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* Евсев. VI, 4.

** Apperehensi sunt adolescentes catechumini Revocatus et Felicitas… Saturninus et Secundulus. Inter quos (id est catechuminos) et Perpetua, habens patrem et fratres duos… alterum catechuminum (The adolescent catechumens Revocatus and Felicita, Saturnius and Secundulus were taken into custody, among whom was Perpetua, who had a father and two brothers... other catechumens); Ruinart. Acta martyrum. P. 138.

Evsev. VI, 3.

**** Ibid. VI, 3.

***** Philosophumena (Refut. omnium haeres.), IX; Aube. Les Chretiens. S. 85–91; Uhlhorn. Herz., Encykl. Bd. XIV. S. 172.

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Thus, it is obvious that the decree of Septimius, by that aspect of it by which Christians were equal in religious and political rights with the Jews, could and did have a favorable effect on the position of Christians. But at the same time, it should be noted that the side of the decree that was intended to exert some pressure on Christianity was not particularly dangerous for Christians. The aspiration, so to speak, to localize Christianity, to enclose it in a narrow framework, forbidding proselytism, is a chimerical and senseless aspiration: ideas by their nature do not lend themselves to the limitation of space, especially when the hearth on which they are created burns unhindered, and so it was with Christianity, which, in the person of already existing members of the Church, remained inviolable by the decree of Septimius. The decree, moreover, prescribing severity exclusively against new converts, in practice could encounter a very important difficulty, for for it was only in rare cases that the question of whether a well-known Christian was a recent Christian or a Christian of old. What are the signs of recent Christianity? Who would be able to see to it that some pagan does not accept Christianity, since it is not forbidden? It is well known that the more indefinite a law is, the more indefinite is its effect, and the law of Septimius, as far as we know it, is not definite.

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* However, it must be confessed that the direct effect of the decree in this direction remains insufficiently attested in history. It does not appear that the Christians ever converted it, as Aubé remarks, in their defense, for example, during their trial (Aube, op. cit., p. 114). Theoretically, it was useful to Christians, but in practice its significance was noticeably obscured, As a result, the later pagan sovereigns, who issued laws in favor of Christians, did not repeat this decree, but issued new decrees.

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In saying this about the attitude of Septimius Severus to Christianity and his decree of 202, however, we do not think to say that the reign of this Roman emperor was a happy time for Christians. Persecution on the part of the pagans often disturbed the peace of Christians during the reign of Septimius, but it did not take place everywhere: undoubtedly it took place in Egypt and Africa, but whether it took place in other countries is difficult to say, and if it did occur anywhere (for example, in Asia Minor), it was very weak, and it is not clear from anything that the persecution took place according to the determination of the central authority. by the will of Septimius himself or as a result of the strictness of his well-known decree; it took place, most likely, for accidental reasons, by the will and order of the proconsuls, who could act according to the former laws, which declared the persecution of Christians and did not repeal. The supreme power and legislation were more favorable than the Roman society itself to the Christians in the reign of Septimius Severus — this is the result to which, by all rights, the historian can arrive when studying the reign of the first of the Severans.

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* The facts concerning the persecution of Christians in the time of Septimius have been painstakingly collected and elucidated by both Gerres (Op. cit., S. 301 u.s.w.) and Aubet (Op. cit. Chap. III-V).