> > > Except that the Romans did have informants who denounced people
> > > to the authorities for being Christians.
>I'm curious of your source for that. It appears to be a consensus
>that the claims of martyrdom were exaggerated by the early Church
>Fathers in order to gain converts.
I'm not too sure what you mean by consensus. I looked at the letter of the Younger Pliny and see:
For the moment this is the line I have taken with all
persons brought before me on the charge of being
Christians. I have asked them in person if they are
Christians, and if they admit it, I repeat the question
a second and third time, with a warning of the
punishment awaiting them. If they persist, I order
them to be led away for execution [...]
and:
"Others, whose names were given to me by an informer,
first admitted the charge and then denied it"
When contradictory evidence was uncovered:
"This made me decide that it was all the more necessary
to extract the truth by torture from two slave-women
whom they call deaconesses."
Pliny's main concern is what to do about people who _were_ Christians and how to deal with anonymous pamphlets. While Trajan states that the Christians "must not be hunted out", he is referring to actions by state officials. That leaves open a denunciation by a known informer who has an incentive to find Christians.
And this letter is _not_ written during the Persecutions.
ObGlorantha: I should point out what the Empire wants to do with Orlanth is contradictory. The Glorious ReAscent merely speaks about him being allowed to live within reasonable limits and the Glorantha:Intro speaks about him being chained to Yelm's chariot. This indecision may be reflected in the policies of individual Lunar commanders when it comes to Orlanthi worship within their zone of responsibility.
--Peter Metcalfe
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