Trajan
Roman emperor from 98 to 117. His reply to Pliny ruled that Christians were not to be hunted out but were to be punished if accused and convicted.
Trajan was a Spaniard, governor of Germany when the aged emperor Nerva adopted him as his son and successor; Cassius Dio remarks that no one from outside Italy had ruled Rome before him (Cassius Dio, Roman History 68.3–4). He reigned for nineteen and a half years and died at Selinus in Cilicia on his way back from a war against Parthia (Cassius Dio, Roman History 68.33).
His ruling on Christians survives in his answer to Pliny the Younger: they are not to be sought out, those accused and convicted are to be punished, those who deny the charge and pray to the gods are to be pardoned, and unsigned accusations are to be ignored (Pliny, Letters 10.97). Eusebius, two centuries later, places in his reign the deaths of Symeon, bishop of Jerusalem, and of Ignatius of Antioch (Eusebius, Church History 3.32) (Eusebius, Church History 3.36).
In the timeline
- about AD 112, estimated datePliny Asks Trajan How to Treat Christians
The governor of Bithynia and Pontus reports to the emperor on his trials of Christians and on what they do when they meet. Trajan rules that they are not to be hunted out, but are to be punished if accused and convicted.
Primary sources
Roman History
- Cassius Dio, Roman History 68.3–4penelope.uchicago.edu
- Cassius Dio, Roman History 68.33penelope.uchicago.edu
Letters
- Pliny, Letters 10.97attalus.org
Church History
- Eusebius, Church History 3.32newadvent.org
- Eusebius, Church History 3.36newadvent.org