d in this, that
they were wont, at certain times appointed, to meet before day, and to
sing hymns to one Christ their God. They also agreed among themselves to
abstain from all theft, murder, and adultery; to keep their faith, and
to defraud no man: which done, they departed for that time, and
afterwards resorted again to take a meal in companies together, both men
and women, and yet without any act of evil."

To this Trajan replied that the Christians should not be sought after,
nor should anonymous accusations be received; but when they were brought
before the magistrate they should be punished. A most inconsistent
decision; for, as Tertullian pointed out, if they deserved to be
punished when caught, they ought also to be sought after as guilty.

In the legends of the martyrs there is an account of a widow named
Symphrosa who, with her seven sons, suffered death by the command of
Trajan. They refused to sacrifice to the gods at his behest. First, the
mother was tortured by being hung up for some time in the temple of
Hercules by the hair of the head, and then drowned; afterward, her sons
were by various means tortured and put to death.

We now come to the time of the philosophic emperor, Marcus Aurelius.
During the reign of his predecessor, Antoninus Pius, the Christians were
generally left to practise and propagate their religion in peace.
Consequently, the Gospel made rapid inroads upon paganism; so much so
that the latter was stirred to a more bitter opposition than had ever
before been instituted. At the first glance it appears a difficult
problem in moral philosophy to explain how so wise and righteous a ruler
as Marcus Aurelius could bring himself to persecute so cruelly an
inoffensive people like the Christians. But in the first place it must
be remembered that ecclesiastic history of that time, as we have it, is
very uncertain; in fact, it is greatly distorted and exaggerated. There
are good reasons for believing that what is called a general persecution
was confined largely to the one province of Gaul. Then it is very likely
that the emperor knew but little of the character of the Christians or
of the nature of their doctrines; that he held an unfavorable opinion of
them is shown by his own words. It also seems to be the fact that he
issued no new edict against them; but the rescript of Trajan was still
in force, which was to the effect that Christians, when accused in legal
form, and failing to recant, sho