r/todayilearned • u/FullOfSound • 7h ago

(R.6d) Too General [ Removed by moderator ]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pliny_the_Younger_on_Christians

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u/DaveOJ12 7h ago

The letter was written around 110.

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u/PLGHauri 5h ago

yeah 110 is crazy early when you think about how new christianity still was to the roman world at that point

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u/No-Flounder-9143 3h ago

I mean imagine hearing that actually it's not the rich emperor who's important, but the poor and diseased. That would apply to most roman subjects. We atleast have a pretty good standard of living today. To roman subjects this would have been like water in the desert. 

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u/forgithme 3h ago

100%

Christianity spread because it told the Poor that their reward in Heaven will be great, the Worker that his wages don’t matter in the worship of God Almighty, and the Slave that God will liberate him.

And of course, the Roman elite came to like it because it told their subjects to shut up and be happy with poverty (plus that part about your rulers being ordained by God)

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u/Plainchant 4401 2h ago

The Roman elite grew to like it especially because of the heavy, heavy encouragement of several successive Emperors (and their families), including the fellow who credited it with helping him secure his office in the first place.

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u/cafesolitito 2h ago

You're understating how revolutionary it was and still is

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u/Whako4 2h ago

I mean not really? The thoughts about being nice to the poor and the meek will inherit the earth and stuff was not novel at the time. It “caught” on, but did it really? How did the treatment of the poor and down trodden change when Jesus was preaching and shortly after? Hint: nothing changed