Nerva, who succeeded Domitian, only reigned two years, and was followed by the great Trajan: still the persecution of the sect continued. This we learn from Pliny’s letter to Trajan, _circa_ A.D. 111-113. Hadrian, who followed Trajan, virtually pursued the same policy. In the latter years of Hadrian, from A.D. 134-5, the result of the great Jewish rebellion definitely and for ever separated, in the eyes of the government, the Christian from the Jew. Henceforth the Jew generally pursued his quiet way, and found new ideals, new hopes. The State feared the Jew no longer. Not so the Christian. Rome saw clearly now that a new and influential sect had arisen in their midst; a sect absolutely opposed to the old Roman sacred traditions and worship, a sect, too, that evidently possessed some mighty secret power which enabled the Christians fearlessly to defy the magistracy of the Empire. This partly accounts for the greater severity of the persecution under the Antonine Emperors. The policy of the Antonines (Pius and Marcus), which endeavoured to restore and to give fresh life to the old Roman traditions and worship, which they looked upon as indissolubly bound up with the greatness and power of Rome, was absolutely hostile to the spirit of Christian thought and teaching. The _First Book_ brings the history down to A.D. 180, the date of the death of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. The “Inner Life” of the Christian congregations is now dwelt on, and forms the subject-matter of Books II., III., IV. The subject-matter of the _Second Book_ is the _everyday life_ of the Christian in the first, second, and third centuries, during which period the religion of Jesus of Nazareth was in the eyes of the Roman government an unlawful cult, and its adherents were ever liable to the severest punishment, such as confiscation of their goods, rigorous imprisonment, torture, and even death. After dwelling on the question of the numbers of Christians in very early times, their public _assemblies_ or meetings together are described with considerable detail in Book II. The importance of these “meetings” in early Christian life is dwelt upon. _What took place at these gatherings_ is commented upon at considerable length. The position occupied by the _slave_ at these “meetings,” and in Christian society generally, is examined briefly. Some of the various difficulties which Christians in the age of persecution had to face, and the way by which these difficulties were combated, are described. Instruction as to the way of meeting the difficulty of life for a Christian living in pagan Rome, was given by two different schools of thought. A sketch is given of (1) “Rigourists,” and (2) of the “gentler and more practical” schools which strove to accommodate the Christian life with the life of the ordinary Roman citizen. The important part played by the “Rigourist” or ascetic school in the ultimate conversion of the Roman World to Christianity is examined.