Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: THIRD CENTURY. ISmperors. Siptimius Severus — (continued.) Fifth Perseci.tion u( ,vn the Christians. 211. Caracalla and Geta. 217. Macrinus. 218, Heliocabalus. 222. Alexander Seveeus. 235. Maximin. Sixth Persecution. 238. Maximus and Balbinus. 238. Gordian. 244. Philip The Arabian. 249. Decius. Seventh Persecution. 251. Vibics. 251. Gallus. 254. Valf.rian. Eighth Persecution. 260. Qalljen. 268. Claudius The Second. 270. Aurelian. Ninth Persecutfon. 275. Tacitus. 276. Florian. 277. Probus. 278. Carus. 278. Carinus and Numerian. 284. Diocletian and Maximian. Tenth and Last cution. T Of Alexandria, Dion Cassius, Origen, Citria, t"lXiTINUS, LoNfilNl'S, HlPPOLITUS PORTUESSIS, JULIUS At Kir iirs Celsus, Origen. THE THIK1) CENTURY. AN A RCBT AND CONTUSION GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHUKCH. We are now in the twelfth year of the Third Century. Scptimius Severus has died at York, and Caracalla is let .oose like a famished tiger upon Romo. He invites his brother Geta to meet him to settle some family feud in the apartment of their mother, and stabs him in her arms. The rest of his reign is worthy of this beginning, and it would be fatiguing and perplexing to the memory to record his other acts. Fortunately it is not required; uor is it necessary to follow minutely the course of his successors. What we require is only a general view of the proceedings of this century, and that can be gained without wading through all the blood and horrors with which the throne of the world is surrounded. Conclusive evidence was obtained in this century that the organization of Roman government was defective in securing the first necessities of civilized life. When wo talk of civilization, we are too apt to limit the meaning...