to death, others suffered the confiscation of their goods. Domitilla was only banished into Pandateria. Glabrio, who had been consul with Trajan, [in the year 91,] accused also, beside other matters, of the same crime with the rest, and because he had fought with wild beasts, he put to death; against whom he was particularly incensed from a principle of envy. For having sent for him in his consulship to Albanum, at the time of the Juvenalia, he made him enter the lists with a great lion; but he was so far from being hurt in the combat, that with wonderful dexterity he killed the lion.'

Who Flavius Clement was, and how he was related to Domitian, was shown before, in our chapter of Suetonius. Domitilla we suppose to have been daughter of Domitilla, Domitian's sister; she therefore was Domitian's niece. Undoubtedly, she and her mother were so named from Flavia Domitilla, wife of the emperor Vespasian, and mother of Titus and Domitian, and of their sister Domitilla, just mentioned.

Some difficulties there are, arising from a comparison of this account of Dion with that of Suetonius, formerly quoted. But they were then considered, and need not be again stated here.

1

Here are three persons named, as accused of impiety, and suffering upon that account. Two of them were put to death, and one was banished.

n

Domitilla we conclude to have been a christian. It is probable, that Clement also was a christian, or favourer of them. Glabrio's christianity is not so evident. However, some learned men have been willing to allow them all three the character of christians, and martyrs; but° Tillemont does not put Glabrio in that number. I likewise think it may be questioned, whether he was a christian, though

i See vol. vi. pag. penult.

k Inter hæc Flaviam Domitillam duxit uxorem, Latinæque conditionis, sed mox ingenuam et civem Romanam recuperatorio judicio pronuntiatam-Ex hac liberos tulit, Titum, et Domitianum, et Domitillam. Sueton. Vespas. cap. 3.

1 As note' m Vere autem martyrem fuisse Clementem Consulem constat ex Dione. Pearson. Opp. Post. p. 215. sect. 22. " Vero igitur proximum est, fidei causâ Clementem, Domitillam, Glabrionemque damnatos fuisse. Basnag. ann. 95. num. 5.

Nec alios sub eo quam exules habemus in probis ecclesiæ monumentis, Flaviam illam Domitillam, et S. Joannem apostolum. Antipas in Asiâ populi furore passus est. Nisi forte Glabrionem, quem judaïsmi, et Flavium Coss. quem atheismi nomine interfectos testis est Dio. Christianismi nomine interfectos intelligamus. Dodw. Diss. Cypr. xi. sect. 16.

• Vid. Domitien. art. xiv. et note . sur la Persécution de Domitien. M. E. T. ii. p. 523.

accused of that or judaism. It is not unlikely, that some designing and malicious people took the opportunity to accuse Glabrio of what would, at that time especially, render him obnoxious to Domitian. And the emperor made no scruple of laying hold of this pretence to destroy a man, against whom he had a grudge of three or four years' standing, ever since the year 92. Nor is this the first instance we have met with of men unfairly charged with christianity by their enemies. Pliny's letter to Trajan affords some such instances, and there may have been many

more.

According to Dion's account, Glabrio was a man who had indulged himself in the hazardous and unreputable diversion of fighting with wild beasts; which can by no means agree with the character of a christian. For skill in that exercise he was much celebrated: and Domitian sent for him to Albanum, at the feast of the Juvenalia, even in the time of his consulship, to add to the splendour of the shows; and perhaps hoping to have destroyed him that way. But Glabrio was victorious, though the lion was very formidable; and Domitian, instead of being well pleased therewith, was provoked. However, he let him escape at that time; but now he laid hold of the pretence of irreligion to put him to death.

Dion Cassius calls Domitilla wife of Clement.' Eusebius from Bruttius calls her niece of Clement.' Hence some have argued, that there were two of this name, who suffered for christianity in the time of Domitian, one a virgin, the other a married woman, and banished into different places, one to the island Pontia, the other to Pandateria. I rather think, that there was but one Domitilla, who suffered at this time, the wife of the consul Clement, and niece of Domitian. Eusebius and Jerom have not mentioned more than one; which surely they must have done, if there had been two. Domitilla was banished into Pontia, as Bruttius says. It was easy for Dion to mistake Pandateria for Pontia. Jeroms has particularly mentioned the confinement of Domitilla in the island Pontia; nor does he call her

PH. E. 1. iii. cap. 18. p. 89. 9 See Tillemont sainte Flavie Domitille, vierge et martyre, avec son oncle Clément consul et martyre. Mem. Ecc. Tom. ii. p. 124, &c.

Vid. Basnag. ann. 95. num. vii. et viii.

s Delata [Paula] ad insulam Pontiam, quam clarissimæ quondam feminarum sub Domitiano principe pro confessione nominis christiani, Flaviæ Domitillæ nobilitavit exilium; vidensque cellulas, in quibus illa longum martyrium duxerat, sumptis fidei alis Jerosolymam et sancta loca videre cupiebat. Hieron. ep. 86. [al. 27.] T. iv. p. 672. fin.

virgin, as he would have done, if he had supposed that to have been her condition.

Jerom tells us, that Paula, in her voyage from Rome to Jerusalem near the end of the fourth century, saw the place of her habitation in that island; where, as he says, she 'suffered a long martyrdom.' Possibly, when other exiles were recalled, Domitilla was not. Her near relation to Domitian, whose memory was infamous, might some way or other be an obstacle.

What we have principally to observe, is the attestation here given by this noble and diligent historian to the progress of christianity, and the sufferings of its professors. It had now got footing in the imperial family. Clement suffered death upon account of it; and his wife Domitilla was banished to a remote and unwholesome island, where persons were wont to be sent for state-crimes, or other like offences.

t

It is generally allowed, that Clement was a christian, as well as Domitilla; some have supposed, that his whole family was christian. That, I think, is more than we can say; but it is very likely, that some of their servants were christians. Many were accused and condemned upon the same account; some suffered death, others confiscation of goods; others were banished, as Domitilla. This is at least the fourth heathen author, who has afforded us a testimony to the persecution of the christians in the reign of the emperor Domitian; and though it was but short, it seems to have been felt by many persons.

IV. In the month of September, in the year 96, Domitian was succeeded by Nerva; of whom Dion says: 'He published a pardon for those who were condemned for impiety, and recalled those who were banished.' And after the mention of a law of the same emperor concerning slaves, he adds: And besides, he forbade the accusing of any men upon account of impiety, or Judaism.'

It has been a question among learned men, whether Domitian, by any edict, put an end to the persecution of

Ipsum etiam Clementem christianum fuisse, nonnulli colligunt ex Suetonio, cap. 15. quia contemtissimæ inertiæ hominem appellat; quâ notâ christiani solent inuri. Reimar. ad Dionem. p. 1113. sect. 82.

-et totam Clementis familiam fuisse christianam, verisimillimum est. Id. ib. sect. 83.

▾ See Juvenal, vol. vii. p. 263. Suetonius. p. 270, 271. Bruttius, p. 367. and now Dion Cassius.

W

* Και ὁ Νερούας τες τε κρινομενες επ' ασεβεια αφηκε, και τες φεύγοντας Τοις δε δη αλλοις επ' ασέβειας στ' ιεδαίκς βις καταιτιάσθαι τινας ovvɛxwpnoɛ. Lib. 68. p. 769. al. 1118

κατηγαγε

X

the christians before his death. This passage of Dion has been thought sufficient by some to determine the question, and to assure us, that the persecution did not cease till after the beginning of Nerva's reign.

We may be satisfied of this passage likewise, that it is not Xiphilinus's, but Dion's, in his own words, though perhaps contracted. The style is the style of a heathen, and not of a christian; and this passage may be supposed to confirm the supposition of the severity of Domitian's persecution, though it was not long. Beside those put to death, or banished by him, there were others under accusation, or under a sentence of condemnation, who now escaped by the lenity or goodness of Nerva.

I may add a short passage from Orosius, a christian writer, who says, That Nerva, by his first edict, recalled 'all such as had been exiled; and the apostle John, improving this general indulgence, then returned to Ephe'sus.'

V. I shall take one passage more from this author, concerning Marcia, concubine of the emperor Commodus. 'She is related to have had a great affection for the christians, and to have done them many good offices, she having a great ascendancy over Commodus.

a

What is here said may be true; for the christians enjoyed a great peace in the reign of this emperor; and Marcia, though a woman of low condition, had a great influence upon him; she sometimes gave him good advice; and the honours paid to her were little below those of an empress. I need not add any other particulars of her history.

C

But this paragraph I rather think to be Xiphilinus's

* See vol. vi. ch. ix. sect. 6.

y Hic primo edicto suo cunctos exules revocavit. Unde et Joannes apostolus, hâc generali indulgentiâ liberatus, Ephesuin rediit. Oros. 1. vii. cap. 11. p. 485.

Ισορειται δε αυτη πολλα τε υπερ των χρισιανων σπεδάσαι, και πολλα αυτές ευεργετηκεναι, άτε και παρα τῳ Κομμόδῳ παν δυναμενη. Lib. 72. p. 819. al. p. 1206.

a Huic Marcia, generis libertini, formâ tamen meretriciisque artibus pollens, cum animum ejus penitus devinxisset, egresso e balneo veneni poculum dedit. Victor Epit. cap. xvii.

b Επει δε την γνωμην αυτε ταυτην ανήνεγκε προς Μαρκιαν, ἣν ειχε την παλλακίδα τιμιωτατην, ἡ εδεν τι απείχε γαμετης γυναικός, αλλα παντα όσα σεßa≤η π\ηY T8 πupoç. Herodian. 1. i. p. 486. Sylburg.

• Hæc de Marciâ christianis favente non Dionis esse, sed Xiphilini, suspicor; quod etiam innuit præmissa formula, isoperai de. Neque tamen hodie scio, an apud alios scriptores christianos merita ejus prædicata legantur. Eoque minus Dioni id tanti poterat videri, quod commemoraret. Reimar. ad Dion p. 1207. sect. 34.

than Dion's; the style at least is Xiphilinus's. In the other passages before quoted, Dion speaks of impiety, or atheism, or judaism, but never useth the word christians. Another thing that may make us doubt, whether this observation be entirely Dion's, is the phrase, it is related.' For at the beginning of the reign of Commodus he says: Thesed things, and what follows, I write not from the report of others, but from my own knowledge and observation.' However, the sense may be Dion's; but I wish we had also his style without any adulteration.

VI. Dion's account of the extraordinary shower, by which Marcus Antoninus and his army were preserved in Germany, was observed formerly, together with Xiphilinus's remarks upon it; to which, therefore, the reader is now referred.

e

CHAP. XXVIII.

THE PERSECUTION OF MAXIMIN THE FIRST, OR THE
THRACIAN.

MAXIMIN the first, or Lucius Maximinus the Thracian,a succeeded Severus Alexander in the year 235, and died in 238. The excessive cruelty of his disposition is acknowledged by heathen historians.

b

Sulpicius Severus, passing from Septimius Severus to Decius, mentions this persecution, without numbering it. He says, that Maximin persecuted the clergy of some churches; which implies, that this persecution was local only, and not general.

d Λεγω δε ταύτα τε και τα λοιπα, εκ εξ αλλότριας ετι παραδόσεως, αλλα εξ οικείας ηδη τηρησεως. Ib. p. 318. al. p. 1205.

e This vol. p. 186-188.

Sed, occiso Alexandro, Maximinus primum e corpore militari, ët nondum senator, sine decreto Senatûs, Augustus ab exercitu appellatus est, filio sibimet in participatum dato. Capitolin. Maximin. cap. 8. p. 24. Conf. Pagi ann. 238. 4. Basn. ann. 235. num. ii.

⚫ Sed inter has virtutes tam crudelis fuit, ut illum alii Cyclopem, alii Busiridem, nonnulli Phalarim vocarent. Senatus eum tantum timuit, ut vota in templis publice privatimque mulieres etiam cum suis liberis facerent, ne ille unquam urbem Romam videret. Id. ib.

C

Interjectis deinde annis 38, pax christianis fuit; nisi quod medio tempore Maximinus nonnullarum ecclesiarum clericos vexavit. S. Sev. lib. ii. cap. 32. p. 247.