XVI. CHAP. Roman empire. It was not long, perhaps, before the Jews themselves, animated with a fiercer zeal and a more jealous faith, perceived the gradual separation of their Nazarene brethren from the doctrine of the synagogue; and they would gladly have extinguished the dangerous heresy in the blood of its adherents.But the decrees of heaven had already disarmed their malice; and though they might sometimes exert the licentious privilege of sedition, they no longer possessed the administration of criminal justice; nor did they find it easy to infuse into the calm breast of a Roman magistrate the rancour of their own zeal and prejudice. The provincial governors declared themselves ready to listen to any accusation that might af fect the public safety: but as soon as they were informed, that it was a question not of facts but of words, a dispute relating only to the interpretation of the Jewish laws and prophecies, they deemed it unworthy of the majesty of Rome seriously to discuss the obscure differences which might arise among a barbarous and superstitious people. The innocence of the first Christians was protected by ignorance and contempt; and the tribunal of the Pagan magistrates often proved their most assured refuge against the fury of the synagogue. If indeed we were disposed to adopt the traditions of a too credulous antiquity, we might relate the distant peregrinations, the wonderful achievements, and the various deaths of the twelve apostles; but a more accurate inquiry will induce us to doubt, whether any of those persons who had been witnesses to the miracles of Christ, were permitted, beyond the limits of Palestine, to seal with their blood the truth of their testimony27. From the ordinary term of human life, it may very naturally be pre 26 See in the 18th and 25th chapters of the Acts of the Apostles, the behaviour of Gallio, proconsul of Achaia, and of Festus, procurator of Judea. 27 In the time of Tertullian and Clemens of Alexandria, the glory of martyrdom was confined to St. Peter, St. Paul, and St. James. It was gradually bestowed on the rest of the apostles, by the more recent Greeks, who prudently selected for the theatre of their preaching and sufferings, some remote country beyond the limits of the Roman empire. See Mosheim, p. 81. and Tillemont, Memoires Ecclesiastiques, tom. i. part 3. XVI. sumed that most of them were deceased before the dis- CHAP. content of the Jews broke out into that furious war, which was terminated only by the ruin of Jerusalem. During a long period, from the death of Christ to that memorable rebellion, we cannot discover any traces of Roman intolerance, unless they are to be found in the sudden, the transient, but the cruel persecution, which was exercised by Nero against the Christians of the capitol, thirty-five years after the former, and only two years before the latter, of those great events. The character of the philosophic historian, to whom we are principally indebted for the knowledge of this singular transaction, would alone be sufficient to recommend it to our most attentive consideration. of Rome Nero. In the tenth year of the reign of Nero, the capital of The fire the empire was afflicted by a fire which raged beyond under the the memory or example of former ages. The monu- reign of ments of Grecian art and of Roman virtue, the trophies of the Punic and Gallic wars, the most holy temples, and the most splendid palaces, were involved in one common destruction. Of the fourteen regions or quarters into which Rome was divided, four only subsisted entire, three were levelled with the ground, and the remaining seven, which had experienced the fury of the flames, displayed a melancholy prospect of ruin and desolation. The vigilance of government appears not to have neglected any of the precautions which might alleviate the sense of so dreadful a calamity. The Imperial gardens were thrown open to the distressed multitude, temporary buildings were erected for their accommodation, and a plentiful supply of corn and provisions was distributed at a very moderate price2o. The most generous policy seemed to have dictated the edicts which regulated the disposition of the streets and the construction of private houses; and as it usually happens, in an age of prosperity, the conflagra 28 Tacit. Annal. xv. 38-44. Sueton. in Neron. c. 38. Dion Cassius, 1. Ixü. p. 1014. Orosius, vii. 7. 29 The price of wheat (probably of the modius) was reduced as low as terni Nummi; which would be equivalent to about fifteen shillings the English quarter. VOL. II. X CHAP. tion of Rome, in the course of a few years, produced XVI. a new city, more regular and more beautiful than the former. But all the prudence and humanity affected by Nero on this occasion were insufficient to preserve him from the popular suspicion. Every crime might be imputed to the assassin of his wife and mother; nor could the prince, who prostituted his person and dignity on the theatre, be deemed incapable of the most extravagant folly. The voice of rumour accused the emperor as the incendiary of his own capital; and as the most incredible stories are the best adapted to the genius of an enraged people it was gravely reported, and firmly believed, that Nero, enjoying the calamity which he had occasioned, amused himself with singing to his lyre the destruction of ancient Troy. To divert a suspicion, which the power of despotism was unable to suppress, the emperor resolved to substitute in his own place some fictitions criminals. Cruel pu- "With this view (continues Tacitus) he inflicted the nishment of the Chris most exquisite tortures on those men, who, under the vulgar appellation of Christians, were already "branded with deserved infamy. They derived their diaries of "name and origin from Christ, who in the reign of Tibe the city.rius had suffered death, by the sentence of the pro tians, as the incen "curator Pontius Pilates. For a while, this dire su"perstition was checked; but it again burst forth; "and not only spread itself over Judæa, the first seat of this mischievous sect, but was even introduced "into Rome, the common asylum which receives and protects, whatever is impure, whatever is atrocious. "The confessions of those who were seized, discover 30 We may observe, that the rumour is mentioned by Tacitus with a very becoming distrust and hesitation, whilst it is greedily transcribed by Suetonius, and solemnly confirmed by Dion. 31 This testimony is alone sufficient to expose the anachronism of the Jews, who place the birth of Christ near a century sooner (Basnage, Histoire des Juifs, 1. v. c. 14, 15.) We may learn from Josephus (Antiquitat. xviii. 3.), that the procuratorship of Pilate corresponded with the last ten years of Tiberius, A. D. 27-37. As to the particular time of the death of Christ, a very early tradition fixed it to the 25th of March, A. D. 29, under the consulship of the two Gemini (Tertullian adv. Judæos, c. 8.)— This date, which is doubted by Pagi, cardinal Norris, and Le Clerc, seems, at least, as probable as the vulgar æra, which is placed (I know not from what conjectures,) four years later. XVI. "ed a great multitude of their accomplices, and they CHAP. "were all convicted, not so much for the crime of set"ting fire to the city, as for their hatred of human "kind32. They died in torments, and their torments "were embittered by insult and derision. Some were "nailed on crosses; others sewn up in the skins of "wild beasts, and exposed to the fury of dogs: others "again, smeared over with combustible materials, "were used as torches to illuminate the darkness of "the night. The gardens of Nero were destined for "the melancholy spectacle, which was accompanied "with a horse race, and honoured with the presence "of the emperor, who mingled with the populace in "the dress and attitude of a charioteer. The guilt of "the Christians deserved indeed the most exemplary "punishment, but the public abhorrence was changed "into commisseration, from the opinion that those un"happy wretches were sacrificed, not so much to the "public welfare, as to the cruelty of a jealous tyrant." Those who survey with a curious eye the revolutions of mankind, may observe, that the gardens and circus of Nero on the Vatican, which were polluted with the blood of the first Christians, have been rendered still more famous by the triumph and by the abuse of the persecuted religion. On the same spot, a temple, which far surpasses the ancient glories of the Capitol, has been since erected by the Christian Pontiffs, who, deriving their claim of universal dominion from an humble fisherman of Galilee, have succeeded to the 32 Odio humani generis convicti. These words may either signify the hatred of mankind towards the Christians, or the hatred of the Christians towards mankind. I have preferred the latter sense, as the most agreeable to the style of Tacitus, and to the popular error, of which a precept of the Gospel (See Luke xiv. 26.) had been, perhaps, the innocent occasion. My interpretation is justified by the authority of Lipsius; of the Italian, the French, and the English translators of Tacitus; of Mosheim (p. 102). of Le Clerc (Historia Ecclesiast. p. 427), of Dr Lardner (Testimonies, vol. i. p. 345). and of the bishop of Gloucester (Divine Legation, vol. iii. p. 38.) But as the word convicti does not unite very happily with the rest of the sentence, James Gronnovius has preferred the reading of conjuncti, which is authorised by the valuable MS. of Florence. 33 Tacit. Annal. xv. 44. 34 Nardini Roma Antica, p. 487. Donatus de Roma Antiqua 1. iii. P. 449. XVI. CHAP. throne of the Cæsars, given laws to the barbarian conquerors of Rome, and extended their spiritual jurisdiction from the coast of the Baltic to the shores of the Pacific Ocean. Remarks sage of Tacitus But it would be improper to dismiss this account of Nero's persecution, till we have made some observations, that may serve to remove the difficulties with which it is perplexed, and to throw some light on the subsequent history of the church. 1. The most sceptical criticism is obliged to respect on the pas- the truth of this extraordinary fact, and the integrity of this celebrated passage of Tacitus. The former is relative to confirmed by the diligent and accurate Suetonius, cution of who mentions the punishment which Nero inflicted on the Chris- the Christians, a sect of men who had embraced a new tians by and criminal superstitions. The latter may be proved Nero. by the consent of the most ancient manuscripts; by the inimitable character of the style of Tacitus; by his reputation, which guarded his text from the interpolations of pious fraud; and by the purport of his narration, which accused the first Christians of the most atrocious crimes, without insinuating that they possessed any miraculous or even magical powers above the rest of mankind 36. 2. Notwithstanding it is probable that Tacitus was born some years before the fire of Rome, he could derive only from reading and conversation the knowledge of an event which happened during his infaney. Before he gave himself to the Public, he calmly waited till his genius had attained its full 35 Sueton. in Nerone, c. 16. The epithet of malefica, which some saga. cious commentators have translated magical, is considered by the more ra. tional Mosheim as only synonymous to the exitiabilis of Tacitus. 36 The passages concerning Jesus Christ, which was inserted into the text of Josephus, between the time of Origen and that of Eusebius, may furnish an example of no vulgar forgery. The accomplishment of the prophecies, the virtues, miracles, and resurrection of Jesus, are distinctly related. Josephus acknowledges that he was the Messiab, and hesitates whether he should call him a man. If any doubt can still remain concerning this celebrated passage, the reader may examine the pointed objections of Le Fevre (Havercamp. Joseph. tom. ii. p. 267-273.), the laboured answers of Daubuz (p. 187-232.), and the masterly reply (Bibliothéque Ancienne et Moderne, tom. vij. p. 237-288,) of an anonymous critic, whom I believe to have been the learned Abbé de Longuerue. 37 See the lives of Tacitus by Lipsius and the Abbé de la Bleterie, Dictionnaire de Bayle a l'article TACITE, and Fabricius, Biblioth. Latin, tom. . p. 386. Edit. Ernest. |