Pliny the Younger and Trajan on the Christians

Pliny the Younger was governor of Pontus and Bithynia from 111-113 CE. We
have a whole set of exchanges of his letters with the emperor Trajan on a
variety of administrative political matters. These two letters are the most
famous, in which Pliny the Younger encounters Christianity for the first time.

Pliny the Younger, Letters 10.96-97

Pliny the Younger to the Emperor Trajan

It is my practice, my lord, to refer to you all matters concerning which I am
in doubt. For who can better give guidance to my hesitation or inform my
ignorance? I have never participated in trials of Christians. I therefore do not
know what offenses it is the practice to punish or investigate, and to what
extent. And I have been not a little hesitant as to whether there should be any
distinction on account of age or no difference between the very young and the
more mature; whether pardon is to be granted for repentance, or, if a man has
once been a Christian, it does him no good to have ceased to be one; whether the
name itself, even without offenses, or only the offenses associated with the
name are to be punished.

Meanwhile, in the case of those who were denounced to me as Christians, I
have observed the following procedure: I interrogated these as to whether they
were Christians; those who confessed I interrogated a second and a third time,
threatening them with punishment; those who persisted I ordered executed. For I
had no doubt that, whatever the nature of their creed, stubbornness and
inflexible obstinacy surely deserve to be punished. There were others possessed
of the same folly; but because they were Roman citizens, I signed an order for
them to be transferred to Rome.

Soon accusations spread, as usually happens, because of the proceedings going
on, and several incidents occurred. An anonymous document was published
containing the names of many persons. Those who denied that they were or had
been Christians, when they invoked the gods in words dictated by me, offered
prayer with incense and wine to your image, which I had ordered to be brought
for this purpose together with statues of the gods, and moreover cursed
Christ--none of which those who are really Christians, it is said, can be forced
to do--these I thought should be discharged. Others named by the informer
declared that they were Christians, but then denied it, asserting that they had
been but had ceased to be, some three years before, others many years, some as
much as twenty-five years. They all worshipped your image and the statues of the
gods, and cursed Christ.

They asserted, however, that the sum and substance of their fault or error
had been that they were accustomed to meet on a fixed day before dawn and sing
responsively a hymn to Christ as to a god, and to bind themselves by oath, not
to some crime, but not to commit fraud, theft, or adultery, not falsify their
trust, nor to refuse to return a trust when called upon to do so. When this was
over, it was their custom to depart and to assemble again to partake of
food--but ordinary and innocent food. Even this, they affirmed, they had ceased
to do after my edict by which, in accordance with your instructions, I had
forbidden political associations. Accordingly, I judged it all the more
necessary to find out what the truth was by torturing two female slaves who were
called deaconesses. But I discovered nothing else but depraved, excessive
superstition.

I therefore postponed the investigation and hastened to consult you. For the
matter seemed to me to warrant consulting you, especially because of the number
involved. For many persons of every age, every rank, and also of both sexes are
and will be endangered. For the contagion of this superstition has spread not
only to the cities but also to the villages and farms. But it seems possible to
check and cure it. It is certainly quite clear that the temples, which had been
almost deserted, have begun to be frequented, that the established religious
rites, long neglected, are being resumed, and that from everywhere sacrificial
animals are coming, for which until now very few purchasers could be found.
Hence it is easy to imagine what a multitude of people can be reformed if an
opportunity for repentance is afforded.

Trajan to Pliny the Younger

You observed proper procedure, my dear Pliny, in sifting the cases of those
who had been denounced to you as Christians. For it is not possible to lay down
any general rule to serve as a kind of fixed standard. They are not to be sought
out; if they are denounced and proved guilty, they are to be punished, with this
reservation, that whoever denies that he is a Christian and really proves
it--that is, by worshiping our gods--even though he was under suspicion in the
past, shall obtain pardon through repentance. But anonymously posted accusations
ought to have no place in any prosecution. For this is both a dangerous kind of
precedent and out of keeping with the spirit of our age.

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