190 THE DECLINE AND FALL ClfAP. amono- the ffods of Rome; that his servile senate ven- XVI . 1^ turetl to disobey the commands of their master ; that Tiberius, instead of resenting their refusal, contented himself with protecting the christians from the severity of the laws, many years before such laws were enacted, or before the church had assumed any distinct name or existence ; and lastly, that the memory of this extraor- dinary transaction was preserved in the most ])ublic and authentic records, which escaped the knowledge of the historians of Greece and Rome, and were only visible to the eyes of an African christian, who com- posed his apology one hundred and sixty years after the death of Tiberius. The edict of Marcus Anto- ninus is supposed to have been the eftect of his devo- tion and gratitude for the miraculous deliverance which he had obtained in the Marcomannic war. The dis- ti'ess of the legions, the seasonable tempest of rain and hail, of thunder and of lightning, and the dismay and defeat of the barbarians, have been celebrated by the eloquence of several pagan writers. If there were any christians in that army, it was natural that they should ascribe some merit to the fervent prayers which, in the moment of danger, they had offered up for their own and the public safety. But we are still assured by monuments of brass and marble, by the imperial medals, and by the Antonine column, that neither the prince nor the people entertained any sense of this signal ob- ligation, since they unanimously attribute their deliver- ance to the providence of Jupiter, and to the interpo- sition of Mercury. During the whole course of his reign, Marcus despised the christians as a philosopher, and punished them as a sovereign °. State of the By a singular fatality, the hardships which they had christians in pjjj^^j,gj^| ^^^dcr the government of a virtuous prince, the reigns ot _ ^ _ * Commodiis immediately ceased on the accession of a tyrant; and as none except themselves had experienced the injustice of Marcus, so they alone were protected by the lenity " On this miracle, as it is commonly called, of the thundering legion, see the admirahle criticism of Mr. Moyle, in his works, vol. ii. p. Bl — 390. andSeverus, A.D. 180
