How were Christians punished in Ancient Rome?

Answer 1

The contribution above does not include the three legally sanctioned persecutions; the Decian persecution, Valerian's persecution and the Diocletianic or great persecution. Origen wrote Contra Celsum in 248; that is, before these three persecutions , which were the three persecutions where the highest number of executions of Christians took place. The contribution also does not include the persecution by Septimius Severus, in which Origen's father was executed.

In 250 the emperor Decius (reigned 250-251) decreed that all citizens had to offer sacrifices to the Roman gods to show their loyalty to the Roman state and the emperor. Failure to do so would result in execution. These persecutions was aimed at all citizens of the empire who did not follow Roman religion and not specifically at the Christians. However, the Christians were the ones who were liable to refuse to perform the sacrifices because doing to would be a betrayal of their only god and because they abhorred sacrifices. Many Christians complied and in some places officials were overwhelmed by the number of people seeking a certificate which proved they had performed the sacrifices. Many refused and were executed, including Pope Fabian, Babylas of Antioch and Alexander of Jerusalem. Some, including Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, went into hiding. The number of Christians who were executed is unknown.

Valerian (reigned 253-260) renewed the persecution and he targeted specifically the Christians. A first decree ordered the Christian clergy to perform sacrifices to the Roman gods or face banishment, a second one ordered Christian leaders to be executed, Christian Roman senators and equites who would not perform sacrifices to the Roman gods were to lose their titles, their property and, if they continued to refuse, to be executed. Roman matrons would lose their property and be banished, and civil servants and members of the Imperial household were to be reduced to slavery and sent to work on the Imperial estates. Prominent executed Christians included Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, Pope Sixtus II, along with six deacons and Lawrence of Rome.

The worst persecution was the great or Diocletianic persecution unleashed by the emperor Diocletian (reigned 284-305) unleashed in 303. Diocletian ordered that the newly built Christian church at Nicomedia be razed, its scriptures burned, and its treasures seized. The day of feast for Terminus, the god of boundaries was to be the day that would terminate Christianity. The next day, Diocletian issued first "Edict against the Christians" which targeted Christian property and senior clergy. It ordered the destruction of Christian scriptures, liturgical books, and places of worship, forbade Christians from assembling for worship and deprived them of the right to petition the courts. The latter, besides excluding response to the action taken against them in the cuts, made the Christians liable to judicial torture (torture of Roman citizens was prohibited by the law). Christian senators, equestrians, decurions (town officials), veterans, and soldiers were deprived of their ranks and imperial freedmen were re-enslaved. Diocletian requested that the edict be executed without bloodshed. However, execution was among the discretionary powers of the judges and this was often meted out. Following the recommendation of Galerius, Diocletian's junior co-emperor in the east and the driving force behind the persecution, burning alive became a common form of execution.

This was the only legally binding edict in the western part of the empire. In the east a second, third and fourth edict were issued. The second edict ordered the arrest and imprisonment of all bishops and priests. Imprisonment was not common in the Roman legal system and there were not enough prisons. The prisons became overwhelmed by the number of imprisoned Christians. A number of Christians had to be released. The third decree declared an amnesty and clergymen could be released if they agreed to perform sacrifices to the Roman gods. Many Christians refused, some of them willingly complied, some did so because they were tortured and prison wardens often extracted nominal compliance because they wanted to get rid of their inmates. A fourth edict ordered all men, women, and children, to gather in a public space and offer a collective sacrifice. Refusal would lead to execution.

The persecution was enforced vigorously in the eastern part of the Roman Empire. Diocletian's two co-emperors in the western part were not as keen on the persecution and in this part of the empire it was enforced mildly.

Answer 2

This is a complex question, covering quite different periods over nearly three hundred years. During this period, it has been estimated that Christians were persecuted by the Roman state for a total of around 12 years only. In the third century, as Christianity gained adherents, the Church built church buildings, so Christians were clearly not sought out for punishment, except in the persecutions of 250, 257 and finally 303- 311. However, individual cases of punishment for the overt practice of Christianity, or for blasphemy against the Roman gods, undoubtedly occurred.
We do not really know how Christians were punished, but execution seems to have been rare. The third-century Church Father, Origen, writing of the total of Christian martyrs up to his own time, in Rome and elsewhere, states that there were not many - and that it was easy to count them.

Nero The second-century Roman historian, Suetonius, writing of Nero (54-68 CE): "Punishment was meted out to the Christians, a class of men professing a new and wicked superstition." But he does not say what punishment was meted out, nor how often.

Another second-century Roman historian, Tacitus, is shown to have said of the Christians after the Great Fire of Rome, " ...then by their evidence a great multitude were convicted, not so much for the crime of arson as for their hatred of the human race." However, some scholars see this as a "later, pious interpolation by Christian apologists". Richard Holland (Nero: The Man Behind the Myth) says, "Perhaps the strangest thing is that none of the gospels, nor even Acts of the Apostles, makes the slightest reference to the persecution by Nero of any Christians at Rome, let alone 'a great multitude' of them. " Overall, it appears more likely that Nero largely ignored the Christians, as did most other Roman emperors.

The apostles Peter and Paul are traditionally said to have been executed during the reign of Nero, but this tradition appears to have begun long after the end of the first century. Actscertainly does not mention these executions, although it can be assumed that it would have done so if the early Christians knew of them.

Trajan In an exchange of letters between Pliny the Younger and the Emperor Trajan in about 112, Trajan said that Christians were not to be sought out for punishment, and if they came up in court they were to be given the opportunity of clearing themselves by formal denial, no matter how compromising their previous conduct may have been - so long as they also offer up the required prayers to the Roman Gods.

Conclusion We do not really know how Christians were punished, but execution seems to have been rare. The third-century Church Father, Origen (Contra Celsum, 3.8 ), writing of the total of Christian martyrs up to his own time, in Rome and elsewhere, states that there were not many - and that it was easy to count them.