Pliny's Letter To Emperor Trajan

Pliny was a governor for Rome who served Emperor Trajan. When Christianity first appeared in his area he was not sure how it should be dealt with. So, he wrote a letter to Emperor Trajan reporting what he had done so far and asking for further instructions because he was in doubt. Pliny starts his letter with a series of questions before going into what he has already done. Pliny has already questioned the ones believed to be Christians and ask them whether they were Christians or not. Then, those who still acknowledged being Christian was then questioned a second and third time, and was threaten with punishment. Pliny then states that “those who persisted in their ways, I had executed” and then states, “whatever the nature of their beliefs, I decided, they deserved punishment simply for being so stubborn and obstinate”. Then after that Pliny says that there were some Roman citizens among them, and he signed for them to be transferred to Rome, and be tried in the city of Rome.
After that accusations against others began to spread, causing several things to follow.
He gave them 3 opportunities to change the nature of their beliefs. He also gave them a change to invoke the Roman gods, by offering prayer and incense and wine to Emperor Trajan and by curse Christ. After this Trajan gives a short reply to Pliny giving his 4 major orders. The first was to not seek out or hunt the Christians for trial. The second was if the accused ware guilty of being Christian, then they must be punished. The third was if the accused deny they are Christians and show proof that they are not by worshipping the gods, then they will be pardoned, and then lastly Pliny should not allow anonymous accusations. The letters between Pliny and Trajan show the Roman administrative process and problems. It also shows that the Roman Empire at this time did not hunt for Christians for prosecution or