^The letter is preserved by Eusebius (H. E., 6. 43). 
 
 3 Bus., H. E., 6. 43, § 5. * Eus., H. E., 6. 43, §§ 6, 20. 
 
 ^ Eus., H. E., 6. 43, §§ 8, 9. « Eus., H. E., 6. 43, §§ 14, 15. 
 
1 96 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 part in the work of assisting the brethren, and 
 saying he was an adherent of another philo- 
 sophy ; 1 and finally, that he would administer 
 the consecrated bread in the Eucharist to no one 
 who would not swear " I will never go over to 
 Cornelius." 2 In the same letter we read that 
 he is a perjured liar, and a vile trickster,* 
 while elsewhere Cornelius writes the same to 
 Cyprian.* 
 
 It is quite conceivable that, in the heat of the 
 struggle, Cornelius did not discriminate between 
 the parts played respectively by Novatus and 
 ISTovatian. No man could have sustained oppo- 
 site characters with the success attained by 
 Novatus, had he not been a consummate diplo- 
 matist ; but that Novatian, who was evidently 
 one of the leading presbyters at Eome, and had 
 been intrusted with the task of formulating the 
 Church's reply to Cyprian,^ should be as black 
 as his opponent paints him, is utterly improbable. 
 We should be inclined rather to regard him as 
 
 ^ Eus., H. E., 6. 43, § 16. ^ e^^,^ h. E., 6. 43, §§ 18, 19. 
 
 3Eus., H. E., 6. 43, §6. 
 
 ^ Cyprian, Ep. 49, Corneliua Cypriano (H., p. 611, 10). 
 
 ^ This is hinted at by Cyprian (Ep. 55, § 5), who says that 
 Novatian was the writer of Ep. 30. That the clergy should 
 have chosen one in whom they had no confidence is unreason- 
 able. 
 
Character of Novatian. 197 
 
 a learned man of philosophical tendencies/ who, 
 with the idealist's futile fondness for high stan- 
 dards, sought to secure a purity of discipline and 
 life which was in reality unattainable. A man 
 of such character might be worked upon by a 
 schemer like ISTovatus, not seeing whither he was 
 being led. He would protest that he had no 
 desire to become a bishop,^ but Novatus would 
 urge that it was for the good of the cause. His 
 grave character would be the bait wherewith the 
 austere confessors would be secured. 
 
 Would Dionysius of Alexandria have written 
 his friendly letter to a man of confirmed ill- 
 repute ? ^ It was only the force of circumstances 
 which compelled Cyprian to abandon the position 
 which fixity of purpose obliged Novatian to re- 
 tain ; Novatian stood firm, an unyielding dog- 
 matist, while Cyprian moved with the times, a 
 
 1 Cyprian, Ep. 55, § 16 (H., p. 635, 5) : "Alia est philoso- 
 phorum et Stoicorum ratio." Eus., H. E., 6. 43, § 16 : erepar 
 7ap eTj/ai (piXoaofpias epacrrj^. 
 
 2 Eus., H. E., 6. 43, § 7, and H. E., 6. 46. 
 
 ' Eus., H. E., 6. 4.5. When Novatian lieeded not this letter 
 of advice, he vsrrote of him in strong terms (H. E., 7. 8). It is 
 needless to try to explain the story of the drunken bishops 
 (Cyprian makes no allusion to it, — cf. H., p. 642, 11, Ep. 55) 
 and Novatian 's behaviour at the Eucharist ; but we have sug- 
 gested the confusion between Novatian and Novatus, and 
 further, .stories grow with the telling. 
 
igS The Decian Persecution. 
 
 conservative who yet knew that concessions were 
 inevitable. 
 
 When once, however, Xovatian had committed 
 himself to oppose Cornelius, he knew that he 
 must face the worst. Heretic bishop he might 
 be, but he would send out his deputies, and 
 gather adherents from East and West : ^ he would 
 create bishops to supervise those in communion 
 with him.^ But these measures only aggravated 
 the charge of schism which was laid at his door : 
 he was without the pale of the Church, and no 
 man oiitside her bounds might call himself a 
 Christian.^ He might found a Church,* he might 
 call it by the high-sounding title of the " Pure," ^ 
 he might rebaptise his converts,"' but it was a 
 forlorn hope : the Catholic Church had closed her 
 gates behind him, and he was a schismatic; no 
 compromise was possible, he must fight to the 
 end, side by side with the instigators of his 
 secession. 
 
 It is noteworthy that Cyprian does not attempt 
 to define the heresy of Novatian ; ^ in fact his 
 followers were never regarded as heretics, and 
 
 1 Ep. 55 (H., p. 642, 17). ^ gp, 55 (h,_ p_ 542^ 21). 
 
 3 Ep. 55 (H., p. 642, 6). " Ep. 55 (H., p. 642, 18). 
 
 ■' Eus., 6. 43, § 1. Cf. Zonaras, 12. 20. 
 <* Ep. 73 (H., p. 779, 10). Cf. Ep. 69 (H., p. 752, § 3). 
 ' Ep. 55 (H., p. 642, 4). 
 
Catholics and Novatianists. 1 99 
 
 at NicEea they met with tolerant treatment.^ 
 The crucial point of difference between them 
 and the Catholic Church was this : in the judg- 
 ment of IsTovatian, no penitence, however long, 
 was sufficient to atone for a fall into grievous 
 siu,^ or to entitle the penitent to renewed com- 
 munion with the Church on earth ; the Catholics, 
 on the other hand, were prepared to temper jus- 
 tice with mercy, even in the case of apostasy, 
 after long-continued penitence. 
 
 The point in which Cornelius had offended, and 
 thus laid himself open to censure, was that he 
 had restored to communion a presbyter named 
 Trofimus and several of the laity, who had sacri- 
 ficed.^ It is plain from Cyprian's attempt to ex- 
 plain away the charge as a baseless slander on 
 the part of the Novatianists,* that Cornelius had 
 been unduly lax. What other charges appeared 
 in the official circular letters from Novatian to 
 the bishops we have no means of knowing. 
 
 ^ Cf. de Pressens^, iv. 7. 
 
 2 Eus., B. 43, § 1. Cf. Ep. 55 (H., p. 646, 12-15). Cf. the 
 spurious treatise "Ad ISTovatianum," § 12 (H., p. 62, 7), and 
 Ep. 68 (H., p. 744, 8-14). 
 
 3 Ep. 55 (H., p. 624, 19). 
 
 * Ep. 55 (H., p. 631, §§ 11, 12). In § 10 Cyprian says that he 
 was accused of being " libello maculatus," and of communicating 
 with lapsed bishops. 
 
200 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 Cyprian defends Cornelius with great vigour, 
 pointing out that he had served with efficiency 
 in the various Church offices which he had held, 
 and that it was only by constraint that he was 
 induced to accept the office of bishop.^ He was 
 consecrated in the presence of sixteen other Cath- 
 olic bishops,^ whose letters after the ordination 
 bore unassailable testimony to his high merits : 
 he was, lastly, almost unanimously elected,^ after 
 opportunities for deliberation extending over 
 more than a year. The only difficulty occas- 
 ioned by the attitude of the Catholic Church in 
 general and of Cornelius in particular towards 
 the sick la'p&i, was that some of those who had 
 been restored to communion, when apparently 
 dying, recovered, and then, by virtue of their 
 illness alone, they were in the Church, while 
 others, to whose conduct their own had been in 
 no way superior, were excluded. Cyprian regards 
 recovery under such circumstances as a token of 
 the special fatherly mercy of G-od, and points out 
 that no human agency is to be held responsible 
 for the difficulty.* 
 
 1 Ep. 55 (H., p. 629, 8-18). « Ep. 55 (H., p. 642, 10). 
 
 ■' Ep. 55 (H., p. 629, 18 ff.) 
 
 ^ Ep. 55 (H., p. 633, § 18). Cyprian, with a touch of humour, 
 says that it is impossible to put such people out of the way. 
 
Novatus returns to Carthage. 201 
 
 Cyprian, on learning from the envoys of No- 
 vatian tlaat the confessors had taken their stand 
 against Cornelius, wrote them an urgent letter 
 of entreaty, calling upon them to return to the 
 Holy Mother whom they had forsaken, and to 
 take no further part in rending the body of 
 Christ.^ At the same time the Novatianist 
 party at Eome, hearing of the contempt with 
 which Carthage had treated their deputation, 
 determined instantly to send a second, consist- 
 ing of five members, under the leadership of 
 Novatus.^ These, of course, met with a similar 
 reception to their predecessors, thanks to Cyprian's 
 common-sense, and to a despatch from Cornelius 
 which reached him on the day succeeding their 
 arrival.^ From Nicephorus, who brought the 
 letter from Cornelius, Cyprian learned also that 
 immediately on the departure of Novatus* the 
 confessors had perceived the grievous error ^ into 
 which they had fallen, and expressed a desire 
 
 1 Ep. 46. 
 
 ^ The other members were Nicostratus, who had been de- 
 graded from the diaconate for his acts of peculation (Ep. 52, 
 H., p. 617, 1-8 ; Ep. 50, H., p. 613, 9-12) ; Euaristus, an exiled 
 and deposed bishop, who had made shipwi^eck of himself and 
 others (Ep. 52, H., p. 616, 15 ff. ; Ep. 50, H., p. 613, 13-15) ; 
 Primus and Dionysius. 
 
 3 Ep. 52 (H., p. 616, 13). * Ep. 52 (H., p. 618, 7). 
 
 = Ep. 49 (H., p. 609, 2) ; "Cognito suo errore." 
 
202 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 to resume communion with Cornelius.^ They 
 admitted that they had been cajoled into lend- 
 ing their support to the slanders which had 
 been circulated concerning Cornelius,^ and before 
 the assembled presbytery^ they entreated that 
 the past might be forgotten. Amid the rejoic- 
 ings of the clergy they signified their entire 
 submission to Cornelius, and acknowledged that 
 in the Catholic Church one bishop existed by 
 divine rule.* The four confessors themselves 
 notified Cyprian of their return with all speed,^ 
 and he immediately despatched a reply ^ to their 
 letter, congratulating them on taking the im- 
 portant step. There was only one presbyter 
 among them, Maximus, and he was immediately 
 restored to his office, having been suspended only 
 temporarily.' " "We have been thoroughly tricked," 
 they said. " We joined jSTovatian on leaving 
 prison in February, when no faction had been 
 
 1 Ep. 49 (H., p. 609, 8-11). 
 
 ' Ep. 49 (H., pp. 609, 16-610, 4). 
 
 3 Ep. 49 (H., p. 610, 7). ■> Ep. 49 (H., p. 611, 4-16). 
 
 '" Ep. .'•,3. "S Ep. 54. 
 
 '' MiiUer (p. 217) argues that they returned on terms not of 
 penance but of reconciliation. "When Kovatus left Rome, 
 Kovatian could not play the part of trickster, and so the four 
 confessors — Maximus, Urbauus, Sidonius, and Maearius — under 
 pressure from the friends of Cyprian and Cornelius, returned 
 to their allegiance. 
 
Synods of Rome and Carthage. 203 
 
 organised, and then, when we began to see 
 whither he was leading ns, we were silenced 
 by his eloquent^ arguments, and by the false- 
 hoods of Novatus."^ The confessors returned 
 to the Church in the autumn of 251, and a 
 little later Cornelius, at length secure from any 
 serious opposition, held at Eome a synod com- 
 prising over sixty bishops, and a still larger 
 number of the inferior clergy, at which Novatian 
 and his followers were declared to be enemies 
 of the faith. ^ The same assembly signified its 
 assent to the decisions of the African council, 
 which had met shortly after Easter under 
 Cyprian's presidency, and had communicated its 
 resolutions to Cornelius. Cyprian himself thus 
 describes the proceedings of his synod : * " Ac- 
 cording to the arrangement whereby we were 
 to meet as soon as the return of peace allowed, 
 a goodly number of bishops, whom their faith 
 in the protection of God had kept from falling, 
 assembled together, and we weighed the question 
 with wise deliberation, bringing forward the 
 witness of the Scriptures on either side. The 
 
 1 Ep. 60 (H., p. 694, 1). 
 
 2 Ep. 49 (H., p. 611, 11). Cf. Eutf., H. E., 6. 43, § 6— a dark 
 picture. 
 
 3 Eus., H. E., 6. 43, § 2. 
 
 ^ Ep. 56 (H., p. 627, § 6) to Antonianus. 
 
204 The Decian Persenition. 
 
 hope of ultimate communion and restoration 
 was not withheld from the lajisi lest they should 
 be driven to despair, and, feeling they were shut 
 out of the Church, shoiild return to the life of the 
 world ; on the other hand, we did not weaken the 
 strictures of the Gospel, and so allow the Japsi 
 to rush into communion as they would, but we 
 required a lengthy period of penitence, and that 
 with patience they should entreat our fatherly 
 indulgence. The case and needs of each in- 
 dividual were to be investigated, as you will 
 read in the report which, I trust, has reached 
 you, and in which our resolutions are severally 
 written. ... I wrote to this effect also to 
 Cornelius at Eome, who, in council with many 
 of his fellow-bishops, after grave and moderate 
 discussion, acquiesced in our decisions." A middle 
 course was adopted. It was recognised that there 
 were varying degrees of guilt, and that these re- 
 quired different treatment.^ A lihcllaticus was 
 not guilty of so grievous an error as a sacrifi- 
 catus ; nor again was the guilt of a man who 
 had sacrificed in order to screen his family so 
 heinous as that of one who had dragged his 
 
 1 Ep. 5.5, p. 633, 1-14 ; Ep. 57, p. 6'>2, 10-16. Cf. also 
 Hefele's article, " Abgefallene," in Wetzer and Welte's 
 ' Kirchen-Lesicon.' 
 
Degrees of Gjiilt. 205 
 
 household before the altar. It was therefore 
 decided^ that a libdlatwus should, on hehig 
 found to be truly penitent, be restored at once ; 
 but that a scwrificatus should perform a long 
 penance, although, if he should be laid suddenly 
 on his death-bed, the Church would grant him 
 the benefit of her ministrations. 
 
 These were the broad lines on which the pleas 
 of the lapsi were to be considered : individual 
 cases of doubt occurred, in which Cyprian was 
 asked to interpret the rules laid down. Such 
 an instance is presented to us in Ep. 56, where 
 we read that certain lapsi had endured a two 
 years' penance for their fall. At their first trial 
 they had repulsed all attacks on their faith, 
 but the proconsul, with his exquisite tortures, 
 had overcome the poor weak flesh, and they 
 denied their Master. Such men, Cyprian de- 
 cided, had shown that they were true at heart, 
 and he doubted not that God would forgive 
 their bodily infirmity. 
 
 Those of the clergy who had lapsed were re- 
 admitted to the Church as laymen, having for 
 ever forfeited their priesthood.^ During this 
 
 1 Ep. 55 (H., p. 636, 6-10). 
 
 ^ Ep. 55, p. 632, § 11. Cyprian shrinks as much from the 
 idea that Cornelius had communicated with Troflmus as a 
 
2o6 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 council a resolution was also passed declaring 
 that communion with Novatian was impossible 
 for all who recognised that Cornelius had been 
 regularly ordained to succeed to the see of Eome.^ 
 With Novatian, ISTovatus and Felicissimus ^ fell 
 under the ban of the Church in Africa. 
 
 At a council held on May 15, 252, the various 
 decisions relating to the ^ctps-i were revised in 
 view of later events, chief among which was 
 the imminence of a fresh persecution. At this 
 council, Privatus, an old heretic bishop from 
 Lambaesis, who had been condemned many years 
 previously by a synod of ninety bishops, desired 
 to have his case reconsidered. When this was 
 refused, he secured the co - operation of four 
 other heretic or lapsed bishops,^ and consecrated 
 
 presbyter, as with the apostate bishops mentioned in § 10. 
 Of Fortunatianus, Bishop of Assuras, Cyprian writes (Ep. 65, 
 H., p. 723, 15) : " Qui sacrilega sacrificia fecerunt, sacerdotium 
 Dei sibi vindicare non possunt.'' Again, in the case of Basihdes 
 and Martialis (Ep. 67, H., p. 741, 8) the decree is : "Eiusmodi 
 homines ad psenitentiam quidem agendam posse admitti, ab 
 ordinatione autem cleri atque sacerdotali honore prohiberi." 
 Cf. Bus., H.E., 6. 43, § 10. The bishops who had ordained 
 Novatian bishop were ijiso facto schismatics. 
 
 1 Ep. 68 (H., p. 745, 5-13). 
 
 ' Ep. 59 (H., pp. 666, 13-16, and 676, 5-8). 
 
 ■* From the first day of persecution (Ep. 59, H., p. 679, 21 ff.) 
 they had regularly communicated with the lapsi. Cf. also 
 Ep. 59, p. 680, 13 ff. 
 
A Second Schism in Africa. 207 
 
 Fortunatus bishop, to take Cyprian's place.i 
 They asserted later that twenty -five JSTumidian 
 bishops had been present at the ceremony : "- in 
 point of fact, however, the followers of Fortunatus 
 were very few in number,^ and Cyprian claims 
 that the number of clergy who condemned the 
 party at the synod of May 251 was larger than 
 the entire faction in July 252. It should be 
 borne in mind that these schismatic bishops were 
 not members of ISTovatian's faction ; they held no 
 austere opinions about the purity of the Church ; 
 they had not veered round with Novatus ; they 
 were, in fact, at the opposite pole to Maximus,* 
 while Cyprian steered his course midway be- 
 tween the two extremes. Fortunatus despatched 
 Felicissimus and others to Eome to demand 
 recognition from Cornelius, when they worked 
 u.pon his mind with their threats until he 
 wavered, and was obliged to write for advice 
 to Cyprian,^ who answered with Ep. 59— a letter 
 of strong remonstrance. 
 
 We cannot further follow these schisms in 
 detail. At the end of 252 Cyprian found him- 
 
 ^ Ep. 59 (H., p. 677, § 10). ^ Ep. 59 (H., p. 679, 16). 
 
 3 Ep. 59 (H., p. 684, 8-13). 
 
 * I.e., the newly-created Novatianist bishop in Africa. Cf. 
 p. 195, note 1. 
 
 ° These incidents are drawn from Ep. 69. 
 
2o8 The Decian Persectition. 
 
 self opposed by two schismatic bodies : the rigid, 
 which sided with Novatian, with Maximus as 
 one of its bishops ; and the lax, which numbered 
 but few adherents, and included Fortunatus and 
 several other heretic bishops. The latter faction 
 speedily disappeared, but Novatianism lasted 
 almost into the seventh century. Within 
 three years of its birth it had found adherents 
 in Palestine, Cilicia, Cappadocia, and Egypt. 
 Dionysius of Alexandria was a strong supporter 
 of Cornelius, and urged his claims upon Fabius 
 of Antioch, whose weight seemed to be thrown 
 on the side of Novatian.i ^ council was called 
 at Antioch, where the matter was to be sifted, 
 but Fabius died before the date fixed.^ The 
 Novatianists were undisturbed by the persecution 
 of Gallns,^ but Novatian himself was martyred 
 under Valerian.* They were not affected by the 
 laws of Constantine against heretics,^ their bishop, 
 Acesius, being in good repute with the emperor. 
 Till at least the year 375 the Novatianist party 
 made no change in the date on which they kept 
 
 1 Eus., H.E., 6. 44. = gyg^ jje _ g^ 4g_ 
 
 ' Cyprian, Ep. 61, § 3 (p. 696, 7). This Cyprian regards as 
 
 a criterion of a true or false Church, whether or no it auifers 
 
 persecution. 
 
 ^ Socrates, H.E., 4. 24. = Sozomen, 2. 32. 
 
Later History of Novatianism. 209 
 
 Easter/ while they held thoroughly orthodox 
 views on the divinity of Christ.^ 
 
 1 Socrates, H.E., 4. 24. 
 
 ^ Sozomen, H.E., 2. 32. For this schism generally, cf. 
 Benson, p. 141. 
 
 Note. — Aubespine^ (p. 149) notices that the power of 
 the martyrs to grant absohttion varied according as they 
 were priests or laymen. He observes that, technically, a 
 lay martyr might absolve from only the 'pa.na, but that 
 a priest might loose from the cxih^a, as well. It is plain, 
 however, from what Cyprian says of Luoianus, that the 
 lay martyrs arrogated to themselves the right of entire 
 absolntion, regarding the bishop's part in the matter as 
 being merely a technical ratification. Tertullian was the 
 first to deny their right, and Cyprian did what he could 
 to curb their power, which they had almost entirely lost 
 by Nicene times. From Cyprian (Epp. 14 and 22) we 
 learn that a martyr's recommendation was properly of no 
 avail until his death. 
 
 ^ Aubespine, De veteribus ecclesiEe ritibus observationes, 
 lib. ii. 
 
2IO 
 
 CHAPTEE IX. 
 
 THE PERSECUTION IN EGYPT AXIi THE EAST. 
 
 EGYPT — ARREST OP DIONYSIUS — HIS CLERGY — THE SACRIFICES — 
 THE FAITHFUL — SOME SUFFERED NON-OFFICIALLY — VARIOUS 
 ACCOUNTS — PEACE — THE " LAPSI " — SYRIA — ALEXANDER, 
 EABYLAS, ORIHEN — ASIA MINOR — GEESORY THAUMATUHGUS 
 AND NEO-C^SAREA — THE BISHOPS IN THE PERSECUTION — 'ACTA 
 MAKTYEUM ' — ACTA ACHATU, MAXIMI, PETRI, LUCLVNI ET MAR- 
 TIANI, NESTORIS — OTHER ACTA — ' ACTA PIONII ' — EXTERNAL 
 EVIDENCE — INTERNAL E'^aDENCE — TRANSLATION OP THE 
 PIONIAN DOCUMENT — THE TRIAL OP PIONIUS, FROM OFFICIAL 
 SOURCES — HIS END — REMARKS UPON THE ACTA — CONCLUSION 
 TO BE DRAWN. 
 
 APPENDIX A. ON THE BASES OF THE ' ACTA SANCTOHU.M.' 
 APPENDIX B. LINGUISTIC RESEMBLANCES BETWEEN 'ACTA 
 PIONII ' AND THE TWO ,SMYRNJ3AN RECORDS OF POLYOARP. 
 
 I. Egypt. 
 
 A FEW excerpts from the letters of Dionysius, 
 Bishop of Alexandria, preserved by Eusebius in 
 his History, and the recently recovered libelli 
 (which we discussed in chapter vii.), constitute 
 
The Persecutio7t in Egypt. 211 
 
 our sole evidence for the facts of the persecution 
 in Egypt. The narrative of Dionysius is simple 
 and straightforward, but gives few indications of 
 the method followed by the Imperial officials, 
 detailing rather the personal sufferings of in- 
 dividuals than the general attitude of the 
 Government, and the principles on which the 
 examination of recalcitrants was conducted. 
 From his witness alone we should be unable to 
 form a correct opinion as to the extent of the 
 inquiry, and to discover whether only those sus- 
 pected of being Christians were called upon to 
 sacrifice, or whether a universal public compli- 
 ance was demanded, and also as to the precise 
 object of the persecution, whether corrective or 
 solely punitive. As these questions were dis- 
 cussed in an earlier chapter, we may proceed 
 without delay to consider the account of 
 Dionysius. 
 
 In the course of the year 248 there had ap- 
 peared at Alexandria ^ a frenzied rhapsodist, who, 
 by means of his poems, worked upon the super- 
 stitious minds of the populace with such success 
 that an outcry arose against the Christians, and 
 a furious onset was made upon them, in which 
 many met with a violent death. This crisis was 
 
 1 Eus., H. E., 6. 41, §1. 
 
212 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 only brought to an end by a civic struggle^ at 
 Alexandria, which diverted the energies of the 
 anti-Christian mob from its victims. The short 
 respite thus gained gave place to an uneasy sus- 
 pense, when the news arrived that the Emperor 
 Philip had fallen, and that the new reign would 
 be marked by reforms, religious as well as pol- 
 itical.2 In the early months of 250 appeared the 
 edict from Eome : it was so stringent as to " cause 
 to stumble, if it were possible, even the elect." ^ 
 
 A short time before the arrival of the edict, 
 Sabinus, the governor, decided to secure the per- 
 son of the bishop ■* (thus precluding any possibility 
 of his escape when the blow fell), and with that 
 object sent an officer to apprehend Dionysius. It 
 was expected he would take to flight, and con- 
 sequently the frumentarius instituted a search 
 of all the places in the neighbourhood likely to 
 afford shelter to a fugitive.^ When the search 
 had lasted for four days, Dionysius, who had 
 
 ^ Eus., H. E., 6. 41, § 9 : ^ crraffis Kol I) iri(A.f,uos i i/jL((>v\tos. 
 
 ^ Eus,, H. E., 6. 41, §9:6 ttjs et/)' 7}^as aTretKris (p6^os. 
 
 3 Eus., H. E., 6. 41, § 10. " Eus., H. E., 6. 40, § 2. 
 
 ^ Eu9., H. E.J 6. 40, § 2 : Travra ii^v avepevfuiv, rohs TvorafxOvSf 
 Tas dSovs. By the Tvoraixoi, says AUard, p. 362, we are to 
 understand the mouths by which the Nile eaters the sea, 
 where there would be wharves and sheds which might conceal 
 a fugitive. For frumentarius, cf. ' Aur. Vict. Cffiss.,' 39. 44 : 
 "Remote pestilenti frumentariorum genere, quorum nunc 
 
Arrest and Rescue of Dionysius. 213 
 
 waited for his arrest at home, decided upon flight, 
 but was captured with four companions, Gaius, 
 Faustus, Peter, and Paul, and conveyed by an 
 armed escort to Taposiris.^ Timotheus, a friend 
 of Dionysius, on discovering the bishop's house to 
 be filled with soldiers, took to flight, and related 
 his trouble to a wayfarer whom he encountered.^ 
 Now this man happened to be on his way to a 
 feast at Marea, and on his arrival he told his 
 friends the story he had casually heard.^ With 
 the traditional readiness of the Egyptian peas- 
 antry to turn against the PbOman soldiery,* a 
 regular assault was planned from the village,^ 
 and the soldiers were dispersed, while Dionysius 
 fell into the hands of the victors. When he 
 found that they were not robbers, but friends, 
 the bishop besought them to kill him before he 
 was recaptured, and utterly refused to accompany 
 them.^ He was, however, lifted up and set upon 
 
 agentes rerum (358 a.d.), simillimi aunt, qui cum ad explor- 
 andum annuntiandumque, qui forte in provinciis motus exister- 
 ent, instituti viderentur, compositis nefarie criminationibus, 
 iniecto passim metu prseoipue remotissimo cuncta foede diri- 
 piebant." 
 
 1 Eus., H. E., 6. 40, § i. " Eus., 6. 40, §§ 4, 5. 
 
 3 Eus., H. E., 6. 40, § 6. " Ailard, p. 361. 
 
 ^ Marea was a village a little south-west of Alexandria. For 
 the story cf. Dion. Alex., Ep. ad Germanum ; ap. Eus., H. E. 
 7. 11, § 22. « Eus., H, E., 6. 40, §§ 7, 8. 
 
2 14 The Deciaii Persecution. 
 
 an ass, and transported, in company with Peter 
 and Paul, to a sequestered spot in the desert, 
 three days' journey from Paraitonium,i where he 
 remained in safety until all danger was at an 
 end. 
 
 The place of the absent bishop was ably filled 
 by the inferior clergy, who succeeded in visiting 
 the imprisoned brethren without being detected. 
 Two presbyters, Paustinus and Aquila, were too 
 well known to be able to remain with safety in 
 the city, and were therefore compelled to seek 
 refuge in another part of Egypt ; but Maximus, 
 Dioscorus, Demetrius, and Lucius, with the help 
 of Paustus, Eusebius, and Chferemon, three 
 deacons who had survived the recent plague, 
 were able to perform all necessary offices, 
 although incurring great personal risk. The 
 deacon Eusebius was more particularly of ser- 
 vice in visiting the confessors in prison, and 
 giving the martyrs decent burial ; and God 
 vouchsafed him protection, although the gover- 
 nor was unwearying in his efforts to carry out 
 the edict, ruthlessly killing, torturing, or confin- 
 ing those who were brought before him, while 
 he had enjoined that no one should approach 
 the confessors, and strict watch was kept to see 
 
 1 Bus., H. B., 7. 11, § 23. Parsetonium is close to Marea. 
 
Apostasy of the Upper Classes. 2 1 5 
 
 that the order was obeyed.^ Here again, as at 
 Carthage, it is difficult to understand how it 
 was possible for the confessors to be visited in 
 prison by those who were evidently Christians, 
 without the instant arrest of the latter. 
 
 When the time appointed by the edict arrived, 
 all eyes were fixed on the conduct of the upper 
 classes, who, as it seems, gave way in a body. 
 Many of them were spurred on by terror, others 
 yielded to the entreaties of their friends, and 
 those who held Government offices were obliged 
 to assist at sacrifices in the execution of their 
 daily duty. Thus an immense number of the 
 iliU presented themselves to obey the order to 
 sacrifice. As the actors in this curious drama 
 were called upon to approach the altar, their 
 countenances and demeanour betrayed only too 
 plainly their feelings. Some went up pale and 
 trembling, as though about to be the victims 
 themselves ; these provided a vast fund of amuse- 
 ment to the surrounding crowds, who laughed to 
 think that they were as much afraid to sacrifice 
 as they were too cowardly to die. Others hast- 
 
 1 Eus., H. E., 7. 11, §§ 24, 25. Eusebius afterwards became 
 Bishop of Laodicea in Syria, Maximus succeeded Dionysius at 
 Alexandria, while Faustus was beheaded in the persecution of 
 Diocletian. 
 
2 1 6 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 ened confidently to the altar, protesting that they 
 had never been Christians at any time.^ Among 
 the common people there were not wanting those 
 who followed the steps of their superiors, and 
 sacrificed in grievous terror or with unblushing 
 alacrity, but others sought refuge in exile, and 
 some refusing to deny their faith, were arrested. 
 Of those who were arrested, some stood firm 
 till they were confronted with the prison-house 
 and bonds, some endured several days of impris- 
 onment, but recanted before they were brought 
 to trial, while others actually faced torture for 
 some time before their courage failed them. But 
 the " pillars of the Lord " received strength and 
 endurance sufficient from Him, and stood noble 
 witnesses of His kingdom.^ Men and women, 
 young and old, soldiers and citizens of every 
 description, overcame in the fight, and won their 
 crowns after scourging or burning or beheading.^ 
 Some were not accounted ready to meet their 
 Lord so soon, and these, like Dionysius himself, 
 were reserved until their time was fully come. 
 Among those who suffered for their faith, we 
 
 ^ Perhaps Diogenes, son of Satabus, the recipient of the 
 libellus, was one of these. 
 
 2 Eus., H. E., 6. 41, §§ 11-14. 
 
 3 Eus., H. E., 7. 11, §§ 20, 21. 
 
Stiff erers at Alexandria. 217 
 
 find Julianus, an old man suffering from gout, 
 who could neither stand nor walk: he and one 
 of his bearers, Cronion, stoutly confessed their 
 Master, and were mounted on camels and made 
 to ride the gauntlet amid a shower of missiles, 
 and, finally, were burned in the sight of the mob. 
 One of the soldiers who was in charge of them, 
 a Christian named Besas, attempted to protect 
 them as far as possible, but in obedience to 
 an outcry from the crowd was arrested and 
 beheaded. 
 
 A Libyan, named Macar, paid no heed to the 
 earnest solicitations of his judge, who entreated 
 him to reconsider his decision to confess Christ, 
 and was led away and burnt. Epimachus and 
 Alexander, who had endured a long period of im- 
 prisonment, and had in the course of it been tor- 
 tured and scourged continually, were finally burnt 
 to death : at the same time were beheaded four 
 women, one of whom, Ammonarium, a saintly 
 virgin, declared that she would never repeat 
 the blasphemous words suggested by her judge, 
 and, although he employed against her all his 
 subtlest artifices and his cruellest tortures, she 
 was enabled to give effect to her vow ; while the 
 other three — Mercuria, a reverend matron, Dion- 
 ysia, who bade farewell to a numerous family 
 
2 1 8 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 rather than deny her Lord, and another — escaped 
 the torture, which had been concentrated upon 
 Ammonarium, the judge shrinking from the idea 
 of torturing more women, and finally admitting 
 himself beaten. 
 
 Dioscorus, a boy of fifteen, was brought before 
 the judge, who attempted first to play upon his 
 simplicity and then to subdue with the torture 
 his weakly frame, but without success. Finally, 
 the judge, complimenting him on his brave bear- 
 ing before the court and on the sagacity of his 
 answers, said that on account of his youth he 
 would grant him a respite for repentance. Heron, 
 Ater, and Isidorus, who had been brought up for 
 trial with him, were treated with great severity, 
 and after a constant confession burnt. Informa- 
 tion was laid against Nemesion, an Egyptian, to 
 the effect that he had kept company with robbers, 
 but he disproved the accusation before the cen- 
 turion : he was then brought before the governor 
 on the charge of being a Christian, and after re- 
 ceiving double the torture and double the scourg- 
 ing that the robbers received, he was burned 
 between them, thus recalling the manner of his 
 Master's death. 
 
 A small band of soldiers, standing before the 
 
Sufferers throttghout Egypt. 219 
 
 place of trial, observed that a Christian who was 
 under examination was wavering and likely to 
 give way, and they signalled vigorously to him 
 to stand firm. This naturally attracted attention 
 to them, but before they could be seized, they ran 
 up to the tribune, shouting that they were Christ- 
 ians, and alarmed the president of the court and 
 his assessors. By this action they encouraged 
 the persons under examination and intimidated 
 their judges, and then, rejoicing in their witness 
 for God, they triumphantly left the court- 
 house.^ 
 
 Many others in the cities and villages of Egypt 
 suffered at the hands of the heathen populace. 
 Ischyrion, the steward of a local magnate, re- 
 fused to comply with his master's order to sac- 
 rifice, and bore meekly a torrent of abuse; finally, 
 his master took up a large stick and killed him. 
 Many, as at Carthage, fled into desert places and 
 mountains, where they perished through hunger, 
 thirst, exposure, pestilence, or the attacks of rob- 
 bers and wild beasts : the hardships they endured 
 were graphically described by the survivors. As 
 
 1 Eus., H. E., 6. 41, §§ 15-23. Cf. generally Peter of Alex- 
 andria, who wrote about the persecution of Diocletian, in 
 Eouth, 'Reliquiee Saoras,' 6. 12, 14. 
 
2 20 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 an example of what often happened, Chferemon, 
 the Bishop of Nilopolis, is mentioned. He fled 
 with his wife to the "Arabian Mountain," and 
 neither of them was ever heard of again, al- 
 though a diligent search was repeatedly made 
 for them. Many others who escaped to the same 
 place were captured by the natives, and only those 
 who had friends prepared to pay the ransom de- 
 manded ever returned.^ 
 
 Jerome gives a story, dressed in a legendary 
 garb, of two Christians whose faith was assailed 
 during this persecution.^ One of them was mar- 
 tyred in a revolting fashion, while the other was 
 tempted to betray his chastity. It was only by 
 biting out his tongue and casting it into the face 
 of his tempter that he was enabled finally to re- 
 pulse the sin that threatened him. In this case 
 we can only say that a basis of fact probably 
 existed on which the story, as we have it, grew 
 up by the aid of successive accretions. We have 
 a somewhat similar account in the acts of Diony- 
 sia at Lampsacus, but this again partakes of a 
 legendary character.^ This mode of inducing 
 
 1 Eus., H. E., 6. 42, §§ 1-4. ° Vita Pauli. 
 
 ' Gorres quotes Tert., Apol., 50, where there is a case 
 
 of a Chi-istian maiden who is confronted with the same 
 temptation. 
 
Calamities in Egypt. 221 
 
 compliance, by a violation of the victim's chastity, 
 seems to belong rather to the system of persecu- 
 tion as carried out under Diocletian.^ 
 
 Peace was practically restored to the Church, 
 so far as imperial attacks were concerned, by 
 the early months of 251.'^ Dionysius therefore 
 returned to his see for Easter, as Cyprian at 
 Carthage had hoped to do, but, owing to a re- 
 crudescence of the civic troubles, which had 
 given the Church respite two years before, the 
 Alexandrian bishop found his flock ranged in 
 hostile factions, and was again only able to hold 
 communion with his Church by letter.^ The 
 troubles of this year, which included a famine, 
 were succeeded in 252 by a terrible pestilence, 
 of which we shall read again in connection with 
 the reign of Gallus. It is plain that the bishop 
 was prevented from presiding officially at Alex- 
 andria at the Easter festival of 252,* and although 
 he may have rendered the same assistance to the 
 sufferers from the awful visitation of that year as 
 did Cyprian at Carthage, it is probable that he 
 did not resume regular work at Alexandria until 
 
 ^ Cf. Mason, Persecution of Diocletian. Cf., however, 
 Cyprian, De Mortalitate, § 15 (H., p. 306, 1. 18). 
 2 Eus., 7. 21, § 1. 3 Eus., 7. 21, § 1. 
 
 * Eus,, H. E., 7. 22, § 1. 
 
222 The Decian PerseciUion. 
 
 the period of peace which followed on the death 
 of Gallus in 253.i 
 
 There were three classes of lapsi of which we 
 read at Alexandria : whether there were also 
 libellatici as at Carthage, it is impossible to say. 
 We have no means whatever of judging whether 
 Aurelius Diogenes, son of Satabus, and the 
 brothers Syrus and Pasbeius with their wives, 
 the records of whose compliance the Faioum has 
 rendered up, obtained these certificates to save 
 them from further annoyance after they had 
 once sacrificed, or whether the lihdli are the 
 witnesses to bargains as discreditable to religion 
 as to public administration. In fact, we have 
 no knowledge that these persons were Christians 
 at all. The three classes, as we have seen, were 
 (1) those who sacrificed without hesitation; (2) 
 those who complied with evident fear and re- 
 
 ■' The stages of the disturbances at Alexandria are marked 
 by Dionysius thus : — 
 
 248. The popular outbreak which '6\ov eviavrdv Trpo^Xa^e (6. 
 
 41, 1). 
 
 249. Tj ffTRffis Kai 6 Tr6\£^os 6 if^(fiv\ios (6. 41, 9). 
 
 250. The persecution : " -fifias ij\a(rav," and " Sioi/crfjuej/oi (to! 
 
 davarov/xiyoi €oprda'afX€v" (7. 22, 4). 
 
 251. Recrudescence of civil war, iraA.i!' ivTavBa crTatrewr koX 
 
 TroXe/xov avaTavTos (7. 21, 1), and ■rr6\e/j.os Kal kiij.6s 
 (7. 22, 5). 
 
 252. Pestilence, tiera rm'Tci \oifAiK->i vdaoi (7. 22, 1 and 6). 
 
The Lapsi in Egypt. 223 
 
 gret ; (3) those who were prepared to make some 
 sacrifice for their faith, but not to face long- 
 continued torture or death. There was no pre- 
 cedent to guide the bishop in dealing with 
 these self -excommunicated brethren : there was 
 no statesman like Cyprian at hand to advise 
 him as to the expediency of a concession, or 
 the duty of recognising degrees of guilt. That 
 perplexing questions did arise we see if we 
 turn to an extract from the letter of Dionysius 
 to Fabius of Antioch : ^ " You must know that 
 the holy martyrs of our Church, who are now 
 seated with Christ and have fellowship in His 
 kingdoEQ, and are joined with Him in His 
 judgment, received some of the brethren who 
 had lapsed and been guilty of sacrificing to 
 idols; and when they observed their conversion 
 and repentance, and judged that it would be 
 acceptable to Him that willeth not the death 
 of the sinner, but rather his repentance, they 
 received them and held communion with them, 
 and made them partakers in their prayers and 
 feasts. How do ye advise us to act herein, my 
 brethren ? What course should we adopt ? Are 
 we to be of one mind with the martyrs and 
 acquiesce in their decision ? Are we to ob- 
 
 ' Eus., H. E., 6. 42, §§ 5, 6. 
 
2 24 '^^^^ Decian Persectdion. 
 
 serve their ruling and the favour they have 
 accorded, and deal gently with those on whom 
 they have had pity? Or are we to hold their 
 judgment to be invalid, thus setting up our- 
 selves as judges of their resolution, wounding 
 their generous feelings, and disturbing order ? " 
 How the question was settled we know not. 
 Here our evidence fails us, and here, in conse- 
 quence, we must close our study of the perse- 
 cution in Egypt. The Church seems to have 
 suffered disastrous losses among the upper 
 classes, and to have found its strength to be 
 in those in the lower ranks of society. If we 
 have not found in our gleanings from Eusebius 
 much to advance our scientific knowledge of 
 the persecution, we have at any rate been deal- 
 ing with the actors in this particular scene in 
 such an intimate manner as brings them nearer 
 to us than any with whom we have met hitherto. 
 
 II. Syria. 
 
 We possess but meagre accounts of the 
 persecution in Palestine, our knowledge being 
 confined to a few details respecting the suffer- 
 ings of certain of the leading figures in the 
 Church. 
 
The Stifferings of Origen. 225 
 
 Alexander/ the bishop of Jerusalem, was ar- 
 raigned at Cffisarea for the second time to answer 
 to the charge of Christianity laid against him, 
 and a second time he witnessed a good confes- 
 sion, and was condemned to imprisonment, al- 
 though advanced in years. After his brilliant 
 confession in the court of the governor, he died 
 in prison, and was succeeded by Mazabanes. 
 
 Babylas,^ the Bishop of Antioch, died in prison 
 at the same time, after confessing his faith, and 
 was succeeded by Fabius. 
 
 Origen ^ was " the object of the fiercest on- 
 slaught of the wicked one, who arrayed against 
 him every resource and every wile, and surpassed 
 in violence in his case any of the assaults he had 
 directed against other Christians. Origen endured 
 bonds and bodily tortures, the penalties of the 
 iron hook and the inner ward, and was racked 
 for many days with his body stretched as far as 
 the fifth hole : the hero's letters show truly and 
 accurately the bravery wherewith he met the 
 
 1 Eus., H. E., 6. 39, §§ 2, 3. Cf. Epiphanius, De pondd. et 
 menss., § 18. Alexander was tried the first time under 
 Maximin. 
 
 - Eus., H. E., 6. 39, § 4. Epiphanius, Uc. cit. Jerome, De 
 viris illustribus, § 62 : he died at Csesarea. Chrou. Pasch., 
 01. 258. 
 
 3 Eus., H. E., 6. 39, § 5. 
 
 P 
 
2 26 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 threatened burning and all the tortures that were 
 heaped upon him ; they show how gloriously 
 he reached the end of his confession, in which 
 his judge had exerted all his ingenuity to keep 
 him from dying ; they show, lastly, the words he 
 uttered after it was over, words full of encour- 
 agement to all who need help." The letters of 
 Origen are lost, but the fragments preserved by 
 Eusebius make us desire more. It is probable 
 that he outlived the Emperor Gallus, and died 
 a peaceful death towards the close of 253, under 
 iEmilianus or Valerian.^ 
 
 Were it not for one remark, the value of which 
 may be very slight, we should have no indication 
 whatever that any persecution was carried on in 
 Palestine except in the case of the leading figures 
 of the Church, as under the rule of Maximin. 
 We read in the 'Chronicon Paschale ' (01. 258), 
 after the mention of the death of Babylas, that 
 " many others attained to martyrdom in the East 
 and in other provinces for their faith in Christ." 
 There may be as good a foundation for this asser- 
 tion as there is for the statement made in the 
 same passage respecting Alexander of Jerusalem, 
 
 ^ Epiphanius, loc. cit. The same authority says that he 
 finally went to Tyre, although Pamphilus of Caesarea says 
 that he was martyred at Csesarea. 
 
Christianity in Palestine. 227 
 
 which is taken almost word for word from Eus- 
 ebius, and for that concerning Pionius of Smyrna, 
 which seems to be copied exactly, with the ex- 
 ception of an intentional change, from the Greek 
 MS. It seems unlikely, however, that the per- 
 secution was as general in Palestine as in other 
 parts of the Eoman empire. The Jews had spec- 
 ial permission to worship their own national God, 
 and were excepted from the obligation to conform. 
 The discrimination between those who worshipped 
 the same Supreme Being under forms so nearly 
 allied would be an operation far too delicate and 
 complicated for the governor to carry out except 
 in such prominent cases as those of the bishops 
 and notable clergy, and any others to whom the 
 animosity of the local synagogue refused to allow 
 the safety which the similarity of their religions 
 would afford. 
 
 III. Asia Minoe. 
 
 From Syria we pass northwards into Asia 
 Minor, and here our attention is first claimed 
 by Pontus. Gregory, the Bishop of Nyssa in 
 Cappadocia, has left an account^ of the persecu- 
 
 ^ Gregory of Uyssa, in Migne's Patrology, vol. iii. Vita Thau- 
 maturgi, 944 flf. 
 
2 28 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 tion in that province, with a special reference 
 to the flight and deliverance of the Bishop of 
 Neo - Caesarea, Gregory, commonly knov?n as 
 Thaumaturgus. His narrative is, as we might 
 expect, highly coloured : it is probably based on 
 an oral account ; but we must bear in mind the 
 fact that in proportion as the persecution moved 
 eastward, greater licence marked the proceedings 
 of the local governors, who knew that there was 
 but little fear of an appeal to the emperor, and 
 were equally certain that they would conciliate 
 the goodwill of the provincials by a vigorous 
 attack upon the proscribed sect. 
 
 The edict, " breathing out threatenings and 
 slaughter against the disciples of the Lord," 
 found in the governor at ISTeo-Csesarea one who 
 was glad to carry out its provisions to the utmost. 
 A man cruel and saturnine by nature, and also 
 an enemy of Christianity, he caused terrible pro- 
 clamations to be issued, commanding instant con- 
 formity on pain of the most exquisite tortures 
 and death. All public business was made to 
 give way before the paramount object of the 
 suppression of Christianity. Nor were words the 
 only means employed to inspire fear, for before 
 the appointed day for compliance the varied array 
 of implements of torture was exposed to public 
 
The Persecution in Pontus. 229 
 
 view. There were swords and red-hot irons, wild 
 beasts and racks ; iron chairs which could be 
 heated, wooden frames whereon recalcitrants 
 might be extended and torn with iron claws, 
 together with countless other instruments de- 
 signed for the occasion, and capable of produc- 
 ing the most refined tortures. It seemed to be 
 a matter of emulation among those who presided 
 over these machines that no man should allow 
 his fellow to surpass him in the pain he covild 
 cause to his victims. 
 
 The usual methods of obtaining a conviction 
 were not allowed to fall into disuse. Public 
 impeachment and private information were com- 
 monly employed : some would make it their 
 business to hunt out Christians in hiding, others 
 to search for those in exile ; others, again, with 
 an eye to the property of believers, would drag 
 them before the judge in order to secure a pro- 
 portion of their confiscated property, and this 
 under the name of religion. Boundless confu- 
 sion and universal suspicion followed on these 
 measures : fathers could not trust their children, 
 children were not protected by their natural re- 
 lationship to their parents : this was especially 
 the case when families contained both believers 
 and heathens. The deserts were full of refugees, 
 
230 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 homes were left desolate ; the prisons were not 
 large enough to contain the throngs of Christians. 
 There was one law for all ; the prevailing cruelty 
 took no account of sex, and men and women suf- 
 fered alike. 
 
 At the first note of warning Gregory had with- 
 drawn from the city in company with a deacon 
 whom he had converted to the faith from being a 
 temple-official. From his hiding-place he contin- 
 ually urged those Christians who were still at 
 large to follow his example, and secure a shelter 
 from the storm among the mountains or in the 
 desert : this course, as we have seen, was pursued 
 by many. After various vicissitudes and a nar- 
 row escape of capture, Gregory succeeded in 
 baffling his pursuers, who devoted themselves to 
 the work of bringing to justice all the Christian 
 inhabitants of the city and its neighbourhood, 
 with the result that the law courts were filled, 
 and the executioners kept busily employed. 
 When peace was restored on the fall of the 
 Emperor Decius, the bishop rejoined his church. 
 
 At this point we cannot refrain from noting a 
 strange fact, that whereas it is almost certain 
 that special directions were issued with regard 
 to the bishops, we hear of the deaths of very 
 few bishops in proportion to the number of 
 
The Bishops and the Persecution. 231 
 
 churches affected by the persecution. It argues 
 extraordinary weakness on the part of the 
 authorities that Cyprian at Carthage, Firmilian^ 
 in Cappadocia, Gregory in Pontus, were all able 
 to escape from the scene of danger, while 
 Dionysius of Alexandria was rescued from his 
 captors, apparently with little difficulty, by a 
 peasant mob. We have accounted for the 
 deaths of Alexander of Jerusalem and Babylas 
 of Antioch and the violence employed towards 
 Origen by the fact that these three were almost 
 the only victims that Syria could offer to the 
 emperor's religious ideal. That it was the 
 original intention to deprive the Church of her 
 bishops may be inferred from the promptitude 
 with which Fabianus of Eome was seized. We 
 read, again, of numerous bishops, such as Cal- 
 donius, Fortunatus, Pompeius, and Stephanus, 
 who presided over less important African sees, 
 and passed through the persecution unscathed. 
 This disobedience to orders was probably one of 
 the chief causes of the failure of the persecution : 
 so long as the bishop was yet alive, and continued 
 to exhort and advise his church, the paralysis 
 
 1 Firmilian, who was Bishop of C^sarea in Cappadocia before 
 Maximin (Bus., 6. 26), waa still bishop in the time of Stephanus 
 of Rome (Eus., 7. 5). 
 
232 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 which was desired could not ensue, and this 
 intangible source of strength availed naturally to 
 counteract much of the damage done. 
 
 We have now reached the point at which the 
 contemporary writers of the third century fail us, 
 and for the remainder of our inquiry into the 
 persecution in Asia Minor we are dependent not 
 upon the business-like letters of a Cyprian, or 
 the simple narrative of a Dionysius, but upon 
 the very questionable authority of the 'Acta 
 Martyrum,' the sources and composition of which 
 are matter for considerable doubt. Concerning 
 this period Cardinal Baronius has written : ^ " The 
 scarcity of independent writers leaves the age of 
 Decius shrouded in thickest darkness ; and the 
 little light that is thrown upon the gloom is only 
 such as contemporary Christian writers and the 
 ' Acts of the Holy Martyrs ' are able to give." 
 We may supplement this opinion by a quota- 
 tion from M. Aube : ^ " Where credible history 
 furnishes evidence, legend is silent, but if history 
 speaks not, legend is productive of stories without 
 number. It is the part of legend to relate with 
 boundless assurance the histories of martyrdoms, 
 concerning which contemporary writers are silent, 
 
 ' Baronius, Martyrologium Romanum, February 17. 
 
 2 Aub^, Les Chri^tiena et I'Empire Romain {180-249), Preface. 
 
The 'Acta Martyrttm.' 233 
 
 but it often happens that we find embedded in 
 these curious depositories of tradition historical 
 facts, which we seize upon with delight. The 
 difficulty lies in disentangling them from their 
 surroundings. . . After all, what are the Acts 
 of Martyrs but ballads of the Early Church, an 
 immense and heterogeneous epopee, in which 
 fiction has swallowed up fact?" 
 
 With this estimate we are cordially in agree- 
 ment, so far as it concerns the majority of the 
 Acta of our period : there is one member of the 
 collection, however, the ' Acta Pionii,' which is 
 worthy of, and shall receive, fuller consideration. 
 The more important of the remaining Acta we 
 shall meanwhile discuss briefly, extracting from 
 them such historical elements as we shall judge 
 them to possess. 
 
 (i) Acta Acliatii} — Achatius was Bishop of 
 Antioch,^ and the mainstay of the local church. 
 He was commanded to sacrifice to the emperor 
 by Martianus, a consularis, and administrator of 
 the edict in the province. On the refusal of 
 Achatius to comply, a discussion ensued. Then 
 followed the command to sacrifice to the gods, 
 
 ' Ruinart, Acta Sincera Primorum Martyrum (Paris, 1689), 
 p. 139. 
 
 ^ Antioch in Pisidia is suggested by AUard, p. 412. 
 
2 34 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 Jupiter, Juno, Venus, Apollo, or jEsculapius, on 
 pain of death. Achatius again refused, and was 
 then ordered to collect all the adherents of the 
 Catholic creed, and adopt the emperor's religion : 
 he was bidden to give all their names on pain of 
 death. Declining once more to obey, he was 
 remanded to the cells, in order that his case 
 might be considered by the emperor. Martianus 
 forwarded a report to Decius, who was much 
 struck by the clever defence made by Achatius, 
 and admired his bearing to such an extent that 
 he ordered his immediate release, which took 
 place on March 29, 251. 
 
 Dr Gorres "^ points out three improbabilities in 
 the story, which occur both in the old texts and 
 in M. Aub^'s newly discovered MS.^ (a) Achatius 
 reviles the Olympian gods, representing them 
 both as criminals and as powerless idols. (6) 
 Martianus refers the case to Decius for decision : 
 this is improbable, considering the terms of the 
 edict and the area of its operation, (c) The 
 emperor is gratified by the inflexibility of 
 Achatius, and orders his release, while promoting 
 
 ^ Dr F. Gorres, Kirche und Statt von Decius bis zum Regi- 
 erungs antritt Diocletians in Jahrbiicher fiir Prot. Th^ol., xvi. 
 1890 (pp. 470, 471). 
 
 * Aub^, p. 181, n. 2. Bib. Nab. de Paris, fonds lat. nouv, 
 acq., 2179. 
 
Achatius. 235 
 
 Martianus to be governor of Pamphylia. The 
 opinion of Gorres ^ is that of one who has ex- 
 amined the ' Acta Achatii ' with more thorough- 
 ness than any other writer, and he holds that the 
 doings of a historical confessor, Achatius, have 
 been clothed in an entirely fictitious dress — that 
 he was an oriental bishop, who was imprisoned 
 for a considerable period, and was released by 
 the governor, without any intervention on the 
 part of the emperor, at the same time, February 
 or March 251, and for the same cause, as the 
 Eoman confessors — namely, the general slacken- 
 ing of the persecution. The province of Pam- 
 phylia probably fell to Martianus in the April 
 of 251, in succession to the governor who had 
 judged Nestor, Bishop of Sida in Pamphylia. 
 This province ^ (really a double one, including 
 Lycia) was from 103 to 313 under a proconsul, 
 and it is very unlikely that so strong a supporter 
 of the Senate as Decius should take out of its 
 hands the appointment to this senatorial province 
 
 1 In ' Zeitschriftfiir Wiss. Th^ol.,' xxii. 1879 ; " Der Bekenner 
 Achatius,'' pp. 67 and 94. 
 
 ^ Gorres, loc. cit., p. 84. Of. the collocation in ' Acta Nes- 
 toris ' (Aub^, p. 508; Karapxei"' ttjs Jiyef^ofias ttJs re Avicias 
 Kal UaiJ,<t>v\ias koI ttjs ^pvyias. He quotes an official docu- 
 ment of the time of Diocletian, where Pamphylia stands for 
 Pamphylia and Lycia. 
 
236 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 and give it to a consularis, a friend of his own. 
 Lastly, Dr Gorres points out two anachronisms : 
 first, Martianus is represented as calling for all 
 those who belong to the lex Catholica, a term 
 which for some time before and after was only 
 in use among the Christians themselves ; and 
 second, Martianus speaks of the Montanists {i.e., 
 the Cataphryges, who had only existed about a 
 hundred years) as antiquw religionis, representing 
 them as having apostatised in the most wholesale 
 way, although there is no contemporary evidence 
 of any such lapse. It is needless to go into 
 further details : enough has been said to show 
 that the story is beset with historic improb- 
 abilities, although it would be an exceedingly 
 difficult task to attempt to define the position of 
 the dividing line between the original substance 
 and later accretions. With this dictum of Dr 
 Gorres we concur entirely. 
 
 (ii) Acta Maximi.^ — Maximus made no at- 
 tempt to conceal his belief, and was brought 
 before Optimus,^ proconsul of Asia. He was 
 asked if he was aware of the imperial decree 
 
 ^ Ruinart, Acta Sinoera, p. 144. 
 
 ^ The proconsul at this time of the Roman province of Asia 
 was Julius Proclus Quintilianus. Under this province was 
 included Mysia, in which was Lampsacus. 
 
Maximus. 237 
 
 " that all the Christians should abandon their 
 superstition, and recognise the king at whose 
 feet the world really lay, and worship his 
 gods." His refusal to sacrifice to the gods when 
 bidden was met with threats of torture. As he 
 persisted in his obstinacy, the proconsul ordered 
 him to be cudgelled. Then he was extended on 
 the rack ; but he said, " The cudgels and the 
 iron claws and the fire pain me not." The pro- 
 consul finally ordered him to be stoned. His 
 death took place on May 14, 250. 
 
 The name of the proconsul is given as Opti- 
 mus : now it is possible that this is the name 
 of the successor of Quintilianus, of whom we 
 read in the ' Acta Pionii,' since the new proconsul 
 was expected to arrive in his province by the end 
 of April, and there was quite sufficient time be- 
 tween March 12, the date of the death of Pionius, 
 and May 14, when Maximus died, for the governor- 
 ship of the province to change hands. With the 
 exception of this point, which contains a doubt- 
 ful but possible element of truth, there is so very 
 little local colouring, and such an absence of any 
 detail in the narration, that it is impossible to 
 attach to it any real value. We shall lose no- 
 thing by being very sceptical in our attitude 
 towards it. The only point wherein lies any 
 
238 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 interest is the fragment of the edict which we 
 have quoted ; it is possible that it may be based 
 on some manuscript edition extant at the time of 
 the composition of the Acta. If we allow that a 
 certain Maximus died on May 14, he must have 
 died either at Lampsacus or at Troas, with several 
 others whose Acta we will next consider. 
 
 (iii) Acta Petri, Pauli, Andj^em, Dionysiw} — 
 Peter, a native of Lampsacus, was arraigned 
 before the proconsul on the charge of being a 
 Christian. He admitted that he knew of the 
 edict, and had wilfully neglected its require- 
 ments, and now refused to obey the proconsul's 
 command to sacrifice to Venus. The youth was 
 ordered to be fastened with iron chains and 
 broken on the wheel, and was finally beheaded. 
 
 The proconsul next hurried off to Troas, where 
 Paul, Andrew, and Nieomachus were arraigned 
 before him. He ordered them to sacrifice to the 
 gods according to the requirements of the edict. 
 Nicomachus obeyed, and Dionysia, a girl of six- 
 teen, seeing his weakness, bewailed it loudly. 
 She was delivered over to two young men to 
 work their will upon her, but she was preserved 
 by a miracle from any harm. Peter and Paul 
 had been remanded to prison for the night, but 
 ' Euinart, Acta Sincera, p. 147. 
 
The Persecution at Lampsacus. 239 
 
 on the following day two priests of Diana incited 
 the people to demand that they should be brought 
 forward again. Ordered to sacrifice to Diana, 
 they resolutely refused. The proconsul, seeing 
 that persuasion was useless, ordered them to be 
 beaten and handed over to the mob to be stoned ; 
 they were dragged out of the city and martyred 
 outside the gate. On hearing this, Dionysia, who 
 had miraculously escaped, ran out of the city to 
 them, and fell on their bodies, desiring to die 
 with them ; she was finally beheaded at the com- 
 mand of the proconsul. The day of martyrdom 
 of all these was May 14 ; but the proconsul must 
 have annihilated space to be able to preside at 
 the trial of Peter at Lampsacus and Paul and 
 Andrew at Troas on the same day. There is 
 more local colouring in this narrative than in the 
 last ; mention is made of the worship of Diana, 
 and we have the names of the two priests Onesi- 
 crates and Macedo, which latter, however, may 
 be fictitious for all we can tell. Again, the pun- 
 ishment of death by stoning is such as we might 
 expect in these parts, as a concession to the 
 frenzied oriental mob, which, as in the case of 
 Polycarp, was always eager to lend assistance 
 on such occasions. There is, however, nothing 
 in the story which points to any contem- 
 
240 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 porary tradition, or which gives us any deeper 
 knowledge of the persecution than we had before. 
 
 (iv) Acta Luciani et Martiani} — At Nicomedia, 
 in Bithynia, these two Christians were dragged 
 before Sabinus the governor. He bade them 
 obey him, and sacrifice in accordance with the 
 edict, lest he should be compelled to torture them 
 with unknown refinements of cruelty. He dis- 
 played the utmost patience, but finally ordered 
 them to be burnt. Their death occurred on 
 October 25, 250. We can learn little from this 
 story beyond the name of a fifth contemporary 
 governor in Bithynia,^ which does not increase 
 our confidence in its authenticity. 
 
 (v) Acta Nestoris} — Nestor was Bishop of Sida 
 in Pamphylia. Epolius, who held from Decius 
 the position of administrator of the persecution 
 in Lycia, Pamphylia, and Phrygia,* was proceed- 
 ing on a tour of investigation through his district, 
 when the name of Nestor was brought before him 
 
 ^ Ruinart, Acta Sineera, p. 151. ^ Aub^, p. 172. 
 
 ^ A. S., February, vol. iii. p. 629. Aubi^ gives a copy of the 
 Acta in Greek, which he discovered in the National Library at 
 Paris. 
 
 * It is interesting to note that Martianus (see above, p. 235, 
 note 2) was given the administration of the district which 
 Epoliue now holds. 
 
Nestor. 241 
 
 by a delator. An irenarch 1 was sent to fetch the 
 bishop to Epolius at Perga. An earthquake en- 
 sued, and a voice from heaven said to Nestor (as 
 to Polycarp a hundred years before), " Be strong 
 and quit thyself like a man." Charged with re- 
 fusing to sacrifice and blaspheming the emperor, 
 he defended himself at length in answer to the 
 questions put. After being tortured, he was 
 finally suspended in such a way as to cause a 
 lingering death. The martyrologies assign his 
 death to February 251. 
 
 This is an interesting document, and, with the 
 exception of the impossible story of the presence 
 of Decius at Ephesus (which occurs also in the 
 " Seven Sleepers "), contains much that is worthy 
 of attention. Epolius, the administrator, holds 
 the same office as that held by Martianus in the 
 case of Achatius, which is not very different 
 from that of Polemo in the 'Acta Pionii,' or of 
 the frumentarius who arrested Dionysius of 
 Alexandria. 
 
 It would be useless to attempt to discriminate 
 between history and legend in the stories of the 
 soldier Polyeuctes in Armenia, or of the " Seven 
 
 ' An inferior and little-trusted prefect of police (Allard, 
 p. 302). 
 
242 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 Sleepers " at Ephesus/ or of Thyrsus, Lucius, and 
 Callinicus in Bithynia,^ while it is unnecessary to 
 do more than mention ' the legends of the suffer- 
 ings of Quadratus * and others at Corinth, of the 
 Cretan bishop Cyril ^ and ten disciples at Gor- 
 tyna,^ and of Isidore in Chios. The extraordin- 
 ary character of the narrative not infrequently 
 causes us to doubt whether even the names that 
 remain are anything more than the productions 
 of medieval fiction-writers. 
 
 We have left to the last the discussion of the 
 ' Acta Pionii ' in order to give a full account of 
 them, since in our opinion they are the best sup- 
 ported of all those connected with our period, 
 and the most nearly contemporary with it. 
 Eusebius ' relates that he read them at the 
 same time as the letter to the Church of Philo- 
 melium from that of Smyrna, describing the 
 martyrdom of Polycarp ; but when he says that 
 the events recorded in them were contemporane- 
 ous with the death of Polycarp, we question his 
 
 ^ Given by the Metaphrast, in Migne'a Patrology. 
 
 2 A. S., January, vol. ii. p. 808. ^ cf, AUard, p. 369. 
 
 ^ Quadratus, Dionysius, CyprianuB, Paulus, and their socii 
 (A. S., March, vol. ii. p. 698), and Leonides and several women 
 (A. S., March, vol. ii. p. 699). 
 
 ^ Sarins, V. S., vol. vii. p. 155. 
 
 " Sarius, V. S., vol. xii. p. 305. ' Eus., H. E., 4. 15, § 46. 
 
Pionius. 243 
 
 assertion, and ask whether it was not because 
 they were all in the same book that he thought- 
 lessly attributed them to the same period. He 
 writes: "And in the same book that contains 
 the record of his sufferings I found also other 
 Acts of Martyrs belonging to Smyrna, and of 
 the same period as Poly carp, and with these 
 martyrs there suffered also one Metrodorus, who 
 would seem to have been a presbyter of the 
 Marcionite heresy. The most notable martyr 
 at that time, I would have you know, was recog- 
 nised to be one Pionius, the record of whose acts 
 contains in the fullest manner his various con- 
 fessions and his boldness in proclaiming the 
 Word of God, his defence of the faith in public 
 before the judges, his public speeches of instruc- 
 tion, above all his generous attitude towards 
 those who had yielded to temptation in the 
 persecution, the consolations he offered to the 
 brethren who visited him in prison, also the 
 tortures and anguish that he endured, his con- 
 stancy when nailed to the stake and burnt, and 
 especially his remarkable death : any who wish 
 to read of these doings I will refer to the record 
 itself, which is arranged among the other Acta 
 brought before my notice. There are also the 
 memorials of others who suffered at Pergamum, 
 
244 ^'^^ Decian Persecution. 
 
 Carpus, Papylus, and Agathonice, gloriously con- 
 summating their martyrdom after illustrious con- 
 fession." 
 
 This notice of the ' Acts of Pionius ' shows 
 with the utmost clearness that Eusebius had 
 read a narrative of his sufferings tallying in 
 every recorded detail with the story which we 
 possess. Pionius was burnt to death, and Metro- 
 dorus suffered death at his side. Further, those 
 who were martyred at Pergamum suffered in 
 the reign of Decius, as is clear from the Greek 
 ' Acta Carpi et Papyli ' which M. Aub^ gives 
 at the end of his work. The ' Chronicon 
 Paschale ' ^ shall also bear witness : " And [in 
 the reign of Decius] Pionius with many others 
 was martyred at Smyrna. He was a man of 
 high repute, and recognised as one of the most 
 learned adherents of the Christian faith. He 
 died under Julius Proclus Quintilianus, procon- 
 sul of Asia, on the twelfth day of March, the 
 Sabbath day, at the tenth hour." Thus we have 
 strong external evidence on both sides, but the 
 internal evidence of the Acta will be entirely 
 on the side of the later date. 
 
 Bishop Lightfoot says of the Acta : ^ " The 
 
 ^ Chronicon Paschale, 01. 258, In Migne's Patrology. 
 ^ Lightfoot, Ap. Fathers ; Polycarp, vol. i. p. 716 ff. 
 
The 'Acts of Pionius.' 245 
 
 characteristics of the age of Decius (the promi- 
 nence of the sects, for example) seem to me to 
 be woven into the very texture of these Acts ; 
 and I cannot conceive any scheme of interpo- 
 lation v^hich would bring them into harmony 
 with the times of Marcus Aurelius, and yet 
 preserve anything worth preserving." 
 
 The 'Acta Pionii' are the work of a writer 
 whose mind was saturated with the language 
 of the two accounts of the martyrdom of Poly- 
 carp: from this we may conclude, either that 
 the Polycarp records and the 'Acta Pionii' are 
 both of Smyrnsean origin, and breathe equally 
 the Smyrnsean idiom, or, on the other hand, that 
 the 'Acta Pionii' were the work of one who 
 held in high honour the Polycarp records, and 
 desired to assimilate to them as closely as pos- 
 sible the history of so worthy a follower. As 
 this would be more Likely to occur when the 
 Polycarp records had attained some veneration 
 in the local church through their age than at 
 the time of the events they relate, and as the 
 ' Acta Pionii ' preserve too much local colouring 
 to have been written very long after the martyr- 
 dom of Pionius, unless they are a clever medieval 
 fiction — which possibility is precluded by the 
 fact that Eusebius read them in the early part 
 
246 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 of the fourth century — we may judge that the 
 tradition is very nearly, if not absolutely, con- 
 temporaneous with the actual events. The Greek 
 of these Acta, which is to be found in a MS. 
 of the twelfth century in the Library of St 
 Mark's at Venice, we have transcribed, and have 
 made a most careful comparison of its language 
 and style with the Greek of the Poly carp 
 records, with the result above mentioned — 
 words, phrases, and idioms occurring constantly 
 in each work which recall similar features in 
 the other.i 
 
 The long discourses which Pionius makes to 
 the people in the agorn, containing a lively de- 
 nunciation of the Jews, and to the Christians in 
 the prison, when he expounds the story of Saul 
 and the witch of Endor, are regarded by some as 
 proof of the non-authenticity of the Acta ; but 
 there are few who would imagine that these 
 speeches claim to do more than represent the 
 substance of what Pionius said on the various 
 occasions, while the miraculous withering of the 
 
 ^ Appendix B of this chapter. This is the first time, so far 
 as we know, that the Greek of the 'Acta Pionii' has been 
 brought to this country. Bishop Lightfoot's extracts are 
 borrowed from Dr Qebhardt's copy. 
 
Genuineness of the 'Acta.' 247 
 
 hand of the soldier who struck Pionius need 
 cause no more difficulty than the account of the 
 voice which spoke to Polycarp from heaven. It 
 is not our object to prove the absolute genuine- 
 ness of every sentence in the Acta so much as to 
 demonstrate the probability that the Greek i\TS. 
 at Venice is the direct descendant of the copy 
 which Eusebius saw. It is almost certain that 
 the original copy was in Greek, for the current 
 language of Smyrna was Greek, and the fact is 
 specially noticed that the proconsul read the 
 sentence of Pionius in Latin, as an official pro- 
 nouncement : again, Pionius in his speech makes 
 reference to Greek men of renown, such as Aris- 
 tides, Socrates, and Anaxarchus, who would only 
 be of interest to a Greek-speaking people. We 
 must remember, further, that the externals of 
 paganism were to a great extent forgotten in the 
 cities of Asia Minor even in the time of Julian, 
 who revived it in Troy; ^ hence we should not 
 expect the accurate knowledge here shown, from 
 one who was merely composing a story at a later 
 date than the fourth century. The bishop, Euc- 
 temon, apostatises and throws all his weight into 
 the anti-Christian scale; he approaches the altar 
 
 ^ For this fact I am indebted to Professor Ramsay. 
 
248 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 with a garland/ and swears by the fortune of the 
 emperor that he is not a Christian ; the scene 
 occurs in the temple of the Nemeseis,^ whose 
 names were intimately connected with Smyrnaan 
 worship, and by appealing to whom the bishop 
 confirms his oath. The mention of the oath 
 taken by the fortune of the emperor reminds us 
 of the fact that Smyrna was a chief centre of the 
 political cult — i.e., of the worship of Rome, of the 
 Senate, and of the emperor ; " in no region did 
 the worship of the living emperor assume such 
 gigantic proportious as in Asia Minor." ^ Lastly, 
 the Acta display with the utmost clearness the 
 difference between the preliminary examination 
 of suspects and the official trial before the pro- 
 consul, and in the case of the first we read that 
 Pionius distinctly denied the right of the " temple- 
 master," Polemo, to inflict corporal punishment 
 or torture, and was, according to law, remanded 
 to prison until the arrival of the proconsul. 
 
 ' Cf. Cyprian, iJe lapsis, 2 : " Impium velamen, quo velaban- 
 tur sacrificantium capita captiva." 
 
 " Cf. Corpus Insorr. GraBc, 3163 : iyKonoxhoi-vTo. Ta /tupi'ij) 
 Sapa-jrtSi irapa rat^ Nf^ueVeo-fj/ ^v ^/j.tjpp7]. Papirius, 211 a.d. 
 
 ^ Lightfoot, Ap. Fathers, Part ii. vol. i. pp. 160-467 ■ " In the 
 pagan revival Smyrna seems to have borne a conspicuous part. 
 Coins and inscriptions give evidence more particularly of the 
 progress of the Roman State- worship during this period." 
 
The Persecution at Smyrna. 249 
 
 We have produced sufBcient instances of the 
 truthfulness of the narrative to show that it is 
 either a series of surprisingly shrewd guesses at 
 the truth for an uncritical age, or else an authen- 
 tic record, which deserves careful attention at the 
 hands of any student of the Acta of this period. 
 We append a translation of such portions of the 
 ' Acta Pionii ' ^ as are of general value and his- 
 toric interest : — 
 
 " We ought more particularly to make remem- 
 brance of the martyr Pionius, because when he 
 was alive he turned many souls from error, being 
 the most apostolic man of our times, and when at 
 last he was martyred he left for our admonition 
 this document to preserve his teaching. 
 
 " On the 23rd of February, the feast day of 
 our blessed martyr Polycarp,^ while the perse- 
 cution ordered by Decius was running its course, 
 Pionius, a presbyter, and Sabina, who was after- 
 wards a confessor, were arrested, as well as 
 Asclepiades, Macedonia, and Limnus, a presbyter 
 of the Catholic Church. Pionius knew on the 
 previous day that they would be arrested on the 
 
 ' Ruinart, Acta Sincera. Our translations are from the 
 Greek of the Venice MS. 
 
 ^ We give the day, February 23, as fixed by Bishop Light- 
 foot. 
 
250 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 morrow, and while keeping vigil with Sabina 
 and Asclepiades he fastened a chain round the 
 neck of each one of them and remained indoors : 
 this was done to prevent any one's thinking that 
 they were about to follow the example of so 
 many others by eating of the sacrificial food, and 
 to show that they had decided to go to prison 
 at once. After they had prayed and taken holy 
 bread and water on the Sabbath-day, Polemo, 
 the temple-master, presented himself with the 
 others whose business it was to seek out the 
 Christians, and compel them to sacrifice and join 
 in the sacrificial feast, saying, ' Ye are full well 
 aware of the imperial edict ordering you to 
 sacrifice to the gods.' Pionius replied, ' We are 
 aware of the divine commandment ordering 
 us to worship God alone.' Polemo answered, 
 ' Come to the agora and obey.' But Sabina and 
 Asclepiades said, 'We obey a living God.' So 
 he took them with him without force ; but the 
 people saw them and collected in great numbers 
 at the unexpected sight, jostling one another 
 greatly. When they reached the agora and were 
 made to stand in the eastern portico with the 
 two gates,^ the whole agora, was crowded, and 
 
 ^ This giving of detail would, if true, imply accurate local 
 knowledge : the spot has not yet been identified at Smyrna. 
 
Enmity of the yews. 251 
 
 the spaces above the portico were filled with 
 Greeks and women and Jews, for it was a high 
 Sabbath and they were keeping holiday. And 
 they climbed upon the stands and boxes that lay 
 there to get a better view. Then when they 
 were set in the midst, Polemo began : ' It were 
 good for you and your friends, Pionius, to obey 
 like every one else and save me from having to 
 punish you.' But Pionius stretched out his 
 hand and with radiant visage made his defence, 
 addressing himself to the Greek - speaking in- 
 habitants of Smyrna and to the Jews present 
 before him. He reproved them for their delight 
 in the apostasy of his fellow-Christians who had 
 fallen. He asked whether he and his were being 
 punished for their good or for their evil deeds, 
 and pointed out that judgment was in the world, 
 and because of the greater judgment yet to come 
 they could not obey the command to sacrifice. 
 Every one listened intently, and Pionius repeated 
 that the Christians did not worship the State 
 gods or bow down to the golden image. Then 
 they led them out into the open air, and Polemo 
 and others surrounded them, and entreated 
 Pionius to comply for love of them, because he 
 was an honourable man who deserved to live ; 
 but he constantly affirmed that he looked for 
 
252 The Deciaii Persecution. 
 
 far more than they could ever give. Then one 
 of the bystanders, an idle fellow named Alexander, 
 said, ' Listen to me, Pionius.' But Pionius said, 
 ' You should rather listen to me ; for what you 
 know, I know, but I have learning of which you 
 are ignorant ' : but Alexander laughed at him, 
 and, pointing to his chains, said scornfully, ' And 
 what are they for?' Pionius explained why he 
 had put them on, to show that he and his friends 
 had no intention of sacrificing, but were ready to 
 go to prison at once, and thus silenced Alexander. 
 The people again besought him to reconsider his 
 decision, but he said, ' We have made up our 
 minds,' and warned them of things to come, 
 when Alexander again broke in with, ' What is 
 the good of your talking about these things, since 
 you must die so soon ? ' " 
 
 The people were anxious to assemble in the 
 theatre to hear more from him ; but some of the 
 friends of the mayor warned Polemo to forbid 
 him to speak there, lest there should be an 
 uproar and a demand for a public distribution 
 of bread.^ So Polemo said, " If you will not 
 offer, come at any rate to the temple of the 
 Nemeseis." But Pionius answered, " It would 
 
 ^ This reminds us of Juvenal's ' panem et circenses ' (Satire 
 X. 81). 
 
Preliminary Examination. 253 
 
 be better for your idols that we should not." 
 Polemo said, "Do listen to us, Pionius," but he 
 replied, " I would I could make you listen to me, 
 and become Christians." His words were met 
 with a loud laugh, " You can't make us be burnt 
 alive." "No," said Pionius, "but it is far worse 
 to be burnt after death." Sabina, who smiled at 
 the remark of Pionius, was then threatened with 
 a degrading fate, but said, " The holy God will 
 see to that." Then Polemo turned again to 
 Pionius and said, " Obey the order, Pionius ; " 
 but he replied, " Your orders are either to per- 
 suade or to punish ; you won't persuade me, 
 therefore punish me." Then followed a dialogue 
 between Polemo and Pionius, in which the latter 
 again declared his faith in Christ. Polemo then 
 asked him to sacrifice to the emperor, but Pionius 
 said, " I am a Christian and cannot sacrifice to 
 a man." There follows a detailed account of the 
 examination of Pionius, Sabina, and Asclepiades, 
 one by one, which the clerk took down in writing. 
 Sabina, it would appear, had been ill-treated by 
 her mistress some years before, in the reign of 
 Gordian, and had been left out on the mountains 
 to die, but was rescued, and had since lived in 
 the house of Pionius. The examination over, 
 they were taken back to prison, followed by a 
 
2 54 77ze Decian Perseaition. 
 
 huge crowd which filled the agora, and mocked 
 the prisoners as they went. One of the crowd 
 shouted, " If they won't sacrifice, punish them ; " 
 but Polemo answered that he had not the 
 authority. Some one, seeing Asclepiades, said, 
 " Look, the little fellow is going to sacrifice ; " 
 but Pionius, hearing it, contradicted the state- 
 ment. Others again said, " So-and-so has sacri- 
 ficed ; " but Pionius replied, " Every man makes 
 his own choice. I cannot help what they do, but 
 I choose for Pionius;'' and then hearing some one 
 say, " Think of a man so well educated coming to 
 this ! " he said, " Yes, you know enough about 
 that, by reason of the deaths and other troubles 
 in which you have learnt to know me." And 
 some one else said, " You were hungry too when 
 we were ; " and he replied, " Yes, but I trusted 
 in God." The procession was so encompassed by 
 the mob that they were hardly able to keep the 
 prisoners from being stifled and hand them over 
 to the jailers. On arriving, they found Limnus 
 the presbyter, and Macedonia, a woman of Caring, 
 and a member of the sect of the Phrygians, 
 Eutychianus by name. While they were in 
 prison the keepers of the prison noticed that 
 Pionius and his friends did not receive the cus- 
 tomary presents from the faithful ; for Pionius 
 
Pionius in Prison. 255 
 
 had said, " "When our needs were greater we were 
 a burden to no man ; why should we be so 
 now ? " The keepers were angry, because they 
 were usually well treated by visitors, and they 
 cast the prisoners into the inner ward to prevent 
 their having the company they might desire. 
 Then tlaey glorified God, and paid Him their 
 customary worship, and the keepers repented 
 of their harshness, and brought them out again 
 into the front part of the prison ; and they were 
 continually praising God for His goodness in the 
 present visitation, for now they might speak of 
 Him and pray to Him as they would. And all 
 the time they were in prison the heathen came 
 in large numbers to persuade them to sacrifice, 
 and went away astonished at their answers : they 
 were joined also by all the Christians who had 
 been forcibly haled to prison, and these made 
 hourly lamentation, more particularly over the 
 cautious people and those in high positions who 
 had forsaken their faith. Pionius, who joined in 
 their regret, made in the prison his second great 
 speech, lamenting over the desolation of the 
 Church, its sinfulness and unfaithfulness. He 
 referred to the Jewish perversion of the Eesur- 
 rection, by which it was made merely the work 
 of necromancy, and illustrating his argument by 
 
256 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 the story of the witch of Endor, who professed to 
 call up the spirit of Samuel, he disproved the 
 assertion that it was due to the agency of man 
 or evil spirits ; and closed his speech with an 
 entreaty to the lafsi to return to the God whom 
 they had forsaken. At the conclusion of the 
 speech, Polemo and another official, Theophilus, 
 arrived with the news that the bishop Euctemon 
 had sacrificed, and that he and Lepidus, probably 
 a prominent heathen official, were anxious for 
 Pionius to join them in sacrificing at the 
 Nemeseum. Pionius replied that prisoners had 
 the right to be reserved for trial until the arrival 
 of the proconsul, saying, " Why do you usurp his 
 functions ? " They retired for a short time, and 
 then returned, hoping to move him by guile, 
 saying that the proconsul wished to see him at 
 Ephesus. Pionius said, " Let his messenger come 
 and fetch us, then." Thereupon Theophilus took 
 the matter into his own hands, and with great 
 violence handed him over to an inferior oificer, 
 nearly strangling him the while. Thus all of 
 them, resisting as stoutly as they could, and 
 throwing themselves on the ground to prevent 
 their being taken to the temple, came to the 
 agora. It took six men to overpower Pionius, 
 who struggled with the greatest vehemence ; the 
 
Confession of Pionius. 257 
 
 prisoners were finally placed on the ground before 
 the altar, where stood Euctemon and Lepidus, 
 ready for the sacrifice. Lepidus began, "Why 
 do you not sacrifice, Pionius ? " His whole com- 
 pany cried out in answer, " We are Christians." 
 The inquiry was continued, amid the amusement 
 of the bystanders and the growing anger of 
 Lepidus. Eufinus, a rhetorician, tried to out- 
 argue Pionius, but was himself silenced. Finally, 
 as argument was of no avail, they put garlands 
 upon the heads of the Christians, who immediately 
 tore them off and threw them on the ground. 
 The priest drew near with the sacrificial food ; 
 but he did not dare to approach them, and finally 
 ate it himself in the sight of all. The officers 
 could not decide what to do with the prisoners, 
 and therefore sent them back to the prison, while 
 the mob mocked and pelted them, hurling taunts 
 at them as they passed along. As Pionius was 
 entering the prison, one of the guards struck 
 him on the side of the head, and immediately 
 this man's arms and chest were miraculously 
 covered with swellings, so that he could hardly 
 breathe. On entering their place of confine- 
 ment again, they gave thanks to God that 
 their faith had not failed, and that they had 
 not been misled by the arch-hypocrite Euctemon, 
 
 E 
 
258 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 and comforted one another with psalms and 
 prayers. 
 
 They heard later that it was Euctemon who 
 had desired that they should thus be subjected 
 to pressure, and that he himself had brought the 
 victim to the ISTemeseum, and wished to take 
 home again what remained of it. His treason- 
 able conduct exposed him to utter ridicule, be- 
 cause he put a garland on his head and swore by 
 the fortune of the emperor that he was not a 
 Christian, and had not omitted, as the others had 
 done, any act that could prove his loyalty to 
 paganism. 
 
 \Note. — The document left by Pionius ends 
 here : the remainder of the account is taken from 
 the official " Acta Proconsularia."] 
 
 In the course of time the proconsul arrived at 
 Smyrna, and Pionius was brought before him. 
 The proconsul took his seat on the Bcmn, and 
 inquired at length into the position and belief 
 of Pionius, treating him at first very mildly. 
 Afterwards he was put on the rack and torn with 
 iron claws. When the proconsul had done his 
 best to persuade him, bi^t without effect, he caused 
 to be read ^ in Latin the sentence, " Pionius 
 
 ' This is another small piece of evidence of antiquity : for of. 
 Tert., Apol., ii. : " Quid ex tabella recitatis ilium ? " 
 
Death of Pionius. 259 
 
 confesses that he is a Christian, and we order 
 him to be burnt alive." They then proceeded to 
 the racecourse/ and Pionius hastened to divest 
 himself of his garments in the presence of the 
 cojmnentarius. " Eegarding the comeliness of his 
 person, he was filled with joy and looked up to 
 heaven, and gave thanks that he had been pre- 
 served in the purity of the faith. He then raised 
 himself upon the wooden stand, and let the 
 soldier fasten the nails. When he had been thus 
 fastened firmly, the opportunity of renouncing his 
 faith was once again given him, but he answered 
 that his desire was to die soon that he might rise 
 again the sooner. After this they set beside him 
 one Metrodorus, a presbyter of the Marcionite 
 sect : now Pionius was on the right, and Metro- 
 dorus on the left, and their faces were turned 
 towards the east. Wood and other stuff was 
 piled up around them, and Pionius closed his 
 eyes, so that the people thought he had fainted ; 
 but he was praying silently, and having reached 
 the end of his prayer, he opened his eyes, and 
 said 'Ameu,' his face radiant all the while the 
 fire was rising about him : at last, with the words, 
 'Lord, receive my soul,' he died peacefully and 
 
 ^ Cf. the first examination of Aurelius. Cyprian, Ep. 38 
 (H., p. 580, 5) : " Quando vicit in cursu." 
 
26o The Decian Persectitzon. 
 
 painlessly. And thus he gave up his spirit to 
 the Father, who has promised to guard every soul 
 unjustly condemned." 
 
 \NoU. — From this point to the close the re- 
 marks are made by the compiler of the Acts.] 
 
 " Such was the end of the blameless and incor- 
 ruptible life of the blessed Pionius, whose mind was 
 always intent upon God the Omnipotent, and our 
 Lord the Mediator between God and man. Such 
 was the end of which he was counted worthy, and 
 after victory in the great tight he passed through 
 the narrow gate into the broad realms of day. 
 
 " His right to the martyr's crown was attested 
 by his body as well ; for after the fire was put 
 out, we, who were by, saw that it was like the 
 well-cared-for body of a lusty athlete ; the hair 
 on his head and cheeks was not singed ; and on 
 his face there shone a wondrous radiance, which 
 strengthened the Christians in their faith, while 
 the unbelievers trembled and were terror-stricken 
 by their guilty conscience. 
 
 " This took place when Julius Proclus Quintili- 
 anus was proconsul of Asia, in the second consul- 
 ship of Gains ^ Messius Quintus Trajanus Decius 
 
 ^ We have adopted Bishop Lightfoot's restoration of the 
 pate : he had access to a few passages of the Greek MS., sup- 
 plied by Dr 0. von Gebhardt. 
 
The Acts of Carpus and Papylus. 261 
 
 Augustus, aijd [in the first] of Vettius Gratus, on 
 the twelfth day of March by the Eoman reckon- 
 ing, and on the nineteenth day of the sixth month 
 according to the reckoning of Asia, at the tenth 
 hour ; but in our calculation, in the reiga of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever 
 and ever. Amen." 
 
 At this point the 'Acta Pionii' end: it seems 
 highly probable that they were written by a 
 Smyrntean,^ considering the local knowledge dis- 
 played in them ; the date of the events recorded 
 is 250 A.D., and the month would be the last but 
 one of the administration of Quintilianus. He 
 would probably remain in office sufficiently long 
 to try, and to sentence to death by burning. Car- 
 pus, Papylus, and Agathonice, about April 11, 
 250, at Pergamum. From the ' Acta Maximi' we 
 are led to believe that he was succeeded in the 
 proconsulate by Optimus. The Acta of Carpus 
 and Papylus are only remarkable as containing 
 a curious eucharistic formula, which we append, 
 resembling closely one in the ' Martyrdom of 
 Polycarp ' (§ 14) : " ' Blessed art Thou, Lord Jesus 
 Christ, Son of God, for that Thou didst deem a 
 
 1 The repeated reference to the intense hostility of the Jews 
 is very characteristic of Smyrna, as in Rev. ii. 8. Cf. also Tert., 
 Scorp., 1 : " Synagoges JudaBorum, fontes persecutionum." 
 
262 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 sinner such as I am worthy of this lot with Thee.' 
 And a woman, Agathonice by name, lifted up 
 her voice, saying, 'This banquet has been made 
 ready for me ; I must partake of this glorious 
 banquet.' " 
 
 The 'Acta Martyrum' have now yielded up 
 their wealth of tradition : for the most part we 
 could have spared them, so far as history is con- 
 cerned. The smaller proportion we are glad to 
 read in the light of such historical knowledge of 
 the times as we possess : without Cyprian and 
 without Eusebius they would be but sorry guides 
 for one who attempted to penetrate the darkness 
 of the Decian period. 
 
263 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 ON THE BASES OP THE 'ACTA SANCTOEUM. 
 
 Keumaxn (Der romische Staat, p. 277) has some 
 interesting remarks. 
 
 (a) The Acta were based on the of&oial records of 
 the proceedings. Cf. Dig., 26. 8. 21: "Acta facta 
 sunt apud procuratorem Cffisaris." 
 
 (6) A shorthand reporter followed the details of 
 the transaction. Cf. Dig., 4. 6. 33. 1. "Eos qui 
 notis scribunt acta prsesidum." [And 'Acta Pionii ' : 
 
 ■ypa.(j)OVTOi Tov vorapiov ■7r6.vra.~\ 
 
 (c) These Acta were drawn up after criminal, as 
 well as civil, proceedings. Cod., 2. 1. 2, Impp. Sev- 
 erus et Antoninus Augusti Eausto (a.d. 194) : "Acta 
 publica tarn criminalia quam civilia exhiberi inspioi- 
 enda." 
 
 These came into the hands of the Christian writers 
 in some way or other, for cf. a contemporary letter of 
 Dionysius of Alexandria (Eus., 7. 11. 6), who relates 
 the proceedings in the persecution of Valerian before 
 the prefect of Egypt : avrSiv Se kTraKova-an twv vtt dfj,- 
 cfxnepoiv \i-)(&kvTwv (i)S vir€iJivrjp.aTi(T6r]. [And ' Acta 
 Pionii ' : ifxapTvprjcre ■ycvoyu.ei'coy vttoixv7]jxo.t<i>v tSv vwo- 
 
264 
 
 The Decian Persectttion. 
 
 Again (Cyprian, Ep. 77, § 2), IS'emesianiis writes 
 that Cyprian, "apud acta proconsulis," set an example 
 which his disciples should follow. 
 
 APPENDIX B. 
 
 LINGUISTIC KESEMBLANCES BETWEEN" ' ACTA PIONII ' AND 
 THE TWO SMTRN^AN RECORDS OF POLTCARP. 
 
 PlONIUS. 
 
 Aov. 
 
 e7r€(7Ti7 avro'is tloX^fxccv. 
 
 <^ai5pi^ ToJ" irpocrcoTrcp oiTreAo- 
 yfiaaTO. 
 
 Qov aWa ^TjTOvtnv 4Tridv(rai. 
 
 ws fi7}bk ypv^al rtva. 
 
 iKXnrapovpres. 
 
 iiridveiv. 
 
 POLTCARP. 
 
 Kus., 4, 15 : iy rots KaB" 
 7]fias XP^^^^^ Si^daKa\os OLTroar- 
 To\LKhs yevSfxevos ^iridKOiros rris 
 
 €V ^fXVpvr} Ka9o\lKT}S iKK\T)(TiaS- 
 
 Eus., 4. 15 : buTOs ffa^^drov 
 fj-EyaKov. 
 
 Mart. Pol., § 6 : in^aTTjaav 
 ol ^7}rovuT€s avrhv. 
 
 M.P. and Eus., 4. 15 : am- 
 
 M. P. and Eus., 4. 15 : (pai- 
 Spcf irpocrtoira} SieAe'^aro. 
 
 M. P., § 4 : 6 wapa^iaad- 
 fx€vos 4avT6v re Kai ripas ivpo<T- 
 eAfleti/ ^KOvTas. 
 
 M.P., § 2 : Sere ^^re ypv- 
 ^at Ttvd (of one tortured). 
 
 M. P., § 4 : TToXXh. iKXiirap-f}- 
 (Tai/res. 
 
 M. P., § 4 : eTTtdvaai. 
 
Pioniits and Polycarp, 265 
 
 iiri6v(rov odv K&y rqi avroK- M. P., § 10 : (re ^t)v Khv \6yov 
 
 poLTopi. rj^iwaa. 
 
 6 ^irirapxos fj.€Ta Btayfxirwv. M. P., § 7 : Siwy/ifTat Koi 
 
 iinre'is. 
 a.K6\ov66v i<7Tiy. Eus., 4. 15 : aKSXovQov iiv. 
 
 6eo(T€$€iau albecrBT^Te. Eus., 4. 15 : alSeadrjTi t^v 
 
 KevoSo^e7u. Eus., 4. 15, and M. P. ; Kei/o- 
 
 So^e7z/. 
 ovros KalrovstiWovs avaffO' Eus., 4. 15 : 6 woWovs 5i- 
 jSel if a ^^ Ovawaiv- BdaKwv {x'ij Oveiv fxrj^e irpoaKV- 
 
 6 t6t€ iirir^\u)y TO. Kwiiyia- Eus., 4. 15: eTrnekelv 7)/j.4- 
 
 pav yevidKiov. Kvv7)y4<TLa itKtj- 
 povv. 
 
 7rpo(rax6eis 6 Tliovios- M. P., § 9 : irpoaaxO^VTOS av- 
 
 TOV. 
 
 oh T(p depi TTpoaex^- M. P., § 2 : Trpoaex^ii' rf} rov 
 6€ov x^ptTi. 
 
 01 aTroypa(j}6/j.€vot . . . irphs M. P., §2: ot els to, Oripia 
 
 TO, dripia. KpidevTeS' 
 
 YlUviov kcLvrhv bixoKoyq- Eus., 4. 15 : UoAvKapiros o}fj.o- 
 
 travra cJvai xP't^Tiaj'iti'. \6yT}(rev kavrhv xpitrriaj/?)!/ eivai. 
 
 ^wvTCL Kaiiuai. M. P., § 5 : Se? /le C^vra 
 
 aTveKQSvTos els rh fTTaSiov. Eus., 4. 15 : ayS/xevos els rh 
 
 "When about to die — ava- j\I. P., § 14 : ava^Xi^as els 
 
 ^Ke^as els t6v ovpavov koL rhv ohpavhv eTwei/, K6pie, . . , 
 
 €vxo.p'-<^'^'h<^^s, '/iTrXcoffep eav- evXoyH} ere. 
 r6v. 
 
 KadTjKudevTt Se ahrc^. Eus., 4. 1 5 : ov KaBiiXwaav. 
 
 KaTTj^iCAjdi] Tov reKovs- Eus., 4. 15, and M. P. ; 
 
 rj^iojo'as fxe t7\s Tj/xepas- 
 
 It is interesting to observe that, of all the 
 resemblances here noted, only one, and that one 
 
266 The Deciau Persecution. 
 
 rather of idea tlian of form, occurs in the two 
 long speeches by Pionius which are attacked as the 
 weak points of the Pionian document. It is quite 
 possible, as we said above, that they are additions of 
 a later date. 
 
267 
 
 CHAPTEE X. 
 
 THE CHUKCH UNDER GALLUS. 
 
 ELECTION OF CORNELIUS AS BISHOP OP ROME — RELIEF AT THE CES- 
 SATION OF THE PERSECUTION NOT CONFINED TO THE CHURCH — 
 GALLUS BECOMES EMPEROR — THE PLAGUE BEGINS — IN AFRICA 
 — IN EGYPT — GENERAL SACRIFICE ORDERED — BISHOPS PRO- 
 SCRIBED SPEEDY RESTORATION OF THE PENITENT " LAPSI " IN 
 
 VIEW OF PERSECUTION — COMPARISON OP THE CHURCH IN 252 
 WITH ITS STATE IN 250 — SMALL IMPORTANCE OP PERSECUTION 
 UNDER GALLUS — CYPRIAN, CORNELIUS, IN THE PERSECUTION — 
 CYPRIAN'S ESTIMATE OF THE PERSECUTION — DEATH OP COR- 
 NELIUS — HIS BURIAL — LUCIUS SUCCEEDS HIM — GOES INTO EXILE 
 — DEATH OP GALLUS, AND ACCESSION OF iEMILIANUS — ACCES- 
 SION OP VALERIAN AND GALLIENUS — THEIR PEACEFUL ATTI- 
 TUDE TOWARDS CHRISTIANITY — RETURN OF LUCIUS — THE 
 CHURCH HAS REST. 
 
 APPENDIX. ON THE TECHNICAL DISTINCTION BETWEEN " MAR- 
 TYR " AND "confessor" IN THE WRITINGS OP CYPRIAN, AND 
 ITS RELATION TO CORNELIUS AND LUCIUS. 
 
 The election of Cornelius to the vacant .see of 
 Eome in March 251 was the token of returning 
 peace : the news of the lack of energy displayed 
 at headquarters made its way speedily thi'oughout 
 
268 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 the empire, and the wearied combatants in both 
 camps gladly laid aside their armour. A course 
 of aggression, set on foot too late to arouse a 
 sympathetic interest among the spectators, and 
 supported by no burning fanaticism in the local 
 administrators, could not expect to meet with 
 success. It is not when men are driven forward 
 by a stern bureaucracy that a world-wide organ- 
 ism is moved, but when deep-seated convictions 
 and iirmly rooted beliefs hurry society involun- 
 tarily onward, calling for instant righting of the 
 wrong. But in the time of Decius no such move- 
 ment of universal feeling existed, and the execu- 
 tion of the edict appealed merely to the lower 
 instincts of oriental mobs. Hence there arose a 
 general sigh of relief, not from Christians only, 
 but from the pagan world at large, when, in obed- 
 ience to no imperial proclamation but by her own 
 tacit decision, Eome refused to continue for a 
 moment longer the revolting measures to which 
 she had been driven. The prison gates were 
 flung open, and the confessors restored to the 
 world ; it was once more possible for the Church 
 to meet in synod and to elect a bishop. The 
 emperor was far away, surrounded by difficulties 
 of sufficient magnitude to occupy his attention 
 
Death of Decius. 269 
 
 for an indefinite period; no interference was to 
 be anticipated from that quarter. General con- 
 fidence gradually returned, as the public mind 
 dwelt on the military successes of the previous 
 year (250), and contemplated the probability of 
 even greater results from the campaign of the 
 approaching summer. 
 
 Sinister rumours began to reach Eome in 
 June: messengers arrived who stated that De- 
 cius had allowed his army to be entrapped and 
 almost annihilated among the Balkans, but that 
 he was collecting his shattered forces and would 
 speedily take the field. Then came the news 
 that he had fallen, engulfed with his son in 
 the marshes of Abrytus, and that the instrument 
 of his defeat and of the Gothic triumph, who 
 had been proclaimed emperor by the army early 
 in September 251, was none other than Trebon- 
 ianus Gallus, the governor of Moesia.^ The un- 
 precedented disgrace which had fallen upon the 
 
 1 Eusebius, Constant. Or. ad SS. coetum, 2i : T]ViKa ev rots 
 2ku9ikois TreSioiS TravaTpariS. Trefftiiv Th TFepi^6't)T0V Pufiaioiy Kpdros 
 ijyes To7s Terais (is KaTa(pp6vii<nv. Orosius, 7. 21 ; Zosimus, 
 i. 23. Alexandrian coins (Gibbon, i. (ed. Bury) p. 250 and 
 Sallet, Daten, p. 66 f.) show that the Decii died before August 
 29, 251. Chron. Pasc, 01. 258 : 4(T(pdyTi . . . ani rtvos twv 
 i^apxtov 4v 'A^vpTifi ws ertov |' ( = 60). Zonaras, 12. 20 : AeKios 
 
270 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 Eoman arms through the death of a Roman 
 emperor on Eoman soil, at the hands of a bar- 
 barian foe, was accentuated by another sur- 
 render, when Gallus succeeded in bribing the 
 Goths to retire across the frontier and act as 
 a bulwark against the inroads of other nomadic 
 hordes. 
 
 The prospect was indeed gloomy: Eome had 
 bought peace from the Goths ; barbarian tribes 
 were attacking the cities in the north of Italy ; 
 in the far East, Syria was the objective of a Per- 
 sian advance.^ Yet in the general confusion the 
 Church found peace, and the year 252 opened 
 without any warning of trouble to come. But 
 as Easter approached ^ there appeared another 
 enemy, more difficult to contend against than 
 any armed force, because intangible, attacking 
 directly Christian and Pagan alike, and in- 
 directly forming a basis for anti-Christian agi- 
 
 . . . oOSe Siioi oAoyy Ivia.vTov'i eTri t^ twv Fu/xaLoij^ dvviras apxf 
 aiffX^i^Ta 5L€(p6a.p7}. 6 5e TdWos uTv^d^ro toTs ^ap^dpois, ein- 
 ^ovKkvojv AeKia:, iT\t](Tloif riK^aros 0a64os ^ctos, 6/c€? irapara- 
 ^aaSai. They made a feigned retreat, and Decius followed 
 them, and was by a manccuvie led into the morass and 
 perished. 
 
 ^ Zosimus, 1. 27 : twp KparovfToiv ouSajxuis ol(j)v re uvTUiv afivvat 
 rep Tro\LTiVjj.aTL. 
 
 - Eusebius, H. E., 7. 22 § 1 : XoifxiKris rhv Tr6\efxov SLaAa^ovarjs 
 v6<Jov, Tr}s T€ eoprris TrXfjaia^ovaTjs. 
 
Galhis becomes Emperor. 271 
 
 tation. This pestilence ^ carried off Hostilianus, 
 the younger and only surviving son of the 
 Emperor Decius, to the small regret of Gallus, 
 who, for reasons of policy, — to conciliate the 
 adherents and friends of Decius, and to divert 
 attention from the ugly report which accused 
 him of having betrayed his chief, — had asso- 
 ciated him with himself as joint ruler, with 
 slightly inferior powers,^ but was now at liberty 
 to elevate in his stead his own son Volusianus.^ 
 
 The nature and extent of the pestilence will be 
 better understood if we give some extracts from 
 contemporary records. " After the bitter ravages 
 of the persecution had swept over the people,* the 
 
 '■ Orosius, 7. 22 : " Exeritur ultio violati nominis Christiani 
 et usquequo ad profligandas ecclesias edicta Decii cucurrerunt, 
 eatenus incredibilium morborum pestis extenditur : nulla fere 
 provincia Romana, nulla civitas, nulla domus fuit, quje non 
 ilia general! pestilentia correpta atque vacuata sit. Hac sola 
 pernicie insignes, Gallus et Volusianus . . . occisi sunt. Zosi- 
 mus, 1. 26 : oux ^'^'^ov 5e tov iravTax^^^v iiri^pia-avTOs ttoK^ixov, 
 Kol 6 \oifihs irSx^ai re KaX Kcjc^JLais ii7iy^v6il^vo^, eif tl KeXetf^/xevov 
 ^v dv6pci>Tretov yeyos SietfiBeip^f^ oijircii ■jrp6Tepoy eV Tors (pOdo'aa'l 
 XpSvois Toaavr-qv avBpdnvaiv a-K(iiX^La.v ipyatrd^xevos. 
 
 ^ Dessau, Inscr. Lat. Sel., 518, gives a semi-erased inscription 
 with his full title, while there was found in Caria (Jour, of 
 Hellen. Stud., ii. 1890, p. 127) a Kepaij.os with his name inscribed 
 in Greek. 
 
 " Gibbon, i. cf. 10. 
 
 ■* Pontius, Cypriani A'ita, §§ 8, 9 (H., p. xcviii). 
 
272 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 crafty enemy, finding that he could not overthrow 
 the entire Church by any single artifice, altered his 
 tactics and laid low with a different weapon (i.e., 
 schism) any soldier who, in a moment of forget- 
 fulness, displayed an unprotected flank." But the 
 surreptitious enticements of schism found in Cy- 
 prian a ruthless enemy, both in exposing them 
 and in healing the wounds they had caused. No 
 less service did he render when " a few months 
 later there broke out over a vast area a terrible 
 plague and wasting disease, which seized with 
 amazing suddenness upon countless cities day 
 after day, and passed from house to house among 
 the cowering populace. Panic seized mankind : in 
 the desire to escape from the contagion, they fled 
 from home, or, with a grievous lack of family affec- 
 tion, turned their sick into the streets, as though 
 with the doomed and afflicted brother whom 
 they expelled they could drive away the plague 
 itself. In every street in the cities there were 
 strewn not merely living bodies but the corpses 
 of many more, which appealed for pity to those 
 who moved among them, as they gazed on the fate 
 that perhaps awaited themselves. No one had a 
 thought save for sordid personal advantage. No 
 one shuddered at the idea that his end might be 
 similar to theirs. No one did for another what 
 
The Plague in Africa. 273 
 
 he would have wished should be done for himself, 
 had he beeu dying. It were shame to pass over 
 the courageous acts of the chief priest of Christ 
 and of Grod, whose affection for his fellow-men 
 was as far superior to that of the priests of this 
 world as was his religion to theirs. He assembled 
 the people, and distributed among them the offer- 
 ings of charity ; he pointed out by examples from 
 the Scriptures the necessity of works of mercy to 
 please God," and in every way strove to alleviate 
 the sufferings of those whose lives were endan- 
 gered by the dread visitant. 
 
 Dionysius, Bishop of Alexandria, writes ^ : " We 
 and they had secured a brief interval of rest, when 
 this plague swooped down upon us, a reality more 
 alarming to the heathen than any rumoured 
 trouble, and more revolting than any other calam- 
 ity. As one of their own writers put it, ' It was 
 the one thing which was too fatal to admit of 
 hope.' It was not so to us, but none the less for 
 all that did it exercise our faith and prove our 
 constancy. For it did not by any means spare 
 us, although for the most part it attacked the 
 heathen. . . . The greatest number of our breth- 
 ren, owing to their exceeding love and affection 
 for one another, took no thought for themselves, 
 
 1 Eusebius, H. E., 7. 21 (Dion. Alex, ad fratres, 6-10). 
 S 
 
274 T"^^ Decian Persecution. 
 
 but held fast together, keeping watch over the 
 sick and exposing themselves to danger, doing 
 their service unto Christ ; and further, with 
 the utmost cheerfulness they ministered to the 
 heathen, because they felt full sympathy for 
 the sufferings of others than their own people, 
 although they often brought the plague on them- 
 selves from the sufferers whom they nursed. . . . 
 The heathen acted very differently from the 
 Christians : they put out of the house any who 
 showed signs of illness, and fled from the side of 
 those \vho were dearest to them ; they would cast 
 them half dead into the streets, so that the 
 corpses lay tumbled about and unburied, spread- 
 ing abroad a fresh succession of disease, which it 
 was difficult to escape even with the greatest 
 precautions." -"■ 
 
 The short respite ^ which the Church had en- 
 joyed was brought to a speedy end by the plague, 
 which broke out in March 252, and which called 
 for an immediate expiatory sacrifice to the gods 
 on behalf of the whole Eoman empire. It was 
 not advisable — in fact, in the circumstances, it was 
 impossible — to proclaim a second general persecu- 
 
 ^ For further notice cf. Cyprian, Ad Demetrianum, §§ 5, 7. 
 ^ Cyprian, De lapsis, § 1 (H. , p. 237, 2) : "Pax ecclesife red- 
 dita est." 
 
Persecution itnder Gallus. 275 
 
 tion, and therefore it was decided to get rid of the 
 bishops 1 as before, and to call upon the Christian 
 as well as the pagan world, the former now de- 
 prived of its executive, to propitiate an angry 
 heaven.^ Dodwell, it would seem without reason- 
 able grounds, held that the an ti- Christian move- 
 ment was merely the result of a proconsular edict, 
 the operation of which did not extend beyond 
 Italy ; but we feel that the simultaneous attacks 
 upon Cyprian at Carthage, and Cornelius (fol- 
 lowed by that upon his successor, Lucius) at 
 Eome, were part of a more widely extended plan. 
 As early as the beginning of May it had become 
 apparent that a new trial was awaiting the 
 Church, and that she must gird herself for the 
 struggle. With the object of strengthening the 
 Christians to resist the coming attack, it was de- 
 cided by the African bishops in council, under 
 Cyprian's presidency^ (May 15, 252), that the 
 rules of penance, which they had laid down in the 
 preceding year, should for the time be relaxed. 
 " We see," they write, " that a second season of 
 
 ^ Eusebius, H. E., 7. 1. Gallus made shipwreck on the same 
 rock as Decius : tovs lepoijs dvSpas roits Trepi rrjs ^Ip-tjvris avTOv 
 
 ^ Cyprian, Ep. 59 (H., p. 673, 15) : " Sacrificia quae edicto pro- 
 posito oelebrare populus jubebatur " (to Apollo Salutaris). 
 3 Cyprian, Ep. 57 (H., p. 651, 6) and Ep. 59 (H., p. 677, 20). 
 
276 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 attack is drawing near, and are warned by re- 
 peated indications to arm ourselves and make 
 ready for the conflict which is being thrust upon 
 us, and therefore we must prepare by means of 
 exhortation and advice the people committed to 
 our charge, and gather within the camp of the 
 Lord every soldier of Christ who is as yet without 
 his arms but is eager for the fray. Under the 
 pressure of this necessity, we have decided to give 
 ' peace ' and the means of defence to all who have 
 not separated themselves from the Church, but 
 since the day of their fall have never ceased to 
 show true penitence and sorrow, and to ask par- 
 don of God." 
 
 The entire Epistle (57) breathes the same tone 
 of foreboding: at the end we read, "We have 
 been repeatedly warned by the mercy and pro- 
 vidence of God that a day of conflict is at hand, 
 that an angry foe is on the point of rising up 
 against us, that a battle is at hand, far more 
 anxious and severe than that which preceded 
 it." In writing his treatise, 'De mortalitate,' 
 Cyprian pitches his remarks in the same key, 
 and shows that the pestilence is a means of sav- 
 ing many Christians from a painful or degrading 
 end, rather than a ground for complaint, since 
 
Decius and Galhis. 277 
 
 it attacks Christian and heathen alike,^ and does 
 not discriminate between the children of truth 
 and the children of error. 
 
 It must have been with very hopeful feelings 
 that Cyprian was able to await the outbreak of 
 252, as compared with that of January 250. 
 The energetic and powerful tactician who then 
 organised the attack was exchanged for a sove- 
 reign who had bought the purple by means of 
 deliberate treachery and dragged it in the mire 
 before the eyes of a horde of Goths. Decius, the 
 darling of the army, the flatterer of the Senate, 
 had entered upon the religious campaign with 
 the moral support of both interests ; Gallus was 
 an adventurer, whose first act of administration 
 had accentuated a Eoman reverse, and sullied in 
 a moment the age-long traditions of the army. 
 Decius had carefully weighed the state of affairs, 
 and determined on annihilating the whole Christ- 
 ian body : Gallus was driven to action by a nat- 
 ural calamity, and aimed merely at paralysing 
 the executive. Lastly, the Church which now 
 faced Gallus was a very different body from that 
 on which Decius had laid so rude a hand; its 
 whole system was reinvigorated and endowed 
 
 * Cyprian, De mortalitate, § 15. 
 
278 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 with the vitality of health. The Church had 
 learnt that laxity of life is not consistent with 
 active warfare, and the effects of the lesson were 
 visible half a century later in the resistance 
 offered to Diocletian. It may well be doubted 
 whether Christianity was ever called upon to 
 endure a more damaging assault than was 
 directed against it by Decius. Without sound 
 discipline, without previous experience, the 
 Church was challenged in 250 to face for the 
 first time the concentrated onset of the powers 
 of this world : all future ages, on the other hand, 
 could look back to the example of that victory, 
 and be guided by the bitter experience which 
 had written the history of that year of discipline 
 in letters of blood. 
 
 Thus it is that the persecution under Callus has 
 practically no place in the history of the Church. 
 Dionysius of Alexandria relates with an almost 
 pitying contempt ^ that Callus had not sufficient 
 prudence to avoid the dangers which had proved 
 fatal to Decius, and consequently injured himself 
 rather than Christianity. The silence of the 
 Church historians, Jerome, Augustine, Orosius, 
 Sulpicius Severus, and Lactantius, does not so 
 
 ' Eusebiua (H. E., 7. 1), Ep. ad Hermammonem. Cf. 7. 
 22. 12. 
 
Origen and Cyprian. 279 
 
 much support Dodwell's theory ^ of the limited 
 area of the persecution as the probability of its 
 utter want of success. We know from Cyprian 
 and Dionysius that it extended over Italy, Africa, 
 and Egypt, and we actually read ^ that " Gallus 
 was a grievous foe to Christianity, arousing 
 against it a no less fearful storm than Decius, 
 and putting many to death," but this is without 
 doubt an exaggerated statement, although it 
 serves to show that the attack of Gallus was 
 by no means contemptible. 
 
 We have no reason for believing that Origen, 
 who died in the reign of Gallus, suffered any 
 further assault upon his faith after the torture 
 he endured under Decius. He died in his sixty- 
 ninth year, probably in 253 a.d.^ 
 
 Cyprian, who had defrauded the people of a 
 gratifying spectacle by his absence in the earlier 
 persecution, was again clamoured for in the 
 amphitheatre* by the mob, who longed to see 
 him fight with the beasts : apparently he did 
 
 ^ Dr P. Gorres, in F. X. Kraus, Eeal-Encyolopadie, p. 288, 
 has not much difficulty in disposing of Dodwell's unneces- 
 sarily narrow estimate of the persecution under Gallus (Dis- 
 sert. Cypr., xi.) 
 
 2 Zonaras, 12. 21. •* Eusebius, H. E., 7. 1. 
 
 ^ Cyprian, Bp. 59 (H., p. 673, 15) : "[His ipsis . . . diebus 
 ... ad leonem denuo postulatus in circo." 
 
2 8o The Decian Persecution. 
 
 not withdraw as on the previous occasion, since 
 he knew of the incident in the circus the very 
 day it occurred, but the manner of his escape 
 from death is hidden from us. We may conjec- 
 ture that he was on friendly terms with the 
 governor of the province, whose identity is pos- 
 sibly concealed under the name of Demetrianus, 
 to whom he addressed a most fearless treatise 
 on the injustice of the official attitude towards 
 Christianity. 
 
 Cornelius, the Bishop of Eome, set a noble 
 example to his Church, and confessed the faith 
 boldly. He was then banished with certain 
 others to Centumcellee, where he received a let- 
 ter of warm congratulation from Cyprian,^ who 
 writes : " Your people have given public proof of 
 their admiration for the example which your 
 brave conduct set them ; and the brethren have 
 shown their united spirit by following it to a 
 man." 2 Later on he draws attention to the 
 remarkable way in which the lajjsi had stood by 
 the Church, proving that they had been quick- 
 ened for the battle by the discipline of the pen- 
 ance they had endured. The whole of the letter 
 
 ^ Ep. 60, § 1. " Virtus vestra, confessio vestra" ; and " Ducem 
 te confessionis fratribus exstitisse." 
 ^ Ep. 60, § 1 (H., p. 691). 
 
Cyprians Exhortations. 281 
 
 breathes of hope,^ and speaks of temptation re- 
 sisted, of ranks unbroken. It is difficult to judge 
 whether Cyprian does not make too much of the 
 persecution; before the storm breaks lie writes^ 
 to the Church at Thibaris : " You should know 
 and regard it as certain that a day of trial is 
 imminent and the time of Antichrist has arrived ; 
 we must all prepare for the battle, and think of 
 naught save the glory of life eternal and the 
 crown of the confession of the Lord; the things 
 before us are not such as those that are past. A 
 more trying, a more terrible assault is impending, 
 and the soldiers of Christ should prepare for it 
 with unflinching bravery, remembering that the 
 reason why they drink from day to day of the 
 cup of Christ's blood is to enable them to shed 
 their own blood in Christ's service." Later on, 
 recalling the object of the persecution, he writes : * 
 " Our adversary fell upon the camp of Christ, 
 hoping to terrify it into submission ; but fiercely 
 as he came on, he was no less fiercely repelled, 
 and the terror and fear he hoped to inspire he 
 found neutralised by equal constancy and strength. 
 He thought he could a second time wrestle down 
 the servants of God, and overthrow them, like 
 
 1 Ep. 60, § 2 (H., p. 693, 13 f.) 
 
 2 Ep. 58 (H., p. 656, 17 £f.) ' Ep. 60 (H., p. 692, 17 ff.) 
 
282 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 raw recruits inexperienced and unprepared, with 
 his ancient wiles. At first he set upon individ- 
 uals, and attempted to withdraw them from the 
 influence of the Church. An enemy whose 
 strength is not sufiicient to cope with the entire 
 force will attempt to take advantage of the isola- 
 tion of individuals. But his sharpest weapons 
 fell blunted from the armour of faith and 
 strength possessed by our united body : he 
 learned that the soldiers of Christ were sober 
 and watchful, and ready armed for battle ; they 
 could not be vanquished, because they knew how 
 to die and had no fear of death ; they offered no 
 resistance to attack, because the innocent are for- 
 bidden to kill even the guilty, but without hesita- 
 tion they laid down their lives that they might 
 the more quickly pass from a world so grievously 
 stricken with sin and anger. What a noble sight, 
 what joy for the Church, to think that beneath 
 the eye of God, in full sight of Christ, not a few 
 stragglers, but the whole army to a man, advanced 
 to meet the shock of battle." 
 
 While in exile at Centumcellte, a coast town in 
 Etruria, about forty miles distant from Eome, 
 Cornelius died.^ We have no reason to believe 
 
 ^ Episc. Urb. Catal., ex Chron. Lib., ed. Mommsen (R. A. 
 Lipsius), p. 266 : " Post hoc Centumcellis expulsus, ibi cum 
 gloria dormitionem accepit." 
 
Death of Come litis. 283 
 
 that his end was hastened by any act of hostihty 
 on the part of the emperor. He was a man of 
 considerable age when elected to the see of Eome, 
 and the crisis, which was only passing away when 
 he was appointed, gave way to the still more 
 difficult and, for personal reasons, harassing situ- 
 ation, created by the opposition to his election by 
 Novatian and his party. The persecution under 
 Gallus, which followed almost immediately upon 
 the vindication of his claims, and drove him into 
 exile, may well have caused him disappointment, 
 owing to the loss of a position which had cost 
 him so severe a contest, and his anxiety for the 
 Church which he was forced to leave in the hour 
 of its need. His death occurred about the month 
 of May 253, after two short years of nominal ten- 
 ure of his office.^ The commemoration of his dies 
 natalis falls on September 14, the same day as 
 that of Cyprian.^ He was not buried in the same 
 
 ^ Jerome, De vir. ill., 66 (Cornelius) : " Eexit ecclesiam 
 annis duobus Bub Gallo et Volusiano cui ob Christum martyrio 
 coronato successit Lucius.'' Episc. Urb. Catal. (Lipsius), p. 
 266 : "Cornelius ... a consul. Decio, IIII. [III. ?] et Decio 
 II. [251] usque Gallo et Volusiano." 
 
 2 Cf. Duchesne, Lib. Pont., p. 11 (Dep. Martyr, in Cat. Lib.) : 
 " sviii. Kal. Octob. Cypriani Africae. Romas celebratur in 
 Calisti." Martyrol. Hieronym. . "Eomse, via Appia, in cimi- 
 terio Calisti, Cornell episcopi . . . et in Africa, civitate Car- 
 thagine, natale sancti Cypriani episcopi." 
 
284 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 chamber as Fabianus or Lucius (who were buried 
 in the " crypt of the popes " ), but in the ^prmclmm 
 Ludncc, which is close to the cemetery of CalHstus. 
 The inscription on his tombstone is in Latin char- 
 acters, in contradistinction to that upon the tomb- 
 stones of the other bishops in the " crypt of the 
 popes," and is as follows : — 
 
 CORNELIUS + MARTYR + EPI. 
 
 The official language of the Church was still 
 Greek, but we may understand the reason for the 
 change, and for his isolated place of burial, if we 
 suppose that " his funeral was conducted by an 
 old patrician family, having its own place of 
 burial, and still clinging to the national language 
 in preference to the new-fashioned Greek." ^ It 
 is quite impossible to decide whether his remains 
 were brought from Etruria and deposited in this 
 vault in 253, or later: we may suggest that the 
 Cornelii were probably allowed to bring back the 
 body of their honoured kinsman without delay, 
 and deposit it in their own vault, thus regarding 
 him rather as a member of their family than as 
 one who could claim to be buried side by side 
 with his predecessors in the Eoman see. 
 
 ' Northcote and Brownlow, Roma Sotteranea, Pt. i. (1879) 
 p. 355. 
 
LtLcms becomes Bishop of Rome. 285 
 
 He was succeeded immediately by Lucius, who 
 was no sooner made bishop than lie was banished.^ 
 This further indication of anti-Christian policy 
 was probably one of the last official acts of Gallus, 
 as it was in this month that iEmilianus,^ the 
 governor of McBsia, after defending the empire 
 successfully from a barbarian invasion which 
 spread devastation throughout the Illyrian pro- 
 vinces, was proclaimed emperor by the soldiers. 
 Gallus advanced against him with his son as far 
 as Spoletium, where they were slain by their own 
 troops, who had been persuaded to embrace the 
 cause of ^milianus.^ 
 
 The new emperor was recognised by the Sen- 
 ate, and ushered in his reign auspiciously by 
 driving the barbarian hordes back beyond the 
 Danube. His attitude towards the Senate did 
 not, however, satisfy the army, and he was 
 deposed within three months of his accession.* 
 
 1 Episo. Urb. Catal., p. 266 : " Fuit temporibus Galli 
 et Volusiani. . . . Hie exul fuit et postea nutu Dei 
 incolumis ad ecelesiam reversus est." Cf. Eusebius, H. E., 
 7. 2. 
 
 2 Zonaras, 12. 21. 
 
 ^ Orosius, 7. 22 : " Gallus et Volusianus dum contra jEmil- 
 ianum novis rebus studentem bellum civile moliuntur, occisi 
 sunt." 
 
 * Orosius, loo. ait., " J5milianum tamen tertio mense invasse 
 tyrannidis exstinctus est." 
 
286 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 Lucius, the Bishop of Eome, probably continiiecl 
 in exile during his reign, waiting for some indi- 
 cation of the emperor's attitude towards Chris- 
 tianity, but none was afforded, and it was left for 
 Valerian to recall the exile, and to extend peace 
 to the weary Church. 
 
 It was at some time before October 22, 253, 
 that Valerian and Gallienus were recognised as 
 Augusti (at any rate in Africa).^ This was the 
 fourth transference ^ of the imperial power that 
 had occurred in as many years, and it was hoped 
 that the new regime, which lasted until 261 A.D., 
 would be marked by greater prosperity than was 
 actually the case ; but " the whole period," writes 
 Gibbon, " was one uninterrupted series of con- 
 fusion and calamity." The character of the first 
 four years of the joint rule of Valerian and 
 Gallienus was such as to restore confidence to 
 the Church without delay. Dionysius writes 
 
 ^ An inscription in the province of Numidia (C.I.L., viii. 2482) 
 relates that on October 22, 253 (marked by the second consul- 
 ship of Volusianus), a legion erected »■ tablet Pro >Sal. DD. 
 NX. Valerian: et Gaxlieni, at Gemellas. Tillemont puts 
 the death of Gallus in May 2.')3. 
 
 ^ Eusebius, H. E., 7. 1 : Ae'/ctoi^ ou5' '6Xov 4inKpaTfifxav7a hvoiv 
 ^roiv xP^^op . . . a[j.a Tols iratal KarafftftayevTa TdWos 5ia- 
 S^X^'''"- Orosius, 7. 22 : " Gallus . . . regnum adeptus vix 
 duobus annis cum Volusiano filio obtinuit." Cf. Eusebius, 
 H. E., 7. 10. 
 
Clemency of Valerian. 287 
 
 of "Valerian ^ : " He displayed a benignant clem- 
 ency towards the men of God; not one of the 
 emperors before him, even of those who were 
 said to have professed Christianity, adopted so 
 friendly an attitude as he at first maintained 
 without disguise. His palace was filled with 
 believers, and was wellnigh a Church of God." 
 Hence it was that Lucius and his fellow-exiles 
 were enabled to return to Rome after so short a 
 banishment, which could not have lasted longer 
 than from June to October. Immediately on his 
 return he received a letter of warm congratula- 
 tion from Cyprian, who pictures the satisfaction 
 of the Church at welcoming their bishop to the 
 enjoyment of a time of tranquillity.' " It was 
 but recently," he writes in the same letter,^ " that 
 I wrote to congratulate you on being chosen by 
 God to receive the double honour of being bishop 
 and confessor in the Church of God. But now, 
 with no less pleasure, do I congratulate you and 
 your brothers in exile and the entire Church at 
 Eome upon the equally proiid return which the 
 Lord in His bountiful protection has vouchsafed 
 to you all : the pastor is now restored to his 
 flock, the pilot to his helm, the ruler to his 
 
 1 Eusebiua, H. E., 7. 10. ^ Cyprian, Ep. 61, § 4 (H., p. 697). 
 s Cyprian, Ep. 61, § 1 (H., p. 695). 
 
2 88 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 people. It is evident that God so ordered your 
 banishment that, instead of the Church mourn- 
 ing an exiled bishop, the bishop returns to the 
 Church with increased prestige." Cyprian refers 
 briefly to the sudden outbreak of the persecution, 
 and the amazing promptness with which Cor- 
 nelius, and after him Lucius himself, was singled 
 out for punishment by the secular power. 
 
 After the return of Lucius,^ the Church en- 
 joyed tranquillity for four years : the Church and 
 the world were weary of strife, and both sides 
 were glad to forget the antagonisms of the last 
 few years. But it does not fall within our 
 province to discuss the reign and the religious 
 attitude of Valerian ; we have only, indeed, pur- 
 sued our inquiry into the reign of Gallus with 
 the object of rendering complete our study of the 
 persecution of Decius. 
 
 ^ How long Lucius held the see of Rome is uncertain. 
 Jerome, Chron., 01. 258, gives AoiJkios }i.r\va.^ t}' ( = 8) in Migne's 
 Patrology, vol. xxviii. p. 648. Eusebius, 7. 2 : /iijo-l 5' ovS' '6\ois 
 ovTos OKTtii Tf K^iToupjic} hiaKovf]fTafi^vos. But ' Lib. Pont.' 
 (Duchesne), p. 65, gives : " Lucius . . . sedit ann. iii. m. iii. 
 d. iii. Martyrio coronatur. . . . Quin etiam a Valeriano capite 
 truncatus est iii. Non. Mart. Qui etiam sepultus est in cimi- 
 terio Calisti, Via Appia, viii. Kal. Sept." His epitaph in the 
 "crypt of the popes" is AOTKIC. Cyprian, Ep. 68 (H., p. 
 748, 11), writes: "Beatorum martyrum Cornelii et Lucii 
 honor." But we have no other evidence that he suffered 
 martyrdom, either in respect of torture or death. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 ox THE TECHNICAL DISTINCTION BETWEEN "MARTYR" 
 AND " CONFESSOR." 
 
 I. In Ep. 55, § 9, Cyprian asks the question, 
 " iSTonne [Cornelius] inter gloriosos confessores et 
 martyras deputandus 1 " and in the same section ex- 
 plains that Cornelius had suffered no actual bodily 
 violence, although he had been prepared for whatever 
 suffering might come upon him. This seems to imply 
 that he could not as yet rank properly vcith tlie con- 
 fessors and martyrs of the Church. 
 
 In Ep. 60, § 1, Cyprian, writing to Cornelius in 
 exile, speaks of confessio vestra, confessionis dux. The 
 word martyr, martyrium, does not occur in the Epistle, 
 in connection with either Cornelius or any other 
 sufferer under Gallus. 
 
 In Ep. 61, § 1, Cyprian, writing to the new bishop, 
 Lucius, speaks of him (Lucius) as "by the grace of 
 God confessor pariter et nacerdos." He has been in 
 exile and has returned, and yet is no more than a 
 confessor. In § 2 he explains that the martyrium of 
 the Three Children was not invalidated because they 
 were saved from death. He adds, " In the case of 
 the confessors of Christ, the postponement of their 
 T 
 
290 The Deciaii Persecution. 
 
 iiiai-tijriiiiii does not lessen the glory of their rnn- 
 fiiftsio, it only gives evidence of the richness of God's 
 protection. . . Lucius, again, in his i-oufc-^^ii) was 
 ready to endure any torture, but God delivered him. 
 He now is a priest who can by practice as well 
 as by precept call upon his people to take up the 
 weapons of confuado and endure inaiiijrium." 
 
 In § 3 he speaks for the first time of Cornelius as 
 heatu^ mart//r. 
 
 In § 4 Lucius is still a cvnfessm; while Cyprian sug- 
 gests that he and his party were recalled from exile 
 that their noble actions might not be hidden, as 
 possibly would have been the case had the uiarfyrimu 
 of the confessio of each one of them been consummated 
 in distant exile. 
 
 In Ep. 68, § 5, Cyprian writes to Stephanus, the 
 successor of Lucius, saying that he must " keep alive 
 the memory of his predecessors Cornelius and Lucius, 
 heati martyres." Thus Lucius is now named martyr. 
 They are both in glorioso martyrio con^ituti.^ "What 
 had made the difference between their confessio and 
 martyrium ? 
 
 ^re have no reason to believe that either of them 
 met a violent death, or died as the result of torture or 
 ill-treatment. The 'Liberian Catalogue' (354 a.d.2) 
 calls Cornelius and Lucius e.nles and confe^soi-s, while 
 
 1 Cf. also Cyprian, Ep. 69 (H., p. 752, 12) : " Apud Cor- 
 nelium, quern prfeter sacerdotii honorem martyrio quoque 
 Domiiiu.9 glorificavit." 
 
 - Gcirres, Kirche und Statt, p. 598. 
 
Martyr and Confessor. 291 
 
 relating tliat both Fabiaiuis (250) and Sixtus II. (i358) 
 "jMsd .^ant." On the other hand, in the 'Liber Pim- 
 tificalis ' (ed. Duchesne, p. 65 f.) we read of Fabianus, 
 CorneHus, and Lucius, that each " martyrio coronatur." 
 On the tombstone of Cornelius the hand which wrote 
 his name wrote at the same time Maetye immediately 
 after it ; while the resting-place of Lucius was marked 
 merely by his name, followed by no title of martyr, as 
 was originally the case with Fabianus, who reposes in 
 the same vault, the " crypt of the popes," and whose 
 title in Greek characters, MP, was plainly added at a 
 later date. 
 
 This comparison of evidence shows that the claims 
 of Cornelius to marfynum are far stronger than those 
 of Lucius ; for Cornelius died in exile, and might con- 
 ceivably have succumbed to the hardships which it 
 entailed, whereas Lucius was neither exposed to the 
 risk of persecution under Decius, as was Cornelius 
 (Cyprian, Ep. 55, § 9), nor was he tortured under 
 Gallus, nor did he die in exile. 
 
 11. "We must now look at a different side of the 
 question. Aubespine ('De Vet. Eccl. Eit. Observv.,' 
 21, p. 152) writes: " Martyres ii solum vere sint 
 existimandi qui morte aut aliqua leviori poena mulctati 
 essent, confessores vero qui ante magistratum constituti, 
 nomen fidemque Christi constanter et impavide professi 
 fuissent." This distinction is very much the same as 
 that observed by Miiller (' Bussinstitution in Karthago 
 unter Cyprian,' p. 6) ; both may have been imprisoned, 
 
292 The Dcciaii Persecution. 
 
 but a coiife^soi' does not become a martijr till he dies 
 or has been tortured. (Cf. Ep. 61, § 2, "Dilata mar- 
 tyria non meritum confessionis minuunt ; " and § 4, 
 " Confessionis oonsummata martyria.") 'Si. Aube, on 
 the other hand (pp. 288, 300), regards the two expres- 
 sions as used synonymously, and applied to any who 
 have confessed at the risk of their life, or have actually 
 suffered death in prison, either after regular sentence, 
 or after torture, or from the hardships of prison life. 
 He adds that Cyprian applied the double title to those 
 Christians at Carthage who were in prison awaiting 
 their turn to appear ; and even though some of these 
 were set at liberty before their trial, they still retained 
 their title in Cyprian's estimation. The readiness to 
 suffer and to die was sufficient. But the collocation 
 martyres et confessores is so frequent {e.g., Ep. 20, H., 
 p. 528, 6) that some distinction between the two terms 
 seems to be necessary, if Cyprian is to be allowed to 
 mean anything by the double phrase. It is obvious 
 that martyreg might be living (of. Ep. 20, H., p. 528, 
 2, "Exambire ad martyras passim"), and therefore 
 Miiller's distinction has some point, wheieas Aube's 
 account makes the phrase a mere repetition. "We 
 should prefer to state the technical difference thus : 
 those who appeared before the local court of inquiry, 
 and were remanded for further examination, or were 
 banished (Ep. 10, H., p. 490, 6), were confessors ; but 
 immediately that the torture had been applied (in the 
 presence of the proconsul) they became marfyrs, and 
 the category included those who died under the 
 
Martyr and Confessor. 293 
 
 severities of their imprisonment.-' This is directly 
 confirmed by the address of Cyprian's Epistle 6, which 
 is to the confessores, whereas Epistle 10, written later, 
 is to the same people, who are now martyres et con- 
 fessm-es, for the proconsul has arrived and torture has 
 begun (cf. Ep. 10, H., p. 492, 14, "Vox . . . de 
 martyris ore prorupit, cum Mappalicus . . . inter 
 cruciatus suos proconsuli diceret "). The whole of 
 Epistle 10 is very instructive on the subject of the 
 distinction. In sec. 1 we find that the- exile into 
 which the first tribunal might send recalcitrants was 
 borne confessions perstanti. In the same section 
 Cyprian writes that of those who had to face the 
 torture (under the proconsul) some had already received 
 martyrdom, the "crown of confession," as having 
 undergone the torture, others were close to the 
 "crown" {i.e., they would soon be tortured), but 
 that all who had been imprisoned were ready to sufi^er 
 for their faith. In sec. 2 he writes to those who had 
 been tortured of the consummatio rjlorice (which is 
 equivalent to inartyrium, as is shown by passages we 
 have before quoted). In sec. 4 he calls upon those 
 yet untortured to follow the example of the heatus 
 martyr Mappalicus, and of those who had suffered 
 with him, in order that the link between them which 
 had been formed by their common eonfessio et hos- 
 pitium carceris might be strengthened by the consum- 
 
 1 Cyprian, Ep. 12 (H., p. 503, 12) : " Cum voluntati et eon- 
 fessioni noatree ... in earcere accedit et moriendi terminus, 
 consummata raartyrii gloria est." 
 
294 '^^^^ Decian Perseadion. 
 
 matio virtutis et corona ccelestis (i.e., martyrium). 
 In sec. 5 we read of the martyrum samjuis and the 
 maiiyrum cruor. 
 
 One more example will be interesting, as showing 
 how rigidly Cyprian adheres to his own distinction. 
 In Ep. 55, § 5, he writes of INIoyses, who appended 
 his signature to the letter from the Roman clergy (Ep. 
 30) as tmic adhuc confessore nunc martyre suhscrihenie. 
 Now Ep. 30 is later than Ep. 28, and contemporaneous 
 with Ep. 31, belonging to about June 250, and in 
 these three letters the Roman confessors, as we shall 
 show, were looking forward to the torture, and were 
 merely coiifessores. In Ep. 37, however, which be- 
 longs to October 250, Cyprian adverts to the tortures 
 the Roman confessors had now undergone, and men- 
 tions their martyrium expressly, four times at least : 
 thus Moyses is now a martyr, not because he was the 
 only Roman confessor who had died when Cyprian 
 wrote Ep. 55, but because between the time of his 
 agreeing to the letter of the Roman clergy and the 
 time of Cyprian's writing he had undergone the tor- 
 ture, and thus exchanged mere confessorship for mar- 
 tyrdom. In proof of our assertion that the phraseology 
 of Epp. 28-31 diifered expressly from that of Ep. 37, 
 we adduce the following examples. Ep. 28, § 1 . 
 " You were called upon [at Rome] to take the first 
 step, and led the resistance with auspicious success, 
 although it so fell out that Carthage saw the first 
 martynloms consummated by torture ; ne^'ertheless 
 you, who set so good an example, enjoy equal honour 
 with the niarfynf. Your hands plaited the crowns 
 
Martyr and Confessor. 295 
 
 which you sent across the sea for the heads of your 
 brethren at Carthage." § 2 : "I congratulate you on 
 your crown of obedience as warmly as I congratulate 
 the martyrs here." In Ep. 31, § 1, the Roman con- 
 fessors write : " Possibly the sole reason for our having 
 been so long detained in prison was that we should 
 wait for the encouragement which your letters would 
 give us to move forward with greater gladness to the 
 crown that awaits us " {i.e., the corona inaHyrii, after 
 torture). § 3 again points to tortures in the future. 
 In § 5 they say : " If we have not yet shed our blood, 
 we have at least been ready to do so for a long time. 
 
 . . Pray that every day may see us more fully 
 strengthened to meet our trial." In Ep. 37 the 
 whole scene is changed ; we read (§ 2 fin.) : " You 
 shed your blood, and drink with gladness the cup of 
 martyrdom." In § 3 their tortures are described, and 
 in § -t they are three times referred to as martyrs. 
 
 This long series of examples proves clearly that 
 Cyprian, in his writings belonging to 250 and 251, 
 observed with the utmost precision the distinction 
 which he laid down between the two words. ^ 
 
 III. Now Cornelius, to secure Cyprian's verdict of 
 martyrdom, ought either to have been tortured or to 
 
 ' A hint that the distinction was his may be gathered from 
 the spurious treatise, ' De duplici martyrio ' (H., vol. iii.), § 31 : 
 " Ecclesife usus martyres apjiellaus eos qui violenta morte de- 
 cesserunt, confessores qui con.stanter in eruciatibus ao minis 
 mortis professi sunt nomen Domini Jesu, parati mortem op- 
 petere vel potius martyrii supremam cornnam ambientes.'' 
 
296 The Decian Persecution. 
 
 have died in prison. That he did neither one nor the 
 other is almost certain. But he died in enforced exile 
 away from Eome and his Church, which for a man in 
 his position was in every sense as painful as imprison- 
 ment. IS.0 impression would be more likely to arise 
 than that he had succumbed to the hardships of his 
 r.xile : he would thus readily come into the category of 
 those whom Cyprian (Ep. 12, H., p. -503, 12) accepts 
 as martyrx — viz., those " quorum voluntati et con- 
 fessioni in carcere et vinculis accedit et moriendi 
 terminus." 
 
 The case of Lucius was very similar to that of Cor- 
 nelius. Both suffered banishment, and both died 
 within a year of leaving Eome, although Lucius re- 
 turned before his death. A concession had been 
 made in the case of Cornelius, and as there was so 
 much in common between the sufferings of Lucius 
 and Cornelius, a further concession would be easy, 
 especially as with the passage of time and the altered 
 circumstances the distinction could not be as care- 
 fully observed as in the thick of the persecution ; 
 and, further, such an exception would be a fitting 
 token of regard for the memory of two bishops who 
 had piloted the Church through this stormy crisis in 
 her history. 
 
 Our conclusion then is that neither was technically 
 {i.e., in Cyprian's rigid use of the word) a martyr, but 
 that by a slight transference of meaning' — explicable 
 under the particular circumstances — Cyprian has con- 
 ceded the title to both Cornelius and Lucius. It 
 seems unlikely that Cyprian, who has hitherto main- 
 
Martyr and Confessor. 297 
 
 tained so careful a distinction, should here employ the 
 word " in a comprehensive sense, meaning ' confessoi',' 
 as generally in the Early Church." ^ 
 
 ^ Dr Gorres in F, X. Kraus, Real-Encyclopiidie, Christen- 
 verfolgung, p. 238. In the same place he says that De Rossi 
 regards Cornelius, S. Basnage Lucius, and Neander both, as 
 martyrs in the persecution. Dr Gorres takes Lipsius's view, 
 and regards them merely as exiles. In an editor's note on 
 the passage, F. X. Kraus entirely disagrees with Gorres, and 
 maintains unhesitatingly the martyrdom of Cornelius. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Abdon, 107. 
 
 Abrytus, 14, 269. 
 
 Aceshis, 208. 
 
 Achatius, 111, 2-3.3 tf., 241. 
 
 'Acta Sanctorum,' 70, 76, 105, 
 
 113, 232, 262, 263 ff. 
 ^milianus, 76, 96, 106, 226, 
 
 285. 
 ^milius, 132. 
 
 Africa, province of, 63, 67, 146. 
 African Synod, 203, 275. 
 Agatha, Saint, 113. 
 a&eot, 57, 63. 
 
 Alexander, African martyr, 151. 
 Alexander, Bishop of Jerusalem, 
 
 225, 226, 231. 
 Alexander, Egyptian martyr, 
 
 217. 
 Alexander Severus, 35, 37, 38, 
 
 43, 44, 52. 
 Alexander's Island, 155. 
 Ale.xandria, 42, 45, 65, 211, 
 
 221. 
 Alexandrian Chronicle, 43. 
 Alexandrian coins, 5. 
 Ammonarium, 217. 
 Anatolia, 106. 
 Anteros, Bishop of Konu^. 94, 
 
 95. 
 
 Antoniauus, 139, 159, 194. 
 
 Antonines, the, 49. 
 
 Antoninus Pius, 30. 
 
 Apologies, 30, 32. 
 
 Aquila, 214. 
 
 Arabians, Heresy of the, 63. 
 
 Aristides, 30. 
 
 Ariston, 142. 
 
 Asclepiades, 249 f. 
 
 io-cW!, 89. 
 
 Asia, 67. 
 
 Assuras, 134. 
 
 Astarte, 50. 
 
 Asturica, 112. 
 
 Ater, 218. 
 
 Athens, 65. 
 
 Augendus, deacon, 188. 
 
 Augustine, Saint, 63, 278. 
 
 Aurelian, 2, 22. 
 
 Aurelius, martyr at Carthage, 
 
 138, 142, 144, 146, 148, 170. 
 Aurelius Diogenes, libellaticus, 
 
 155, 222. 
 
 Babylas. Bishop of Autioch, 
 
 225, 231. 
 Balkans, the, 12, 26.'l. 
 Banishment, 81, 87. 
 Baronius, Cardin.al, 82, 232. 
 
Index. 
 
 299 
 
 Basilides, Bishop of Legio, 112, 
 
 158. 
 Bassus, 142. 
 Bercea, 12. 
 Besas, 217. 
 Bishops, attack upon the, 38, 
 
 75, 275. 
 Bona, 132. 
 Britain, 67. 
 
 Brugsch Collection, 153. 
 Bubalia, 3. 
 Burial clubs, 33. 
 
 CsBcilian, 116. 
 
 Cfesar, cult of the, 49. 
 
 C;esar, military and civil, 25. 
 
 Casarea in Cappadocia, 39. 
 
 Cssarea in Palestine, 39, 225. 
 
 Caldonius, 147, 193, 231. 
 
 Callistus, 94, 106, 284. 
 
 Calocerus, 75, 106. 
 
 Calpuruius, 105. 
 
 Candida, 103. 
 
 Capsa, 79, 145. 
 
 Caracalla, 35, 94. 
 
 Carpi, 10. 
 
 Carpus, Papylus, and Agathon- 
 
 ice, Acts of, 244, 261. 
 Carthage, 65, 73, 115 f., 165, 
 
 173. 
 Castor and Pollux, Temple of, 6. 
 Castus, 132. 
 Cataphryges, 236. 
 CathoUat, lex, 236. 
 Celerinus, 102, 105, 109, 111, 
 
 141, 146, 166. 
 Censor, 18. 
 
 Centiimcellai, 280, 282. 
 Chseremon, deacon, 214. 
 Chferemon, Bishop of Nilopolis, 
 
 220. 
 Christianity, an illicit religion, 
 
 28, 53, 57, 87, 90. 
 ' Chronicon Paschale,' 226, 244. 
 Chrysostom, 43. 
 Church discipline, 64, QQ. 
 Cicero, 58. 
 
 Class persecutions, 37. 
 Claudius, Emperor, 2. 
 Clementianus, 138, 145. 
 
 Cniva, 10, 12. 
 
 Coins, Ale-xandrian, 5 — Decian, 
 15 n., 21. 
 
 CoUecta, 105. 
 
 Commentarius, 259. 
 
 Commodus, Emperor, 32, 61. 
 
 Confessor, distinction between 
 Martyr and, 289 tf. 
 
 Confessors, 161 ff. 
 
 Constantine, Emperor, 208. 
 
 Cornelius, Bishop of Kome, 75, 
 93, 96, 97, 98, 102, 105, 110, 
 111, 189, 191-208, 267, 275, 
 280, 282, 284, 289, 295. 
 
 (Jredula, 142. 
 
 Crementius, 122. 
 
 Cronion, 217. 
 
 Cybele, 50. 
 
 Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, 
 guilty of sacrilegium, 89 — his 
 conversion, 116 — his char- 
 acter, 117 — retires into exile, 
 116 — reasons for his action, 
 118 — property confiscated, 
 119— care for the Church, 121 
 — correspondence with the 
 Roman clergy, 121 ff. — directs 
 the Church from a distance, 
 139 — gives directions with 
 regard to the lapsi, 142 — 
 orders a pro-episcopal visita- 
 tion, 147 — his exile extended, 
 148— his opinion concerning a 
 libellaticus, 158 — champions 
 the cause of the bishops, 162 
 — refuses to comply with the 
 demands of the confessors and 
 kqisi, 163 — he is by nature 
 inclined to rigorism, 164, 197 
 — the four presbyters, 167 ff. 
 — Lucianus offends, 169 ff, 
 177 — the inresbyters excom- 
 municated, 176, 185— receives 
 support from Rome, 181 — 
 partial submission of the lupsi, 
 182 — hesitates whether to rec- 
 ognise Cornelius, 192, 193 — 
 recognises him as bishop, 110 
 — his epistle to Antonianus, 
 194 — he entreats the Roman 
 
300 
 
 Index. 
 
 confessors to return to their 
 allegiance, 201 — holds the 
 African Synod, 203, 206, 275 
 
 — his courage during the 
 plague, 221 — proscribed in 
 the reign of Gallus, 275— the 
 people shout for him in the 
 amphitheatre, 279 — his dies 
 natalis, 283 — congratulates 
 Lucius on his safe return, 287 
 — his use of the words incirtyr 
 and confessor^ 289 ff. 
 
 Cyril of Gortyna, 242. 
 
 Dacia, 10, 67. 
 
 Danube, provinces on the, 5, 8. 
 
 Dativa, 1(15. 
 
 Decimus, 132. 
 
 Decius, Herennius Etruscus, 7. 
 
 Decius, Quintus Trajanus, conies 
 from Pannonia, 2 — his origin, 
 3 — Imperator, 4 — full title, 7 
 — public works, 8 — success in 
 Dacia, 10 — defeated at Beraa, 
 12 — at Abrytus, 14, 269 — 
 death, 15 — character, 16 f. 
 
 — reforms, 25 — claims the 
 throne, 42. 
 
 Delatio, 136. 
 
 Demetrianus, 280. 
 
 Dida, 175. 
 
 Diocletian, Emperor, 2, 52, 55, 
 106, 221, 278. 
 
 Dionysia, an Egyptian, 217. 
 
 Dionysia, atLampsacus, 220, 238. 
 
 Dionysius, Bishop of Alex- 
 andria, 42, 72, 75, 124, 197, 
 208, 210, 212 ff., 221, 223, 231, 
 263, 273, 278, 286. 
 
 Dionysius of Paris, 114. 
 
 Diosconis, 218. 
 
 Dodwell, 93, 139, 146, 275, 279. 
 
 Doraitian, Emperor, 27, 28. 
 
 Donata, 105. 
 
 Donatus, Bishop of Carthage, 
 116. 
 
 Donatus, martyr, 142. 
 
 Donatus, presbyter, 184. 
 
 Edict of Decius, 68 f.— form of, 
 
 82 f.— of Gallus, 72— of Val- 
 erian, 75, 76, 77, 94— of Maxi- 
 min Daza, 72. 
 
 Edicts, anti-Christian, 31, 34, 74. 
 
 Egypt, pestilence in, 42, 67 — 
 persecution in, 210 ff. 
 
 Egyptian cults, 49. 
 
 tiiaKiAvra., 129. 
 
 Elagabalus, Emperor, 35, 36, 50. 
 
 Emerita, 105. 
 
 Eniesa, 49. 
 
 Ephesus, Decius at, 241. 
 
 Epimachu.s, 217. 
 
 Epolius, 240. 
 
 Ethiopia, 67. 
 
 Euctemon of Smyrna, 79, 247, 
 256, 257, 258. 
 
 Eusebius, deacon, 214. 
 
 Eusebius the historian, 17, 40, 
 43, 63, 68, 82, 94, 210, 224, 
 226, 227. 
 
 Entychianus at Smyrna, 254. 
 
 Eutychianus of Eome, 95. 
 
 Fabianus, Bishop of Rome, 40, 
 
 75, 93, 94, 95, 97, 100, 122, 
 
 231, 284, 291. 
 Fabius, Bishop of Antioch, 93, 
 
 102, 195, 208, 223. 
 Fuhriav, 94. 
 Faioum, the, 153, 222. 
 Faustinus, 214. 
 Faustus, 214. 
 
 Felicissimus, confessor, 136. 
 Felicissimus, deacon of Novatus, 
 
 168, 185-188, 206, 207. 
 Felicitas, 35. 
 Felix, 132. 
 
 Firmilian of Cappadocia, 231. 
 Firmus, 142. 
 Fiscus, 88. 
 Florus, 139, 145. 
 Fortunata, 142. 
 Fortunatianus, Bishop of As- 
 
 suras, 134. 
 Fortunatianus, governor, 150, 
 
 151. 
 Fortunatus, envoy, 193, 231. 
 Fortunatus, presbyter, 184, 207, 
 
Index. 
 
 301 
 
 Fortimio, 142. 
 Fructus, 142. 
 jFriiDientaHiis, 212, 241. 
 Furia Sabina, 41. 
 Fusca, 113. 
 
 Gaius of Diila, 175. 
 
 Gallienus, edict of, 28, 82, 286. 
 
 Galliis, Treboniauns, governor 
 of Mcesia, 11 — his treachery, 
 14, 269 — his persecution, 274, 
 278, 279, 283, 289, 221, 222, 
 226, 285, 288— compared with 
 that of Decins, 277. 
 
 Gaul, 67, 113 — sedition in, 15. 
 
 Genius of the family, 51. 
 
 Germans, 67 — eastern, 10. 
 
 Gibbon, 6, 18, 286. 
 
 Gordianl., 40. 
 
 Gordian III., 40, 41, 44, 253. 
 
 Gordius, 184. 
 
 Goths, the, 10, 11, 13, 111, 270 
 — tribute paid to, 14. 
 
 Gregory Nyssen, 17, 79, 227. 
 
 Gregory Thaumaturgus, 124, 
 228 ff. 
 
 Hadrian, Emperor, 30. 
 
 Helcesaites, the, 63. 
 
 Herculanus, 147. 
 
 Hereda, 142. 
 
 Hereunius, 142. 
 
 Heron, 218. 
 
 Hippolytus of Portus, 39, 87. 
 
 Hostilianus, 271. 
 
 Illyrian army, 23. 
 lUyricum, 2, 7, 9, 10, 285. 
 Ischyrion, 219. 
 Isidorus of Alexandria, 218. 
 Isidorus of Chios, 242. 
 Isis, 49, 50. 
 
 Januaria, 105. 
 
 Jatrus, 10. 
 
 Jerome, 220, 278. 
 
 Jerusalem, fall of, 28. 
 
 Jews at Smyrna, the, 246, 251. 
 
 Jotapianus, 8, 41. 
 
 Jovinus, 134. 
 
 Judaism, 49, 56. 
 
 Julia, 142. 
 
 Julian, Emperor, 63, 247- 
 
 Julianus, 217. 
 
 Julius Valens, 9, 97. 
 
 Justin Martyr, 30. 
 
 Ka.9o.poij ot, 198. 
 
 Lactantius, 17, 279. 
 
 Lambcesis, 206. 
 
 Lampsacus, 220, 238. 
 
 Lapsi, 99, 108, 129, 134, 142, 
 
 161 ff., 222, 280. 
 Lares J 51. 
 
 Laurentius, deacon, 82. 
 Legio, 112. 
 Leonides, 34. 
 Lepidus, 257. 
 Libanius, 107. 
 Libellatici, 129, 158, 204, 205, 
 
 222. 
 Libelli pads, 163 ff. 
 Libelhis, 73, 84, 108, 112, 127, 
 
 153 ff., 210, 222. 
 ' Liber Pontificalis,' 97, 291. 
 Liberian Catalogue, 290. 
 Lightfoot, Bishop, 244. 
 Limnus, 249, 254. 
 Luciaui et Martiani Acta, 240. 
 Ludanus, confessor, 80, 103, 
 
 105, 141-143, 166, 169, 177, 
 
 209. 
 Lucius, Bishop of Rome, 95-97, 
 
 275, 284, 285, 287, 288, 289, 
 
 290, 296. 
 Lucius, confessor, 132. 
 
 Maoar, 217. 
 
 Macarius, 102, 104. 
 
 Macedo, 239. 
 
 Macedonia of Smyrna, 249, 
 
 254. 
 Maorinus, Emperor, 35. 
 Msecenas, 68. 
 Majsa, Julia, 36. 
 Magic, use of, 87, 90. 
 Magna Mater, 46, 49. 
 Maiestas, 36, 87-90. 
 Maninicea, Julia, 36. 
 
30 2 
 
 Index. 
 
 Manes, 51. 
 
 Mappaliuiis, 1.39, 140, li'l. 170, 
 
 293. 
 Marcia, 32. 
 
 Marcionite heresy, 243, 2.59. 
 MarciLs Aurelius, 31, 24.5. 
 Marea, 213. 
 Maria, 105. 
 Martialis. Bishop of Asturiua, 
 
 112, 158. 
 Martiali.s, martyr, 142. 
 Martianus, consularis, 233 ff. 
 Mauretania, 67. 
 Maximln, Emperor, 37, 39, 40, 
 
 46, 52, 54, 68, 83, 87, 226. 
 Maximin Daza, 72, 85. 
 Maximus, Acts of, 236 if. 
 Maximus, bishop and lapsus, 
 
 134. 
 iMaximus, Roman presl ly ter, 100, 
 
 104, 142, 202. 
 Maximus, schismatic bishop at 
 
 Carthage, 195, 207, 208. 
 Mazabanes, Bishop of Jerusalem, 
 
 225. 
 Medon, Bernard, 71. 
 IMelito of Sardis, 32. 
 Mercuria, 217. 
 Metaphrast, 83, 84, 113. 
 INIetrodorus, 243, 244, 259. 
 Mithras, 50. 
 Mcesia, 4, 10, 286. 
 Monimsen, 86. 
 Mons Arabicus, 220. 
 Moutanists, 236. 
 Moyses, martyr at Rome, 100, 
 
 102-105, 110, 142, 190, 195, 
 
 294. 
 
 Naricus, acolyte, 120. 
 Nemeseum, 248, 252, 256, 258. 
 Nemesiauus, 264. 
 Nemesion, 218. 
 Neo-Csesarea, 228 ff. 
 veiiiKopoL, 129 — Polemo, 250 ff. 
 Nero, Emperor, 27. 
 Nestor, 235, 240. 
 Nicaja, 199. 
 Nicephorus, 201. 
 Nicomachus, 238. 
 
 Nicomedia, 241'. 
 
 Nicou, 113. 
 
 Nicopolis, 10, 11. 
 
 Nieostratus, 100. 
 
 Nilopolis, 220. 
 
 Ninus, 79, 138, 145. 
 
 Novatian, 98, 105, 164, 187, 190- 
 
 203, 206-208, 283. 
 Novatianism, 208. 
 Novatus, 168, 184-190, 192, 196, 
 
 197, 201, 203, 206, 207. 
 Numeria, 103. 
 Numidicus, 145-148. 
 
 Onesicrates, 239. 
 
 Optimus, 237. 
 
 Origen, 37, 39, 43, 55, 63, 64, 
 
 67, 87, 225, 226, 231, 279. 
 Orosius, 43, 278. 
 Osiris, 49. 
 Otacilia Severa, 44. 
 
 Pacatianus, Marinus, 4, 42. 
 
 Palestine, 224. 
 
 Pamphylia, 235. 
 
 Pannonia, 2, 9, 10. 
 
 Par<etonium, 214. 
 
 Parthenius, 75, 106. 
 
 Pasbeius, 154, 222, 226, 227. 
 
 Paulus, martyr, 142, 170, 182. 
 
 Penalties for crime, 77, 80. 
 
 Perga, 241. 
 
 Perpetiia, 35, 62. 
 
 Persecution by Decius and Val- 
 erian, 69, 70. 
 
 Persian cults, 49. 
 
 Persians, the, 69. 
 
 Pestilence in the reign of Gallus, 
 221, 272. 
 
 Petri, Pauli, Andreie Acta, 
 
 Philip, '4, 5, 12, 41, 52, 68, 212 
 —Was he a Christian ? 43 f. 
 
 Philippopolis, 11. 
 
 Phrygian cults, 46, 49. 
 
 Pionii Acta, 79, 233, 237, 242 ff., 
 264 If. 
 
 Pionius, 89, 227, 237, 243 ff. 
 
 Pliny, correspondence of, 28, 86. 
 
 Polemo, x-ewKopos, 241, 248 ff. 
 
Index. 
 
 Polycarp, 30, 241, 242, 249, 
 
 2t)4 fl-. 
 Polyeuctus, 82, 241. 
 Poiitianus, Bishop, 39, 87, 107. 
 Poutus, 227. 
 Popular sacrifices, 73. 
 Preliminary tribunal, 78, 127, 
 
 128, 138, 184. 
 Presbyteral council at Rome, 
 
 96, 104, 109, 121. 
 Presbyters at C'arthage, the mal- 
 content, 167 il'., 174. 
 Pri.^cus, Lucius, 12, 13, 68, 97, 
 
 111. 
 Privatus, schismatic bishop, 
 
 134, 206. 
 Proconsular tribunal, 78, 128, 
 
 1.39, 160. 
 Proselytism, 33, 49. 
 Pusilliores, 127. 
 
 Quadratus, 30. 
 
 Quintiliauus, Julius Proclus, 
 237, 244, 260, 261. 
 
 Eainer, Archduke, 154. 
 
 Relirjiu licita, 36, 43. 
 
 Eepostus, schismatic bishop, 
 133, 134. 
 
 Resurrection, Jewish perversion 
 of the, 256. 
 
 Rhine, the, 37. 
 
 Rogatianus, 120, 127, 136, 147. 
 
 Rome, 65, 73, 92 — persecution 
 at, 99 ff. — thousandth anni- 
 versary, 41, 52 — synod at, 99, 
 110, 203. 
 
 Roman idea, the, 19, 24, 48, 55. 
 
 Ruflnus, deacon at Rome, 100. 
 
 Rufinus, historian, 68. 
 
 Sabina, Roman confessor, 105. 
 Sabina of Smyrna, 249 f. 
 Sabinus, /rumentarius, 212. 
 Sacerdos=hishop, 172 n. 
 Siicnficati, 129, 204, 205. 
 Sacrilefjium, crime of, 87-90. 
 Sardinia, 39, 87. 
 Sarmatians, the, 67. 
 Saturninus of Carthage, 1 43, 170. 
 
 Saturninus of Rome, 105. 
 Saturninus of Toulouse, 113, 
 
 114. 
 Scapulam, TertuUian ad, 89. 
 Scriptures translated, the, 63. 
 Scythia, 14, 67. 
 Senate a])pea,sed by Deeins, 6, 
 
 25, 61. 
 Sennen, 107. 
 Seres, the, 67. 
 Sergius, confessor, 136. 
 Seven Sleepers, the, 241. 
 Severianus, refugee at Rome, 
 
 138. 
 Severus, Alexander, 35. 
 Severus, Septimius, 33, 34, 46, 
 
 61. 
 Severus, Sulpicius, 278. 
 Sida, 235, 240. 
 Sidonius, Roman confessor, 102, 
 
 104. 
 Smyrna, 79, 227, 244. 
 Spain, 67, 108. 
 
 Spesina, Roman confessor, 105. 
 Starvation, death by, 80. 
 State religion, 49, 51. 
 Statius, refugee at Rome, 138. 
 Stephanus, Bishop of Rome, 
 
 231 n., 290. 
 Syrian Ctesars, 47, 54. 
 Syrian cults, 35, 36, 46, 49. 
 
 Taposiris, 213. 
 Telesphorus of Rome, 30. 
 Terentius, Acts of, 150 f. 
 TertuUian, 61, 62, 67, 89, 164, 
 
 209. 
 TertuUus, 120, 141. 
 Theodoras, 151. 
 Theoi:»hilus, tWapxo?, 256 f. 
 Thibaris, epistle to people of, 
 
 281. 
 Thracia, 10. 
 Thnrificati, 129. 
 Timotheus, 213. 
 Trajan, the character of, 23 — 
 
 reign of, 27 — rescript of, 87. 
 Trajanus, the name, 7, 23. 
 Trebellius Pollio, 82. 
 Troflmus, lapsus, 199. 
 
504 
 
 Index. 
 
 LTlpiaii, 36. 
 
 Urbnnus, Roman conle><.sor, 102, 
 104. 
 
 Valerian, (Jeusor, 6, 17, 82 — 
 reign .and persecution of, 43, 
 .55, 70, 7,5, 82, 94, 96, 208, 
 226, 263, 286-283. 
 
 Venustu.s, Cartliaginian martyr, 
 142. 
 
 Verona, 5. 
 
 Vettius Gratu.s, 261. 
 
 Victor, Cartli.agiuian martyr, 
 142. 
 
 Victoria, wife of Felix, 1-32. 
 Victorinu.s, Carthaginian mar- 
 tyr, 142. 
 Visitation at Carthage, 147, 184. 
 Voluntary exile, 81, 116, 124. 
 Volusianus, 271. 
 "S'opisous, Sextus Aurelius, 17. 
 
 Xystus, BLshop of Carthage, 
 82. 
 
 Zeno, 151. 
 Zonaras, ^"6. 
 Zosimus, 17. 
 
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