The Revolution of the Soul

The Philosophical Roots of Christianity

During sporadic persecutions, the Roman authorities made a spectacle of punishing the Christians to discourage more from converting to the religion. Nero’s notorius first persecutions in from 64 C.E. involved horrifically cruel methods of execution. Painting: The Torches of Nero, by Henryk Siemiradzki. (source: Wikipedia)

“They marched from the prison to the amphitheatre joyfully as though they were entering heaven.”

To modern readers, the story of the martyrdom of the Christian saints Perpetua and Felicitas is gut-wrenchingly shocking. The two young women — Perpetua was twenty-two and Felicitas was likely a teenager — were thrown to the beasts…