butthefactisadmittedbyall。AlatewriterMr。Waddington，Hist。oftheChurch，p。47hasnotscrupledtoassert，that\"thisprincepollutedeveryyearofalongreignwithinnocentblood；\"butthecausesaswellasthedateofthepersecutionsauthorizedorpermittedbyMarcusareequallyuncertain。
OftheAsiaticedictrecordedbyMelito。thedateisunknown，norisitquiteclearthatitwasanImperialedict。IfitwastheactunderwhichPolycarpsuffered，hismartyrdomisplacedbyRuinartinthesixth，byMosheimintheninth，yearofthereignofMarcus。ThemartyrsofVienneandLyonsareassignedbyDodwelltotheseventh，bymostwriterstotheseventeenth。Infact，thecommencementofthepersecutionsoftheChristiansappearstosynchronizeexactlywiththeperiodofthebreakingoutoftheMarcomannicwar，whichseemstohavealarmedthewholeempire，andtheemperorhimself，intoaparoxysmofreturningpietytotheirgods，ofwhichtheChristianswerethevictims。SeeJul，Capit。Script。HistAugust。p。181，edit。
1661。ItisremarkablethatTertullian[Apologet。c。v。
distinctlyassertsthatVerusM。AureliusissuednoedictsagainsttheChristians，andalmostpositivelyexemptshimfromthechargeofpersecution。—M。
Thisremarkablesynchronism，whichexplainsthepersecutionsunderMAurelius，isshownatlengthinMilman\'sHistoryofChristianity，bookii。v。—M。1845。]