Check out the context of the letter. This is from Paul Johnson's "History of Christianity":
"The wilder Christian sects - later branded as heretics - naturally attracted more attention from critics and Roman officials. Writing from Bythnia in Asia Minor, a worried local governor, Pliny the Younger, asked for detailed instruction from the Emperor Trajan. Christianity, [Pliny] reported, was spreading from the towns to the countryside. The temples were empty, and it was becoming difficult to sell the meat from sacrificed animals [Note: the meat from sacrificed animals was the major source of meat for most people in the Roman world]. He was under local pressure to execute Christians. What was their crime? Should they be charged with incest and cannibalism, their reputed offences? If they remained contumacious then it was clear they had to be executed, but what if they recanted? Some admitted they had been Christians but denied their faith and cursed Christ. They made offerings to the emperor and the gods. But they also denied Christians practised enormities. They did not eat murdered children: just food. And they suspended their secret rites following an edict against religious societies. He had tortured two deaconesses, but found nothing but "squalid superstition." Severity undoubtedly brought people back to the temples. What should he do now? Trajan advised moderation. There should be no general inquisition. Anonymous informers should be ignored. Accusations from responsible folk should be properly investigated. No Christians should be punished if he made sacrifices."
Jeff
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