So great, indeed, was the persecution against us that was then intensified in very many places, that Pliny Secundus, one of the most distinguished governors, being moved by the multitude of the martyrs, communicated with the emperor concerning the multitude of those being put to death for the faith; and at the same time disclosed that he had found them doing nothing unholy nor contrary to the laws, except indeed that, rising at daybreak, they hymned Christ as God, and that they themselves forbade adultery and murder and the kindred lawless transgressions, and did all things in accordance with the laws.
In reply to which Trajan laid down a decree of this sort: that the race of the Christians should not be sought out, but, if it fell in one's way, should be punished. When this had come about, the threat of the persecution, which had been pressing most fiercely, was in some measure quenched; yet there were left no fewer pretexts for those who wished to do us mischief, since in some places the populace, and in others even the local rulers, contrived their plots against us, so that, even without open persecutions, partial ones were kindled province by province, and many of the faithful contended in martyrdoms of various kinds.
Our account has been taken from that Latin Apology of Tertullian which we mentioned above, the translation of which runs in this manner: 'And yet we found that the seeking out of us had been forbidden. For Pliny Secundus, the governor of a province, having condemned certain Christians and stripped them of their rank, being troubled by their multitude, was at a loss as to what he ought henceforth to do. He therefore communicated with Trajan the emperor, saying that, apart from their unwillingness to commit idolatry, he had found nothing unholy among them. He disclosed this also: that the Christians rose at dawn and hymned Christ as God, and that, in order to preserve their discipline, they were forbidden to murder, to commit adultery, to be covetous, to defraud, and the like. In reply to these things Trajan wrote back that the race of the Christians should not be sought out, but, if it fell in one's way, should be punished.' And so these matters stood thus.