A Plea for the Christians 2

If anyone can convict us of wrongdoing, small or great, we do not refuse punishment, but think it right to undergo the harshest and most pitiless penalty there is. But if the charge goes no further than a name (to this very day what people say about us is the invention of common and uncritical rumor, and no Christian has been convicted of wrongdoing), then it is now your task, most great, humane, and learned emperors, to remove this abuse from us by law, so that, just as the whole world, individuals and cities alike, has shared in your benefits, we too may be grateful to you, proud that we are no longer the victims of informers. For it does not befit your justice that others, when charged with crimes, are not punished before they are convicted, while in our case the name counts for more than the proofs offered at the trial, the judges not asking whether the accused has done any wrong, but insulting the name as if it were a crime. No name in and of itself is thought either bad or good; names seem bad or good because of the bad or good actions that underlie them. You know this better than anyone, since you proceed from philosophy and every kind of learning. That is why those who are tried before you, even if they face the gravest charges, are confident: they know that you will examine their lives, and will give no weight to names if they are empty, nor to the accusers' charges if they are false; and they accept a verdict of condemnation on the same terms as one of acquittal. We too, then, ask for the treatment given to all: not to be hated and punished because we are called Christians (for what does the name contribute to wickedness?), but to be tried on whatever charges anyone brings against us, and either to be released if we clear ourselves of the accusations, or to be punished if we are found to be wicked; not for the name (for no Christian is wicked, unless he is only playing a part in our profession), but for the crime. This is how we see philosophers tried too. None of them seems to the judge, before the trial, to be good or bad because of his knowledge or art; if he is found to be unjust he is punished, without any charge being brought against philosophy (for the wicked one is he who does not practice philosophy as he should, while the knowledge itself is blameless); and if he refutes the slanders he is released. Let there be equal treatment for us as well: let the life of the accused be examined, and let the name be free of every charge. As I begin my defense of our teaching I must beg you, most great emperors, to be impartial hearers and not to be carried away and prejudiced by common and irrational rumor, but to turn your love of learning and of truth to our teaching as well. For you will not err through ignorance, and we, freed from the uncritical rumors of the many, will cease to be warred against.