Antoninus pius and the christians
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The information gathered in documents concerning the relation between the said emperor and Christians is scarce and somehow unclear. Despite that fact, though, The Shepherd of Hermas, the
Dialogue with Trypho and the posterior compilation carried out by
Eusebius of Caesarea allow for an approach to real facts.
The contents of the letter sent to the Koinón of Asia, in spite of
the fact that the breach between Judaism and Christianity was not
then yet complete (since the works mentioned allude to a degree
of both dialogue and confrontation), seem to establish a link with
Trajan’s behaviour in response to Pliny the Younger, which Adrian
would later on also adopt.
This degree of continuity would not leave out the existence of isolated and occasional accusations against members of Christian communities in times of Antoninus Pius. However, numbers cannot be
quantified, Policarpus’s case being the most evident one among them.
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