The Church in the late first
century AD
During the years following the calamities of the Neronian persecution and
the Jewish revolt, Christianity and the Church fade quietly to the
background. The anti-Christian laws remained, yet between 70 and 90 AD
not a single martyrdom is recorded. The seed had been planted, and was
continuing to quietly spread its roots throughout all levels of society.
Pope Linus ruled the Church as the first successor to St. Peter for nine
years between 67 and 76 AD. Very little is known of his life and
pontificate, and what has come down is mostly apocryphal. Some
conjecture that he was the same Linus mentioned by St. Paul in 2 Timothy
4, 21, but definite proof is lacking. The Liber Pontificalis (without
identifying the source) states that he was a slave from Tuscany and his
father’s name was Herculanus. The same work also asserts that he issued a
decree on women’s dress and suffered martyrdom, both highly unlikely.
There is some possibility that he was buried next to St. Peter on Vatican
Hill.
Pope Cletus, second successor to St. Peter, governed the Church from 76 to
88 AD. Details of his life are also scanty and unreliable. He was likewise a
slave and his original name was Anencletus (meaning “blameless”; Cletus
= “the called one”). The
Liber Pontificalis tells us that his father’s name
was Emelianus and was a Roman by birth. It also tells us that he performed
more than two-dozen ordinations and, like St. Linus, was buried on Vatican
Hill.
During the reigns of Sts. Linus and Cletus, the Church made considerable
progress, especially in Asia Minor. This was in large part due to the
prevailing atmosphere of peace and tolerance of the Flavian emperors –
Vespasian and his sons Titus and Domitian. Why such tolerance? Most
probably, due to the number of Christians and Christian sympathizers
within the Flavian family. The details are conjectural, but there is evidence
that the following Flavians were Christians:
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