persecution · 107–113 · Bithynia
Not a campaign but a policy: Pliny, governing Bithynia around 112, asked Trajan what to do with denounced Christians. The rescript answered — they are not to be sought out; the denounced who refuse to recant are punished; anonymous accusations are ignored. That uneasy rule governed the church's legal life for nearly a century. Ignatius of Antioch went to the beasts at Rome under Trajan.
What is a governor to do with denounced Christians?
Trajan's rescript: not to be sought out; punished if denounced and unrepentant; anonymous accusations ignored — the empire's working rule for nearly a century.