Twenty-Five Pieces of Gold
On a private estate outside the city of Carthage, in the year AD 258, a condemned man kneels in the dirt. He is a bishop, an enemy of the Roman state, and the sword is already drawn behind him. But before the blade can fall, he does something no prisoner had any reason to do. He reaches beneath his robe, draws out twenty-five pieces of gold, and presses them into the hand of the very man hired to kill him. A gift. To his executioner.
Key Terms
- Decius
- The Roman emperor who ordered every person in the empire to sacrifice to the gods and prove it with paperwork, starting in AD 250.
- Libellus
- A small papyrus certificate, signed by witnesses, proving its holder had sacrificed to the Roman gods.
- Pax Deorum
- The Latin phrase for the "peace of the gods" — the belief that the gods would protect Rome only if every citizen honored them.
- Lapsi
- The name given to Christians who broke under threat and performed the pagan sacrifice.
- Libellatici
- Christians who never sacrificed at all but bribed officials into handing them a certificate anyway.
- Aunes
- A 19-year-old named on a surviving certificate of sacrifice dated June 4, AD 250.
- Narmouthis
- The Egyptian town where one of more than 40 surviving certificates of sacrifice was found.
- Valerian
- The emperor who in AD 257 aimed his laws directly at bishops and priests instead of ordinary believers.
- Catacombs
- Public, legal underground burial grounds outside Roman cities, stretching about 93 miles — never a hiding place for the persecuted.
- Cyprian of Carthage
- The bishop who stood trial in AD 258 and refused to offer even a pinch of incense to save his life.
- Galerius Maximus
- The Roman official who offered a condemned bishop one last chance to sacrifice and live.
- Acta Proconsularia
- The official court transcript that preserved the exact words spoken at a bishop’s trial in Carthage.
- Proconsul
- The title of a Roman governor with the power to hold trials and order executions in his own province.
- Twenty-Five Gold Pieces
- The gift a condemned bishop pressed into his own executioner’s hand just before his death.
- Edict of Toleration
- The AD 260 order that reversed a persecution and opened about 40 years of peace for the church.
- Gallienus
- The emperor who ended his predecessor’s persecution and let the church worship openly again.
- Honorable Resilience
- The virtue of accepting a defeat you cannot undo with calm and dignity, rather than fleeing it or making a reckless show.
- The Decian Persecution
- The AD 250 campaign that killed an estimated 3,000 to 3,500 Christians, though far more survived by signing away their faith on paper.
- The Church’s Growth Rate
- An annual increase of about 3.4 percent that let a small group double roughly every 21 years and top 1 million members by AD 250.
- Cyprian’s Blindfold
- The cloth a condemned bishop tied over his own eyes, after removing his own robe, in his final calm moments before execution.