Roman Emperors and Persecution of Christians Flashcards
initiated the widespread and brutal persecution of Christians
Nero
After Rome burned in 64 CE, based on the report of Tacitus. To quell the persistent rumor that that_____ himself was responsible for the conflagration (intense fire) which consumed much of the city on 16 July 64, the emperor diverted the blame onto the Christian community. That is why Christians were hated by the Roman people.
Nero
Large numbers (ingens multitudo) of Christians were arrested and executed in the ways reserved for arsonists: some were sewn into the skins of the animals and thrown to the wild dogs, others were clothed in inflammable materials and used as living torches by_____ to light his garden, which he opened to the public for the spectacle.
NERO
the criminal act of deliberately setting fire to property.
Arson
The Christians were unjustly accused of arson.
Nero
persecuted the Christians not because he felt them as a threat to the state, but was aimed rather at individual Christians. He wanted the annihilation of the religion.
Nero
But_______ act did not win the sympathy of all his fellowmen for the victims were pitied, for it was felt that they (Christians) were being sacrificed to one man’s brutality rather to the national interest.
Nero’s
THE ROYAL DECREE
______wrote a letter to Pliny the Younger his governor in Asia Minor, setting his royal decree on how to deal with the Christians in a proper inquiry based on the following procedures
Trajan
DENY OR DIE
They are not to be hunted out.
If they are convicted, they are to be punished.
But, he who denies that he is a Christian and proves it by supplicating our gods, although suspected in the past, may gain pardon from penitence. Anonymous accusations shall not be entertained with respect or any crime.
Trajan
Deny or Die
Trajan
The situation became worst for the Christians.
In 202 he intensified the campaign for the persecution with greater severity.
SEPTIMUS SEVERUS
He forbade conversion to Christianity, and baptism was considered a criminal act.
The Christians were still pardoned however, if they denied the faith.
Septimus Severus
The policy stepped up the governments active persecution of Christians because the police sought out the newly baptized Christians
Septimus Severus
The famous martyrdom of ______ and _______ took place at Carthage during the time of Septimus Severus (193-211)
Perpetua and Felicity
Saints Perpetua and Felicity, a young noblewoman and her slave, were martyred for their faith in A.D. 203, under the emperor_____
Severus
In 250 C.E. The Roman emperor______ directed that all citizens of the Empire must worship the gods of the Romans and secure a_______ from the government.
Decius
certification
According to the historian Richard Cronin, “many Christians, it seems, actually bought such certificates, others performed the act of worship required, and others who refused were martyred. The magnitude of inhumanity to the Christians heightened.
Decius
continued the persecution in 257 by ordering the close and confiscation of Christian Churches, and by exiling and killing the bishops.
Valerian
He commanded Christian clergy to perform sacrifices to the Roman gods or face banishment and death
Valerian
Son of valerian
Galienus
stopped his father’s order of persecution and returned confiscated Church property.
Galienus
After the death of his father,________ granted liberty of worship to the Christians
Galienus
The era of Roman persecution resumed its implementation at the time of________.
Diocletian
He renewed the former edicts of persecution by Decius and Valerian, but added the confiscation of Christian writings as well as Church buildings.
Dioclectian
The persecution under his reign according to the historian William Hugh Clifford Frend, was a product of well-thought and well-planned attack on the Christians.
Diocletian
He recognized the danger of making Christians martyr. No blood, he insisted must be shed.
The aim was to recall the Christians to their duty of recognizing the majesty of the Roman gods.
Diocletian
The edict he promulgated on February____ ordered that throughout the empire
Churches were to be destroyed, and sacred books to be burned.
Diocletian
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Christians from public offices were to be removed.
Christians in the upper classes were to lose their privileges.
Diocletian
Christian slaves may not be freed.
The attacked was concentrated on the organization of Churches.
Diocletian
Some Christians fled to remote places to freely practice their faith. Others submitted to the authorities. But there were those who complained, fought for their rights and persisted to uphold their freedom. Thus, they ended up tortured, executed and burned in public.
Diocletian
Persecution finally met its end at the time of _______ in ____
Galerius in 311
he became incapacitated with a painful disease. Fearing, perhaps, that his illness was the vengeance of the Christian God, he issued on April 30, 311, an edict unwillingly granting toleration and lifting some of his persecution.
Galerius
In____, Emperor_______ together with_____ issued the Edict of Milan which declared religious freedom to all citizens of the Empire, after so many decades of prolonged agony and torture.
313
Constantine
Licinus
