nstigated fanaticism of a proselyte which urged him to imbrue his hands
in martyr blood. And she had her reward. A woman of whom Tacitus has not
a word of good to say and who seems to have been repulsive even to a
Suetonius, is handed down by the renegade Pharisee as "a devout
woman"--as a worshipper of God!

And, indeed, when once the Christians were pointed out to the popular
vengeance, many reasons would be adduced to prove their connection with
the conflagration. Temples had perished--and were they not notorious
enemies of the temples? Did not popular rumor charge them with nocturnal
orgies and Thyestaean feasts? Suspicions of incendiarism were sometimes
brought against Jews; but the Jews were not in the habit of talking, as
these sectaries were, about a fire which should consume the world, and
rejoicing in the prospect of that fiery consummation.[33] Nay, more,
when pagans had bewailed the destruction of the city and the loss of
the ancient monuments of Rome, had not these pernicious people used
ambiguous language, as though they joyously recognized in these events
the signs of a coming end? Even when they tried to suppress all outward
tokens of exultation, had they not listened to the fears and
lamentations of their fellow-citizens with some sparkle in the eyes, and
had they not answered with something of triumph in their tones? There
was a satanic plausibility which dictated the selection of these
particular victims. Because they hated the wickedness of the world, with
its ruthless games and hideous idolatries, they were accused of hatred
of the whole human race.

The charge of _incivisme_, so fatal in this reign of terror, was
sufficient to ruin a body of men who scorned the sacrifices of
heathendom and turned away with abhorrence from its banquets and
gayeties. The cultivated classes looked down upon the Christians with a
disdain which would hardly even mention them without an apology. The
_canaille_ of pagan cities insulted them with obscene inscriptions and
blasphemous pictures on the very walls of the places where they met.[34]
Nay, they were popularly known by nicknames, like _Sarmenticii_ and
_Semaxii_--untranslatable terms of opprobrium derived from the fagots
with which they were burned and the stakes to which they were chained.
Even the heroic courage which they displayed was described as being
sheer obstinacy and stupid fanaticism.

But in the method chosen for the punishment of these saintly innocen