CHRISTIANS UNDER FIRE. ANTI-CHRISTIAN ALLEGATIONS IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE

In the early imperial age, the Christian minority within Roman society was repeatedly rejected and misunderstood. This antipathy was expressed in vicious accusations including ones of immoral sexual conduct and cannibalism, which incidentally also triggered the prosecution of Christians. At the end of the second century, other forms of polemic arose: authors who had studied Christian customs attacked the content of Christian teachings. In an attempt to examine and explain these allegations in their historical context, we discuss the misconceptions surrounding certain elements of the Eucharist, as well as the personal motives of pagan authors, and a literary topos.