The Letter of the Gallican Churches.

        The position of Christians in the ancient world was extremely precarious; they might at any time be reported to the authorities, who would then have no choice but to proceed against them, as followers of an unauthorized religion. Any offense given to the rabble of a city by the Christians there might cause an outbreak of legal procedure against the church, and this is what occurred in the Gallican cities of Lyons and Vienne in A.D. 177 as the reign of Marcus Aurelius was drawing to its close. The pitiful and yet heroic story of those who suffered martyrdom in these places was soon afterward told in a letter from the “servants of God who sojourn in Vienne and Lyons, in Gaul, to the brethren throughout Asia and Phrygia.” This letter ranks next to the Martyrdom of Polycarp and that of Justin as among the earliest acts of martyrdom. But the letter has disappeared, and for our knowledge of it we are dependent upon the copious extracts from it which Eusebius fortunately copied into the fifth book of his Church History (1-4).

        The letter records the attack of the mob upon the brethren, the intervention of the city authorities against the Christians-the defense offered by one of them, Vettius Epagathus, the examination of the others, the defection of some and the steadfastness of others. Their slaves were examined and, in fear of torture, confessed that the Christians were guilty of the crimes usually charged against them-infanticide, cannibalism, and incest. Some of the brethren displayed conspicuous courage-Sanctus, a deacon of Vienne; Maturus; Attalus; and Blandina, a slave, whose mistress was also undergoing torture. Pothinus, the bishop of Lyons, a man over ninety, was so maltreated that he died in prison. The final sufferings of Maturus, Sanctus, Attalus, Blandina, Alexander, a physician, and a boy named Ponticus are narrated in some detail-how they were flogged, thrown to wild beasts, hung from stakes, and roasted on an iron chair.

        The little letter, as far as can be judged from the portions Eusebius preserves, stands out as one of the classics of martyrological literature. Eusebius included it in his collection of acts of martyrdom, but that work has disappeared.