This article discusses the views of the 1st century AD governor Pliny, also known as Pliny the Younger, on Christians and Christianity. This is explained through his own Latin quotations.
Christians and Romans
In the 1st century AD, Christianity was an emerging religion, especially after the death of Jesus Christ around the year 0. In the beginning, the Romans resisted Christianity, which can also be seen in the crucifixion of Jesus. The Romans were polytheistic, they believed in multiple gods, unlike the Christians, who were monotheistic (believe in one God). The Romans also believed that the Christians were cannibals. It was customary for Christians to eat the body of Christ. However, this was a metaphor, in reality they ate bread, but the Romans did not trust it. Moreover, Christians were suspected because they held a morning service every morning, during which they would devise secret plans against Roman authority.
Response Romans
In response to Christianity, the Roman authorities decided to condemn Christians. Christians who then insisted that they were truly Christians were punished with the death penalty. However, there was room for repentance: if a Christian confessed that he was sorry, that he cursed Christ, and worshiped the Roman gods and the image of the then emperor Trajan, he was released.
Pliny’s vision]
Much doubt arose about the execution of Christians. People did not know how to approach the conviction. Around the 1st century, Pliny Caecilius Secundus was governor of Bithynia. He had to deal with a lot of accused Christians here and did not really know how to act. For example, Pliny did not know sitne aliquod discrimen aetatum (whether there should be a distinction of age), , detur paenitentiae venia, an ei, qui omnino Christianus fuit, desisse non prosit (whether pardon should be granted to repentance or that he who once became a Christian there should be no advantage in having stopped doing it), , nomen ipsum, si flagitiis careat, an flagitia cohaerentia nomini puniantur , (or the name alone, even if it has not committed any crimes, should be punished or the crimes related with the name) and whether anonymous charges ( libellus sine auctore ) (anonymous charges) were to be taken seriously.
To dispel his doubts, Pliny wrote a letter to Emperor Trajan, because quis enim potest melius vel cunctiationem meam regere vel ignorantiam instruere? (After all, who better to either direct my indecision or teach my ignorance?) Trajan replied to Pliny that he had to take repentance into account, so if someone denies being a Christian and proves it by praying to the Roman gods, he should be set free Neque enim in universe aliquid, quod quasi certam formam habeat, constitui potest (for nothing in general can be established which has, as it were, a fixed standard). With this, Trajan says that not everyone who is reported as a Christian should simply be punished. Each case must be looked at individually, with room for remorse. Trajan also believes that charges of anonymity do not apply, nam et pessimi exempli nec nostri saeculi est (because this is both a bad precedent and not of our time).
Pliny as a rational man
Pliny was a man who loved wisdom, study and reading. He watches in amazement as hordes of people turn out for simple horse races, while they only favent panno (cheer for laps). He also finds it astonishing that many decent people also enjoy horse racing. Pliny thinks differently from these rich people about horse racing: quos ego cum recordor, in re inani, frigida, adsidua, tam insatiabiliter desidere, capio aliquam voluptatem, quod hac voluptate non capior (when I think that they are in a useless, trivial and endless thing without getting enough of it, then I get a pleasure because I am not caught by this pleasure). Pliny is happy that he is not obsessed with horse racing, but can devote his time to literature, quos alli otiosissimis occupationibus perdunt (which others waste in the most idle pursuits), or horse racing.
Pliny as an emotional person
But Pliny is not just a rational man. He was also emotional, and mourned when his slaves died. Unlike other masters, who do not give their slaves many rights, Pliny allows the slaves to make a will, which he considers legal. Mandant rogantque quod visa; pareo, ut iussus (they command and ask what they want; I obey as I am commanded). Pliny finds it inhumane that other masters refer to the death of slaves as nothing more than financial loss. homines non sunt (they are not people). According to him, it is inherent in people to feel sadness and to allow comfort, est enim quaedam etiam dolendi voluptas, praesertim, si in amici sinu defleas, apud quem lacrimis tuis vel laus sit parata vel venia (after all, it is a certain pleasure to grieve, especially if you can cry in the arms of a friend, whose tears will be met with either praise or forgiveness).