Christians.  I consequently gave orders that they should be discharged.  Again, others, who have been informed against, said that they were Christians, and afterwards denied it; that they had been so once but had ceased to be so, some three years ago, some longer than that, some even twenty years before; all of these worshipped your image, and the statues of the gods; they also cursed Christ.  But they asserted that this was the sum total of their crime or error, whichever it may be called, that they were used to come together on a stated day before it was light, and to sing in turn, among themselves, a hymn to Christ, as to a god, and to bind themselves by an oath—­not to anything wicked—­but that they would not commit theft, robbery, or adultery, nor break their word, nor deny that anything had been entrusted to them when called upon to restore it.  After this they said that it was their custom to separate, and again to meet together to take their meals, which were in common and of a harmless nature; but that they had ceased even to do this since the proclamation which I issued according to your commands, forbidding such meetings to be held.  I therefore deemed it the more necessary to enquire of two servant maids, who were said to be attendants, what was the real truth, and to apply the torture.  But I found that it was nothing but a bad and excessive superstition, and I consequently adjourned the inquiry, and consulted you upon the subject.  For it seemed to me to be a matter on which it was desirable to take advice, in consequence of the number of those who are in danger.  For there are many of every age, of every rank, and even of both sexes, who are invited to incur the danger, and will still be invited.  For the infection of this superstition has spread through not only cities, but also villages and the country, though it seems possible to check and remedy it.  At all events it is evident that the temples, which had been almost deserted, have begun to be frequented, and the sacred solemnities, which had been intermitted, are revived, and victims are sold everywhere, though formerly it was difficult to find a buyer.  It is, therefore, easy to believe that a number of persons may be corrected, if the door of repentance be left open” (Ep. 97).

It is urged by Christian advocates that this letter at least shows how widely Christianity had spread at this early date; but we shall later have occasion to draw attention to the fact that the name “Christian” was used before the reputed time of Christ to describe some extensively-spread sects, and that the worshippers of the Egyptian Serapis were known by that title.  It may be added that the authenticity of this letter is by no means beyond dispute, and that R. Taylor urges some very strong arguments against it.  Among others, he suggests:  “The undeniable fact that the first Christians were the greatest liars and forgers that had ever been in the whole world, and that they actually stopped at nothing....  The flagrant