25
January 98 A.D. Trajan
Becomes Emperor: Trajan & Christians
Graves,
Dan. “Trajans and the Christians.” Christianity.com. May 2007.
http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1-300/trajan-and-the-christians-11629589.html. Accessed 10 Jul 2014.
Emperor Nerva was an old man when he came to power
in A.D. 96, following the death of tyrannical Domitian at the hands of an
assassin. Believing in the Republic, Nerva vowed never to assassinate a
senator, and he kept his word. He reduced taxes, brought exiles home, ended
persecution of Jews and Christians and generally boosted Roman morale by his mild
behavior.
On October 27, 97, he adopted Trajan as his son, making him emperor
apparent. Trajan, absent with his army, is said to have been unaware the
adoption ceremony was taking place in Rome at the Temple of Jupiter. Nerva died
suddenly three months later, on this day, January 25, 98, and Trajan became emperor. When he
entered Rome it was on foot with a show of humility as if he were a private
citizen. His first winter as ruler of the far-flung empire, he spent not in
Rome, but in Dacia, completing a military campaign.
Historians generally rank Trajan
as one of the noblest-minded and effective of the emperors because of his
friendliness, his readiness to go unarmed into homes where he might have been
killed, his fair treatment of the senate and his mildness toward enemies who plotted
against him. Nonetheless, he was pleased to have his family members elevated to
godhood, loved glory, was proud, and a thorough autocrat.
Trajan has a place in Christian history because in
correspondence with Pliny the Younger he addressed the issue of how to handle
the faithful. This is one of the earliest mentions of Christians in pagan
literature and is often quoted.
Pliny was governor of Pontus and
Bithynia (in Asia Minor) for three years beginning in 111, He wrote to the
emperor explaining how he had dealt with Christians. This included requiring
them to worship the emperor or the Roman gods; and if they refused, to execute
them. But he wondered if he should execute youngsters and whether it were
enough for a Christian to sacrifice to idols or if such a one should still be
executed.
Trajan (or his secretaries)
replied:
"You
observed proper procedure, my dear Pliny, in sifting the cases of those who had
been denounced to you as Christians. For it is not possible to lay down any
general rule to serve as a kind of fixed standard. They are not to be sought
out; if they are denounced and proved guilty, they are to be punished, with
this reservation, that whoever denies that he is a Christian and really proves
it--that is, by worshiping our gods--even though he was under suspicion in the
past, shall obtain pardon through repentance. But anonymously posted
accusations ought to have no place in any prosecution. For this is both a
dangerous kind of precedent and out of keeping with the spirit of our
age."
Trajan, although he did not
perpetuate persecution on the scale of Domitian and other emperors, executed
several Christian leaders including Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, and Simeon,
Bishop of Jerusalem.
Bibliography:
Birley, Anthony. Lives of the Later Caesars. Penguin
Books, 1982.
Henderson, Bernard W. Five Roman Emperors.
New York: Barnes and Noble, Inc., 1969.
"Trajan." in The Catholic Encyclopedia.
New York: Robert Appleton, 1914.
"Trajan." and "Nerva." in Encyclopedia
Americana. Chicago: American Corp., 1956.
Habermas, Gary. The Historical Jesus. College Press
Publishing Company, 1996.
Various internet articles.
Last updated June,
2007
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