were alike slain
without mercy.

These persecutions, beginning under Nero about the time of the martyrdom
of Paul, continued with greater or less fury for centuries. Christians
were falsely accused of the most dreadful crimes, and declared to be the
cause of great calamities--famine, pestilence, and earthquake. As they
became the objects of popular hatred and suspicion, informers stood ready,
for the sake of gain, to betray the innocent. They were condemned as
rebels against the empire, as foes of religion, and pests to society.
Great numbers were thrown to wild beasts or burned alive in the
amphitheaters. Some were crucified; others were covered with the skins of
wild animals, and thrust into the arena to be torn by dogs. Their
punishment was often made the chief entertainment at public fetes. Vast
multitudes assembled to enjoy the sight, and greeted their dying agonies
with laughter and applause.

Wherever they sought refuge, the followers of Christ were hunted like
beasts of prey. They were forced to seek concealment in desolate and
solitary places. "Destitute, afflicted, tormented; (of whom the world was
not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and
caves of the earth."(60) The catacombs afforded shelter for thousands.
Beneath the hills outside the city of Rome, long galleries had been
tunneled through earth and rock; the dark and intricate network of
passages extended for miles beyond the city walls. In these underground
retreats, the followers of Christ buried their dead; and here also, when
suspected and proscribed, they found a home. When the Lifegiver shall
awaken those who have fought the good fight, many a martyr for Christ's
sake will come forth from those gloomy caverns.

Under the fiercest persecution, these witnesses for Jesus kept their faith
unsullied. Though deprived of every comfort, shut away from the light of
the sun, making their home in the dark but friendly bosom of the earth,
they uttered no complaint. With words of faith, patience, and hope, they
encouraged one another to endure privation and distress. The loss of every
earthly blessing could not force them to renounce their belief in Christ.
Trials and persecution were but steps bringing them nearer their rest and
their reward.

Like God's servants of old, many were "tortured, not accepting
deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection."(61) These
called to mind the words of their Master, that when p