Even if not a valid precedent we still have an emperor who's never heard of these people before even when the infamous Nero used them as torches.It is doubtful a/ that Domitian persecuted Christians b/ that Nero's anti-Christian measures provided a valid precedent for Pliny.I vote Nerva/Trajan, and I believe Pliny/Trajan correspondence is forged based on it having no knowledge of how to deal with Christians even though Pliny worked under Domitian, same for Trajan unable to find an imperial rescripts on how to deal with them even though Neor and Domitian supposedly specifically targeted them. The letter's collection/citation history is also a bit suspect, and it's overly long, plus styolemtric analysis indicates something weird going on.
Andrew Criddle
Statistics: Posted by perseusomega9 — Mon Feb 17, 2025 11:11 am