Trajan reigned from 98 to AD 117 and extended the empire to its widest limits. His reply to Pliny the Younger (Letter 10.97), around 111–112, set the pattern for handling Christians for over a century: they were not to be hunted out or condemned on anonymous accusations, but those accused and convicted who refused to sacrifice were to be punished.
Christian tradition dates the martyrdoms of Ignatius of Antioch and of Symeon son of Clopas, a relative of Jesus, to his reign, and Irenaeus, whose report modern scholars weigh carefully, says the apostle John lived on at Ephesus until his time.
Where to start
Every mention
10 writings- AD 110Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the SmyrnaeansThe Early Church1×
- AD 112Pliny the Younger and Trajan, Letters 10.96–97: on the trials of ChristiansWitnesses Outside the Church6×
- AD 120Suetonius, Life of Claudius 25: the expulsion over “Chrestus”Witnesses Outside the Church1×
- AD 125Hadrian’s Rescript to Minucius Fundanus (Eusebius, Church History 4.9)Witnesses Outside the Church3×
- AD 180Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies, Book IIIThe Early Church1×
- AD 230Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies, Book IXThe Early Church1×
- AD 320Eusebius, Church History, Book IIIThe Early Church12×
- AD 320Eusebius, Church History, Book IVThe Early Church1×
- 2026The documentary record of Jesus and the movements that interpreted himThe Dossier2×
- 2026Sources and further readingThe Dossier2×