At Rome as at Athens, we find the people full of suspicion and merciless towards those who refused to bow down to the gods of the republic; this was the cause of the cruel persecutions which, under the Roman emperors, led to the martyrdom of thousands. It was in vain that the Christians hid themselves in the recesses of the Catacombs to pray to the true God and partake of the holy mysteries--it was in vain that they rendered their lives irreproachable by fulfilling all their duties as citizens--their religious creeds, contrary to that of the State, could not be pardoned, and whenever they were discovered, they either had to offer incense to the gods of the republic or suffer death (Fig. 327). The mild Trajan replied to Pliny that it was unnecessary to seek out the Christians, but that if they were denounced and refused to change their faith, they must be punished. St. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, was one of the many martyrs immolated during the reign of Trajan, who allowed men of the highest honour and virtue, whose only crime was their refusal to adore the image of the emperor and the pagan idols, to be put to death. [Illustration: Fig. 328.--St. Cecilia, and Valerian her spouse.--At their feet are roses and lilies in bloom, and upon each side of them is a palm-tree loaded with fruit, a symbol of their victories and of their meritorious martyrdom. Upon one of the palm-trees is a phœnix with a gloria around its head, the ancient symbol of resurrection.--Mosaic taken from the Cemetery of St. Sixtus, and preserved in the Church of St. Cecilia, at Rome (Third or Fourth Century).] Under the reign of Alexander Severus, many illustrious martyrs were put to death: St. Cecilia, her husband, and her brother-in-law (Fig. 328) among the number. St. Cecilia was descended from a very ancient family which dated back to the time of Tarquin the Proud; she belonged to the same house as Metella, many of whose children were raised to the honours of triumph and of the consulate in the heyday of the Roman republic. Her parents gave her in marriage to a young Roman patrician, named Valerian. But Cecilia had dedicated her virginity to God, and her husband, converted to the faith by her arguments and entreaties, respected her vow, and himself converted his brother Tiburcius. They all three relieved their persecuted brethren, and this Christian charity betrayed them. In spite of their distinguished birth, their wealth and their connections, they were arrested, and their refusal to sacrifice to the false gods led to their being condemned to death. We find a multitude of analogous occurrences in Gaul (Figs. 329 and 330), and also in the most distant provinces of the East. [Illustration: Fig. 329.--St. Savin and St. Cyprian brought before the Proconsul Maximus in 458, and confessing that they were Christians.--Fresco in the Church of St. Savin (Vienne), the oldest extant in France (Eleventh Century).--After the Drawings of M. Gérard-Séguin.]