NOTE ON THE ATTITUDE OF MARCUS TOWARDS THE CHRISTIANS
WITH
HIS EDICT ADDRESSED TO THE COMMON ASSEMBLY OF ASIA
Marcus and the Christians.
(i. 6, iii. 16, vii. 68, viii. 48. 51, xi. 3.)
Nothing has done the good name of Marcus so much harm as his supposed uncompromising attitude towards the Christians, and in this connexion great emphasis has been laid upon a passage in the present book where the Christians, according to our accepted text, are mentioned. It will be worth while to examine this and certain other passages in the book and see if they throw any light on Marcus real sentiments towards the Christians.
Taking xi. 3 first, we note that παράταξις, which is persistently translated obstinacy to bring it into line with Pliny's obstinatio, does not mean obstinacy at all, but opposition.[1] This is clear from the use of the word and its verb elsewhere by Marcus. In iii. 3 it is used in its primary sense of armies opposite one another on the field of battle. The only passage where the verb occurs (viii. 48) is very instructive. "Remember," he says, "that the riding Reason shows itself unconquerable when, concentrated in itself, it is content with itself, so
- ↑ Since this was written I find that M. A. P. Lemercier (Les Pensées de Marc-Aurèle, Introd. p. viii. note 2) quotes with approval E. Havet's similar interpretation. Suidas glosses παράταξις with πόλεμος ἐμπαράσκευος.
