with the guilt, and punished with the most exquisite tortures a
class hated for their abominations, people called Christians by
the populace. Christus [Christ], from whom the name had its
origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of
Tiberius [AD 14-37] at the hands of one of our procurators,
Pontius Pilate. But the pernicious superstition, repressed for a
time broke out again, not only through Judea, where the mischief
originated, but through the city of Rome also."
- Cornelius Tacitus AD 52-54, Annals 15.44.
Submitted by: Gordon Joly
Nov. 13, 2004