Testo
originale
(basato su Stout 1962:354-57)
Plinius
Traiano Imperatori
Ep.
10.96
Sollemne
est mihi, domine, omnia de quibus dubito ad te referre. Quis
enim potest melius vel cunctationem meam regere vel ignorantium instruere?
Cognitionibus
de Christianis interfui numquam: ideo nescio quid et quatenus aut puniri soleat
aut quaeri. Nec mediocriter haesitavi, sitne aliquod discrimen aetatum, an
quamlibet teneri nihil a robustioribus differant, detur paenitentiae venia, an
ei qui omnino christianus fuit desisse non prosit, nomen ipsum, si flagitiis
careat, an flagitia cohaerentia nomini puniantur.
Interim
in iis qui ad me tamquam Christiani deferebantur hunc sum secutus modum.
Interrogavi ipsos an essent Christiani. Confitentes iterum ac tertio
interrogavi, supplicium minatus; perseverantes duci iussi. Neque enim dubitabam,
qualecumque esset quod faterentur, pertinaciam certe et inflexibilem
obstinationem debere puniri. Fuerunt alii similis amentiae quos, quia cives
Romani erant, adnotavi in urbem remittendos. Mox ipso tractatu, ut fieri solet,
diffundente se crimine plures species inciderunt.
Propositus
est libellus sine auctore multorum nomina continens. Qui negabant esse se
Christianos aut fuisse, cum praeeunte me deos appellarent et imagini tuae, quam
propter hoc iusseram cum simulacris numinum adferri, ture et vino supplicaarent,
praeterea maledicerent Christo, quorum nihil posse cogi dicuntur qui sunt re
vera Christiani, dimittendos putavi. Alii ab indice nominati esse se Christianos
dixerunt et mox negaverunt; fuisse quidem, sed desisse, quidam ante triennium,
quidam ante plures annos, non nemo etiam ante viginti. Hi quoque omnes et
imaginem tuam deorumque simulacra venerati sunt et Christo male dixerunt.
Adfirmabant
autem hanc fuisse summam vel culpae suae vel erroris, quod essent soliti stato
die ante lucem convenire carmenque Christo quasi deo dicere secum in vicem seque
sacramento non in scelus aliquod obstringere, sed ne furta, ne latrocinia, ne
adulteria, committerent, ne fidem fallerent, ne depositum appellati abnegarent:
quibus peractis morem sibi discedendi fuisse rursusque coeundi ad capiendum
cibum, promiscuum tamen et innoxium; quod ipsum facere desisse post edictum meum,
quo secundum mandata tua hetaerias esse vetueram. Quo
magis necessarium credidi ex duabus ancillis, quae ministrae dicebantur, quid
esset veri et per tormenta quaerere. Nihil aliud inveni quam superstitionem
pravam, immodicam.
Ideo dilata cognitione ad consulendum te decurri. Visa est enim mihi res digna consultatione, maxime propter periclitantium numerum; multi enim omnis aetatis, omnis ordinis, utriusque sexus etiam, vocantur in periculum et vocabuntur Neque civitates tantum, sed vicos etiam atque agros superstitionis istius contagio pervagata est; quae videtur sisti et corrigi posse. Certe satis constat prope iam desolata templa coepisse celebrari et sacra sollemnia diu intermissa repeti pastumque venire victimarum, cuius adhuc rarissimus emptor inveniebatur. Ex quo facile est opinari, quae turba hominum emendari possit, si sit paenitentiae locus.
Traduzione
by
K. C. Hanson
Pliny
to the Emperor Trajan
Ep.
10.96
It
is my custom, O lord, to refer all questionable issues to you. For who is more
capable of resolving my doubts and instructing my ignorance?
I
have never been present at a formal inquiry of "Christ-niks."
Consequently, I do not know the nature or the extent of the sanctions usually
administered against them, nor the grounds for opening a formal inquiry and how
far it should be pressed. Nor am I at all sure whether any distinction should be
made between them on the basis of age, or whether young people and adults should
be treated identically, whether a pardon ought to be granted to anyone
retracting his beliefs, or if he has once professed being a "Christ-nik,"
he shall gain nothing by renouncing it; and whether it is the mere label which
is actionable, even if not guilty of a crime, or rather the crimes associated
with the name.
In
the meantime, this is the approach I have taken with everyone brought before me
on the charge of being "Christ-niks": I have asked them in person if
they are "Christ-niks"; and if they admit it, I repeat the question a
second and third time with a warning of the sanction awaiting them. If they
persist, I order them to be led away for execution. For, whatever the nature of
their admission, I am convinced that their stubbornness and unshakeable
obstinacy should not go unpunished. Others as fanatical who are citizens of
Now
that I have begun to deal with this problem, as so often happens, the charges
are becoming more widespread and increasing in variety. An anonymous writing has
circulated which contains the names of several accused individuals. From these,
I considered dismissing any who denied that they were or ever had been "Christ-niks"
when they had recited after me an invocation of the gods and made offerings of
wine and incense to your statue—which I ordered brought into court for this
purpose along with the images of the gods—and further reviled the name of
Christ: none of which, I understand, any true "Christ-nik" can be
induced to do. Others, whose names were given to me by an informant, first
admitted the charge and then denied it; they said that they had ceased to be
"Christ-niks" two or more years before, and some of them even twenty
years ago. They all venerated your statue and the images of the gods in the same
way as the others, and cursed the name of Christ. They also declared that the
totality of their guilt or error amounted to no more than this: they had met
regularly before dawn on a certain day to chant verses antiphonally amongst
themselves in honor of Christ as if to a god, and also to bind themselves with
an oath, not in a criminal conspiracy, but to abstain from fraud, banditry, and
adultery, to commit no breach of trust, and not to renege on a deposit. After
completing this foolishness, it was their custom to disperse and reassemble
later to take food of an common and innocuous type; but they had in fact given
up this practice since my edict, issued on your instructions, which banned all
associations. This made me decide it was all the more necessary to extract the
truth from two female slaves—whom they call "ministers"—by means
of torture. I found nothing but a degenerate sort of superstition carried to
immoderate lengths.
I
have, therefore, put off any further consideration awaiting your counsel. The
matter seems worthy of your consideration, especially in light of the number of
persons at risk. For numerous persons of every age and every class, both genders,
are being brought to trial, and this is likely to continue. It is not only the
town, but villages and countryside as well which are infected through contact
with this perverse superstition. I think that it is still possible for it to be
checked and directed to better ends, for there is no doubt that people have
begun to throng the temples, which had been almost entirely abandoned for a long
time. And the sacred rites which had been allowed to lapse are again being
performed, and the flesh of sacrificial meat is on sale everywhere, though until
recently hardly anyone was buying it. It is easy to infer from this that a great
many people could be rehabilitated if they were given an opportunity to recant.