Primary Source Analysis Week 8 (Pliny and Trajan on Christians)
Read the “Correspondence between Pliny and Trajan” and give your best guess as to the following background questions. Please do not do any outside/internet research. Use only the information provided in the textbook, lectures, or primary source itself. (If the information is not available, or you don’t know the answer, just make an educated guess.)
1) Who might have written this document? Not just the name, but if possible the author’s position, perspective? (Use critical thinking and context to make an educated guess.)
2) To whom, to what audience might this document be addressed?
3) When was it written down? (What was going on at the time?)
4) Why do you think this document was created, for what purpose was it written down?
5) THEN, in 150-300 words, answer the following question, mentioning specific evidence/examples from the document to support your argument:
~What is it about Christianity/Christians that is perceived as a threat to Roman values, to Roman society? Give a good 2-3 examples, and explain. (You may have to draw some context about Roman religion and values from the textbook and lectures.)
