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CHAPTER FIVE

THE TRAUMATISED CHRISTIANS    

T B   S

You will be hated by everyone because of my name. (13:13)

For the Christians, the return of Titus, with the accompanying, depressing display of Roman power, was the culmination of seven years of afflictions. Apart from the crises and disasters suffered with other Roman residents, they had been subjected to extreme pres- sures since 64, when Nero decided to use them as scapegoats for the fire. The resultant stresses upon the members of Mark’s com- munity will now be considered, especially the trauma they suffered from witnessing the deaths of others and the constant anxiety of liv- ing under the threat of arrest and execution. These factors, it is pro- posed, largely explain the mood of the Gospel and the fashioning of many of its scenes.

Certainly, followers of the new way faced difficulties before Nero. From the beginning of the Christian mission, its message had hardly been received as ‘good news’ within the Empire. Paul, in his own life story, became a type of the early Christian, harassed by Jews in both Judea and the Diaspora, beaten and imprisoned by Roman authorities, and finally executed by the Romans in the capital. Midway through his missionary career, Paul could reckon these among his experiences:

. . . imprisonments, with countless floggings, and [I was] often near death. Five times, I have received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times, I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. I was . . . in danger from my own people, in danger from Gentiles, in danger in the city. (2 Cor 11:23b–26)

Luke reports two complaints against Paul and Silas by the owners of the diviner in Philippi: “These men are disturbing our city; they are Jews, and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us

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Incigneri, B.J.. Gospel to the Romans : The setting and rhetoric of Mark's Gospel, BRILL, 2003. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/saintleo/detail.action?docID=253688. Created from saintleo on 2020-03-15 10:18:35.

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as Romans to adopt or observe” (Acts 16:20–21). Both typify the attitudes that Romans had towards Christians. The first was that “they are Jews” and, although Jews had been able to practise their religion undisturbed since Julius Caesar gave them the right of assem- bly and worship, they were disliked. The disdain for them by the Roman aristocracy is apparent in the writings of the period, and their ‘secret rites’ and exclusive practices made them the object of suspicion and scorn.1

The second complaint was that Christians attempted to turn peo- ple away from the traditional customs and gods to a “superstition.”2

The Roman upper classes, in particular, considered that oriental cults polluted Roman life, fearing their inroads into Roman traditions and values.3 Rome had always been slow to allow foreign cults in the city: the cult of Cybele, the “Great Mother” goddess from Phyrgia, was allowed into Rome in 191 , but restrictions on its practice were only removed in the reign of Claudius.4 Tacitus sums up the attitude of his social class to foreigners and their ways in a speech of Gaius Cassius Longinus, supposedly delivered in 61  to the Senate on whether to continue the practice of executing all the slaves of a household when the master had been murdered by one of them: “We have in our households, nations with different customs to our own, with a foreign worship or none at all; it is only by terror you

1 For example, Cicero, For Flaccus 28, 66–69; Juvenal, Satires 3.14, 296; 6.542–48; 14.96–106. Despite his recognised abilities to research historical sources, Tacitus (Histories 5.2–8) seems not to have attempted to find out the truth about Jewish beliefs and practices in his lengthy description of their history and cult, which is full of strange malicious rumours and conjectures. He reveals Roman distaste for their exclusivity by his references to the common belief that Jews would not inter- marry with Gentiles or eat with them. Mellor (Tacitus 7, 23) speaks of Tacitus’ “snobbish contempt for his perceived social inferiors: easterners, freedmen and the Roman masses,” making them unworthy of research. For further evidence of calum- nies against Jews, and accusations of human sacrifice, lechery and of carrying dis- eases, see Feldman and Reinhold, Jewish Life 384–92. Epictetus (Discourses 2.9.21) depicts Judaism as irrational. Even the admired Quintilian (Inst. 3.7.21) speaks of the Jews as “a curse to others.”

2 The earliest Roman descriptions of Christianity are: “A most mischievous super- stition” (Tacitus, Annals 15.44), and “a new and mischievous superstition” (Suetonius, Nero 16).

3 Stephen Benko, Pagan Rome and the Early Christians (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1984) 21; W. H. C. Frend, Martyrdom and Persecution in the Early Church: A Study of a Conflict from the Maccabees to Donatus (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1965) 108–14.

4 Everett Ferguson, Backgrounds of Early Christianity (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2nd ed.: 1993) 264–65; Robert L. Wilken, The Christians as the Romans Saw Them (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1984) 62–63; Ramsay MacMullen, Paganism in the Roman Empire (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1981) 3.

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can hold in such a motley rabble” (Tacitus, Annals 14.44). The Senate accepted his argument.

The consequences of involvement in any disapproved foreign cult could be fatal, especially for members of those families entrusted with preserving Roman traditions. In 57, under Nero, Pomponia Graecina “was charged with foreign superstition” (Tacitus, Annals 13.32).5 She was handed over to her husband and kinfolk for ‘trial’ “according to ancient tradition,” but was acquitted—perhaps a face- saving measure for her husband Plautius who had been acclaimed for his victories in Britain. Nevertheless, the incident emphasises the social repercussions of attraction to a disapproved cult.

The Romans, in fact, were very religious, and their devotion to the gods was seen as essential for preserving Rome and its empire. Yet, for the Romans, pietas meant much more than following the traditional gods; it also meant following the traditional ways, and their fear of change is reflected in Cicero’s statement:

When piety goes, religion and sanctity go along with it. And when these are gone, there is anarchy and complete confusion in our way of life. Indeed, I do not know whether, if our reverence for the gods were lost, we should not also see the end of good faith, of human brotherhood, and even of justice itself, which is the keystone of all the virtues. (Cicero, The Nature of the Gods 1.4)6

And yet no civil authority during the more than ten years of Paul’s missionary journeys considered him to be a criminal deserving exe- cution under Roman law; as Paul said: “And yet we live on, pun- ished, but not killed” (2 Cor 6:9).7 Paul’s advocacy of the new religion may have given rise to disturbances worthy of punishment, but mem- bership of the new, apparently Jewish, sect had not been a capital

5 It has been suggested that she was a Christian. See Smallwood, Jews 218 n. 54; Michael Grant, The Annals of Imperial Rome (London: Penguin, 1996) 299 n. 1. However, there is no supporting evidence.

6 Plutarch described the superstitious person, especially referring to Jews, as hav- ing false images of the gods, leading to bizarre behaviour and atheism. William Goodwin (ed.), Plutarch’s Morals: Vol 1. (London: Athenaeum, ND) 172, 178.

7 For a discussion of the issues related to Paul’s trials before provincial authori- ties and in Rome, see Jeffers, Greco-Roman 160–71. He wonders (170) why Paul did not appeal to Rome when he was in the Jerusalem jail. Paul may have been reluc- tant to do so for fear of the outcome when he confronted the heart of Roman reli- gious tradition. Otherwise, he should have welcomed the opportunity, given his enthusiasm for visiting the Roman church (Rom 1:11, 13, 15).

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offence.8 Only when he was taken to Rome was he martyred, and it is probable that only in Rome could the precedent be established that the practice of Christianity deserved death. As discussed in Chapter 2, by the year 112 it was taken for granted that the mere name ‘Christian’ made a person liable for summary execution.9

It is probable that Christianity had found its way to Rome by the early forties,10 and it is possible that relations between Christians and Jews in Rome were very strained, perhaps understandably, from then right up until the time when Mark wrote. Although Suetonius’ text is full of difficulties, it is widely accepted that his note on the expul- sion of Jews from Rome in the late forties refers to Jewish-Christian tensions that had come to the attention of the authorities.11 This expulsion is mentioned by Suetonius in the context of the prohibi- tion of the adoption of Roman family names by foreigners (consid- ered a capital offence), and the abolition of participation in the

8 In Corinth, Gallio dismissed the complaint against Paul, according to Luke, on the ground that it was an internal Jewish religious dispute (Acts 18:14–15).

9 Paul Keresztes, Imperial Rome and the Christians (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1989) 20, claims that Nero issued an edict against Christians, the only one to be retained as law after his death. However, once the emperor had estab- lished the precedent, no enactment would have been necessary; a Christian was a threat to Rome, and a provincial governor could act summarily, as T. D. Barnes, “Legislation against the Christians,” JRS 58 (1968) 50, argues. See also Benko, Pagan Rome 9.

10 Raymond E. Brown and John P. Meier, Antioch and Rome: New Testament Cradles of Catholic Christianity (New York: Paulist Press, 1983) 99–103. Paul’s letter to the Roman Christians addressed a sizable and well-established community around 57.

11 Claudius “expelled Jews from Rome because of their constant disturbances instigated by Chrestus” (Suetonius, Claudius 25). Benko (Pagan Rome 18) argues that “Chrestus” referred to someone local with that common name. H. Dixon Slingerland, Claudian Policy-making and the Early Imperial Repression of Judaism at Rome (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1997) 179–201, proposes that “Chrestus” was a Jew, perhaps a freedman, who influenced Claudius to expel some Jews as part of an anti-Jewish policy. However, “Chrestus” does not appear among several hundred (second cen- tury or later) Jewish funerary inscriptions. Leon, Jews 25. Tertullian, Apol. 3.5, and Lactantius, Inst. 4.7.5, complained that Roman opponents would get Christ’s name wrong; the latter says that they “are accustomed to call him Chrestus.” The debate on the Suetonius text has been extensive; see also Barclay, Jews 304–5, and Irina Levinskaya, The Book of Acts in Its Diaspora Setting (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996) 177–81. However, Acts 18:2 seems to independently confirm both the expulsion and the Christian presence, mentioning that Aquila, “a Jew,” and Priscilla left Rome after Claudius expelled Jews, and there is no indication there, or in Rom 16:3, that Paul converted them. Most commentators regard them to already have been Christians. See Brown and Meier, Antioch and Rome 100; Barclay, Jews 303; Lichtenberger, “Jews” 2163; Walters, “Ethnic Issues” 97 n. 4.

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Druidic cult by Romans in Gaul,12 indicating that the expulsion occurred in a climate of concern over foreign influences corrupting Roman life. Nevertheless, the affair over Chrestus was still seen as internal Jewish strife, and capital punishment was not applied.

This expulsion may have led to internal stresses in the Christian community in later years. It has been proposed that the return of the exiled Jewish Christians in the late fifties led to tensions between Jewish and Gentile Christians in Rome.13 Most analysts of Paul’s Letter to the Romans see him striving to bring unity between the different house-churches, urging the Gentile Christians to accept the value of the Jewish heritage while exhorting Jewish Christians to welcome the new order instituted by Jesus. Yinger has suggested the depth of the acrimony present within the house-churches in his argument that diògmos in Rom 8:35 means, not persecution by outside authorities (for which there is no evidence), but harassment by other Christians, with Paul using traditional Jewish motifs to argue for inner harmony and for not returning harm upon ‘enemies’ within one’s own com- munity.14 In the late fifties, the Roman Christians seem to have been much more concerned with inner divisions than external pressures, and Paul’s only mention of the Roman authorities is when he urges acceptance of authority and payment of taxes (Rom 13:1–7). The sense is that the community need only keep the peace, and the authorities would tolerate them.

Even when Paul was brought to Rome for trial, he was not imme- diately executed. However, for Roman citizens the trial system was slow, and it could be delayed by appeals.15 Luke has Paul under

12 Claudius had executed an equestrian for wearing a Druidic talisman. Pliny, Natural History 29.54.

13 Marxsen (Introduction 95–109) first proposed that the removal of the Jewish Christians resulted in a shift to Gentile-focused practices and theology; see the dis- cussion in Karl Paul Donfried, “A Short Note on Romans 16,” in Karl P. Donfried (ed.), The Romans Debate (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1991) 46–49; also F. F. Bruce, “The Romans Debate—Continued,” in Donfried (ed.), Debate 180. Although the proposal rests on little evidence, a comparison between Romans and Mark’s Gospel (especially 7:15–23) suggests that differences in practice between Jewish and Gentile Christians lingered for many years. The feeding of Jews and then Gentiles in the long sec- tion 6:31–8:21, together with the mention of the “one loaf ” (8:14) and Jesus’ impas- sioned lament over the disciples’ failure to understand (8:17–21), may be directed at separate Eucharists being held for Jews and Gentiles in different house-churches because of different attitudes to the Jewish law (cf. 7:1–23).

14 Kent L. Yinger, “Romans 12:14–21 and Non-retaliation in Second Temple Judaism: Addressing Persecution within the Community,” CBQ 60 (1998) 74–96.

15 Peter Garnsey, Social Status and Legal Privilege in the Roman Empire (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1970) 264.

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house arrest for “two entire years” (Acts 28:30), suggesting a very drawn-out affair, perhaps providing many opportunities for Paul to state his case before the Roman authorities. In any event, the charge against Paul is not known, and he may even have been acquitted. Until Nero declared Christians to be criminals deserving death, the Roman authorities may have hesitated to execute a Roman citizen over what appeared to be an intra-Jewish dispute, as Judaism was a licit religion.

Therefore, the events of 64 are likely to have come as quite a shock to the Christians. In the early sixties, there may have been no indication that relationships with the authorities would worsen so badly. But, with the death of Burrus and the retirement of Seneca in 62, both of whom had provided moderating counsel for the young emperor, Nero’s behaviour became increasingly bizarre, alienating the powerful families of Rome, until “he was never free from fear” (Tacitus, Annals 15.36). Suspicion, political intrigue and murder char- acterised these years; Dio reports that Seneca advised Nero: “No matter how many you may slay, you cannot kill your successor” (History 61.18.3). It was in this atmosphere of suspicion that the new foreign cult of Christians was suddenly targeted.

The Christians were subject to such a severe attack that Tacitus, while convinced that they “deserved extreme and exemplary punish- ment” and showing his disdain for “things hideous and shameful” coming to Rome from foreign parts, uncharacteristically suggested that they merited pity (Tacitus, Annals 15.44). This implies that the attack on the Christians was memorable, and that it was still being talked about when Tacitus began his legal career in Rome in the early seventies. Nevertheless, Tacitus’ use of the phrase odium humani generis (“hatred of the human race”) indicates the strong feelings against this new Christian group. This hostility is reflected in Mark’s reminder, using similar language, that Christians would be “hated by all” (13:13).16

16 Tacitus (Annals 15.44; Histories 5.5) used virtually the same phrase—“hatred of the human race”—in justifying the execution of Christians as he did in speaking disparagingly of the Jews. Josephus (Apion 2.148) complains that Apollonius accused Jews of “hatred of the human race.” Keresztes (Imperial Rome 69) compares this term with misanthropia, which, in Ciceronian terminology, means “something like derelic- tion of one’s duties towards the community of men, a separation from the rest of society.” Diodorus the Sicilian (Siculus), ca. 60–30 BCE, had already used similar language for the Jews: “The race of Jews, since they alone of all nations avoided

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It is likely that many Christians lived in the poorer (and rather unhealthy) Transtiber district that had been settled by the early Jewish community, and which was untouched by the fire.17 But Nero did not attack the Jewish community that also lived in that district; instead, he assigned the blame to the Christians.18 It has been sug- gested that the Jews of Rome influenced Nero through his wife Poppea, thought by some to be a Jewish sympathiser.19 There is insufficient evidence to support such a theory, but the scenario is not impossible, and Christian–Jew tensions may have been one pres- sure on Mark’s community.20

dealings with any other people and looked upon all men as their enemies . . . had made their hatred of mankind into a tradition.” Cited in Feldman and Reinhold, Jewish Life 384. Martin Hengel, Jews, Greeks and Barbarians (London: SCM Press, 1980) 80, comments: “There is a direct connection between Roman hatred of the Jews and later Christian persecutions.”

17 Troops camping in the “pestilent” Vatican district contracted a disease in 69. Tacitus, Histories 2.93. Foreign groups tended to cluster in certain areas: the Egyptians on the Campus Martius, Africans on the slopes of the Caelian Hill, and other for- eign groups on the Aventine, with foreigners often working together. The Jews were also in the Campus Martius, the Subura, and near the Porta Capena. Leon, Jews 137. Peter Lampe, “The Roman Christians of Romans 16,” in Donfried (ed.), Debate 216–230, has concluded that the early Christians were of low economic status, and that there were at least eight circles separated socially and geographically. For the early history of Jews in Rome, see Walters, Ethnic Issues 28–34.

18 In the Bacchanalian and Catalinian conspiracies during the Republic, the accused were suspected of seeking to set the city on fire, as were the Jews in Antioch in 70. Benko, Pagan Rome 17. This suggests that fear of Christians as conspirators may have played a part in the accusation against them.

19 Frend, Martyrdom 164; Marcel Simon, Verus Israel: A Study of the Relations between Christians and Jews in the Roman Empire (AD 135– 425) (London: The Littman Library, 1996) 117, 120–23. For mentions of Poppea’s aid of Jewish supplicants to Nero, see Josephus, Life 13–16; Ant. 20.195. Leon ( Jews 28) regards her as “partial to Judaism,” and possibly a convert; against this view are Smallwood, Jews 278 n. 79, 281 n. 84, Lichtenberger, Jews 2148, 2172, and Margaret H. Williams, “The Jewish Tendencies of Poppaea Sabina,” JTS 39 (1988) 97–11. Barclay ( Jews 307–8), how- ever, notes that her support illustrates that “the influence of the Jews reached even the imperial court.” Tacitus (Annals 13.45) has this to say of her: “Poppea had every asset except goodness.”

20 Benko (Pagan Rome 20) claims that Jewish synagogue leaders shifted the blame to Christians after “official investigations blamed Jewish fanatics for the fire,” but gives no evidence. Smallwood ( Jews 217), however, doubts whether Jewish hostil- ity was behind Nero’s attack. C. P. Anderson, “The Trial of Jesus as Jewish-Christian Polarisation: Blasphemy and Polemic in Mark’s Gospel,” in P. Richardson and D. Granskou (eds), Anti-Judaism in Early Christianity. 1. Paul and the Gospels (Waterloo, Ontario: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1986) 123, argues that Mark shaped the trial before Pilate because of trials that his readers were undergoing, blaming the local Jewish community, but he does not suggest Rome.

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However, it is possible that the Christians of Rome had come to the attention of the authorities earlier than 64 because of Paul’s trial and his long presence in Rome. Paul was never one to remain silent, and it could be that there was a growing awareness of this new sect in the early sixties.21 It may even have been known that Paul had spoken of ‘the work’ being “revealed with fire” (1 Cor 3:13–15).22

Only Tacitus reports the connection between the fire and the per- secution of Christians—Eusebius only reports that Nero killed Paul and Peter and “took up arms against the God of the universe,” giv- ing no detail of the persecutions, perhaps because, as he said, “many writers have recorded the facts about [Nero] in minute detail” (E.H. 2.25).23 Tacitus’ account is to be preferred, as Suetonius was not born until around 69, and he only briefly mentions that “punish- ments were also inflicted on the Christians, a sect professing a new and mischievous religious belief ” (Nero 16).24 Tacitus was likely to have remembered the fire: although he was only around eight years old at the time, many family homes were destroyed, and the destruc- tion was visible for many years afterwards. Both the disaster and the

21 Perhaps reflecting this situation, Luke reports hostility by the local Jews towards Paul on his arrival in Rome (Acts 28:17–28). If Luke’s picture of Paul’s earlier con- frontations is anything like correct, Paul may have stirred up both the synagogues of Rome and the Roman authorities.

22 W. Rordorf, “Die neronische Christenverfolgung im Spiegel der apokryphen Paulusakten,” NTS 28 (1982) 371, posits that Nero heard of Christian end-time expectancy that Rome would be destroyed by fire.

23 Keresztes (Imperial Rome 72) says that it is unimaginable that Tertullian would omit the connection between the fire and the persecutions, and notes that no Christian apologist mentions this charge against Christians. But if it was commonly believed in the second century that the Christians were innocent, there was no rea- son for the matter to be raised. The first claim that Nero started the fire is in Pliny, Natural History 35.51. Suetonius (Nero 38) and Dio (History 62.16.1–2; 62.18.3) have no doubt that he did so. Tacitus seems unsure (Annals 15.44). Griffin (Nero 132, 157) argues that Nero would hardly have committed arson two nights after full moon, at a location near his own palace, which was destroyed. However, Nero did begin to build a new palace on the land in the centre of Rome that had been cleared by the fire, and this may have given rise to the belief that the fire was no accident.

24 This action is listed among other steps to keep order, such as limitations on the intimidatory actions of charioteers, the expulsion of pantomime actors, and restrictions on the sale of food in taverns. All of these measures relate to the secu- rity of the state and public order, as actors were always regarded as likely to cause unrest, according to Robinson, Ancient Rome 203–4. Taverns were places at which clubs met, with their discussions often turning political. Stambaugh, Roman City 209. Suetonius wrote after Tacitus, and may have seen no reason to re-raise the old controversy about the fire.

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events surrounding it would have been widely talked about for a long time. Tacitus is regarded as a reliable historian who used his sources well, and there is no reason to doubt the basic accuracy of his report.25 His description of the execution of Christians is lengthy, and the degree of emphasis he gives to this disposal of noxii suggests that it was noteworthy even in a society that treated offenders bru- tally. His outline of the origin of the Christian sect indicates, too, that this event constituted the initial and definitive crackdown against these new undesirables, establishing the precedent for the general practice in existence at the time of his writing (ca. 114–20).26 Tacitus does not refer to the Christians again in his works.

There is no suggestion that Nero’s mass executions were unpop- ular. The people were known to protest vigorously against unjust acts towards the lower class: when the Senate approved the execu- tion of 400 slaves in 61 (see Page 209), riots resulted, and troops had to be used to restrain the crowds and to carry out the order (Tacitus, Annals 14.42–45).27 But Tacitus does not report a protest in 64 when, according to him, a “great multitude” were massacred; if there had been one, Tacitus is likely to have made something of such a demonstration against Nero’s brutality. Rather, the people came to enjoy the show.

Nero knew how to please the crowds, and played up to them, often as an actor, poet or singer at the theatre, or as a charioteer at the circus. As this was distasteful for the Roman aristocrats, Nero had begun to hold his shows in a circus that he had built adjacent to his gardens across the Tiber in the Vatican district, and he would invite the public to attend (Tacitus, Annals 14.14; Pliny, Natural History

25 “He is the best literary source for the events of the early principate that we possess.” Grant, Annals 10. Mark Morford, “Tacitus’ Historical Methods in the Neronian Books of the ‘Annals,’” ANRW II, 33.2 (1990) 1624, also defends the accuracy of Tacitus’ reporting of facts, when compared to other sources. Sage (Tacitus 1029) speaks of “his immeasurable superiority as an historian.” In his recent eval- uation, Ronald Mellor, The Roman Historians (London: Routledge, 1999) 93, states: “Tacitus’ passionate opinions should not obscure the fact that he is the most accu- rate of all Roman historians.”

26 Marta Sordi, The Christians and the Roman Empire (London: Croom Helm, 1983) 31, has proposed that Nero might have executed Christians earlier, but Tacitus’ account implies that it was a new development, not the continuation of a previous policy.

27 This incident shows how word could quickly get around Rome of discussions in the Senate and of events in the criminal justice system, as Nippel (Public Order 89) observes.

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36.74; 37.19). The people would have remembered that he had allowed them to shelter there from the fires a few months earlier (Tacitus, Annals 15.39),28 and this was now the setting for the pun- ishment of the supposed arsonists.29 The execution of criminals was always a very public event, often put on as a show in the amphithe- atre. Tacitus describes these executions as if it was just another of the emperor’s entertainments, with Nero driving around dressed as a charioteer among the burning Christians at night. He is described as “mingling with the crowd,” and he is likely to have drawn a sub- stantial and approving audience for his show, as usual.

Tacitus says that they were executed by burning, crucifixion and by exposure to hungry wild dogs. These punishments could not be inflicted on a Roman citizen.30 As he mentions no other form of execution, Tacitus considered that there were few, if any, citizens among them. This may just reflect his prejudices, of course, unwill- ing to admit that Roman citizens would be part of such a group, and he may have guessed this in retrospect, as Christianity was a cult introduced by foreigners. Nevertheless, a significant proportion of the Christian community was probably not subject to any legal

28 Donahue (“Windows and Mirrors” 21–22) has suggested that Nero’s persecu- tion might not have occurred until as late as 66–67, as Tacitus describes him first taking steps to get rid of the rumours, and building his Golden House. However, Tacitus tends to group things together for convenience within each year of his annals, rather than to follow strict chronological order, as Judith Ginsburg, Tradition and Theme in the Annals of Tacitus (Salem: The Ayer Company, 1984) 98–99, confirms in an analysis of his methods. The persecution of Christians is mentioned in Annals 15.44, and the new year (65) begins with the appointment of new consuls in 15.48. Donahue argues that the account of the persecutions was moved, but it is more likely that Nero began work on his house as soon as the rubble was cleared, which would be enough to start the rumours. Most likely, feelings would have been most intense soon after the fire. The Piso conspiracy would have dominated his atten- tion later in 65, and he was away on his “Grand Tour” of Greece from the autumn of 66 until Vindex revolted in March 68 (Dio, History 63.8.2–63.26.1). A clue to the timing may be in Tacitus’ mention that some Christians were burnt to illumi- nate Nero’s gardens “when daylight failed” (Annals 15.44). Perhaps Nero ‘the artist’ extended his show into the darkness to have the arsonists burnt at night, just as Rome was. This probably means that night fell relatively early, and November– December 64 may be the most likely months.

29 Burning was a common punishment for arson for slaves and sometimes for free men of low status. Garnsey, Social Status 126.

30 Execution by wild beasts was not a new punishment: Julius Caesar used it in 44 BCE. Dio, History 43.23.5. The Androcles story in the reign of Gaius was of a slave sentenced to death by wild animals. Keith Bradley, Slavery and Society at Rome (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994) 107–8.

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protection, and was considered to be of little worth in Roman society.31

It is likely that arrests occurred over a period. Tacitus describes two stages: first, the arrest of “all who confessed,” probably mean- ing those known to be Christians, and then “on their information,” a much larger number was convicted. The large-scale seeking out of Christians that occurred in this case was probably an exception in view of the fire, and the normal legal procedure would have been followed subsequently.32

There is no reason to believe that, from this moment, Christians were generally free from harassment, as the Roman legal system relied on precedent, and that had now been established.33 Belonging to this new superstition was a capital offence, and any magistrate would have carried out the punishment as a matter of course.34

In effect, Christians were considered enemies of the state, as the

31 Black (“Roman Gospel” 38) argues that the ‘first-last’ sayings in the Gospel reflect a low social status. It is likely that there were quite a number of slaves within the Christian community. Mark has Jesus call himself a slave in 10:44. Slaves had no rights: they were called “boy,” even by young children, could not legally marry, and any child they had was considered illegitimate and the property of the mas- ter. Suicide by slaves was common. On the low status of slaves and on their phys- ical abuse, use for sexual gratification, and degradation, see Bradley, Slavery 17–29, 50–52, 112.

32 However, it was in the emperor’s interests to have ways of detecting possible conspiracies. Dio (History 52.37.2) reports a speech supposedly addressed to Julius Caesar. In it, Caesar was advised to have people around “who are to keep their eyes and ears open to anything which affects your imperial position.”

33 In Roman law, mos maiorum, that is, law and principles established from cus- tom, lay alongside laws established by jurists. A. Arthur Schiller, Roman Law: Mechanisms of Development (The Hague, Mouton, 1978) 256. Barnes (“Legislation” 50) concludes that the principle of mos maiorum was the most important source of Roman law, and provided the basis of action against Christians. Wendy Cotter, “The Collegia in Roman Law: State Restrictions on Voluntary Associations, 64 BCE–200 CE,” in John S. Kloppenberg and Stephen G. Wilson (eds), Voluntary Associations in the Greco-Roman World (London: Routledge, 1996) 82–83, argues that, as so much of Roman law was based on precedent, Pliny’s simple question to the arrested Christians would have been “quite in order” after Nero. The Roman policy of applying the death penalty to anyone admitting being a Christian was consistently applied; see Hadrian’s letter (Eusebius, E.H. 4.8–9; Justin Martyr, 1 Apol. 68), and the decree by Marcus Aurelius (Eusebius, E.H. 5.1.47).

34 G. E. M. de Ste Croix, “Why Were the Early Christians Persecuted?” PP 26 (November 1963) 8–19, argues that, once Nero had acted, magistrates would have been bound to condemn any Christian as being a member of “an anti-social and potentially criminal conspiracy,” disloyal to the state. Frend (Martyrdom 163–68) con- siders that Christians were treated primarily as conspirators. Nevertheless, there has been much debate over the legal basis of their execution. See also Robinson, Ancient Rome 200; Kyle, Spectacles of Death 256 n. 7, and the references listed there.

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