Pliny the Younger was a Roman senator and writer. He lived in
the second half of the 1st century of the Christian era (62 —
113), although he knew practically nothing about the Christians
and the new faith. The first Christian communities and educated
members of Roman society were different worlds and different
spiritual spaces that did not intersect. During the reign of
Emperor Trajan Pliny the Younger, being an official, sought by
force to compel “the mad Christians” to deny their faith. All
they had to do was pay formal honors to the Roman gods and the
Roman emperor (lay offerings of frankincense and wine before the
emperor’s statue). Willingly choosing a certain death, many
Christians refused. (Two centuries would pass before the Edict
of Milan was passed in 313, mandating religious tolerance.)
Despite this official violence, Pliny the Younger was a very
kind man, not only according to the standards of his own (pagan)
time, but our (Christian) standards. Considerable evidence
attests to this, including th