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Pliny the Younger, the Roman governor of
Bithynia and Pontus Bithynia and Pontus ( la, Provincia Bithynia et Pontus, Ancient Greek ) was the name of a province of the Roman Empire on the Black Sea coast of Anatolia (modern-day Turkey). It was formed during the late Roman Republic by the amalgamation of ...
(now in modern Turkey) wrote a
letter Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet. * Letterform, the graphic form of a letter of the alphabe ...
to
Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother (emp ...
Trajan Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presid ...
around AD 112 and asked for counsel on dealing with the early Christian community. The letter (''Epistulae'' X.96) details an account of how Pliny conducted trials of suspected Christians who appeared before him as a result of anonymous accusations and asks for the Emperor's guidance on how they should be treated. Neither Pliny nor Trajan mentions the crime that Christians were supposed to have committed, except for being a Christian; and other historical sources do not provide a simple answer to what that crime could be, but most likely due to the stubborn refusal of Christians to worship Roman gods; making them appear as objecting to Roman rule. Pliny states that he gives Christians multiple chances to affirm they are innocent and if they refuse three times, they are executed. Pliny states that his investigations have revealed nothing on the Christians' part but harmless practices and "depraved, excessive
superstition A superstition is any belief or practice considered by non-practitioners to be irrational or supernatural, attributed to fate or magic, perceived supernatural influence, or fear of that which is unknown. It is commonly applied to beliefs and p ...
." However, Pliny seems concerned about the rapid spread of their practices and views Christian gatherings as a potential starting point for sedition. The letter is the first pagan account to refer to Christianity, providing key information on early Christian beliefs and practices and how these were viewed and dealt with by the Romans.''Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium'' by Bart D. Ehrman (Sep 23, 1999) Oxford UP pages 57-59 The letter and Trajan's reply indicate that at the time of its writing there was no systematic and official
persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire The persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire occurred, sporadically and usually locally, throughout the Roman Empire, beginning in the 1st century CE and ending in the 4th century CE. Originally a Polytheism, polytheistic empire in the trad ...
. There was persecution of Christians before this but only on a local basis, like the
Neronian persecution The persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire occurred, sporadically and usually locally, throughout the Roman Empire, beginning in the 1st century CE and ending in the 4th century CE. Originally a polytheistic empire in the traditions of R ...
in Rome or the expulsion of Jewish-Christians and
Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
from Rome by order of
Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54) was the fourth Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Drusus and Antonia Minor ...
. Trajan's reply also offers valuable insight into the relationship between Roman provincial governors and Emperors and indicates that at the time Christians were not sought out or tracked down by imperial orders, and that persecutions could be local and sporadic. More recently, the authenticity of this letter has been seriously questioned, on the basis of stylometric analysis which seems to strongly indicate that a different person wrote the letter than wrote the others contained in the tenth "book" of Pliny's collected epistles.


Context and overview


Background

Pliny the Younger was the governor of Bithynia and Pontus on the Black Sea coast of Anatolia, having arrived there around September 11 as the representative of Emperor Trajan.''The Early Christian Church'' Volume 1 by Philip Carrington (Aug 11, 2011) Cambridge Univ Press page 429 Pliny likely wrote the letters from
Amisus Samsun, historically known as Sampsounta ( gr, Σαμψούντα) and Amisos ( Ancient Greek: Αμισός), is a city on the north coast of Turkey and is a major Black Sea port. In 2021, Samsun recorded a population of 710,000 people. The ci ...
before his term ended in January 113. The origin of Christianity in that region is not known, but it has not been associated with
Paul the Apostle Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...
's travels. Given the reference to Bithynia in the opening of the
First Epistle of Peter The First Epistle of Peter is a book of the New Testament. The author presents himself as Peter the Apostle. The ending of the letter includes a statement that implies that it was written from " Babylon", which is possibly a reference to Rome. ...
(most likely written during the reign of Domitian in AD 81), Christianity in the region may have had some Petrine associations through
Silas Silas or Silvanus (; Greek: Σίλας/Σιλουανός; fl. 1st century AD) was a leading member of the Early Christian community, who according to the New Testament accompanied Paul the Apostle on his second missionary journey. Name and e ...
. In 111 Bithynia and Pontus was known for being in disorder, and Pliny was selected by Trajan because of his legal training and his past experience.'' Pagan Rome and the Early Christians'' by Stephen Benko (1 Jul 1986) pages 5-7 Pliny was familiar with the region, having defended two of their proconsuls for extortion in the Senate, one case being around AD 103.Paul Krestez "Pliny, Trojan and the Christians" in ''Hitler und Niedergang der römischen Welt'' (Sep 1979) edited by Hildegard Temporini, page 274 However, Pliny had never performed a legal investigation of Christians, and thus consulted Trajan in order to be on solid ground regarding his actions, and saved his letters and Trajan's replies. The way he expressed his lack of familiarity with the procedure may indicate that such prosecutions against Christians had taken place before (namely in Rome), but Pliny had not been involved in them. As governor, Pliny held large influence over all of the residents of his province. This was especially true in the legal treatment of Christians. The Roman legal construct of ''cognitio extra ordinem'' afforded governors a large amount of discretion in deciding legal cases.


Persecution of Christians

Prior to the 249 Decius edict which would require all inhabitants of the Roman Empire to sacrifice to the Roman gods, the
persecution of Christians The persecution of Christians can be historically traced from the first century of the Christian era to the present day. Christian missionaries and converts to Christianity have both been targeted for persecution, sometimes to the point o ...
was based on local determinations.J. B. Rives, "The Decree of Decius and the Religion of Empire", ''The Journal of Roman Studies'', Vol. 89, (1999), pp. 135–15

/ref> Timothy Barnes (classicist), Timothy Barnes characterizes the situation by stating: "Actual persecution…was local, sporadic, almost random". During this period, individual governors treated Christians very differently depending on the public and social issues, e.g.
Tertullian Tertullian (; la, Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus; 155 AD – 220 AD) was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He was the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of La ...
wrote that no Christian blood was shed in Africa prior to 180. Although it is clear that Pliny executed Christians, neither Pliny nor Trajan mention the crime that Christians had committed, except for being a Christian; and other historical sources do not provide a simple answer to this question.''The Power of Sacrifice: Roman and Christian Discourses in Conflict'' by George Heyman (Nov 2007) pp xii–ix Trajan's response to Pliny makes it clear that being known as a "Christian" was sufficient for judicial action. Everett Ferguson states that the charges against Christians by Pliny may have been partly based on the "secret crimes" associated with Christianity, later characterized by Athenagoras as atheism, cannibalistic feasts and incest. The cannibalistic feasts and incest charges were based on misunderstanding of the
Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was institu ...
ic act and Christians being "brothers and sisters", even after marriage. However, the charge of atheism related to the failure to worship the state gods, and made Christianity a superstition and not a religion.''Backgrounds of Early Christianity'' by Everett Ferguson (Aug 19, 2003) pages 504-596 George Heyman states that the refusal of Christians to participate in sacrificial rituals that honored the emperor and instead follow their own sacrificial rhetoric and practices conflicted with the Roman forms of social control, making them an undesirable minority. However Eusebius (E.H. 9.7) asserts that it was fear of the gods being displeased by the Christians' refusal to worship them causing disasters to fall on cities that led to persecution. Ferguson states that Pliny viewed the obstinacy ('' contumacia'') of Christians, as as much of a threat to Roman rule and order as the divergence of their beliefs from the Romans; and considered Christian gatherings as a potential starting point for sedition.


Letter and response


Pliny's letter to Trajan


Opening questions

Pliny opens the letter (sections 1–4) with questions to Trajan concerning trials of Christians brought before him, since he says he has never been present at any trials of Christians. This may indicate that previous trials had taken place and that Pliny was unaware of any existing edicts under Trajan for prosecuting Christians. He has three main questions: :* Should any distinction be made by the age of the Christian? Should the very young be treated differently from mature people? :* Does denying being a Christian mean the accused is pardoned? :* Is the “name” of Christianity itself enough to condemn the accused or is it the crimes associated with being a Christian? (''Nomen ipsum si flagitiis careat an flagitia cohaerentia nomini puniantur.'') A.N. Sherwin-White states that “When the practice of a sect was banned, indictment of the ''nomen'' (“name”), i.e. of membership of a cult group, sufficed to secure conviction. This looked uncommonly like religious persecution to the victims themselves, but the underlying ground remained the ''flagitia'' ("shameful acts") supposed to be inseparable from the practice of the cult.”A. N. Sherwin-White, ''The Letters of Pliny: A Historical and Social Commentary'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1966), 696.


Trial format

Pliny gives an account of how the trials are conducted and the various verdicts (sections 4–6). He says he first asks if the accused is a Christian: if they confess that they are, he interrogates them twice more, for a total of three times, threatening them with death if they continue to confirm their beliefs. If they do not recant, then he orders them to be executed, or, if they are Roman citizens, orders them to be taken to Rome. Despite his uncertainty about the offences connected with being Christian, Pliny says that he has no doubt that, whatever the nature of their creed, at least their inflexible obstinacy (''obstinatio'') and stubbornness, (''pertinacia'') deserve punishment. This shows that, to the Roman authorities, Christians were being hostile to the government and were openly defying a magistrate who was asking them to abandon an unwanted cult. Most notably, the Christians present at these trials Pliny is inquiring about were accused by a privately published anonymous document and not by Pliny nor the empire. There were three categories of accused Pliny mentions with corresponding verdicts. If the accused denied that they had ever been a Christian, then once they had prayed to the Roman gods (in words dictated by Pliny himself), offered incense and wine to images of Trajan and the gods, and cursed Christ – which Pliny says true Christians are unable to do – they were then discharged. Accused who were at one point Christians but had quit the religion also followed the aforementioned procedure and were let go. Sherwin-White says the procedure was approved by Trajan but it was not a way to "compel conformity to the state religion or imperial cult", which was a voluntary practice. Those who confessed to being Christians three times were executed.


Practices of Christians

Pliny then details the practices of Christians (sections 7–10): he says that they meet on a certain day before light where they gather and sing hymns to Christ as to a god. They all bind themselves by oath, "not to some crimes", says Pliny, as though that is what he would have expected; rather, they pledge ''not'' to commit any crimes such as fraud, theft, or adultery, and subsequently share a meal of "ordinary and innocent food". Pliny says, however, that all of these practices were abandoned by the Christians after Pliny forbade any political associations (''hetaeriai'' or "fraternities"). These clubs were banned because Trajan saw them as a "natural breeding ground for grumbling" about both civic life and political affairs. One such instance of a banned club was a firemen's association; likewise, Christianity was seen as a political association that could be potentially harmful to the empire. However the Christians seem to have willingly complied with the edict and halted their practices. Pliny adds that he felt it necessary to investigate further by having two female slaves called deaconesses tortured, which was standard procedure in Roman interrogation of slaves, and discovered nothing but "depraved, excessive superstition" (''superstitio''). By using this word instead of ''religio'', religion, Pliny is "denigrating the Christians' position" because it was outside the religious practices of Rome. The apparent abandonment of the pagan temples by Christians was a threat to the ''
pax deorum The vocabulary of ancient Roman religion was highly specialized. Its study affords important information about the religion, traditions and beliefs of the ancient Romans. This legacy is conspicuous in European cultural history in its influence on ...
'', the harmony or accord between the divine and humans, and political subversion by new religious groups was feared, which was treated as a potential crime. Pliny ends the letter by saying that Christianity is endangering people of every age and rank and has spread not only through the cities, but also through the rural villages as well (''neque tantum ... sed etiam''), but that it will be possible to check it. He argues for his procedure to Trajan by saying that the temples and religious festivals, which before had been deserted, are now flourishing again and that there is a rising demand for sacrificial animals once more – a dip and rise which A. N. Sherwin-White believes is an exaggeration of the toll Christianity had taken on the traditional cult.


Trajan’s response

Trajan's short reply to Pliny affirms Pliny's overall procedure and gives four orders: # Do not seek out the Christians for trial. # If the accused are found guilty of being Christian, then they must be punished. # If the accused deny they are Christians and show proof that they are not by worshipping the gods, then they must be pardoned. # Anonymous accusations should not be considered. Leonard L. Thompson calls the policy "double-edged", since, "on the one hand, Christians were not hunted down. They were tried only if accusations from local provincials were brought against them. But if accused and convicted, then Christians ... were killed simply for being Christians." Therefore, Pliny's view of the treatment of Christians was not necessarily persecution but rather that Christians were executed only when they were brought before him at trial and confessed; however, pardons were also given to those who denied such charges. Ste. Croix says the recommended course of action "was 'accusatory' and not 'inquisitorial'", so that it was never the governors themselves but instead private, local accusers (''
delator Delator (plural: ''delatores'', feminine: ''delatrix'') is Latin for a denouncer, one who indicates to a court another as having committed a punishable deed. Secular Roman law In Roman history, it was properly one who gave notice (''deferre'') ...
es'') who brought forth accusations.


Significance

If it is genuine, Pliny's letter is the earliest pagan account to refer to early Christians and provides a key description of Roman administrative process and problems, and also provides valuable evidence as to the attitudes of the Roman authorities with regard to early Christianity. The document seems to show that the Roman Empire, as a government entity, did not at this time "seek out" Christians for prosecution or persecution. Although Emperor Trajan gives Pliny specific advice about disregarding anonymous accusations, for example, he was deliberate in not establishing any new rules in regard to the Christians. In doing so, Trajan allowed Pliny to try cases according to his discretion. The letter as it is presented supports the existence of the early Christian Church and its rapid growth and speaks to its belief system.


Other Roman sources

Pliny is one of three key Roman authors who refer to
early Christians Early Christianity (up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325) spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and beyond. Originally, this progression was closely connected to already established Jewish centers in the Holy Land and the Jewish ...
, the other two being
Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historiography, Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his t ...
and Suetonius.
Robert E. Van Voorst Robert E. Van Voorst (born June 5, 1952) is an American theologian and educator. He retired in 2018 as a Professor of New Testament Studies at Western Theological Seminary, in Holland, Michigan, and has published scholarly works in early Christ ...
''Jesus Outside the New Testament: An Introduction to the Ancient Evidence'' Eerdmans Publishing, 2000. page 69-70
These authors refer to events which take place during the reign of various Roman emperors, Suetonius writing about an expulsion from Rome of Jews because of disturbances instigated by a certain "Chrestus" during the reign of
Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54) was the fourth Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Drusus and Antonia Minor ...
(41 to 54), and also punishments by Nero (who reigned from 54 to 68),
Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historiography, Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his t ...
referring to Nero's actions after the
Great Fire of Rome The Great Fire of Rome ( la, incendium magnum Romae) occurred in July AD 64. The fire began in the merchant shops around Rome's chariot stadium, Circus Maximus, on the night of 19 July. After six days, the fire was brought under control, but before ...
in 64 AD, while Pliny writes to
Trajan Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presid ...
.P.E. Easterling, E. J. Kenney (general editors), ''The Cambridge History of Latin Literature'', page 892 (Cambridge University Press, 1982, reprinted 1996). But the chronological order for the documentation begins with Pliny writing around 111 AD, then Tacitus writing in the ''
Annals Annals ( la, annāles, from , "year") are a concise historical record in which events are arranged chronologically, year by year, although the term is also used loosely for any historical record. Scope The nature of the distinction between ann ...
'' around 115/116 AD and then Suetonius writing in the '' Lives of the Twelve Caesars'' around 122 AD. Stephen Benko "Pagan Criticism of Christianity" in ''Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt'' edited by Hildegard Temporin et al page''Christianity and the Roman Empire: background texts'' by Ralph Martin Novak 2001 pages 13 and 20


Notes


External links


Full translated text of Pliny's letter and Trajan's reply
{{Authority control 2nd-century Christianity Ancient Roman writers and early Christianity Persecution of early Christians Trajan