{"id":48189,"date":"2025-04-22T07:00:25","date_gmt":"2025-04-22T11:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblicalarchaeology.org\/?p=48189"},"modified":"2025-04-21T10:30:55","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T14:30:55","slug":"domitian-persecution-of-christians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblicalarchaeology.org\/daily\/biblical-topics\/post-biblical-period\/domitian-persecution-of-christians\/","title":{"rendered":"Alternative Facts: Domitian\u2019s Persecution of Christians"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Domitian's<\/a>

Ancient portrait of Roman emperor Domitian (r. 81\u201396 C.E.) set into a bust by Guglielmo della Porta (16th c. C.E.) at the National Archaeological Museum, Naples. Photo: Dan Diffendale\/CC BY-SA 2.0.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

As I revisited a critical biography of the Roman emperor Domitian by the scholar Brian W. Jones recently,1<\/a><\/sup> I was reminded that \u201calternative facts\u201d and \u201cfake news\u201d are not just a contemporary phenomenon. On occasion ancient writers similarly tried to spin their version of the truth. Jones tackles the familiar line that Domitian<\/a>, who reigned between 81 and 96 C.E., was a great persecutor of Christians. This \u201cfact\u201d is now standard stock in much popular writing on the book of Revelation and is even found in some scholarly tomes. In his discussion, Jones carefully rehearses how this \u201cfact\u201d developed.<\/p>\n

Eusebius<\/a> in his Church History<\/em> (CH<\/em>) provides the first reference to Domitian persecuting the church. Writing over three centuries later in the early fourth century C.E., this ancient Christian historian first quotes Melito of Sardis, who mentioned that Domitian brought slanderous accusations against Christians (CH<\/em> 4.26.9). He also cites Tertullian, who claimed that Domitian was cruel like the emperor Nero<\/a> (r. 54\u201368 C.E.), but that Domitian was more intelligent, so he ceased his cruelty and recalled the Christians he had exiled (CH<\/em> 3.20.9). Eusebius also quotes Irenaeus, who claimed Domitian\u2019s persecution consisted only of John\u2019s banishment to Patmos and the exile of other Christians to the island of Pontia (CH<\/em> 3.18.1, 5).<\/p>\n

Despite these cautious statements by three earlier authors, Eusebius then spun his own alternative fact by claiming that Domitian, like Nero, had \u201cstirred up persecution against us\u201d (\u201canekinei di\u014dgmon<\/em>\u201d; CH<\/em> 3.17). From here the tradition was enlarged by Orosius (d. 420 C.E.), who, in his History Against the Pagans<\/em>, wrote that Domitian issued edicts for a general and cruel persecution (7.10.5). Despite a lack of evidence, Jones observes that the tradition concerning Domitian\u2019s persecution persists: \u201cFrom a frail, almost non-existent basis, it gradually developed and grew large.\u201d2<\/a><\/sup> Thus the alternative facts sown by these ancient historians grew to a truism of Christian history.<\/p>\n

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FREE ebook: Paul: Jewish Law and Early Christianity<\/strong>. Paul\u2019s dual roles as a Christian missionary and a Pharisee.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t