persecution, persecutioun

[Fr., from Lat. persecutionem, acc us. of persecutio =a following, a persecuting; Sp. persecucion; Ital. perse cuz i one.] IMG:content-0922.png:[blocks in formation] cerning Toleration. *3. A carrying on; prosecution. ( Hales .) The word first became current in Christian circles in connection with "ten" persecutions of Christians under the Roman emperors. The first was the persecution under Nero, A. D. 64; the second, under Domitian, A. D. 95; the third, under Trajan, A. D. 106; the fourth, under Marcus Aurelius, A. D. 166; the fifth, under Septimius Severus, A. D. 198; the sixth, under Maximin I., A. D. 235; seventh, under Decius, A. D. the under Valerian, A. D. 258; the ninth, under Aurelian, A. D. 275; and the tenth, under Diocletian, A. D. 303. The arrangement is not perfect. If only persecutions general through the empire are counted, the number is fewer than ten; if local ones are taken into account, they are more numerous. When Christianity became dominant in portions of the Roman empire, it used the civil power for the overthrow of heathenism. The medieval church perse cuted all whom it considered heretics, and the Reformation in England everywhere had to struggle against persecution. When it became powerful enough, it also became intolerant to those who differed from it, pa ing and carrying out penal laws against Roman Catholics, di enters, and unbelievers. tper-se-cu-tive, a. [English persecut (e); -ive.] Tending to persecute; persecuting. "They are tempted, and often effectively tempted to be persecutive." -Rogers : An tip apo priest i an , ch. i., § 7.