Faith in the Hour of TrialrnLessons From Rome in the Age of Martyrsrnby Aaron D. Wolfrnthe I J ehold,” said the Lord, “I send you forth as sheep inrn- U midst of wolves.” With tliis statement and bv the Testamentrnof His Own Blood, Christ inaugurated the Age of Marhrsrn—the first 300 vears of the Chrisfian era during which, in Jesus’srnwords, “They will deliver you up to the councils, and theyrnwill scourge vou in their synagogues; and ye shall be broughtrnbefore governors and kings for M- sake, for a testimony againstrnthem and the GenHles” (Matthew 10; 17-18).rnChristianity had enjoyed an inihal status oireligiu licita in therne’es of the Roman gov ernment, during the reigns of Tiberiusrn(under which our Lord was crucified). Gains Caligula, andrnClaudius. The Romans, as conquerors, largeK- followed a polic’rnof toleration when it came to conquered peoples and their religiousrncults, requiring only that their subjects admit the Romanrngods —including (eventually) the emperors —into their localrnpantheons. This bit of ingcnuit}’ defused the potenHal conflictrnthat could result from a forced breech of local tradihon. AncientrnJudaism (before A.D. 70) was among the sanctioned religions,rnand Roman officials regarded Christianit)’ as a sect of Judaism.rnNo Roman citizen had greater hatred for this heretical sectrnthan Saul of Tarsus. Before his conversion, Saul, “breathingrnout threatenings and slaughter,” led the angry mob inrnJerusalem against St. Stephen, and, after his conversahon, St.rnPaul’s efforts in Asia Minor and Greece helped to “draw a linernof demarcation between Christianity and the Judaism of therns}’nagogue.” Public hostilih’toward the new sect stemmed fromrnwhat Edward Gibbon condescendingly referred to as “the firstrnbut arduous dutv’ of a Chrisfian to preserve himself pure and undefiledrnby the practice of idolatr)’.” hi segregating themselvesrnAaron D. Wolf is the assistant editor of Chronicles.rnfrom the rituals of everyday life, gentile Christians become nuisancesrnto their fellow cifizens. In addifion, their message —theirrn”good news”—demanded the bold proselytization of their paganrnneighbors. Ulfimately their condemnafion of paganism, nornmatter how discreetiy expressed, aroused a public hatred thatrnlater made Christians fodder for the Circus. The first expressionrnof this hatred, however, came in the form of rumors aboutrnthe prachces of the Chrisfians, whose Holy Eucharist was misinterpretedrnas cannibalism.rnBv the time SS. Peter and Paul were in Rome in the early 60’srnA.D., public senfimeiit toward Christians was so negative thatrnthe “fiery trial” predicted by St. Peter seemed inevitable. Therngreat fire of Rome in A.D. 64 ignited this ideological powder keg.rnContrary to popular l:)elief, the Emperor Nero probably did notrnset the fire. However, when that rumor began to spread anrongrnthe public, Nero needed someone to finger. According to Tacitus,rnNero substituted as culprits and punished with the utmostrnrefinements of cruelty, a class of men loathed forrntheir vices, whom the crowd styled “Christians” .. . First,rnthen, those who confessed themselves Christians were arrested;rnnext, on their disclosures, a vast multitude werernconvicted, not so much on the charge of arson as for hatredrnof the human race. And their death was made a matterrnof sport: they were covered in wild beasts’ skins andrntorn to pieces by dogs; or were fastened to crosses and setrnfire in order to sen’c as torches by night when daylightrnfailed.rnSt. Clement, the bishop of Rome in the 90’s, records that itrnwas near this time that St. Peter “went to the place of glory ap-rnMAY 2001/17rnrnrn