other hand, Christians looked upon the question as a
matter of conscience and morality and regarded the worship of the princeps
as an act of idolatry. They could pray for him, but not to him. These two
points of view were impossible of reconciliation. Furthermore, since the
worship of the state gods formed such an integral part of the public life
of each community, it was inevitable that those who refused to participate
in this worship should be looked upon as atheists and public enemies. On
another ground also the Christians were liable to punishment under the
_lex maiestatis_, namely, as forming unauthorized religious associations.
These constituted the crimes for which the Christians were actually
punished from the close of the first to the middle of the third century of
our era.

*Popular accusations against the Christians.* However, throughout this
period the state did not take the initiative against Christians as such,
but only dealt with those individuals against whom specific charges were
laid by private initiative or the action of local magistrates. These
popular accusations charged the Christians with forming illegal
associations, with seeking the destruction of mankind (as _odiatores
humani generis_), and with perpetrating all sorts of monstrous crimes in
their religious rites. Such accusations were partly due to the belief of
the early Christian church in the immediate coming of the kingdom of
Christ, to their consequent scorn of wealth and public honors, and to the
secrecy which surrounded the exercise of their religion.

*The imperial policy from Trajan to Maximus.* The attitude of the Roman
government towards the Christians in the early second century is clearly
seen from the correspondence between Trajan and Pliny the younger, the
governor of Bithynia in 112 A. D. This correspondence fails to reveal any
specific law prohibiting Christianity, but shows that the admission of the
name of Christian, accompanied by the refusal to worship the gods of the
state and the princeps, constituted sufficient grounds for punishment.
Thus a great deal of discretion was left to the provincial governor, who
was directed to pay no attention to anonymous accusations but who was
expected to repress Christianity whenever its spread caused conflicts with
the non-Christian element under his authority. A rescript of Hadrian to
Minucius Fundanus, proconsul of Asia, ordained that Christians should
receive the benefit of a regular