Chapter 3: Persecution of “The Way” HISTORY OF THE CHURCH

Chapter 3: Persecution of “The

Way”HISTORY OF THE CHURCH

ANTICIPATORY SET Read aloud the section “Mad Caligula” (p. 98), and then

discuss Emperor Nero.

1. The First Roman Persecutions (pp. 94–100)

BASIC QUESTIONS What was the nature of the first Roman persecutions? What persecutions did Christians face under

Domitian?

KEY IDEAS Emperor Nero launched a brutal persecution of

Christians, scapegoating them for the burning of Rome, for which he himself was rumored to have been responsible.

Emperor Domitian persecuted Christians, and Roman officials permitted mobs to attack them.


FOCUS QUESTIONS In the beginning, what did the Roman rulers consider the

Christians to be? They considered the Christians to be a small sect of schismatic Jews. What actions show Nero’s evil character even before his

persecution of the Christians? He murdered his mother; renounced and slandered his wife before

having her beheaded; and forced Seneca, the noble statesman, to commit suicide.

How is Emperor Nero depicted in his sculpture with Seneca

(cf. p. 96)? Nero is portrayed as a youth, strong physically, handsome, and

dressed elegantly. At the same time he is slouching in his throne and looking down arrogantly at Seneca, his teacher.


GUIDED EXERCISE Complete a Think/Pair/Share on the two paragraphs

“Early on the night…” and “The middle and lower…” (p. 96) using the following question:

Why was Rome, and ancient cities in general, particularly susceptible to fire?


FOCUS QUESTIONS Why is it thought that Nero had set the fire that

destroyed much of Rome? Nero intended to seize private property in the center of

Rome to build himself a new palace. Nero was rumored to have set the fire to clear the buildings.

Why did Nero blame the Christians of Rome for the

fire? Nero wanted to remove suspicion from himself. He

arrested and tortured several Christians, extracted forced confessions from them, and then ordered a large number of Christians arrested.


FOCUS QUESTION What did Nero do to Christians during the first

persecution? This first persecution, which took place in the City of

Rome, was brutal. Christians were sewn into animal skins so huge that hungry dogs would devour them. He had hundreds of live Christians coated with pitch and resin and burned as human torches to light his way as he passed through his gardens and along the streets at night.


GRAPHIC ORGANIZER Work with a partner to complete the following table about

the Jewish and Roman persecutions of Christians.



FOCUS QUESTIONS Describe Caligula’s family life. Caligula’s mother and brothers were butchered when he

was a teenager. He committed incest with three of his sisters.

How could Caligula be described as sadistic? Caligula sexually abused men, women, children, and

babies. He delighted in watching torture and executions.

What was Caligula’s fate? Caligula was murdered by two of his guards, who then

killed the rest of his family.


FOCUS QUESTIONS What was Nero’s principle for dealing with

Christians? Nero’s principle was Christiani non sunt: Let the

Christians be exterminated. How is it known that Nero persecuted Christians? It was reported by the Roman historian Tacitus and the

Church historian Eusebius.


FOCUS QUESTION What was Nero’s fate? The aristocracy in Rome was alienated by Nero’s

murders of his mother and wife. After revolts against Roman rule broke out in Judea, Gaul, Africa, and Spain, the army turned against Nero, and he committed suicide.


FOCUS QUESTIONS Why was it a good idea for dictators like Domitian

to make friends with the army? In a dictatorship, the armed forces have the ultimate

power over life and death. He who controls the army controls the nation.

What is the significance of the title Dominus et

Deus with respect to Emperor Domitian? “Lord and God” indicates Domitian considered himself—

or wanted others to consider him—a god.


FOCUS QUESTION Why did Domitian see the spread of Christianity as

a problem, and what steps did he take to stop it? Christianity was spreading from the lower classes to the

aristocracy, Domitian’s own class. He murdered his cousin, an office-holding Christian, and levied a special tax on Christians and Jews to pay for a pagan temple.


FOCUS QUESTIONS What does vox populi mean? “The voice of the people” during the time of the early

Church often meant ignorant, mob actions, especially those taken against Christians.

What was the result of the power of the vox

populi? Mobs looted and destroyed Christian churches,

cemeteries, and homes. Civil authorities tortured and killed Christians to provide an outlet for the people’s anger.


FOCUS QUESTION Of what were Christians accused by the common

people? Because Christians would not sacrifice to the pagan

gods, common people accused Christians of being irreligious and atheistic. All kinds of wild practices were attributed to Christians including the sacrifice of babies, drinking their blood, and casting evil spells. Christians also became scapegoats for natural calamities such as floods and famines.


CLOSURE Free write for five minutes about why Nero persecuted

Christians.


HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT Study Questions 1–3 (p. 125) Practical Exercise 1 (p. 125) Workbook Questions 1–21 Read “The Five Good Emperors” through “Ad Metalla”

(pp. 101–107)


ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT Use the completed Graphic Organizer on page 97 to

write a paragraph comparing the first Jewish and Roman persecutions of Christians.


ANTICIPATORY SET Analyze the mosaic on page 100, and then discuss the

following questions:

What does the mosaic depict? What does this mosaic reveal about the character of

the Roman people? Is the depiction in this mosaic similar to anything in

contemporary culture?

2. The Five Good Emperors (pp. 101–107)

BASIC QUESTION How did the persecutions of the Christians develop

after Domitian? KEY IDEA Trajan’s Rescript declared it a capital crime to profess

Christianity. Hadrian’s Rescript advised that Christians should not be prosecuted solely for professing Christ, which was reversed under Marcus Aurelius. St. Justin Martyr defended Christianity to the Roman senate and emperor.


FOCUS QUESTIONS Why were the Five Good Emperors called “good”? The five emperors following Domitian were good

because they were skillful leaders of the empire. They were relatively stable persons who secured the empire’s borders.

Were the Five Good Emperors good for Christians? The first four were more moderate toward Christians

than Domitian had been, but they still persecuted them. Extension: Hadrian eradicated the Jews in the Holy Land.


FOCUS QUESTION Why was Trajan a successful emperor from the

Roman point of view? Trajan treated abandoned children and the poor

humanely, achieved military glory for himself and Rome, undertook many public works projects, extended the territory of the empire, and ruled nearly twenty years.


GRAPHIC ORGANIZER Work with a partner to complete the following table

about the content of Trajan’s Rescript.



FOCUS QUESTIONS What was the origin of Trajan’s Rescript (AD 112)? Pliny the Younger, one of Trajan’s governors, asked his

advice concerning the persecution and punishment of Christians. Trajan’s Rescript is his reply.

What did Pliny’s letter reveal about the spread of

Christianity? By his time Christians existed across all strata of society

and lived in rural areas as well as urban centers. What choices did denounced Christians have? They could have renounced the Faith or have been

sentenced to death.


FOCUS QUESTIONS Why was St. Ignatius of Antioch an important

writer? His direct contact with the Apostles Sts. Peter and John

give his writings special authority. Who persecuted St. Ignatius of Antioch, and why? He was arrested under Emperor Trajan for being the

Bishop of Antioch.


FOCUS QUESTION Why did St. Ignatius of Antioch ask Christians not

to intervene with the pagan officials when he was on his way to Rome?

St. Ignatius was afraid the Christians of Rome might persuade the pagan officials to spare his life. He wanted to be God’s wheat, ground by the teeth of wild beasts, so he could be Christ’s pure bread.


GUIDED EXERCISE Review the concept of bread and circuses (cf. p. 15).

Perform a Focused Reading of the sidebar “The Coliseum” (p. 103) using the following two questions:

Is it moral to attend entertainments like the ones described?

Are there legal forms of entertainment today that followers of Christ ought to avoid?


FOCUS QUESTIONS How does Hadrian’s reign reveal the Pax Romana

did not manifest peace for everyone? The Jews were decimated in the Holy Land and were

banned from entering Jerusalem. How did the plight of Christians improve somewhat

after Hadrian’s Rescript? Hadrian ruled that mobs should not be able to take the

law in their own hands to murder Christians and that Christians should only be prosecuted for actual violations of the common law instead of solely for being Christian.


FOCUS QUESTION Why did Hadrian’s ban on circumcision and his

plan to turn Jerusalem into a Roman colony infuriate the Jews?

Circumcision is essential to the identity of Jews, the sign of the covenant between God and Abraham. Jerusalem had been the Jews’ most important city for a millennium; they had hoped to rebuild the Temple there so they could again offer ritual sacrifice. Extension: Hadrian could not have attacked the Jews more personally than this.


FOCUS QUESTIONS Under whose peaceful reign was St. Polycarp martyred? He was martyred under Emperor Antoninus Pius. What was the nature of St. Polycarp’s writings? He defended orthodox Catholic beliefs against several early

heresies. What merciful offer did the governor of Smyrna make

to St. Polycarp? If St. Polycarp would have cursed Christ publicly, his life

would have been spared.


GUIDED EXERCISE Search the Internet for the entire Martyrium Polycarpi

(“The Martyrdom of Polycarp”), and then read it.


FOCUS QUESTIONS Of what philosophy was Emperor Marcus Aurelius an

adherent? He was a Stoic, which encourages a person to live free of passion

and be unmoved by joy or grief, submitting fully to fate. What practice did Marcus Aurelius reinstate that made

things worse for Christians? He reinstituted anonymous denunciations of Christians. Why did provincial governors tolerate mob attacks on

Christians? For Roman governors serving in unruly provinces, allowing mob

attacks on Christians was a way they could let people defuse their anger on something other than the empire itself.


FOCUS QUESTIONS What did St. Justin Martyr have in common with Emperor

Marcus Aurelius? Both loved philosophy, although St. Justin came to believe that the

teachings of Christ were far superior to philosophy alone. To whom did St. Justin Martyr address his two defenses of

the Faith? He addressed them audaciously to the Roman emperor and the

senate. What did the judicial sentence Ad Metalla mean? This dreaded punishment sent a prisoner “to the metal mines,”

where the prisoner endured brutal conditions and certain death.


GRAPHIC ORGANIZER Work with a partner to complete the following table on

evidence for three beliefs held by early Christians (cf. p. 123).



HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT Study Questions 4–8 (p. 125) Workbook Questions 22–43 Read “Later Persecutions and the Edict of Milan”

through “Pope St. Sixtus II and Deacon St. Lawrence” (pp. 108–114)


CLOSURE Free write for five minutes summarizing the

persecutions experienced by Christians in the period of time after Emperor Domitian through Emperor Marcus Aurelius.


ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT Free write for five minutes on what was most surprising

about this period in the history of the Church.


ANTICIPATORY SET Imagine you are the bishop of an Italian diocese AD 202

and have received word Emperor Severus has outlawed circumcision and Baptism. Write a brief letter to the Christians under your care, advising them how to respond to this decree.

3. Later Persecutions Before Diocletian (pp. 108–114)

BASIC QUESTION Why did the Roman government attack Christianity

with such vehemence?

KEY IDEA With the aim of reinvigorating the Roman Empire by

reviving the ancient pagan religion, Emperor Decius unleashed the first empire-wide persecution of Christians AD 250, creating new martyrs as well as lapsi. Decius was afraid of the Christians’ fidelity to Christ and his Church.


FOCUS QUESTIONS What was the relationship between Sts. Perpetua

and Felicity? St. Perpetua was a wealthy noblewoman, and St. Felicity

was one of her slaves. How did Sts. Perpetua and Felicity show their faith? They had to endure entreaties from their families to

abandon the Faith, taunts from their jailers, the heartbreak of raising their children in jail, scourging, attacks by wild animals, and finally the sword. The worst was seeing their children slain.


FOCUS QUESTION What decree of Emperor Septimus Severus

threatened both Christians and Jews? His decree (AD 202) forbade both Baptism and

circumcision.


FOCUS QUESTIONS Even though St. Irenæus was from Asia Minor, where did

he serve as bishop? He served in Lyons in Gaul (modern-day France). Extension:

This indicates the catholic (universal) nature of the Church. What key elements of the nature of the Church did St.

Irenæus emphasize to defend the Faith against Gnostic heretics?

He emphasized the episcopacy, Scripture, and Tradition. What method did St. Irenæus use to combat heresy? He described systematically the origin and history of each

heresy, contrasting its false claims against the true Faith.


GUIDED EXERCISE Work with a partner to identify what St. Irenæus

claimed that the early Church held with respect to (1) Apostolic Succession, (2) the authority of the Church hierarchy, and (3) Scripture and Tradition.


FOCUS QUESTIONS How did Decius attack Christians to a new degree? Before his reign attacks on Christians were local, either

limited to the city of Rome or directed toward specific provinces. The Edict of Decius (AD 250) was empire-wide.

Why did Decius order a return to the ancient

religious practices? He intended to reinvigorate the empire’s strength by

unity.


FOCUS QUESTION How numerous were Christians by AD 250, and

why did Decius see them as a threat? About one-third of the empire was Christian. Decius

assumed, because Christians’ ultimate allegiance is to Christ and not the state, that they might prove an obstacle to unify the empire. Extension: It may seem strange to a modern student a ruler would be willing to kill as many as one-third of his subjects, but similar events occurred in the twentieth century. Pol Pot of Cambodia, Mao of China, Lenin and Stalin of the Soviet Union, and many others killed large percentages of their populations for political ends.


FOCUS QUESTION Who were the sacrificanti, the thurificati and the

libellatici? These were Christians who had apostatized under

Decius’s persecution. The sacrificanti were those who made a sacrifice. The thurificati were those who burned incense. The libellatici did not sacrifice but purchased certificates of sacrifice.


FOCUS QUESTIONS What strategy did Decius employ to identify

Christians? Anyone who refused to offer a sacrifice would be sent

into exile or put to death and lose all of his or her property.

What double loss did the Church suffer because of

Decius’s persecution? The Church lost both those faithful who became martyrs

and those who apostatized.


FOCUS QUESTIONS What is the difference between a heretic and an apostate? A heretic denies one or more articles of the Faith after his or her

Baptism. An apostate denies the Faith altogether after his or her Baptism.

Who are the lapsi? These are Christians whose faith had lapsed, that is, formally

renounced the Faith by offering sacrifices to pagan gods. Into what error did Novatian fall regarding apostasy? He taught that the lapsi could never be readmitted into the

Church, which caused the Novatianist schism. Extension: Essentially, Novatian denied God’s power to forgive certain sins.


FOCUS QUESTION Where was the first Catholic university founded? What might be called the first Catholic university was

the Catechetical School in Alexandria, Egypt, in which instruction in Catholic doctrine was combined with an investigation into the sciences and philosophy.


FOCUS QUESTIONS How was Origen distinguished? Origen was a prolific writer and scholar who headed the

Catechetical School. He was faithful despite two years of imprisonment and torture. He initiated the use of the homily.

How do Origen’s writings illustrate that individual

theologians are not infallible? Despite being one the greatest theologians of the early

Church, he held erroneous positions on the relationship between God the Father and God the Son and on the final salvation of the damned.


GUIDED EXERCISE Think/Pair/Share using the following questions (cf. p.

114):

According to St. Lawrence the deacon, what is the Church’s greatest treasure?

Why might he have thought this?


GRAPHIC ORGANIZER Work with a partner to complete the following

table about Valerian’s Rescripts.



CLOSURE Free write for five minutes framing an answer to the

Basic Question of this lesson:

Why did the Roman government attack Christianity with such vehemence?


HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT Study Questions 9–13 (p. 125) Practical Exercise 2 (p. 125) Workbook Questions 44–68 Read “Persecutions under Diocletian” through

“Conclusion” (pp. 114–122)


ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT Work with a partner to complete Practical Exercise 3 (p.

125) about the Christian values most important to the early Christian martyrs.


ANTICIPATORY SET Review the map “Diocletian’s Tetrarchy” (pp. 116–117),

focusing on geographic divisions.

4. The Triumph of the Church (pp. 114–122)

BASIC QUESTIONS How were persecutions under Diocletian the worst that

Christians had suffered under Roman emperors? Why was the Edict of Milan (AD 313) issued, and what

change did it make in the lives of Christians?

KEY IDEAS Persecutions under Diocletian were the worst that Christians

had endured because they were the most widespread and inclusive; Christians throughout the empire had either to renounce the Faith or to face death.

Constantine attributed his victory at the Milvian Bridge to the intervention of the Christian God. To stay in his good graces, he issued the Edict of Milan, which gave the Christians freedom to worship.


FOCUS QUESTIONS How did Diocletian become emperor? Diocletian was named emperor by the army after

Numerian had been murdered. Why did the Church historian Eusebius praise

Diocletian initially? Diocletian left Christians alone initially, but this was

only because he was distracted by fighting the Persians and Germanic tribes.


FOCUS QUESTION Why did Diocletian form the tetrarchy? He thought that the empire was too large for one man

to govern. He divided the empire into four regions, ruled one himself, retained full leadership over all, and appointed three co-emperors to administer the other regions; this secured twenty years of peaceful prosperity.


FOCUS QUESTIONS Why did Diocletian decide to eradicate Christianity? Though he admired some of its adherents, he decided to

eradicate Christianity at the urging of two of his co-emperors, who argued it would be good for the empire.

Why was Diocletian’s persecution the worst the early

Christians had suffered? It was the most widespread and targeted all Christians,

including in the eastern half of the empire, which had not been targeted often.

What was the effect of Diocletian’s edicts? Thousands of faithful Christians were martyred.


GRAPHIC ORGANIZER Complete the following table about the effects of

Diocletian’s edicts on Christians in the Roman Empire.



GRAPHIC ORGANIZER Work with a partner to complete the following table

according to the map “Diocletian’s Tetrarchy” (pp. 116–117).



FOCUS QUESTIONS When was St. Agnes martyred? She was martyred about AD 304, when she was twelve

or thirteen years old. Why was St. Agnes denounced as a Christian? Because she was very beautiful, a number of young

Roman men wanted to marry her. However, she had consecrated herself a virgin, which enraged them.


FOCUS QUESTION What was the fate of St. Agnes? She refused to renounce the Faith, even after torture by

fire. The judge sentenced her to prostitution, but when a young man approached her thusly, he was blinded. Hearing of this, the judge had her beheaded.


GUIDED EXERCISE Search the Internet to research the life of St. Maria

Goretti. Write a paragraph comparing Sts. Agnes and Maria Goretti.


FOCUS QUESTIONS To what did Emperor Galerius attribute his leprosy? He believed it was a divine punishment from the Christian God

for persecuting Christians. How did Galerius improve the situation of Christians? His Edict (AD 311), which was adopted all over the empire, gave

Christians free exercise of their religion as long as they obeyed the civil law and promised to pray for the emperor and empire.

Do you think the early Christians objected to Galerius’s

demands? No; they had been praying for the emperor and the empire from

the beginning.


FOCUS QUESTIONS What vision did Constantine have just before the Battle of

Saxa Rubra? He saw in the sky a cross with the inscription In hoc signo

vinces (“In this sign you will conquer”). What action did Constantine take based on his vision? He had his soldiers etch a cross on each shield. What was Constantine’s attitude toward Christianity after

his victory? He declared the Christian God had favored him, so, to stay in

his good graces, he restored the property of the Church and aided the construction of church buildings.


FOCUS QUESTIONS What was the effect of the Edict of Milan? It restored all property taken from the Church by the

empire and granted Christians the right to worship in freedom. It legitimized the Church for the first time since Nero’s decree had outlawed her AD 64.


FOCUS QUESTIONS What might have been the political motives for

issuing the Edict of Milan? Constantine might have seen Christianity as a way to

unify his empire. What did Constantine do at the end of his life? He was baptized (though by an Arian bishop) on his

deathbed.


GUIDED EXERCISE Read silently the selection from “The Edict of Milan” (p.

123), and then discuss the following questions:

What rights were granted by the Edict of Milan? Why might the only religion named be Christianity? What is the significance of a reference to the Supreme

Deity in this edict, issued by an officially polytheistic state?


FOCUS QUESTION What role did St. Helen play to turn the Roman

Empire toward Christianity? St. Helen, the mother of Emperor Constantine,

converted to Christianity in her sixties. When she was in her eighties, she traveled to the Holy Land and believed she had found Mount Calvary, the Holy Sepulcher (tomb of Christ), and the true Cross.


FOCUS QUESTIONS How did St. Helen determine which of the three

crosses she had found was the true one? She had a sick woman touch each. When the woman

touched the true Cross, she was healed. What is the Titulus Crucis? Literally “title,” or “inscription, of the Cross,” it is an

ancient piece of walnut believed to be part of the sentence nailed to the Cross of Christ.


GUIDED EXERCISE Read an article explaining and defending the Catholic

veneration of relics.


HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT Study Questions 14–18 (p. 125) Practical Exercises 3–4 (p. 125) Workbook Questions 69–88


CLOSURE Free write for five minutes in response to the following

question:

How did the relationship between the Church and the Roman Empire change between AD 300 and 313?


ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT Write a paragraph on the episcopacy and Tradition in

the early Church.


THE END

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Chapter 3: Persecution of “The Way” HISTORY OF THE CHURCH