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Example research essay topic: Put To Death Marcus Aurelius - 2,424 words

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The first instance of the Roman State taking action against Christians arose in the reign of the Emperor Claudius (41 - 54 A. D. ). The historians Suetonius and Dio Cassius tell us that Claudius had to expel the Jews because they were continually arguing among themselves about a certain Chrestos. "Here we have first mention of the response to the Christian message in the community of Rome, " comments Karl Baus. The historian Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (70 - ca. 140) was a high-ranking official at the imperial courts of Trajan and of Hadrian. He was a scholar and counsellor of the emperors. He justified this and future actions of the State against Christians defining them as a "new and malicious superstition"; very harsh words.

As a "superstition", Christianity was linked to "magia." For the Romans it was the same as the irrational practices which magicians and witches of evil character used to deceive the ignorant populace who had no training in philosophy. Magic was against reason and was common knowledge as opposed to philosophical knowledge. The accusation of magia (witchcraft), as well as that of insanity was a weapon with which the Roman State branded and suppressed new and suspect groups in society, such as Christianity. The word malefic a ( = bringer of evil) caught the popular and suspicious imagination of the populace which viewed this (and everything new) as intrinsically dangerous. It was therefore the cause of evil and inseparable from plague, flood, famine and invasion by the barbarians. A group at the same time open yet inward looking and suspicious The Roman Empire was (as it showed itself especially in its persecution of Christians) a great open body, disposed to absorbing every new people that forsakes its characteristics, but also a closed and suspicious group.

By the words etna, ethnic group (in Greek this), we mean a social group marked by the same language or culture and one suspicious of every other group. Rome, with its social organisation of free people enjoying all rights and slaves with none, of rich patricians and poor ordinary people (plebs), with the centre exploiting and the outlying areas exploited, considered itself as the realisation of the dream of Alexander the Great: to unify mankind, to make every free person a citizen of the world, and the empire a "universal assembly" (oikumne) which coincided exactly with "human Those who wished to live outside of this, to maintain their own identity and not to be absorbed with it, cut themselves off from human civilisation. Rome had a great fear of these "strangers" and "dissidents" who might upset its security. Since this "universal accord" had been established by the ferocious efficiency of its legions, Rome intended to maintain it by the strength of the sword, of crucifixions, of condemnations to forced labour and by exile. In a word, Rome used "ethnic cleansing" as a method of protecting the undisturbed peace of the "civilised world." Nero and the Christians as seen by the historian Tacitus. In the year 64 a fire destroyed 10 of the 14 wards of Rome.

The emperor Nero, accused by the people of being the instigator of the fire, threw the blame on to the Christians. He began the first great persecution which lasted until 68 and saw perish, among others, the apostles Peter and Paul. The great historian Tacitus Cornelius (54 - 120), senator and consul, described these events when, in the reign of Trajan, he wrote his Annals. He accused Nero of having unjustly attacked the Christians, but declared himself convinced that they merited the most severe punishments because of their superstitions from which sprang every Did not even share in the compassion experienced by many people in seeing them tortured... Here is the famous "To cut short the public outcry, Nero had to find someone guilty, and blamed a race of men despised for the perversity of their rites and commonly called Christians. The name comes from Christus (Christ), who was put to death when Pontius Pilate was pro-Consul and Procurator of Judea.

Now, this pernicious superstition has broken out anew, not only in Judea, the place of origin of this scourge, but even in Rome, where all that is shameful and abominable comes At first were arrested those who openly confessed their belief. Then, after their accusation, a great multitude were imprisoned not just accused of having caused the fire, but because they were regarded as being burning with hatred against the human race. They were put to death with refined cruelty, and Nero added scorn and derision to their sufferings. Some were clad in the skins of wild beasts and thrown to the dogs to be devoured; others were nailed to the cross, others burned alive, and still others covered with inflammable material which was then set on fire to serve as torches after sunset. Nero allowed his gardens (on the Vatican hill) to be used for this spectacle, which also included circus games.

As he proclaimed the opening of the circus games, he himself, driving a chariot and dressed as a charioteer, mingled with the crowds. " Although these punishments were against a blameworthy people who merited such original torments, there arose a sense of pity, since they had been sacrificed not for the common good but from the cruelty of the tyrant. " (XV, 44) Thus the Christians were believed by Tacitus as well to be a despicable people, capable of horrendous crimes. The worst evil doings attributed to Christians were ritual infanticide (they spoke of the Lord's Supper, the Eucharist, as the killing and eating of a child! ) and incest (clearly a travesty of the kiss of peace "between brothers and sisters" which occurred in the celebration of the Eucharist). These accusations, based on popular gossip, were thus sanctioned by imperial authority which persecuted and condemned Christians to death. From this time on (Tacitus maintains) there was added to the burden of Christians, the accusation that they hated the human race.

Pliny the Younger, ironically, writes that with a similar accusation anyone could from now on be We have scarce references of the persecution which struck the Christians in the year 89 under the emperor Domitian. Of particular importance is the information given by the greek historian Dio Cassius, who became a praetor and consul in Rome. In book 67 of his Roman History, he tells us that under Domitian they were accused and condemned "for atheism" (athletes) the consul Flavius Clemens and his wife Domitilla, and with them many others who "had The accusation of atheism, at this time, was thrown at those who did not consider as supreme deity, the imperial majesty. Domitian, strictest restorer of centralised authority, arrogated to himself the highest worship, as centre and It is worth noting that an intellectual like Dio Cassius designated as "atheism" the refusal to worship the emperor.

It meant that in Rome there was no concept of God separate from that of the imperial majesty. Those who thought differently were regarded as gravely dangerous to "human civilisation." In 111 Pliny the Younger, governor of Bithynia on the Black Sea, was returning from an inspection of his rich and well-populated province when a fire devastated his capital, Nicomedia. Much could have been saved, had there been firemen. Pliny reported to the emperor Trajan (98 - 117): "It is up to you to decide whether it is necessary to create a 150 -strong association of firemen. For my part, I will make sure that such an association will accept only firemen... " Trajan replied rejecting the proposal: "Do not forget that your province is prone to societies of this kind. Whatever their name or purpose, I do not wish to have people united in a body, who then, for whatever reason quickly become an eerie. "The fear of the eerie (the greek name for associations) prevailed over the fires.

This was a phenomenon of ancient times. Associations of any type, which transformed themselves into political groups, had pushed Caesar into forbidding all associations in 7 B. C. : "Whoever establishes an association without special authorisation, is liable to the same penalty as those who, with armed forces, attack public places and temples. " The laws were still in force, but the associations continued to flourish; the boatmen on the Seine, the doctors of Agencies, the wine merchants of Lyons, the buglers of Latest. They all defended the interests of their members putting pressure on the public authorities. Pliny was not slow to apply the interdict on eerie to a particular case presented to him in 112. Bithynia was full of Christians. "They are a crowd of people of all ages, and conditions, dispersed throughout the cities, in the villages and the countryside, " he wrote to the Emperor.

He goes on to tell of a complaint received from the makers of religious amulets upset by the Christians who preached about the uselessness of such nicknames. He had set up a special inquiry and found out that they had "the habit of gathering on a fixed day, before sunrise to sing a hymn to Christ as though to a god. They try to live justly, they oblige themselves by oath not to commit crimes, theft or robbery or adultery or deceit with words. They have the custom of dining together, and in spite of what others may say, the food is ordinary and harmless. " The Christians had not ceased having these meetings even after the governor had reissued the interdict against eerie.

Continuing the letter (10, 96), Pliny assures the Emperor that he saw no malice in what they are doing. However, the refusal to offer incense and wine before the statue of the Emperor seemed to him an act of public sacrilege. The obstinacy of these Christians seemed "unreasonable and foolish." From the letter of Pliny it appears clear that the accusations of ritual infanticide and incest had been dropped out as absurd. There still remained the accusation of refusing to worship the Emperor (i.

e. high treason) and of establishing The Emperor replied, "The Christians ought not to be sought out by the authorities. If, however, they are denounced and found guilty, they will have to be condemned. " In other words: Trajan encourages turning a blind eye to them: they are a harmless eternal like the boatmen on the Seine or the wine merchants of Lyon. But since Christians are practising an "unreasonable and foolish superstition" (as Pliny and other intellectuals of the time such as Epictetus said) and continued to refuse to do emperor worship (and thus were considered "outcasts" from civic life), Pliny should not pretend as if nothing happened. If they are denounced, they are to be condemned.

Thus there continued the policy (even if in less rigid form) of "It is not legal to be Christians." Certainly victim in this period were Simeon, the Bishop of Jerusalem, crucified at the age of 120, and Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, carried to Rome as a roman citizen and executed there. The same policy towards Christians came to be adopted by the emperors Hadrian (117 - 138) and Marcus Aurelius: Christianity is folly Marcus Aurelius (161 - 180), philosopher emperor, spent 17 of the 19 years of his reign fighting. In his Memoirs, which he wrote each night in his military tent, he recorded his thoughts "for himself." He greatly despised Christianity. He considered it folly since it proposed to the common, ignorant people a certain manner of conduct (universal love, forgiveness, sacrifice for others without waiting for reward) which only philosophers such as himself could understand and practise through long meditation and discipline.

His rescript of 176 - 7 prohibited fanatical sects, and the introduction of new cults so far unknown which might threaten the state religion. The situation for Christians, always grave, became even worse under him. The flourishing communities of Asia Minor founded by the Apostle Paul were liable day or night to robbery and plunder by the mob. At Rome, Justin and a group of Christian intellectuals were condemned to death. The flourishing Christian community of Lyon was destroyed by accusations of atheism and immorality. (There perished under severe torture the very young Blandina and the fifteen year old Ponticus). We realise that public opinion was hardening against the Christians.

Great public calamities (such as war and plague) had raised the conviction that the gods were angry with Rome. When it became known that the Christians did not take part in the expiatory ceremonies ordered by the Emperor, popular wrath tried to find pretexts for raging against them. This situation continued even into the first years of the emperor Commodus, son of Marcus Aurelius. THE OFFENSIVE OF THE INTELLECTUALS AGAINST CHRISTIANS In the reign of Marcus Aurelius, the offensive of the intellectuals of Rome against the Christians reached its peak. "Frequently and erroneously - writes Fabio Ruggiero - it is believed that the ancient world had combated the new faith with the weapons of law and order, in a word, with the persecutions.

If this is true (and only in part) for the first century of the Christian era, it was no longer so in the second half of the second century. Both the gentile ( = pagan) world and the Church understood, about the same time, the necessity of discussion and dialogue on the level of philosophical and theological argumentation. Ancient culture, trained for centuries in the subtleties of reasoning, could bring very sophisticated arguments against Christian teaching. Soon enough the Church itself, taking account of the force which classical thought could exert as a brake on the spread of the Gospel, understood the necessity of developing genuinely Christian philosophical and theological thought. At the same time this must be expressed in a language and in cultural categories intelligible to the greece-roman world in which the Church was becoming more deeply involved. " The lines of argument used by antichristian intellectuals The arguments of Marcus Aurelius (121 - 180), Galenus (129 - 200), Lucian, Pellegrinus Proteus and especially Celsus (all of whom wrote their works in the second half of the second century) can be summarised as follows: - "Salvation" from the insignificance of life, from disorder of events, from the annihilation of death, from sorrow, can be found only in a "philosophical wisdom" on the part of a highly intelligent elite.

The answer which Christians gave to this "salvation" as "faith" in a man crucified (like a slave) in Palestine (a border province) and declared to...


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Research essay sample on Put To Death Marcus Aurelius

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