Letter to the Senate, Testifying Christians as the Cause of VictoryΠρὸς τὴν Σύγκλητον Ἐπιστολή
Marcus Aurelius-pseudo Letters Letter to the Senate, Testifying Christians as the Cause of Victory PDF
The Letter to the Senate, Testifying Christians as the Cause of Victory is a pseudepigraphal epistle composed in Koine Greek. It falsely presents itself as an official dispatch from the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius to the Roman Senate, dated to his reign from 161 to 180 CE. Modern scholarship universally regards it as a later Christian forgery. The text fabricates an account of the so-called Miracle of the Rain, an event traditionally associated with Marcus Aurelius's Marcomannic Wars against the Quadi around 172–174 CE. In this invented narrative, the emperor, facing imminent defeat and surrounded by enemies, witnesses Christian soldiers within his legions pray for divine intervention. Their prayers are answered with a sudden, life-saving rainstorm that refreshes the Roman troops and confounds their adversaries, leading to a decisive victory. The forged letter depicts Marcus Aurelius explicitly attributing this miracle to the Christian God, praising the loyalty and efficacy of Christian prayers, and consequently issuing commands to halt the persecution of Christians throughout the empire.
The complete text of the letter does not exist as an independent manuscript. Knowledge of its content derives entirely from fragments, summaries, and quotations preserved in later Christian apologetic and historical writings, most notably within the Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius of Caesarea. Scholars generally date its composition to the 4th century CE, following the Edict of Milan and during the period of Christianity's rapid ascent to imperial favor. Its primary purpose was apologetic, crafted to provide fabricated imperial endorsement demonstrating that Christians were not subversive but rather loyal and beneficial subjects whose faith could secure divine favor for Rome. The forgery is considered part of a broader literary effort by Christian writers to retrospectively align historical Roman figures with Christian narratives, thereby legitimizing the faith's place within the empire's history and governance after it had achieved official acceptance.
| 246 (1t) | Μάρκου βασιλέως Ἐπιστολὴ πρὸς τὴν Σύγκλητον, ἐν ᾗ μαρτυρεῖ Χριστιανοὺς αἰτίους γεγενῆσθαι τῆς νίκης αὐτῶν. Αὐτοκράτωρ Καῖσαρ Μάρκος Αὐρήλιος Ἀντωνῖνος Γερμανικὸς Παρθικὸς Σαρματικὸς Δήμῳ Ῥωμαίων καὶ τῇ Ἱερᾷ Συγκλίτῳ χαίρειν. |
| 248 | Φανερὰ ὑμῖν ἐποίησα τὰ τοῦ ἐμοῦ σκοποῦ μεγέθη, ὁποῖα ἐν τῇ Γερμανίᾳ ἐκ περιστάσεως διὰ περιβολῆς ἐπακολουθήματα ἐποίησα ἐν τῇ μεθορίᾳ καμὼν καὶ παθών, ἐν Καρνούντῳ καταλαμβανομένου μου ὑπὸ δρακόντων ἑβδομήκοντα τεσσάρων ἀπὸ μιλίων ἐννέα. Γενομένων δὲ αὐτῶν ἐγγὺς ἡμῶν ἐξπλωράτωρες ἐμήνυσαν ἡμῖν καὶ Πομπηϊανὸς ὁ ἡμέτερος πολέμαρχος ἐδήλωσεν ἡμῖν ἅτινα εἴδομεν (καταλαμβανόμενος δὲ ἤμην ἐν μεγέθει πλήθους ἀμίκτου, καὶ στρατευμάτων λεγεῶνος πρίμας, δεκάτης, γεμίνας, φρεντησίας μῖγμα κατηριθμημένον), πλήθη παρεῖναι παμμίκτου ὄχλου χιλιάδων ἐνακοσίων ἑβδομήκοντα ἑπτά. Ἐξετάσας οὖν ἐμαυτὸν καὶ τὸ πλῆθος τὸ ἐμὸν πρὸς τὸ μέγεθος τῶν βαρβάρων καὶ πολεμίων, κατέδραμον εἰς τὸ θεοῖς εὔχεσθαι πατρῴοις. |
| 250 | Ἀμελούμενος δὲ ὑπ’ αὐτῶν καὶ τὴν στενοχωρίαν μου θεωρήσας τῆς δυνάμεως παρεκάλεσα τοὺς παρ’ ἡμῖν λεγομένους Χριστιανούς· καὶ ἐπερωτήσας εὗρον πλῆθος καὶ μέγεθος αὐτῶν, καὶ ἐμβριμησάμενος εἰς αὐτούς, ὅπερ οὐκ ἔπρεπε διὰ τὸ ὕστερον ἐπεγνωκέναι με τὴν δύναμιν αὐτῶν. Ὅθεν ἀρξάμενοι οὐ βελῶν παράρτησιν οὔτε ὅπλων οὔτε σαλπίγγων, διὰ τὸ ἐχθρὸν εἶναι τὸ τοιοῦτο αὐτοῖς διὰ τὸν θεόν, ὃν φοροῦσι κατὰ συνείδησιν. Εἰκὸς οὖν ἐστιν, οὓς ὑπολαμβάνομεν ἀθέους εἶναι ὅτι θεὸν ἔχουσιν αὐτόματον ἐν τῇ συνειδήσει τετειχισμένον. Ῥίψαντες γὰρ ἑαυτοὺς ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν οὐχ ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ μόνον ἐδεήθησαν ἀλλὰ καὶ ὑπὲρ τοῦ παρόντος στρατεύματος, παρήγορον γενέσθαι δίψης καὶ λιμοῦ τῆς παρούσης. Πεμπταῖοι γὰρ ὕδωρ οὐκ εἰλήφειμεν διὰ τὸ μὴ παρεῖναι· ἦμεν γὰρ ἐν τῷ μεσομφάλῳ τῆς Γερμανίας καὶ τοῖς ὅροις αὐτῶν. Ἅμα δὲ τῷ τούτους ῥίψαι ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν ἑαυτοὺς καὶ εὔχεσθαι θεῷ, ᾧ ἐγὼ ἠγνόουν, εὐθέως ὕδωρ ἠκολούθει οὐρανόθεν, ἐπὶ μὲν ἡμᾶς ψυχρότατον, ἐπὶ δὲ τοὺς Ῥωμαίων ἐπιβούλους χάλαζα πυρώδης. Ἀλλὰ καὶ εὐθὺ θεοῦ παρουσίαν ἐν εὐχῇ γινομένην παραυτίκα ὡς ἀνυπερβλήτου καὶ ἀκαταλύτου. |
| 252 | Αὐτόθεν οὖν ἀρξάμενοι συγχωρήσωμεν τοῖς τοιούτοις εἶναι Χριστιανοῖς, ἵνα μὴ καθ’ ἡμῶν τι τοιοῦτον αἰτησάμενοι ὅπλον ἐπιτύχωσι. Τὸν δὲ τοιοῦτον συμβουλεύω, διὰ τὸ τοιοῦτον εἶναι Χριστιανόν, μὴ ἐγκαλεῖσθαι. Εἰ δὲ εὑρεθείη τις ἐγκαλῶν τῷ Χριστιανῷ ὅτι Χριστιανός ἐστι, τὸν μὲν προσαγόμενον Χριστιανὸν πρόδηλον εἶναι βούλομαι, γίνεσθαι ὁμολογήσαντα τοῦτο, ἄλλο ἕτερον μηδὲν ἐγκαλούμενον ἢ ὅτι Χριστιανός ἐστι μόνον, τὸν προσάγοντα δὲ τοῦτον ζῶντα καίεσθαι· τὸν δὲ Χριστιανὸν ὁμολογήσαντα καὶ συνασφαλισάμενον περὶ τοῦ τοιούτου, τὸν πεπιστευμένον τὴν ἐπαρχίαν εἰς μετάνοιαν καὶ ἀνελευθερίαν τὸν τοιοῦτον μὴ μετάγειν. Ταῦτα δὲ καὶ τῆς συγκλήτου δόγματι κυρωθῆναι βούλομαι, καὶ κελεύω τοῦτό μου τὸ διάταγμα ἐν τῷ φόρῳ τοῦ Τραϊανοῦ προτεθῆναι πρὸς τὸ δύνασθαι ἀναγινώσκεσθαι. Φροντίσει ὁ πραίφεκτος Βιτράσιος Πολλίων εἰς τὰς πέριξ ἐπαρχίας πεμφθῆναι· πάντα δὲ τὸν βουλόμενον χρῆσθαι καὶ ἔχειν μὴ κωλύεσθαι λαμβάνειν ἐκ τῶν προτεθέντων παρ’ ἡμῶν. |