The early Church Fathers made no additions to the political science of Jesus and his Apostles. Apparently no questions of seriously conflicting allegiance arose during the whole of the first century. As individuals these early Christians no doubt performed all the duties and paid all the contributions demanded by the Empire. From a strictly legal standpoint, however, the Church was not incorporated among the recognised cults, that is, it was not, like Judaism, a "religio licita." Nevertheless, it was not disturbed for some years.[290:6] Things must have gone along, for the most part, in a customary manner. Pliny's letter to Trajan (about 111) describes the Christians in Bythinia as law-abiding. With the rapid territorial and numerical increase of Christianity, the state was forced to take cognisance of it and the inevitable conflict occurred. The Christians refused to conform to Roman worship and persecution resulted. Persecution in time produced, on the part of many Christians, a refusal to perform the duties of civil and military service, but it cannot be proved that such hostility was universal. Indeed there is much evidence to show a general disposition to compromise with imperial demands.[291:1] With respect to the general duty of obeying the law of the Empire the Fathers of the ante-Constantine period were quite unanimous in their approval. In fact they boasted of their political loyalty and denied all accusations to the contrary. Justin Martyr said that "wherever we are we pay the taxes and the tribute imposed . . . as we were instructed to do by Him," and "while we worship God alone in all other matters, we cheerfully submit ourselves to you, confessing you to be the kings and rulers of men." Irenæus asserted: "we ought to obey powers and earthly authorities, inasmuch as they are constituted not by the devil, but God." These passages, and many others, which are undoubtedly typical, show that it was the persuasion of the Church that conformity was a general obligation. That this fealty was appreciated is seen in the fact that the Church, at least in the time of Emperor Alexander Severus (222), was permitted to own lands, to erect churches, to elect officers openly, and to send officials to court.[291:2] It was not, however, until 312 that these rights were legalised. One must never lose sight of the fact that it was both very easy and very natural for the clergy and the people to accommodate themselves to the new order of things, and to recognise in these new relationships a reproduction of the theocratic constitution of God's subjects under the old covenant. Indeed it was practically impossible for the masses who came to march under the cross in those days to conceive of a Church without some relation to the state. To-day to a modern man's eyes appears only the antagonism between the Church and state.