Pagan and Christian Rome | Page 6

Crispina, the empress, it
seems probable that the two families were united not only by the close
proximity of their villas and tombs, and by friendship, but especially by
community of religion.
I may also cite the names of several Cornelii, Cæcilii, and Æmilii, the
flower of Roman nobility, grouped near the graves of S. Cæcilia and
Pope Cornelius; of Liberalis, a consul suffectus,[5] and a martyr, whose
remains were buried in the Via Salaria; of Jallia Clementina, a relative
of Jallius Bassus, consul before A. D. 161; of Catia Clementina,
daughter or relative of Catius, consul A. D. 230, not to speak of
personages of equestrian rank, whose names have been collected in
hundreds.
A difficulty may arise in the mind of the reader: how was it possible for
these magistrates, generals, consuls, officers, senators, and governors of
provinces, to attend to their duties without performing acts of idolatry?
In chapter xxxvii. of the Apology, Tertullian says: "We are but of
yesterday, yet we fill every place that belongs to you, cities, islands,
outposts; we fill your assemblies, camps, tribes and decuries; the
imperial palace, the Senate, the forum; we only leave to you your

temples." But here lies the difficulty; how could they fill these places,
and leave the temples?
First of all, the Roman emperors gave plenty of liberty to the new
religion from time to time; and some of them, moved by a sort of
religious syncretism, even tried to ally it with the official worship of
the empire, and to place Christ and Jupiter on the steps of the same
lararium. The first attempt of the kind is attributed to Tiberius; he is
alleged to have sent a message to the Senate requesting that Christ
should be included among the gods, on the strength of the official
report written by Pontius Pilatus of the passion and death of our Lord.
Malala says that Nero made honest inquiries about the new religion,
and that, at first, he showed himself rather favorable towards it; a fact
not altogether improbable, if we take into consideration the
circumstances of Paul's appeal, his absolution, and his relations with
Seneca, and with the converts de domo Cæsaris, "of the house of
Cæsar." Lampridius, speaking of the religious sentiments of Alexander
Severus, says: "He was determined to raise a temple to Christ, and
enlisted him among the gods; a project attributed also to Hadrian. There
is no doubt that Hadrian ordered temples to be erected in every city to
an unknown god; and because they have no statue we still call them
temples of Hadrian. He is said to have prepared them for Christ; but to
have been deterred from carrying his plan into execution by the
consideration that the temples of the old gods would become deserted,
and the whole population turn Christian, omnes christianos futuros."[6]
The freedom enjoyed by the Church under Caracalla is proved by the
graffiti of the Domus Gelotiana, described in my "Ancient Rome."[7]
The one caricaturing the crucifixion, which is reproduced on p. 122 of
that volume, stands by no means alone in certifying to the spreading of
the faith in the imperial palace. The name of Alexamenos, "the
faithful," is repeated thrice. There is also a name, LIBANUS, under
which another hand has written EPISCOPUS, and, lower down,
LIBANUS EPI[SCOPUS]. It is very likely a joke on Libanus, a
Christian page like Alexamenos, whom his fellow-disciples had
nicknamed "the bishop." It is true that the title is not necessarily
Christian, having been used sometimes to denote a municipal officer;[8]

but this can hardly be the case in an assembly of youths, like the one of
the Domus Gelotiana; and the connection between the graffiti of
Libanus and those of Alexamenos seems evident. In reading these
graffiti, now very much injured by dampness, exposure, and the
unscrupulous hands of tourists, we are really witnessing household
quarrels between pagan and Christian dwellers in the imperial palace,
in one of which Caracalla, when still young, saw one of his playmates
struck and punished on account of his Christian origin and persuasion.
Septimius Severus and Caracalla issued a constitution,[9] which
opened to the Jews the way to the highest honors, making the
performance of such ceremonies as were in opposition to the principles
of their faith optional with them. What was granted to the Jews by the
law of the empire may have been permitted also to the Christians by the
personal benevolence of the emperors.
When Elagabalus collected, or tried to collect, in his own private chapel
the gods and the holiest relics of the universe, he did not forget Christ
and his doctrine.[10] Alexander Severus, the best of Roman rulers,
gave full freedom to the Church; and once, the Christians having taken
possession of a public place on which