Paul Allard (15 September 1841 – 4 December 1916) was a French archaeologist and historian.

Biography

He was admitted to the

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and practised law for a short time in his native city, where he became a judge of the civil court. His literary and his historical tastes induced him to abandon his profession and devote himself to the history of the

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in its first four centuries. He contributed frequently to the '' Revue des Questions Historiques'', of which he became editor in 1904, and to various other publications. In 1874 he translated

James Spencer Northcote James Spencer Northcote (26 May 1821 - 3 March 1907) was an English Catholic priest and writer. He served as president of St Mary's College, Oscott for seventeen years. Life He was the second son of George Barons Northcote. Educated first at Ilm ...

and W. R. Brownlow's ''Roma Sotterranea'', making many additions and annotations to it. An intimate acquaintance with

Giovanni Battista de Rossi Giovanni Battista (Carlo) de Rossi (23 February 1822 – 20 September 1894) was an Italian archaeologist, famous even outside his field for rediscovering early Christian catacombs. Life and works Born in Rome, he was the son of Commendatore C ...

and his own studies along various lines, led him to undertake a history of the persecutions suffered by the Christians at the hand of the Roman authorities. Paul Allard and Alexander de Richemont were all closely united to de Rossi by the interests of their common work. The work was planned on very broad lines. Allard had a minute knowledge of Christian archaeology, especially in regard to the

Roman Catacombs The Catacombs of Rome () are ancient catacombs, underground burial places in and around Rome, of which there are at least forty, some rediscovered since 1578, others even as late as the 1950s. There are more than fifty catacombs in the underg ...

; he had studied the condition of the Christian slaves, and had a thorough acquaintance with

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and the administrative and constitutional history of Rome.

''History of the Persecutions''

The main idea of Allard's ''History of the Persecutions'' is that the Christians were unjustly treated by the Roman authorities. He did not acknowledge any incompatibility between the spread of Christianity and the permanence of the

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, though the acceptance of Christianity by the people necessarily implied the eradication of the old Roman beliefs. The action of the Roman authorities he regarded as ill-advised and brutal. According to Allard, their treatment of the Christians arose from no reasons of statesmanship or adherence to traditional policy, but was based entirely on low and unworthy motives. The causes of the persecutions he finds in the blind hatred of the Roman authorities against this "third race", in fanaticism, or popular fury. His conclusions have not been generally accepted.

Works

His principal works are * ''Rome souterraine'', Paris, Didier, 1872. * ''Les Esclaves chrétiens depuis les premiers temps de L’Église jusqu’à la fin de la domination romaine en Occident'', Didier, 1876. * ''L’Art païen sous les empereurs chrétiens'', Didier, 1879. * ''Histoire des persécutions pendant la première moitié du troisième siècle (Septime Sévère, Maximin, Dèce)'', Paris, V. Lecoffre, 1881. * ''Histoire des persécutions pendant les deux premiers siècles'', V. Lecoffre, 1892. * ''La Persécution de Dioclétien et le triomphe de L’Église'', 2 vols. V. Lecoffre, 1890. * ''Le Christianisme et l’empire romain, de Néron à Théodose'', V. Lecoffre, 1896. * ''Les Dernières Persécutions du troisième siècle (Gallus, Valérien, Aurélien)'', V. Lecoffre, 1898. * ''Esclaves, serfs et mainmortables'', V. Palmé; Brussels, J. Albanel; Geneva, H. Trembley, 1883. * ''Études d’histoire et d’archéologie'', V. Lecoffre, 1898. * ''Saint Basile (329-379)'', V. Lecoffre, 1903. * ''Julien l’apostat'', 2 vols. V. Lecoffre, 1900. * ''St Sidoine Apollinaire, 431-489'', Paris, J. Gabalda, 1910. * ''La Maison des martyrs Saints Jean et Paul au Mont Celius'', Rome, Vespasiani, 1900.

References

External links

Histoire des persécutions en 5 volumes
Histoire des persécutions pendant les deux premiers siècles

Histoire des persécutions pendant la première moitié du troisième siècle

Les dernières persécutions du troisième siècle

La persécution de Dioclétien et le triomphe de l'Eglise part 1

La persécution de Dioclétien et le triomphe de l'Eglise part 2
+ index alphabétique des 5 tomes Other works * {{DEFAULTSORT:Allard, Paul People from Rouen 1841 births 1916 deaths 19th-century French historians 20th-century French historians French historians of religion French archaeologists English–French translators French male non-fiction writers Members of the Ligue de la patrie française 19th-century French translators Contributors to the Catholic Encyclopedia