The second century of the Christian era saw the church emerging from the shadows and beginning to take up arms in the world of ideas. The beginning was not easy. Early in the century, the Emperor Trajan (98–117), one of the four “good emperors” (along with his successors Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius), made it his policy not to look for Christians and to reject anonymous denunciations. Thus, Christians were persecuted only when they made themselves known. This policy may have been