Just a thought... WI Marcus Aurelius ended the christian persecutions?

I was thinking last night... WI Marcus Aurelius ended christian persecutions and let christians worship God free and in the open? He was a philosopher deeply inspired by Plato and Socrates (Socrates teaching has a lot in common with christian teaching...And Plato's too since he was his pupil... Socrates was considered as a "Christian before Christ" by many priests and Bishops later...)
He could remain Pontifex Maximus for the Roman religion but no christian who openly decleared himself as such would be persecuted...
In OTL persecutions during his reign were kinda stopped but laws prohibiting public christian worship remained intact...
Could this lead to an early "Edict of Mediolanum"? Or Aurelius's succesors would have reversed that?
 
It would require him to actually want to, which would mean he'd have to have a reason to intellectually engage with the issue. Bear in mind, the Christian persecutions before Decius were very much isolated, local phenomena of very little interest to the imperial centre (Pliny saw the need to explain to Trajan - if the letter is authentic - who he was actually talking about). Why does Marcus Aurelius care about the Christians? Not saying he couldn't, just wondering.

The other thing is that there was a real, concrete problem with many Christian communities. They were what we call today 'parallel societies' refusing to participate in the activities that constituted society. That was a big issue, especially in times of crisis. If Marcus Aurelius decided that the morasl teachings of Christianity (which no ancient pagan philosopher we know of had any problems with) were worth allowing this, he could very simply have given the Christians a privilege analogous to the Caesarean law on the Jews. I don't think any of his successors would have revoked it - after all, the Jews were never bothered during the Decian and Valerianic persecutions, not because they were popular, but because their exemption from the obligation to sacrifice was established. But it wasn'zt a no-brainer to extend this privilege; ancient urban society created its internal cohesion through shared ceremony and joint decisionmaking, and anyone who opted out destabilised it.

Another aspect that is probably not unimportant is that in real terms 'on the ground', the difference is unlikely to be very great. Under Decius, churches were confiscated and cemeteries expropriated from the church communities. Under Valerian, the same happened. The problem with that is that, not being a religio licita, they should legally not have been able to own any such things. Many of our sources suggest that, certainly by the third century, the Christian communities in many places existed openly and were generally tolerated, if widely disliked.

Of course it would be *really* interesting if Marcus Aurelius (or, perhaps more credibly, an alternate Nero or Titus) decides to simply extend the Jewish privileges to the Christians.
 
Why does Marcus Aurelius care about the Christians? Not saying he couldn't, just wondering.

As i said above Marcus Aurelius was deeply inspired by Greek philosophy... especially Socrates and Plato... Since their teaching was kinda similar to the christian teaching he might have felt like protecting it... I think that he could extend Jewish privileges to Christians too... But if Commodus succeds him i think christians are doomed again... If any other person than Commodus succeds Aurelius this tolerance policy might be continued...
 

Keenir

Banned
As i said above Marcus Aurelius was deeply inspired by Greek philosophy... especially Socrates and Plato... Since their teaching was kinda similar to the christian teaching he might have felt like protecting it... I think that he could extend Jewish privileges to Christians too... But if Commodus succeds him i think christians are doomed again... If any other person than Commodus succeds Aurelius this tolerance policy might be continued...

one problem the Christians would have is that, unlike the Jews, Christians follow a religion which didn't even pre-date Octavian. having lasted a long while (and being more than a flash in a pan) counted for a lot.
 
As i said above Marcus Aurelius was deeply inspired by Greek philosophy... especially Socrates and Plato... Since their teaching was kinda similar to the christian teaching he might have felt like protecting it... I think that he could extend Jewish privileges to Christians too... But if Commodus succeds him i think christians are doomed again... If any other person than Commodus succeds Aurelius this tolerance policy might be continued...

That's not really how Roman government works. Unless he takes a personal interest in strange and exotic cults, there would have to be some kind of test case, petition or accusation to bring the issue up at all. The question is not why his moral beliefs would lead him that way (though it is true, Christianity was a new and disruptive phenomenon), it is why would he be aware of the issue needing attention at all.

I'm not sure Commodus would do anything, though. Did he even care about Christians one way or another (other than those in his immediate surroundings)?
 
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