The Formation of Christendom, Volume II

296

De Pudicitia, § 1. See Hagemann, p. 54.

297

He is so represented by Hippolytus, Philosophumen, lib. ix. p. 209. See Hagemann, p. 59.

298

“Nec hoc nobis nunc nuper consilium cogitatum est, nec hæc apud nos adversus improbos modo supervenerunt repentina subsidia: sed antiqua hæc apud nos severitas, antiqua fides, disciplina legitur antiqua; quoniam nec tantas de nobis laudes Apostolus protulisset dicendo: Quia fides vestra prædicatur in toto mundo, nisi jam exinde vigor iste radices fidei de temporibus illis mutuatus fuisset: quarum laudum et gloriæ degenerem fuisse maximum crimen est.” Epist. Cleri Rom. ad Cyprian. 31.

299

Hagemann, p. 77.

300

In Matt. tom. iii. 857 c.

301

“Cum Fabiani locus, id est, cum locus Petri et gradus cathedræ sacerdotalis vacaret.” Epist. lii. p. 68. “Sedisse intrepidum Romæ in sacerdotali cathedra eo tempore cum tyrannus infestus sacerdotibus Dei fanda atque infanda comminaretur, cum multo patientius et tolerabilius audiret levari adversus se æmulum principem quam constitui Romæ Dei sacerdotem.” Ibid. p. 69.

302

Epist. lii. p. 69.

303

Compare with the savageness of the Prefect of Rome in torturing S. Laurence the following incident which occurred five years later. Valerian had been captured by the Persian monarch, and his son the Emperor Gallienus bore the reproach with great tranquillity. In the great festival which he held at Rome about 263, to commemorate the victory of Odenatus over Sapor, some revellers mixed themselves with the pretended Persian captives, and examined their faces closely. When asked what they meant, they replied, “We are looking for the emperor's father.” The jest so stung Gallienus that he had them burnt alive. Weiss, Lehrbuch der Weltgeschichte, ii. 224. It was for showing him the Church's spiritual treasures, the poor, the helpless, and the suffering, instead of the coveted gold and silver, that the Prefect burnt S. Laurence alive.

304

De Lapsis, iv. p. 182-3, Oxford translation.

305

Euseb. Hist. l. vii. c. 10.

306

Ib. l. vii. c. 13.

307

See the martyrdom of the favourite chamberlain Peter, who, says Eusebius (Hist. viii. 6), was violently scourged, and then slowly roasted alive.

308

“Diocletianus … excarnificare omnes suos protenus cœpit. Sedebat ipse atque innocentes igne torrebat… Omnis sexus et ætatis homines ad exustionem rapti; nec singuli, quoniam tanta erat multitudo, sed gregatim circumdato igni amburebantur,” &c. Lactant. 14, 15.

309

Eusebius, Hist. viii. 2.

310

Lactantius, de Morte Persecutorum, 13.

311

Euseb. viii. 4.

312

“Statim productus non modo extortus sed etiam legitime coctus cum admirabili patientia, postremo exustus est.” Lact. de Mort. Pers. 13; Euseb. viii. 5.

313

Euseb. de Vita Constant. 1. i. 13.

314

Lactant. Divin. Institut. 1. v. 9. Gallandi, tom. iv. 313-4.

315

Ib. 1. v. 11.

316

Euseb. Hist. viii. 11.

317

Lactantius, as above.

318

Hist. viii. 9.

319

Euseb. Hist. viii. 10.

320

Σωκ. Ἀναγκαῖον οὖν ἐστὶ περιμένειν ἕως ἄν τις μάθῃ ὡς δεῖ πρὸς θεοὺς καὶ πρὸς ἀνθρώπους διακεῖσθαι.