10.96

Pliny asks Trajan for advice about what to do about the Christians. 

omnia: “all (the cases).”

potest melius: “is better able.”

cūnctātiōnem meam regere: the verb is the normal one for guiding (rather than ruling) a person. Cunctātiō implies not just delay but uncertainty as to how to proceed. Radice translates, "resolve my doubts."

Cognitiōnibus: "trials" at Rome, dative after interfuī, as normal when the verb means "take part in." LS intersum II.C.β.

It appears that there had been such trials, but they had not been important enough for Pliny to have become acquainted with the procedure followed in such cases. The contrary of Orosius's statement (Historiae adversus paganos 7.12.3) that Trajan had issues a general edict against Christians is implied in what Pliny says here. The Christians were much confounded with the Jews in the popular mind (Westcott).

interfuī numquam: "I never attended."

read more

The phrase itself indicates that such trials were known to Pliny to have been held. It is doubtful, however, if at Rome trials of Christians as such (that is, as clearly differentiated from Jews) had been held during Pliny’s mature life. Certainly the so-called persecution of Domitian's reign— which is referred to by the later Christian writers, but not by others, as a general movement— seems not to have been directed against Christians as such (see Dio Cassius 67.14.1-3). But that considerable persecution had taken place in the various provinces of Asia Minor is certain, and especially in Asia and Bithynia, where party feeling ran high, among both Jews and heathen. Of the trials in these regions Pliny must have become well informed. And probably in this, as in other questions of his administration, he is not thinking of precedents or practices at Rome, but in his own, and perhaps other adjacent, provinces, upon the specific and local laws and decisions concerning which Trajan is continually insisting that his administration must be founded (Merrill).

quid et quātenus aut pūnīrī soleat aut quaerī: quid seems to apply to quaerī, and quātenus to pūnīrī, in a chiasmus. The two questions are a) "what is usually investigated" (LS quaero II.B.5), i.e., what are the proper grounds for starting an investigation, and b) "to what extent are (the guilty) customarily punished," something over which the governor had some discretion in a cognitio extra ordinem (so Sherwin-White). Alternatively, both interrogatives could apply to both infinitives, and Pliny wonders about the nature and extent of the punishments, and the grounds for investigation and how far such investigations should be pressed (so Radice).

(2)

sitne aliquod discrīmen aetātum: "whether there should be any distinction of ages," i.e., whether young and old are to be treated alike.

Pliny doubtless found that minors were as likely to be brought before him as those of adult years, as was the case in later and true persecutions. Roman law provided for a lessening of penalties in certain cases on account of the youth or female sex of the culprit (Merrill).

tenerī: adjective, not the verb tenērī (Westcott). Tener when applied to persons means "physically soft," "tender," but also "of tender years," "young," "immature."

Whole families might be accused, as in the persecution at Lyons, where a boy of 15 perished (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 5.1.53) (Sherwin-White).

nihil: adverbial, take with differant. 

paenitentiae: this made no difference in regard to the prosecution of crimes in general (Westcott).

an eī, quī omnīnō Chrīstiānus fuit, dēsīsse nōn prōsit: order: an dēsīsse nōn prōsit eī, quī omnīnō Chrīstiānus fuit.

eī: dative after prōsit, as normal.

prōsit: dēsīsse is the subject (Westcott).

nomen ipsum: "the name itself," i.e. the mere fact of belonging to the sect, rather than the criminal byproducts thereof, flagitia, scelera (Sherwin-White).

read more 2

The phrase flagitia cohaerentia nomini gives the grounds upon which the Roman government in the late Republic and early Principate had normally taken proceedings against sectaries of cults alien to the Roman State, such as those of Bacchus, Isis, Druidism, and Magism. Religious persecution as such had no place in such action, which was directed against the criminal byproducts of the sects, flagitia, scelera. When the practice of a sect was banned, either by decree of the Senate or by an imperial or proconsular edict, indictment of the nomen, i.e. of membership of a cult group, sufficed to secure conviction. This looked uncommonly like religious persecution to the victims themselves, but the underlying ground remained the flagitia supposed to be inseparable from the practice of the cult (Sherwin-White).

flāgitiīs: ablative with careat, as normal. 

cohaerentia nōminī: “attaching to the name.” 

Because the Christians met in secret and in general cut themselves off from amusements and other public activities, they were widely charged with the commission of all sorts of heinous misdeeds. For example, Tacitus says (Annales 15.44.3) that they were "hated because of their crimes." In section 4 of the same chapter he describes the new religion as "a baleful superstition" (exitiabilis superstitio); Suetonius also employs the word superstitiō (Nero 16.2) — with the adjective malefica (Poteat).

iīs: “with those (people).” Others emend to in iīs.

modum: “method” (Westcott).

(3)

Cōnfitentēs: “those confessing.” Direct object of interrogāvī.

supplicium minātus: “warning (them) of the punishment.”

persevērantēs: “those persisting (in confessing).” Direct object of iussī.

dūcī: passive infinitive, “to be taken away to execution." OLD duco 4.b.

They are led off to immediate execution by the sword. This use of ducī is common enough. Pliny did not reserve them for a death in the amphitheater, like that of Ignatius under Trajan, or Polycarp and the Lyons martyrs later in the century. For Romans and honestiōrēs accused of Christian practices execution by the sword was normal. Ulpian (Digest 48.19.8.1) indicates that the normal death sentence was decapitation by the sword, and that the sentence, once pronounced, could not be carried out by any other method (Sherwin-White).

Neque ... dubitābam: "And I had no doubt that," "I am convinced that."

quālecumque esset: “whatever sort (of crime) it was.” The subjunctive is similar to the indefinite protasis of a conditional, sī quid esset. AG 519.

fatērentur: subjunctive in a relative clause after a vague antecedent, as normal (AG 535).

(4)

similis āmentiae: genitive of description.

cīvēs Rōmānī: all will remember St. Paul's appeal from Felix to Caesar, which was allowed because of his citizenship, Acts 25 (Westcott).

in urbem: Romam.

adnotāvī: technical term for the registration of official decisions (Sherwin-White).

remittendōs: supply esse. Passive periphrastic in indirect statement.

ipsō tractātū: “by the very fact of judicial procedure” (Wescott).

ipsō tractātū ... diffundente sē crīmine: “as the accusations multiplied from the very handling of the cases,” i.e., one case would suggest to informers the bringing of new accusations (Kingery).

diffundente sē crīmine: ablative absolute.

plūrēs speciēs incīdērunt: speciēs is a specific legal situation or case (OLD 11), but also more generally a kind or sort (of case) (OLD 10). Incido means to happen, but also to appear (to a person), occur, be met with (OLD 11). Thus “more cases have occurred” (Wescott); or “numerous aspects of it fell under my notice” (Kingery), or "(cases) have increased in variety" (Radice).

(5)

propositus est libellus sine auctōre: supply mihi, “there was laid before me an anonymous document” (Kingery).

Quī negābant: “those who were denying,” + indirect statement.

praeeunte mē: “repeating the words after me” (Wescott). “As I repeated the formula before them” (Kingery).

imāginī tuae … supplicārent: beginning with Julius Caesar the Roman emperors had been apotheosized at death, and later emperors received divine honors in their lifetime (Kingery).

read more 3

Neither Pliny nor Trajan, who approves the test, seeks to compel conformity to the state religion or the imperial cult as such, or regards the Christian “atheism” as an offense in itself. The imperial cult was a voluntary institution, and involved the upper classes of the provinces rather than the masses. The punishment of Christians at this time cannot be related to the crime of maiestas (treason against the emperor). Those condemned had shown no active disrespect to dī nostrī. Pliny uses no suggestive terms such as impietas, nothing beyond amentia, obstinatio, and prava superstitio (Sherwin-White).

nūminum: = deōrum.

tūre ac vīnō supplicārent: ritual action of scattering grains of rice on the altar as well as pouring out wine (Wescott). 

vīnō: “libation” (Kingery).

praetereā … Christō: “and furthermore insulted Christ” (Kingery).

male dīcerent: “curse” (Wescott).

quōrum nihil cōgī posse dīcuntur quī sunt: “none of which acts, it is said, can those be driven to do who are...” (Kingery).

dīmittendōs: “released,” “discharged” (Kingery).

(6)

indice: “informer."

fuisse quidem sed dēsīsse: “indeed they had been but they had ceased (to be),” i.e. they had previously been Christians but they no longer were.

nōn nēmō: “at least one” (Wescott).

ante: adv. For triennium and annos we might expect ablative of difference, but the thought is of the duration of their apostasy (Kingery).

(7)

summam: “the sum total” (Kingery).

statō diē: Sunday, presumably (Wescott). The first day of the week (Kingery).

ante lucem: both because Christians were poor and needed to work during the day, and because they were persecuted (Wescott). On account of the need of secrecy and the fact that many, being servants, could not be free at other times (Kingery).

carmen: “hymn,” or perhaps better “responsive reading” or liturgy; dicere rather favors the latter (Kingery).

sēcum invicem: “to each other in turn” (Wescott); “responsively,” either between leader and people, or, if chanting be meant, between two parts of the congregation singing antiphonally (Kingery).

sacrāmentō: “oath."

Sed ... abnegārent: notable polysyndeton.

depositum: in the absence of “safety deposit vaults” one setting out on a long journey would leave valuable articles with a friend for safekeeping, and too often on return be met with a denial that the friend had ever received them (Kingery).

adpellātī: “when called upon to restore it” (Wescott).

mōrem sibi ... fuisse: dative of possession, “they had a custom of,” "their custom was to."

discedendī: “separating,” “dispersing” (Kingery).

rursusque: “and later," in the evening (Wescott).

ad capiendum cibum: refers to agape—“love-feast”—not the eucharist (Wescott).

promiscuum, innoxium: “ordinary and innocent,” in contradiction of an accusation current that in these secret meetings they ate the flesh and drank the blood of young children (Kingery).

dēsīsse: supply sē.

(8)

ministrae: Latin translation of Greek diakonai, or deacons (Wescott). Perhaps a mistranslation of the Greek διακόνισσαι, “deaconesses,” which was their title in the early Church (Kingery).

per tormenta: a common method of extorting the truth from slaves (Kingery).

superstitiōnem: refers to any religion outlawed by the Roman state (Wescott).

(9)

Ideō: for he could not calmly send to death for a technical offence such a large number of persons guilty of and threatening no actual crime other than that of membership in a forbidden association, which, indeed, had given up its most distinctive mark of existence, the common meal (Merrill).

omnis aetātis, omnis ōrdinis, utriusque sexūs: Lucian noted the role of old women, widows, and young orphans among Christians (The Passing of Peregrinus 12) (Sherwin-White).

omnis ordinis: "of every social rank."

Neque ... tantum: "And not only," strongly emphasizing the enclosed word.

cīvitātēs: = urbēs; a late use of the word (Wescott). 

vīcōs etiam atque agrōs: quiet country places were the last to be influenced by a new movement. (Holbrooke).

(10)

satis cōnstat: "there is no doubt that" + indirect statement (templa ... celebrārī, sacra ... repetī, vēnīre <carnem>), a common idiom. LS consto II.B.2.b.

prope iam dēsōlāta: probably a much exaggerated expression, due to the highly-colored representations of the persons whose trade seemed to be endangered by the growth of Christianity (compare rarissimus emptor inveniēbātur, and the riot of the silversmiths of Ephesus described in Acts 19.21 ff.) (Merrill).

Strong evidence of the extent to which Christianity had prevailed (Wescott).

Pliny is reporting the allegations of others, hence the evident exaggeration, often taken as an eyewitness assertion effect by historians of religion. No doubt not only the municipal priests, who belonged to the magisterial class, but the tradesmen involved in the losses mentioned below stirred up the trouble (see section 2, dēferēbantur) (Sherwin-White).

vēnīre: from vēneō, "to be sold."

sit paenitentiae locus: not merely by pardon on condition of immediate abjuration (for pending Trajan's decision—see section 2—Pliny seems to have administered on this sensible principle), but by not pushing the law to the extreme, thus allowing time for a change of heart to supervene (Merrill).