Incest, Infanticide, and Cannibalism: Anti-Christian Imputations in the Roman Empire

Abstract

In the early Imperial Age, the steadily growing Christian movement was viewed with suspicion by both the authorities and the people of Rome; in the second century, the Roman rejection of Christian teachings, customs, and practices resulted in a most intriguing counter-movement. During this century, two types of negative response to the Christian faith had become established. The first encompasses the anti-Christian accusations circulating among the Roman population during most of the period, occasionally resulting in Christians being persecuted. At the end of the century, supplementary controversy arose from within the intellectual world. Those who engaged in this polemic were authors who had studied Christian customs, and who consequently targeted the substance of the Christian teachings.

Rational reasons for irrational beliefs.

“…Whereas documented instances of cannibalism are exceedingly rare, accusations of cannibalism are widespread (LeVine & Campbell, 1972). In the centuries following Jesus, Romans accused Christians of cannibalism-along with immoral sexual behavior (e.g., incest) and infanticide; these accusations served to demonize the growing Christian movement, which many viewed with suspicion (Wagemakers, 2010). In the 1490s, when Christopher Columbus arrived to the Lesser Antilles, he wrote that the natives were said to be cannibals by their neighbors.…”

Eusebio de Cesarea y los mártires cristianos en las ciudades galas de Lyon y Vienne

“…No obstante, habría que esperar a la llegada del gobernador provincial para que diera inicio realmente el proceso contra los detenidos, recurriéndose a las acusaciones tradicionales contra los cristianos, a saber superstición 113 , infanticidio, incesto, magia 114 ....), que al mismo tiempo encubrían una irregularidad jurídica 115 .…”

The Representation of False Prophets in Polemical Discourses

“…On the accusation of cannibalism in literary production, see Nagy, 2009. More generally, on the accusations of anthropophagy, incest, and infanticide against Christians, see Wagemakers, 2010. 5. See Le Boulluec, 1985, p. 19.…”