His Father, and the Persecuting Emperors

“I have long been used to regarding the former emperors as men with whom I could have nothing in common, because of the savage cruelty of their character. In fact my father was the only one who consistently practiced the duties of kindness to others, and with admirable devotion called on God the Father to bless all that he did. The rest, unsound in mind, were keener on cruel measures than on gentle ones. They indulged this temper without restraint, and so persecuted the true teaching for the whole length of their reigns. Indeed, their malicious fury grew so violent that in the midst of a deep peace, in both the religious and the ordinary affairs of men, they kindled, as it were, the flames of a civil war. [a]