Persecutions Under Julian, Ad 361
PERSECUTIONS UNDER JULIAN, AD 361
Julian became emperor at the death of his brother Constantius, the son of Constantine the Great. Although Julian had been educated by his father in the Christian faith, he was at heart a pagan; no sooner was he seated on the throne than he made a public avowal of his belief and trust in the ancient gods of the heathen, earning himself the title Julian the Apostate.
Julian restored idolatrous worship by opening the temples and ordering the magistrates and people to follow his example, but he did not make any laws against Christianity. He allowed every religious sect its freedom, although he exerted all the influence he could to restore the old faith. Although no violent deaths of Christians are recorded as resulting from any orders from Julian, several executions did take place around the empire on orders of heathen governors and officers.
SEVERUS
Venus, the goddess of love, was revered by the Romans, and April was considered the appropriate month to celebrate the triumphs of this goddess. During the month, her temples were thronged with worshippers and her marble statues were decked with flowers. Severus, a Christian centurion in the Roman army, dared to raise his voice against this popular custom, not only refusing to take part in the heathen ceremony but denouncing Venus herself. Enraged by his words, the crowd seized Severus and dragged him before the judge. He repeated his beliefs firmly in the judge’s presence and was condemned to be taken before the temple of Venus to be insulted, stripped, and scourged with a whip called the plumbetae, which had lead balls tied at the end of each of its thongs. Severus was beaten by two strong men, delivered over to the public executioners, and beheaded.
CASSIAN
Cassian was a schoolmaster in a town not far from Rome. When he was arrested for refusing to sacrifice to the idols, his judge decided that his punishment should be entrusted to his students, who didn’t like their schoolmaster at all. He was bound and delivered to his students, who fell on him with their styles (the sharp-pointed pieces of iron used to write on wax-covered tablets) and stabbed him to death.
THEODORUS
Theodoras, a Christian, was seized and tortured. After being taken from the rack, he was asked how he could endure the pain so patiently. “At first I felt some pain,” he replied, “but afterward there appeared to be a young man beside me who wiped the sweat from my face and refreshed me with cold water. I enjoyed it so much that I was sorry to be released.”
MARCUS
Marcus, the bishop of Arethusa, a town in Thrace, destroyed a heathen temple and had a Christian church built in its place. This so enraged the heathens of the town that they waited until he was alone and captured him one day. After they had beaten him with sticks, they asked whether he would rebuild the temple he’d torn down. Marcus not only refused to rebuild it but threatened to destroy it again if anyone else rebuilt it. His persecutors looked around for some way of punishing him, finally deciding on a plan that was as cruel as it was unusual. They tied Marcus with ropes and placed him in a large basket, which they hung in a tree after smearing the poor man’s body with honey. After being hung up in the tree, Marcus was asked once more to restore the temple; he refused, and his tormentors left him to die from the stings of the wasps he attracted.
PERSECUTIONS BY THE GOTHS
During the reign of Constantine the Great, the light of the Gospel penetrated into the land of the barbarians. In northeastern Europe, which was then called Scythia, some of the Goths were converted, but most of them continued as pagans.
Fritegern, king of the Western Goths, was a friend of the Romans; but Athanaric, king of the Eastern Goths, was at war with them. The Christians living in Fritegern’s area lived in peace; but Athanaric, being defeated by the Romans, took out his anger on the Christians in his land.
Sabas was the first to feel the king’s anger. He was a humble, modest man, eager to see the church expand. Athanaric sent out orders that everyone in his land had to sacrifice to the heathen gods and eat the meat that had been offered to the idols. If they refused, they would be put to death. Some of the heathens who had Christian relatives provided them with meat that hadn’t been sacrificed to the idols, but Sabas refused to take this way out. He not only refused to comply with the new laws but publicly said that those who ate the substitute meat were not true Christians.
Sabas was soon arrested and taken before a judge who, seeing he was a poor, unimportant man, had him released. Soon Sabas went to visit Sansala, a Christian missionary; on the third night after his arrival, they were both arrested by a party of soldiers. Sansala was allowed to dress himself and ride, but Sabas was forced to leave his clothing behind and walk. All during the long journey, they drove him through thorns and briars, beating him all the way. In the evenings, they stretched him between two beams, fastening his legs to the one and his arms to the other, and left him that way for the night. Even when he was released by a woman who pitied him, Sabas refused to run away.
In the morning, the soldiers tried to persuade both men to renounce their religion and eat the meat that had been consecrated to the idols. They refused, and although Sansala was finally set free, Sabas was drowned.
Nicetas, a Goth living near the Danube with his parents, was a Christian, too. One day Athanaric commanded that an idol should be drawn around on a chariot in all the Christian towns; everyone was ordered to worship the idol when it stopped in front of their house. Nicetas refused to come out when the idol arrived at his house, so the house was set on fire and everyone in it burned to death.
PERSECUTION BY THE VANDALS, AD 429
The Vandals crossed over from Spain to the north coast of Africa and defeated the Roman army there, conquering the whole country under their leader, Genseric. Since the Vandals were of the Arian sect, they abused the Christians wherever they found them, laying waste to all their cities and ruining every beautiful or valuable object they found. They even burned the fields of grain so anyone escaping their swords would die from famine. They plundered the churches and murdered the bishops and ministers in many cruel ways. Often they poured rancid, filthy oil down the throats of those they captured, drowning them. Others they martyred by stretching their limbs with cords until the veins and sinews burst. Old men found no mercy from them, and even innocent babies felt the rage of their barbarity.
When a town held out against them, the Vandals brought great numbers of Christians to the town walls and killed them, leaving their bodies to rot under the walls until the town had to surrender to escape the plague.
After they took Carthage, the Vandals put the city’s bishop and many other Christians into a leaky ship and committed it to the waves, thinking everyone on it would soon die, but the vessel arrived safely at another port. Several Christians were beaten, scourged, and banished to the desert, where God used them to convert many of the Moors to Christianity. Once Genseric discovered this, he sent orders that they and their converts should be tied by the feet to chariots and dragged until they were beaten to pieces.
The bishop of Urice was burned, and the bishop of Habensa was banished for refusing to turn over the sacred books. Archinimus, a devout Christian, was brought before Genseric himself for trial. Finding the man firm in his faith, Genseric ordered him beheaded but privately told the executioner, “If the prisoner is courageous and willing to die, don’t kill him. I don’t want him to have the honor of being a martyr.” When the executioner found Archinimus quite willing to die, he returned him to the prison, from which he soon disappeared, probably murdered in secret at the king’s order.
Cyrilla, the Arian bishop of Carthage, was a great enemy to those Christians who professed the pure faith. He persuaded Genseric that he could not allow so many of his subjects to practice their Christianity and enjoy any peace. Genseric first attempted to bribe the Christians away from their faith with promises of worldly gains, but they stood firm, saying, “We acknowledge but one Lord and one faith. You may do whatever you please with our bodies, for it is better we suffer a few temporary pains than endure everlasting misery.” Looking for an efficient way to kill so many people at once, the governor finally ordered them all put on a ship filled with wood and straw. The ship was then set on fire, and everyone aboard was either drowned or burned to death. The names of the chief Christians on board the ship were Rusticus, Liberatus, Rogatus, Servus, Septimus, and Boniface.