Lyanne D.
The fourth-century piece, “The Deaths of the Persecutors” written by Lactantius, recounts in grave detail the Great Persecution against the Christians. Lanctantius reports a furious Diocletian ordering a “purge of Christians from his court and from the army,” (Lynch, 123). Which ultimately spread to the entire empire. In chapter 15, Lanctantius records with explicit detail, exactly what type of torture was used against the Christians. He says that there was no respect in regards to anyone’s age or sex. Men were herded into “devouring” fires and domestic servants were submerged into the sea with stones tied to their necks. There became a point in time when the intensity of the persecution grew to not only Christians but those who seemed deserving of it, those who had no dignity. Christian buildings and scriptures were destroyed as well and even meetings were prohibited for Christians.
In chapter 21 of “The Deaths of the Persectors,” Lanctnatius describes the punishments and the torture in a sort of catergorical way. For example if an individual was to be beaten, four stakes would be prepared in an enclosure, of if the emperor wanted amusement, he would have men thrown to bears to be swallowed down. He even described specifically how people were burned. This type of death used to be directly against the Christians, but now it was for anyone. They were bound and burned slowly. They were continuously rehydrated in order to keep them alive longer. After they died, their bodies were cremated and tossed into rivers and seas. At the end of Lanctantius’ work he states that the period of restoration of the Church was about a period of ten years and four months.
I think this reading was really trying to illustrate how the people during this time were tortured and that it wasn’t because the Emperors were in denial of a divine figure, in fact Lynch claims that they probably believed the Christian god existed, and god was not the problem in this persecution (Lynch 126). And despite all that, it could not destroy the spread and people of Christianity. The Roman Empire could not conquer the religion of Christianity, nor its followers.
The fourth-century piece, “The Deaths of the Persecutors” written by Lactantius, recounts in grave detail the Great Persecution against the Christians. Lanctantius reports a furious Diocletian ordering a “purge of Christians from his court and from the army,” (Lynch, 123). Which ultimately spread to the entire empire. In chapter 15, Lanctantius records with explicit detail, exactly what type of torture was used against the Christians. He says that there was no respect in regards to anyone’s age or sex. Men were herded into “devouring” fires and domestic servants were submerged into the sea with stones tied to their necks. There became a point in time when the intensity of the persecution grew to not only Christians but those who seemed deserving of it, those who had no dignity. Christian buildings and scriptures were destroyed as well and even meetings were prohibited for Christians.
In chapter 21 of “The Deaths of the Persectors,” Lanctnatius describes the punishments and the torture in a sort of catergorical way. For example if an individual was to be beaten, four stakes would be prepared in an enclosure, of if the emperor wanted amusement, he would have men thrown to bears to be swallowed down. He even described specifically how people were burned. This type of death used to be directly against the Christians, but now it was for anyone. They were bound and burned slowly. They were continuously rehydrated in order to keep them alive longer. After they died, their bodies were cremated and tossed into rivers and seas. At the end of Lanctantius’ work he states that the period of restoration of the Church was about a period of ten years and four months.
I think this reading was really trying to illustrate how the people during this time were tortured and that it wasn’t because the Emperors were in denial of a divine figure, in fact Lynch claims that they probably believed the Christian god existed, and god was not the problem in this persecution (Lynch 126). And despite all that, it could not destroy the spread and people of Christianity. The Roman Empire could not conquer the religion of Christianity, nor its followers.