uld be punished. Marcus Aurelius simply
allowed this rule to be enforced by the magistrates. He saw in the
Christians only stubborn recalcitrants against the established
government. Whatever may have been the amount of the emperor's direct
responsibility in the matter, during his reign the flame of persecution
again burst out; and among many others, some women won lasting fame by
the glorious constancy and courage of their martyrdom.

One of the most illustrious was Felicitas, a Roman lady of good family
and the mother of seven sons. It was the policy of the magistrates not
to punish unnecessarily, but to endeavor to win those who were accused
to an acknowledged abandonment of their faith. In this case the judge
deemed it the more efficacious method to proceed against the mother
first, in the hope that in winning her to change her religion, he would
have less trouble with her sons; but neither promises of freedom nor
threats of total destruction of herself and her family could prevail.
Then he caused each son to be brought before him separately, and
endeavored both by menaces and persuasion to turn them from their
allegiance. Felicitas, however, had too thoroughly instilled into her
sons' minds the principles upon which her own faith and courage were
founded; they were unanimous in their steadfastness. The consequence was
that the mother was doomed to see her offspring executed one by one; and
at last, her resolution being invincible even before this terrible
trial, Felicitas herself was beheaded.

The brunt of the persecution which took place in the reign of Marcus
Aurelius was borne by the Christians of Gaul, particularly those of
Lyons and Vienne. We possess a good description of these sufferings in a
letter which has been preserved by Eusebius, and which was sent by the
survivors of these devoted churches to their brethren in the other parts
of the empire. "The greatness of the tribulation in this region," says
the epistle, "and the fury of the heathen against the saints, and the
sufferings of the blessed witnesses, we cannot recount accurately, nor
indeed could they possibly be recorded. For with all his might the
adversary fell upon us, giving us a foretaste of his unbridled activity
at his future coming. He endeavored in every way to practise and
exercise his servants against the servants of God, not only shutting us
out from houses and baths and markets, but forbidding any of us to be
seen in any place whatever