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torians of Greece and Rome, and were onlyss

visible to the eyes of an African Christian, who composed his apology one hundred and sixty years after the death of Tiberius. The edict of Marcus Antoninus is supposed to have been the effect of his devotion and gratitude, for the miraculous deliverance which he had obtained in the Marcomannic war. The distress of the legions, the seasonable tempest of rain and hail, of thunder and of lightning, and the dismay and defeat of the barbarians, have been celebrated by the eloquence of several Pagan writers. If there were any Christians in that army, it was natural that they should ascribe'some merit to

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the fervent prayers, which, in the moment of danger, they had offered up for their own and the public safety. But we are still assured by monuments of brass and marble, by the Imperial medals, and by the Antonine column, that neither the prince nor the people entertained any sense of this fignal obligation, since they unanimously attribute their deliverance to the providence of Jupiter, and to the interposition of Mercury. During the whole course of his reign, Marcus despised the Christians as a philosopher, and punished them as a sovereign "5.

By a singular fatality, the hardships which they had endured under the government of a virtuous prince, immediately ceased on the acceflion of a tyrant, and as none except themselves had experienced the injustice of Marcus, so they alone were fiprotected by the lenity of Commodus. The celebrated Marcia, the most favoured of his concubines, and who at length contrived the murder of her Imperial lover, entertained a singular affection for the oppressed church; and though it was impossible that she could reconci'le. the practice of vice with the precepts of the Gospel, she might hope to atone for the frailties of her sex and profession, by declaring herself the patroness of the Christians '07.

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'06 On this miracle, as it is commonly called, of the thundering legion, see the admirable criticism of Mr. MoYle, in his Works, vol. ii. p. 81-390. _ ' '07 Dion Casiius, or rather his abbreviator Xiphilin, l. lxxii. p. 1206. Mr. Moyle (p. 266.) has explained the condition of the church under the reign of Commodus. - .

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Under the gracious protection of Marcia, they C H AP. XVI. *

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"3 Compare thelife of Caracalla in the Augustan History, with the epistle of Tertullian 'to Scapula. Dr. Jortin (Remarks on Ecclesiastical History, voi. ii. p. 5, &c.) considers the cure of Severus, by the means of holy oil, with a strong desire to convert it into a. miracle.

w9 Tertullian de Fugfi, c. 13. The present was made during the Feast of the Saturnalia; and it is a matter of serious concern to Tertullian, that the faithful should be confounded with the most infamous professions which purchased the connivance of the government. '

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m- Sulpicius Severus,l. ii. p. 384. This computation (allowing for a single exception) is confirmed by the history of Eusebius, and by the Writings osCyprian.

11; The antiquity of Christian churches is discussed by Tillemont," (Memoires Ecclesiastiques, tom. iii. part ii. p. 68-*-7z.), and by p

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