Early secular mentions (1 gen 111 anni – 31 dic 121 anni)

Descrizione:

111/112 CE: Roman governor Pliny the Younger corresponds with the Emperor Trajan regarding trials of Christians occurring in Pontus and Bithynia, where they seem to be fairly numerous. Local Christian ritual consists of a pre-dawn meeting on a “fixed day” to sing hymns to Christ “as to a god”, the swearing of an ethical oath, and a shared meal. Imperial policy at this time is explicitly stated as not to hunt out Christians for persecution and trial. However, those Christians who find themselves convicted of obstinate refusal to comply with a state official’s request to sacrifice to the gods of state will find themselves in mortal peril.

115 CE: Roman historian Tacitus makes venomous note of Christians in his Annals, describing Nero’s brutal punishment of them after the Great Fire of Rome.

121 CE: Roman historian Suetonius mentions Nero’s punishment of Christians. He also makes mention of Claudius’ earlier expulsion of Jewish Christians (or Jews generally) from Rome.

Harder to pin to an exact date is the letter of a Syriac stoic philosopher named Mara bar Serapion, who references Jesus as a “wise king” who lives on via his teachings. This may have been written anywhere between 73 and 200 CE.

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