Still more in detail the younger Pliny, the Governor of Bithynia, writing to the Emperor Trajan _circa_ A.D. 112-13 for instructions how to deal with the Christians, relates that the new religion had spread so widely in his province, not merely in the cities but in the villages and country districts generally, that the temples were almost deserted.[41] It is, of course, possible that the new faith had found especial favour in Bithynia; but such a formal and detailed representation from an official of the highest rank and reputation to the Emperor of what was happening in his own province, is a sure indication of the enormous strides which Christianity had generally made in the Empire when the echoes of apostles and apostolic men were still ringing in the ears of their disciples. S. John’s death only preceded Pliny’s letter to Trajan[42] by at most twenty years. Among contemporary Christian writers we find similar testimony to the vast numbers of Christians in very early times. To take a few conspicuous examples: Clement, bishop of Rome _circa_ A.D. 95, writing to the Church at Corinth, speaks of “the great multitude of Christians” who suffered in the persecution of Nero, A.D. 64.[43] Hermas, in his book termed the _Shepherd_, shows us that in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian, _circa_ A.D. 130-40, there was resident a large number of Christians in the capital, many of them well-to-do and wealthy citizens. Soter, bishop of Rome, writing to the Church of Corinth,[44] shortly after A.D. 165, refers to the Christians as superior in numbers to the Jews, no doubt especially alluding to the Roman congregation mentioned. In the Acts of the Martyrdom of Justin, _circa_ A.D. 165, an undoubtedly genuine piece, Rusticus the Roman prefect asks Justin where the Christians assembled. In reply, Justin said, “Where each one chooses and can; for do you imagine that we all meet in the very same place?” Irenæus in a very striking passage,[45] written _circa_ A.D. 180, alludes to the size and importance of the Roman congregation. His words are as follows: “Since, however, it would be most tedious in such a volume as this to reckon up the (Episcopal) succession of all the Churches, we confound all those who assemble in unauthorized meetings by indicating the tradition handed down from the apostles of the _most great_, the very ancient, and universally known Church organized by the two most glorious apostles, Peter and Paul.” The statements of Tertullian _circa_ A.D. 195-200 are well known and are often quoted; and though they are probably exaggerated, still such assertions, although they are rhetorical rather than simple statistics, would never have been advanced by such a learned and weighty writer if the numbers of the Christians of his time (the latter years of the second century) had not, in many cities and countries, been very great. In the works of Tertullian we come across such statements as the following: