Mythbusting Ancient Rome: throwing Christians to the lions
by Shushma Malik and Caillan Davenport
Abstract: Malik and Davenport show that the allegation that Roman Emperors were fierce persecutors of Christians is unjustified by the evidence, which indicates that ‘haphazard’ bouts of persecution, often instigated at a local level by firebrand officials and populations, were far more prevalent. Instances such as Nero’s post-64AD abuses were occasioned by specific circumstances which should not be viewed as reflective of imperial policy across time. They argue that execution by being ‘condemned to the beasts’ was relatively infrequent, and that this was not the only death penalty method utilised against Christians, with Roman citizens usually beheaded and non-citizens such as slaves subjected to crucifixions. They stress that these methods of execution were used against other groups too, whilst officials often used their powers to exile, expropriate property and so on rather than immediate resort to capital punishment as a response to the Christian refusal to sacrifice.
Online Journal Article in: The Conversation (online). November 21, 2016.
View on: The Conversation