quiet under severe provocations and there was no fear of the peace of the city being disturbed by them (ib.). Julian then issued a rescript to the citizens of Bostra, Aug. 1, 362, charging Titus with calumniating them by his representations that they only abstained from violence in obedience to his monitions, and calling upon them to drive him out of their city as a public enemy (Julian Imp. Ep. 52, p. 437). The death of Julian found Titus still bp. of Bostra (Rendell, Emperor Julian, pp. 188, 222). On the accession of Jovian, Titus is enumerated by Socrates (H. E. iii. 25) as a member of the Acacian party. According to Jerome, he died in the reign of Valens, c. 370. Of his works (Soz. H. E. iii. 14) we have only very scanty remains. Of that against the Manichees in four books ("fortes libros," l.c.) commended by Jerome and referred to by Epiphanius (Haer. lxvi. c. 21) and Theodoret (Haer. Fab. lib. i. c. 26), three books exist in MS. in the library of the Johanneum at Hamburg. Tillem. Mém. eccl. vii. 385; Ceill. Aut. eccl. vi. 43 ff.; Cave, Hist. Lit. i. 228; Migne, Patr. Gk. xviii. 1069 ff.; Fabr. Bibl. Graec. vi. 748, viii. 684, ix. 320; Clinton, Fasti Rom. No. 141.
[E.V.]
Trajanus (1), M. Ulpius (Nerva), emperor, belonged to a family of Italian origin settled in the colony of Italica in Baetica. He was born on Sept. 18, probably in a.d. 53, and passed his early life in the army under his father, a distinguished officer who had risen to the consulship. In Oct. 97, being then in command of the army of Lower Germany, he was adopted by Nerva, with whom, till his death on Jan. 27, he reigned jointly, and then became sole emperor. He remained on the Rhine, placing that frontier in a state of defence, till in the latter half of 99 he made his entrance into Rome, being received with the greatest joy. He died at Selinus in Cilicia, probably c. Aug. 7 or 8, 117.
For us the interest of his life centres in the famous rescript, addressed to his friend Pliny in reply to his letter detailing his procedure towards the Christians in Bithynia. Pliny had arrived in his province immediately before Sept. 18, 110, or more probably 111 (Mommsen, Hermes, 1869, 59), and the letter was probably written in the year after his arrival. The rescript is one of a series of replies to inquiries on the most various subjects—police, baths, sewerage, precautions against fires water supply, public buildings, etc.—and neither Pliny nor Trajan seems to have considered the subject one of special importance. Pliny's letter is the earliest heathen account of the services and behaviour of the Christians, and Trajan's reply is the earliest piece of legislation about Christianity that we possess.
After stating that, having never been present at trials of Christians, he was ignorant of the precise nature of the crime and the usual punishment, and also how far it was the practice to pursue the inquiry, Pliny asks the emperor whether any distinction should be made on the ground of age; whether those who abjured Christianity should be pardoned, or a man who had embraced Christianity gain by renouncing it; whether the mere name apart from any crime or the crimes associated with the name should be punished? Provisionally he had taken the following course in the case of those charged before him with being Christians. "I demanded," he says, "of the accused themselves if they were Christians, and if they admitted it, I repeated the question a second and a third time, threatening them with punishment; if they persisted, I ordered them to be led to execution. For I felt convinced that, whatever it might be they confessed they were, at any rate their unyielding obstinacy deserved punishment. Some others, who were Roman citizens, I decided should be sent to Rome for trial. In the course of the proceedings, as is generally the case, the number of persons involved increased and several varieties appeared. An anonymous document was presented to me which contained the names of many. Those who denied that they were or ever had been Christians I thought should be released when they had, after my example, invoked the gods and offered incense and wine to your image, which I had ordered to be brought for the purpose along with those of the gods, and had also blasphemed Christ, none of which things, it is said, can those who are really Christians be compelled to do. Others, who were accused by an informer, first said they were Christians and then denied it, saying that they had been, but had ceased to be, some three years, some several, and one twenty years ago. All adored your image and those of the gods, and blasphemed Christ. They declared that all the wrong they had committed, wittingly or unwittingly, was this, that they had been accustomed on a fixed day to meet before dawn and sing antiphonally a hymn to Christ as a god, and bind themselves by a solemn pledge [sacramento] not to commit any enormity, but to abstain from theft, brigandage, and adultery, to keep their word, and not to refuse to restore what had been entrusted to their charge if demanded. After these ceremonies they used to disperse and assemble again to share a common meal of innocent food, and even this they had given up after I had issued the edict by which, according to your instructions, I prohibited secret societies [hetaeriae]. I therefore considered it the more necessary, in order to ascertain what truth there was in this account, to examine two slave-girls, who were called deaconesses [ministrae], and even to use torture. I found nothing except a perverted and unbounded superstition. I therefore have adjourned the investigation and hastened to consult you, for I thought the matter was worth consulting you about, especially on account of the numbers who are involved. For many of every age and rank, and of both sexes, are already and will be summoned to stand their trial. For this superstition has infected not only the towns, but also the villages and country; yet it apparently can be checked and corrected. At any rate it is certainly the case that the temples which were almost deserted begin to be frequented, the sacred ceremonies which had long been interrupted to be resumed, and there is a sale for fodder for the victims ["pastumque venire victimarum," so Lightfoot], for which previously hardly a buyer was to be found. From this one can easily conclude what a number of people may be reformed,
