causes of fear, writes to this purpose: Imagine here,' says he, a prison, crosses, and racks, ' and the hook, and a stake thrust through the body and coming out at the mouth, and the limbs torn by chariots pulling adverse ways, and that coat besmeared and interwoven with combus⚫tible materials, nutriment for fire, and whatever else beside these cruelty has invented. It is no wonder if, in such a case, fear riseth high, where the variety of evils is so great, and the preparation is so terrible.'

b

It is hence apparent, that this was one of the worst punishments which cruelty had invented. I do not know but some may think I ought to have quoted this passage of Seneca, not only as a description of this coat and the cruelty of it, but also as an allusion to the sufferings of the Christians, who felt it in so great numbers; for Seneca's death happened not before April in the year 65; whereas the fire at Rome began in July the preceding year, and the persecution of the Christians commenced in November following; but, in my opinion, it is better not to insist upon any reference here to the sufferings of the Christians.

I. His time and writings. II. His testimony to Nero's persecution of the Christians. III. His testimony to Domitian's persecution. IV. An observation concerning Seneca the philosopher.

с

d

I. DECIMUS JUNIUS JUVENALIS, or Juvenal, author of sixteen satires, which we still have, is computed to have flourished in the reigns of Domitian, Nerva, Trajan and Adrian. And, as Lipsius well says, he was contemporary with Pliny the younger, Tacitus, and others of that age. Nevertheless we do not find Juvenal at all mentioned in any of the letters of Pliny now extant. I place him next to his friend Martial, and in the same year, the last of the first century of the Christian epoch.

II. He seems to refer to Nero's persecution of the Christians in some lines of his first satire, which are thus translated by Mr. Dryden.

But if that honest licence now you take,

If into rogues omnipotent you rake,

Death is your doom, impal'd upon a stake,
Smear'd o'er with wax, and set on fire to light

The streets, and make a dreadful blaze by night.

Or, more literally: Describe a great villain, such as was Tigellinus, (a corrupt minister under Nero,) and you shall suffer the same punishment with those who stand burning in their ' own flame and smoke, their head being held up by a stake fixed to their chin, till they make a long stream (of blood and running sulphur) on the ground.'

a

It is the opinion of Joseph Scaliger, and many other learned men, that Nero's cruelties to

Cogita hoc loco carcerem, et cruces, et equuleos, et uncum, et adactum per medium hominem, qui per os emergat, stipitem, et distracta in diversum actis curribus membra, illam tunicam, alimentis ignium et illitam et intextam; quidquid aliud, præter hæc, commenta sævitia est. itaque mirum, si maximus hujus rei timor est, cujus et varietas magna, et apparatus terribilis est. Senec. Ep. 14. b See Tillemont. Neron. art. xxii.

See Vol. iii, ch. xi, near the end of the chapter.

Non est

d Vid. Lips. Epist. Qu. 1. 4. Ep. 20. Fabr. Bib. Eat. 1. 2. cap. 18. Tillem. H. E. Domitien, art. 24.

e

Ergo, meo arbitrio, compar Juvenalis Plinio juniori, Tacito, et illi classi fuit. Lips. 1. c.

f Pone Tigellinum, tædâ lucebis in illâ,
Quâ stantes ardent, qui fixo gutture fumant,

Et latum mediâ sulcum deducit arenâ.

Juven. Sat. i. ver. 155, &c. Scholia Juvenalis: Nero maleficos homines tæda et pa'pyro et cerâ supervestiebat, et sic ad ignem admoveri jubebat, 'ut arderent.' Hæc Scholiastes ille in illos versus Juvenalis, qui sine dubio de Christianis dicti sunt. Jos. Scaliger. Animadv. in Euseb. Chron. p. 197. Videatur Id. De Emendat. Temp. 1. v. p. 471.

b

a

the Christians are here intended: and that some punishments of men accused of magic in the reign of Nero, are here referred to, is affirmed by an ancient scholiast upon this place of Juvenal; who likewise speaks of them as exhibited for a spectacle; as is particularly described by Tacitus. And Suetonius (as we shall presently see) calls the Christians, 'men of a new and ⚫ magical superstition."

с

d

In another satire Juvenal speaks of the pitched shirt, or troublesome coat, which they were covered with who were condemned to that punishment. And I shall place below a part of Prateus's note upon that place.

III. In another satire Juvenal speaks of the death of Domitian in this manner: Many* • illustrious men he destroyed who found no avenger; at last he perished, when he became for• midable to the rabble. This ruined him, who long before was stained with the noble blood. of the Lamiæ.'

The verses are thus translated by Mr. Stepny:

What folly this! But Oh! that all the rest
Of his dire reign had thus been spent in jest!
And all that time such trifles had employed,
In which so many nobles he destroyed.
He safe, they unrevenged, to the disgrace
Of the surviving, tame, Patrician race.
But when he dreadful to the rabble grew,

Him, who so many lords had slain, they slew.

Ælius Lamia, whose death is likewise particularly mentioned by Suetonius, undoubtedly was a man of a very ancient and noble family. And Ďomitian had killed many other senators. The Christians were generally of the meaner rank of people, and more despised still for their religion than their condition. But they were not all of the rabble, or coblers and tailors, as Juvenal would insinuate. And Flavius Clement, one of those whom Domitian put to death near the end of his reign, and whose death, as Suetonius expressly says, hastened Domitian's ruin, was of the imperial family; and, as we think, a Christian. However, it is observable that Juvenal says Domitian's death soon followed after some acts of cruelty toward mean people. Herein he agrees with, and confirms the accounts of some Christian writers, particularly that of Cæcilius, or Lactantius, in his book of the deaths of persecutors; who observes that ⚫ Domitian" ⚫ had been long permitted to exercise great cruelties upon his subjects: but when he began to persecute the servants of God, he was soon delivered up into the hands of his enemies.'

h

IV. It may be observed that I do not allege, among witnesses to Christianity, or the affairs of Christians, the philosopher, L. A. Seneca. There is extant a correspondence between him and St. Paul, in fourteen letters; which may be seen in Latin, in Fabricius, and in Latin and English in Mr. Jones, with remarks. They were in being in St. Jerom's time, and Seneca therefore is mentioned by him in his Catalogue of Ecclesiastical Writers. But they are mani

i

a Vid. not. p. 616.

b Idem Scholiastes: Vivus ardebis, quemadmodum in munere Neronis vivi arserunt, de quibus ille jussit cereos ' fieri, ut lucerent spectatoribus, quum fixa essent guttura, ne "se curvarent." Id. Scalig. 1. c. p. 197. Et vide annot, ad Juvenalis locum.

Ausi quod liceat tunicâ punire molestâ.
Sat. 8. lin. 235.

Vestis erat e chartâ, cannabe, stuppå. Illinebatur bitu. mine, resina, pice. Tum circumdabatur iis, qui grave quidpiam, et maxime incendia, moliti fuerant. Quâ demum incensâ vivi comburebantur. Annot. in loc. ed. in usum Delphini.

• Atque utinam his potius nugis tota illa dedisset
Tempora sævitiæ, claras quibus abstulit Urbi
Illustresque animas impune, et vindice nullo.
Sed periit, postquam cerdonibus esse timendus
Coperat. Hoc nocuit Lamiarum cæde madenti.

VOL. III..

Sat. iv. ad fin.

f Sueton. Domit. cap. x.

Post hunc, [Neronem] interjectis aliquot annis, alter [Domitianus] non minor tyrannus orsus est; qui cum exerceret invisam dominationem, subjectorum tamen cervicibus incubavit quam diutissime, tutusque regnavit, donec impias manus adversus Dominum tenderet. Postquam vero ad persequendum justum populum instinctu dæmonum incitatus est, tunc traditus in manus inimicorum luit pœnas. Cæc. al. Lact. De M. P. c. 3.

h Cod. Apocr. N. T. Tom. 2. p. 880, &c. Conf. ejusd. Bibl. Lat. T. i. p. 367.

See Jones of the Canon of the N. T. Vol. 2, ch. x. p. 80, &c.

* Lucius Annæus Seneca Cordubensis, Sotionis Stoïci discipulus, et patruus Lucani poëtæ, continentissimæ vitæ fuit. Quem non ponerem in Catalogo Sanctorum, nisi me illæ Epistolæ provocarent, quæ leguntur a plurimis, Pauli ad Senecam, et Senecæ ad Paulum. In quibus, cum esset Neronis magister, et illius temporis potentissimus, optare se dicit,

4. K.

festly spurious and of no value; and therefore are not entitled to a place here: nor do they deserve any regard.

I have put this advertisement here, at the end of the chapter of Juvenal, because he is the last author of the first century who is alleged by me.

CHAP. VIII.

SUETONIUS.'

I. His history, time and works. II. The Jews expelled from Rome in the reign of Claudius. III. His account of Nero's persecution. IV. His testimony to the Jewish war, and the overthrow of the Jewish people. V. Of Domitian's persecution of the Christians. VI. The sum of his testimony.

b

I. CAIUS SUETONIUS TRANQUILLUS, son of Suetonius Lenis, flourished in the reigns of Trajan and Adrian, to the latter of whom he was secretary: which place he lost about the year 121. Pliny the younger had a particular friendship for him. Several of Pliny's letters still extant are written to him; and he performed for him divers good offices: Suetonius, having no children by his wife, Pliny procured for him from Trajan jus trium liberorum, or the privilege of those who have three children. His recommendation of him to the emperor is very affectionate, and exhibits a very amiable character.

d

That he was born about the beginning of the reign of Vespasian, is argued hence—that * about twenty years after the death of Nero, or in 88, he speaks of himself as a young man. It may be supposed therefore, that in the thirteenth of Trajan, or the year of our Lord 110, he was not less than forty years of age.

He was the author of a good number of books, of which there are now none remaining, but his Lives of the first twelve Caesars,' and a part of a work concerning Illustrious Grammarians and Rhetoricians.'

II. Suetonius, in the life of the emperor Claudius, who reigned from the year 41 to 54, says of him: He banished the Jews from Rome, who were continually making disturbances, Chrestus being their leader.'

This passage undoubtedly confirms what is said Acts xviii. 2, that "Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome." Some learned men are not satisfied that this relates to the Christians but it is well known that our Saviour was sometimes called Chrestus by heathen people. And it is not impossible that the Jewish enmity against those of their own country, or others who had embraced Christianity, might produce some disputes and disturbances which came to the emperor's knowledge. This seems to be the meaning of Suetonius, that there were disturbances among the Jews and others at Rome, upon occasion of Christ and his 6 followers.'

If this passage were clear, we should have a testimony from an heathen author of good note,

ejus esse loci apud suos, cujus sit Paulus apud Christianos. Hic ante biennium, quam Petrus et Paulus coronarentur martyrio, a Nerone interfectus est. Hierou. De V. I. cap. xii.

C

a Vid. Voss. de Hist. Lat. 1. i. cap. 26. Bayle Diction. Hist. et Crit. Suetone. Tillemont. H. Emp. Adrien, art. 24. b Interfuit huic bello pater meus Suetonius Lenis, tertiæ decima legionis tribunus angusticlavius. Sueton. Othon. c. x. Scepticio Claro, Præfecto Prætorii, et Suetonio Tranquillo, epistolarum magistro multisque aliis, qui apud Sabinam uxorem, injussu ejus, familiarius se tunc egerant, quam reverentia domus aulicæ postulabat, successores dedit- -Spartian in Adrian. cap. xi.

Suetonium Tranquillum, probissimum, honestissimum, eruditissimum virum, et mores ejus secutus et studia, jampri dem, Domine, in contubernium assumpsi. &c. Plin. 1. x. ep. 95. • Denique cum post viginti annos, adolescente me, exstitisset conditionis incerta, qui se Neronem esse jactaret, &c. Sueton. in Neron. cap. ult.

Judæos, impulsore Chresto, assidue tumultuantes Româ expulit. Claud. cap. 25. See Vol. i. p. 135.

Perperam Chrestianus pronuntiatur a vobis, &c. Tertull. Ap. c. 3. Sed exponenda hujus nominis ratio est, propter ignorantium errorem, qui cum immutată literă Chestum solent dicere. Lact. Divin. Inst. 1. 4, c. 7. . ·

that there were Christians at Rome before the end of the reign of Claudius: as indeed we know there were from an authentic writer of our own. Acts xviii. 2, and 26. And compare Rom. xvi. And though it should not be reckoned clear and decisive, it has such an appearance of probability as has satisfied many learned men of good judgment.

This passage of Suetonius is expressly cited by Orosius, a Christian historian, of the fifth century. But he was not clear, about the meaning of it.

III. In the life of Nero, whose reign began in 54, and ended in 68, Suetonius says: 'the

⚫ Christians were punished; a sort of men of a new and magical superstition.'

d

6

с

Suetonius here assures us that the Christian religion was lately arisen, and that it had already gained footing in the empire. From his calling it a magical superstition,' it may be argued that there were some things of an extraordinary nature performed by the Christians: or that they endeavoured to justify their embracing the religion of Christ, as of divine original, upon the ground of some wonderful works, which bore testimony to its truth and authority.

e

have translated the word malefica,' used by Suetonius, magical,' agreeably to the judgment of divers learned men. But Mr. Mosheim thinks the word to be equivalent to exitia'bilis,' in Tacitus, meaning pernicious.' The Christians were singular in their religious sentiment, and opposed the religions of all nations. The Romans therefore considered them, he thinks, as enemies to all mankind,' and disposed to disturb the public peace.

In the word 'new,' undoubtedly there is a sting. For, as Tacitus says of the Jews, What' ever' might be the origin of their religion, it has the advantage of antiquity.'

That the Christians were roughly handled in the reign of Nero, we have seen from Tacitus, a contemporary writer. Nevertheless, it has been observed by some learned men,, that Suetonius does not say particularly that they were punished at Rome,' or for setting fire to the city. His expressions are general, and may include more extensive sufferings in the provinces, as well as the city. Of which we have good assurance from divers ancient Christian writers. Once more. It may be observed that Suetonius speaks with approbation of the sufferings which the Christians endured in this reign. For they are mentioned together with divers other acts, ordinances, or institutions of Nero, which were entitled to some commendation: as any one will allow who observes the several articles in the same chapter.

Cum dixi supra, sub Judæorum nomine comprehensos Christianos, id dixi quod complures ante me, multo me eruditiores. Neque tamen id impedit quo minus durior fuerit conditio Christianorum, ut etiam in Judaïcâ religione multa novantium, pluresque homines a paganismo abducentiuin. Quo spectat illud Suetonii de Claudio, Judæos, impulsore Chresto,' (id est, per Christianum dogma,) assidue tumultuantes, Româ expulit &c Grot. App ad. Comm. de Antichristo p. 499. Vid. et Cellarii Diss. de primo principe Christiano. § viii. et Basnag. Ann. 51. num 68. Cleric. H. E. ann. 29. n. xc. Heumanni Diss. de Chresto Suetonii ap. Dissertation. Syll. T. i. p 536 &c. Kortholt. De Persecut. Ecc. p. 4, Tob. Eckhard. non Christianorum Testimonia. c. 1. S. Havercamp. annot. ad Tertullian. Apol. cap. 3, p. 42.

Sed me magis Suetonius movet, qui ait hoc modo. 'Claudius Judæos, impulsore Christo, assidue tumultuantes, Româ expulit. Quod utrum contra Christum tumultuantes Judæos coërceri et comprimi jusserit, an etiam Christianos simul, velut cognatæ religionis homines, voluerit expelli, nequâquam discernitur. Oros. Hist. 1. 7. c. 6.

Afflicti suppliciis Christiani, genus hominum, superstitionis novæ et maleficæ. Sueton. Nero. cap. 16.

'Maleficos' incantatores, magicis rebus studentes, venenarios, interpretatur Barth. Adv. viii. 17. x. 6, 45, 57-Pro talibus Christianos habuerunt deterrimis Gentiles, forte quia dæmonia illis parebant, et ad illorum contestationem ejiciebantur-Exinde capiendum putat Barthius, Luc. vi. 22. Και εκβάλωσι το ονομα ύμων, ως πονηρον. Nec mirum. Hoc enim genere 'maleficii' D. Jesum calumniabantur Gentilium accusationes. Arnob, p. 25. 'Occursurus forsitan rursus est cum aliis multis calumniosis illis, et puerilibus vocibus: Ma'gus fuit, clandestinis artibus omnia illa perfecit. Sed D.

Jesu causam satis accurate ibid. agit Arnobius. Pitiscus ad
Suetonii locum.

• Neque Romanam solum, sed omnium etiam aliarum gentium religiones Christiani hostiliter invadebant: ex quo Romani concludebant, sectam Christianam non modo præter omnem modum arrogantem, verum paci ac tranquillitati publicæ inimicam, et ad bella civilia cienda aptam esse. Hoc illud est, si recte conjicio, quod Tacitus Christianis exprobrat, odium generis humani. Nec aliunde rationem putem duci debere, cur idem Christianorum religionem, superstitionem exitiabilem,' Suetonius autem maleficam,' nominet. Moshem. Instit. H. E. p. 33, 34.

Hi ritus, quoquo modo inducti, antiquitate defenduntur. Tacit. Hist. 1. 5, cap. 5, p. 518.

Nec refert, quod Tacitus de iis, quæ in provinciis adversus Christianos gesta, sermonem non habeat, cum Suetonius de Nerone, cap. 16, persecutionem ad urbem Romam non restringat. Pagi ann. 64, n. iv.

Et quidem Suetonius, a Nerone afflictos suppliciis Christianos' commemorans, nullam Romani incendii facit mentionem, sed eos' genus hominum superstitionis novæ ac maleficæ appellat. Quæ cum referat Suetonius inter ea, quæ a Nerone instituta fuerant, haud dubium est, quin edictum adversus Christianos ab eo tyranno scriptum fuerit Ruinart. Pr. in Acta Mart. n. 26, p. 32.

h ac per omnes provincias pari persecutione excruciari imperavit. Oros. 1. 7. cap. 7.

i Id sane ita Suetonio persuasum erat, ut inter ea, quae aliquâ laude digna a Nerone sancita commemorat, ait, ab ipso fuisse afflictos suppliciis Christianos.' Ruinart. Ib. n. 25, p. 29.

Adhibitus sumtibus modus. &c. eod. cap. 16.

IV. In his Life of Vespasian, Suetonius writes to this purpose: When Nero went into Achaia, Vespasian was one of the court. But shewing a dislike of that emperor's extravagances, he lay under his displeasure, and was apprehensive of the consequences of his resentment. Vespasian therefore retired into a private place at some distance, where an honourable province, with a powerful army, was assigned him. There had been for a long time, all over the east, a prevailing opinion that it was in the fates, [in the decrees or books of the fates] that at that time some one from Judea should obtain the empire of the world. By the event it appeared that a Roman emperor was meant by that prediction. The Jews, applying it to themselves, ◄ went into a rebellion. At first they had such success that they not only overcame their own governor, but also defeated the proconsular governor of Syria who came to his assistance. There being now manifest occasion for a general of great reputation, and a numerous army, Vespasian was appointed for that service; who, among other commanders under him, had his eldest son Titus. Having put his army into good order, he entered upon the war with great vigour, and not without hazard to his own person, having been slightly wounded in an attack made at one of their towns, and received several darts upon his shield.' Suetonius proceeds to relate the accession of Vespasian to the empire, whilst he was in Judea, and takes notice of what Josephus, one of the Jewish prisoners, had beforehand said to him relating to that matter. And he expressly mentions Vespasian's triumph over the Jews at Rome.

In his life of Titus, he says, that whilst he yet served under Vespasian, he took Tarichea and Gamala, two strong cities of Judea: and that, having in an engagement lost his own horse, he mounted another, whose rider had been killed in fighting against him.' And he says, that Titus having been left in Judea to complete the reduction of that country, he, in the last siege of Jerusalem, killed seven of the enemy with as many darts: and that he took that city on his daughter's birth day, and was then saluted by the soldiers with the title of emperor.' He also says, That Titus triumphed at Rome with his father.'

d

Suetonius is a biographer; and therefore does not write of the Jewish war so particularly, as an historian of another character might do: nevertheless, he may be justly reckoned a witness to the fulfilment of our Saviour's predictions concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, and the overthrow of the Jewish people. He bears testimony to the Jewish war, and the occasion of it; he mentions the generals employed in it, and the issue of it in the taking of Jerusalem, and the reduction of Judea, and the triumph thereupon at Rome.

In the life of Domitian, whose reign began in the year 81, and ended in 96, Suetonius says: And beside others, the Jewish tax was exacted with the greatest severity, and was demanded * of those who lived in the city according to the Jewish customs, without entering themselves as Jews, or who, dissembling their original, had omitted to pay the tax laid upon that nation.'

It is well known that, after the destruction of Jerusalem, the Jewish people, wherever they dwelt, were required by Vespasian and Titus to pay that tribute to the capitol at Rome, which they had been wont to pay for the use of the temple at Jerusalem. Among those, of whom this

a

Peregrinatione Achaïcâ inter comites Neronis, cum, cantante eo, aut discederet sæpius, aut præsens obdormisceret, gravissimam contraxit offensam; prohibitusque non contubernio modo, sed etiam publicâ salutatione, recessit in parvam et deviam civitatem, quoad latenti, etiamque extrema metuenti, provincia cum exercitu oblata est. Percrebuerat Oriente toto vetus et constans opinio, esse in fatis, ut eo tempore Judæâ profecti rerum potirentur. Id, de Imperatore R. (quantum eventu pastea potuit) prædictum, Judæi ad se trahentes rebellârunt. Cæsoque præposito, legatum insuper Syriæ proconsularem suppetias ferentem raptà aquilà fugaverunt. Ad hunc motum comprimendum cum exercitu ampliore, et non instrenuo duce- -opus esset, ipse potissimum electus est-Additis igitur ad copias duabus legionibus, octo alis, cohortibus decem, atque inter legatos majore filio assumto, ut primum provinciam attigit, proximas quoque convertit in se; correctâ statim castrorum disciplinâ; uno quoque et altero prælio tam constanter inito, ut in oppugnatione castelli lapidis ictum genu, scuto sagittas aliquot exceperit-Et unus ex nobilibus captivis Josephus, cum conjiceretur in vincula, constantissime asseveravit fore, ut ab eodem brevi solveretur, verum jam Imperatore Talis, tantâque cum famâ in

Urbem reversus, acto de Judæis triumpho, consulatus octo veteri addidit. Sueton. Vespasian. cap. 48.

b Ex Quæsturæ deinde honore legioni præpositus, Tarichæam et Gamalam, urbes validissimas Judææ, in potestatem redegit; equo quâdam acie sub feminibus amisso, alteroque inscenso, cujus rector contra se dimicans occubuerat. Tit. cap. 4. et ad perdomandam Judæam relictus, novissima Hierosolymorum oppugnatione vii. propugnatotes totidem sagittarum confecit ictibus: cepitque eam natali filiæ suæ, tanto militum gaudio ac favore, ut in gratulatione Imperatorem eum consalutaverint. Ib. cap. 5.

d Triumphavit cum patre, Censuramque gessit unâ. Ib. cap. 6.

* Præter cæteros, Judaïcus fiscus acerbissime actus est; ad quem deferebantur, qui vel improfessi Judaïcam inter Urbem viverent vitam, vel dissimulatâ origine, imposita genti tributa non pependissent. Interfuisse me adolescentulum memini, cum a procuratore, frequentissimoque concilio, inspiceretur nonagenarius senex, an circumnsectus esset. Domitian. cap. 12.

Vid. Joseph, De B. J. I. 7. cap. vi. § 6. p. 119. Haverc.