As we all know, Christians themselves had suffered from persecution at times during the first, second and third centuries.
The Roman authorities often saw Christians as subversive fanatics, who were a threat to the stability of the empire. This dislike of Christians was due to their aggressive intolerance towards other faiths, and their refusal to honour the emperor, or any god other than their own.
The ancient sources suggest that the Roman state was never particularly keen on persecuting Christians. Under Trajan’s reign, the governor Pliny (61 – 113 CE) set free any imprisoned Christian who agreed to make offerings to the gods and the emperor. The emperor Trajan stated that ‘the Christians are not to be hunted out’ (Pliny – Letters 10.98-9).
The church father Tertullian (155 – 240 CE) wrote how a governor in Tunisia openly told Christians what to say at their trial in order to secure an acquittal. He wrote of the Roman authorities, ‘You refuse to condemn us when we confess’ and went on to list occasions when accused Christians were treated with leniency (To Scapula 11-13). Sometimes Christians were simply asked to affirm the existence of a supreme deity in order to be set free. The state could take this declaration of belief as referring to Zeus / Jupiter, and the Christian to their god.
In the third century, the records of the martyrdom of Cyprian show that he was given the chance to walk free by performing a ritual to the gods and the emperor, which he refused. The official report states that the presiding proconsul passed judgement on Cyprian ‘with difficulty and reluctance’. In the Decian persecution of 250 CE, Christians were given repeated opportunities to sacrifice and avoid punishment.
The prefect judging the fourth century martyr Julius the veteran asked him, ‘What is so serious about offering some incense and going away?’ The prefect even went so far as to try and bribe Julius to offer sacrifice and walk away free.
The last pagan emperor, Julian II (ruled 360 – 363CE), tried to restore the worship of the gods, and was seen as the last great enemy of the early Church. Despite the emperor’s dislike of Christianity, the Christian historian Sozomen wrote that Julian was ‘intent in refusing to employ violent means [against the Christians] which might prove embarrassing or seem tyrannical’ (Historia Ecclesiastica 5.16-17). Julian viewed Christianity as an illness, that could be cured through education, not punishment. He wrote,
‘As we grant pardon for people afflicted with the disease of insanity, we might agree that the best way to cure the insanity of Christianity is to teach rather than to punish the afflicted.’ (Concerning Christian Teachers)
And,
‘I have conducted myself with all the kindness and benevolence that the Galileans [Christians] deserve, not doing them violence, or dragging them into the temples, or threatening injury, or coercion of any sort.’ (Letter to Hecebolius)
The surprising reality is that the Roman Empire only ever officially persecuted Christians throughout the empire on three occasions; in 250 CE under Decius, between 257-9 under Valerian and between 303–5 under Diocletian, although persecution carried on in the east of the empire until 311 CE. Christianity was outlawed only once in 303 CE under Diocletian. Other persecutions were small scale, localised and sporadic.
The total number of Christians martyred by the Romans numbers in the hundreds. Far more Christians were murdered by fellow Christians in the doctrinal disputes of the fourth century than were killed at the hands of pagans during any persecutions of the previous centuries. The different Christian sects were well known for their hatred of one another, the Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus (325 – 391 CE) wrote,
‘No wild beasts are such enemies to mankind as are most of the Christians
in their deadly hatred of each other.’ (The Later Roman Empire 22.5.4)
Constantine I once addressed a group of opposing bishops with,
‘Even the barbarians now through me, the true servant of God, know God and have learned to reverence him while you [the bishops] do nothing but that which encourages discord and hatred and, to speak frankly, which leads to the destruction of the human race.’
The Bible and Mythology 