Bettenson's Documents

I have created the paraphrase for today’s reading. It brings us to a point early in the second century and offers us a snapshot of life for the Christians of Bithynia, what is today northern and northwestern Turkey. The first letter is from Pliny the Younger and is addressed to the Roman emperor Trajan. Trajan’s response follows.

Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus (Pliny the Younger), “Letter to the emperor Trajan concerning the Christians in Bithynia,” Letters X.69.

“I make it my custom, Sir, to ask for your help when I find myself in over my head; for there is no one better than you to make clear what I should do and to guide me. Take the matter of these Christians: I have never witnessed a trial of Christians, so I am not sure what weight to give their offenses, or what sentence is appropriate, or how deep an investigation I should conduct. I don’t know if I should make a distinction based on their age. Does it make a difference whether they are minors or adults? Should I dismiss the case if they recant, or am I naïve to think they will truly give up their faith? Is the actual crime that one has become a Christian or do I only prosecute the crimes that follow from the profession of faith? I am confused about all these questions.

“So let me tell you what I have done in the recent trial: My opening practice was simply to ask them if they are Christians. For those who said they are, I repeated the question twice and informed them of the punishment for following Christ. If they still insisted then I gave the order for them to be punished. I reasoned that at the very least anyone who is obstinate and inflexible deserves to be punished. There were some brought to me who were bewitched in the same way, but being Roman citizens I had them sent to Rome (as was their privilege).

“Now, as usually happens when these kinds of cases come up, I received anonymous tips about several other people being Christians but when they were examined they denied the charge completely. These latter people were willing to repeat an oath to the gods, perform ritual offerings before your image and those of the gods, and even added the final touch of cursing the name of Christ. This is in contrast to real Christians who cannot be forced to do these simple things, so I dismissed the charges against these falsely accused.

“Of those I tried for being Christians because they were accused by someone who appeared in person, I had some who admitted it at first, but then denied it right away. I also had some of these accused who said that they used to consider themselves Christians (anywhere from three years to more than twenty years earlier) but did no longer. These latter also worshipped your image and that of the gods and cursed Christ. None of those who recanted ever admitted they engaged in malicious behavior even while confessing their participation in the common rituals of the Christians: assembling on a particular day before dawn, praying to Christ as God, promising never to defraud others, to steal, to commit adultery, to lie, or fail to return a deposit when it was asked for. They also confirmed that when these meetings were over they reconvened in another place to eat together. They reported that they quit gathering altogether when the edict you ordered me to issue, banning these meetings, was promulgated. This made me suspicious of what really underlay these so-called harmless meetings, so I tortured two of their women “deacons” but only got some wild superstition out of them. At this point, I decided to call a recess so that I could consult you.

“I don’t think it is a waste of time for you to think about this matter since the danger is growing. All classes and ranks are affected, and both men and women. This virulent superstition is not only an urban phenomenon, but has spread to small towns and rural areas. But I still think there is time to contain its growth for the following reasons: It seems like worshippers are once again frequenting the official temples, which once were practically deserted. There is renewed interest again in the sacred rites and an increased demand for the meat yielded by the animal sacrifices. The market for those commodities had all but dried up. These encouraging signs make it easy to imagine what could happen if we are lenient with those who are willing to recant the error of Christianity.”

Marcus Ulpius Nerva “Trajan” Traianus, “Emperor Trajan’s response to Pliny the Younger’s Letter concerning the Christians in Bithynia,” in Gaius “Pliny” Plinius Caecilius Secundus, Letters X.70.

“Dearest Secundus, you’re on the right track by looking into the charges against the alleged Christians who were brought before you. These cases are too complex to have a simple rule in dealing with them. My advice is to not go out of your way to find Christians, but if someone brings them up on a charge and a crime is proved they must suffer the consequences. Now if the accused denies he is a Christian and proves it by invoking our gods let him go free (unless there is cause for some further suspicion). Never admit anonymous information in any trial because it is introducing a very dangerous precedent, and is out of keeping with the spirit of our age.”

This exchange of letters between Pliny, the imperial governor of the Roman province of Bithynia, and the Emperor Trajan around the year 111 are remarkable both for the assessment of the growth of Christianity and for the relative restraint in dealing with Christians. Pliny, already highly esteemed by the emperor who appointed him governor, was an old man himself but wrote to Trajan as to a father. He confessed his insecurity in trying Christians and related the classes of people he dealt with in those trials: Admitted Christians, falsely accused non-Christians, and apostates. Note that Pliny suspends the trials when he runs into a problem with the apostates: The accused admitted that they participated in Christian meetings and rituals, but denied that they took part in anything misanthropic (nor apparently witnessed any evil) while doing so. Pliny, whose only knowledge of Christians was second-hand, and who had believed something more sinister took place in these secret meetings of believers was apparently surprised by this revelation and decided to torture two women to get them to reveal something more. What they apparently revealed was theology, which sounded like mumbo-jumbo to Pliny, and did not help him in his quest for the dirty secrets. The last paragraph of the letter reveals his concerns about Christianity. It is growing in numbers of adherents. It has filled a gap in the spirituality of the Empire. It threatens the old order, so closely identified with what it means to be a Roman. Pliny’s optimism about stemming the tide of Christianity sounds comical in retrospect. Perhaps he was even more afraid after the trials when he saw the resolve of the faithful, and could not milk any dark secrets from the apostates.

Trajan’s terse response ignored Pliny’s alarm and went in a surprising direction. The emperor told Pliny not to hunt down Christians, and essentially only try them when you must, and never go to trial on the word of anonymous witnesses. Did Trajan believe Christianity would fizzle out? Did he believe that its growth was only spurred on by persecution? Trajan’s policy toward Christians was followed for the most part by later emperors (with some notable exceptions, like Diocletian). Most persecutions of Christians were local and regional, not empire-wide.