It will be said, that the military oath, which all were obliged to take alike in the Roman armies, and which was to be repeated annually, was full of idolatry; that the Roman standards were all considered as gods, and had divine honours paid to them by the soldiery; and that the images also of the emperors, which were either fixed upon these standards, or placed in the midst of them in a temple in the camp, were to be adored in the same manner.  Now these customs were interwoven with the military service.  No Roman soldier was exempted from them.  It will be urged, therefore, that no Christian could submit to these services.  Indeed when a person was suspected of being a Christian in those times, he was instantly taken to the altars to sacrifice, it being notorious, that if he were a Christian he would not sacrifice, though at the hazard of his life.  Is it not, therefore, to be presumed, that these idolatrous tests operated as the great cause, why Christians refused to enter into the army, or why they left it when converted as described in the former section?

That these tests operated as a cause, we must allow.  And let this be considered as an insuperable argument against those, who contend that there were Christian soldiers in these times, for no Christian could submit to such idolatrous homage; but, if so, no Christian could be a soldier.

That these tests must have operated as a cause, we may infer from the history of Marinus.  Marinus, according to Eusebius, was a man of family and fortune, and an officer in a legion, which, in the year 260, was stationed at Caesarea of Palestine.  One of the centurion’s rods happened to become vacant in this legion, and Marinus was appointed to it.  But just at this moment another, next to him in rank, accused him before the tribunal of being a Christian, stating, that “the laws did not allow a Christian, who refused to sacrifice to the emperors, to hold any dignity in the army.”  Achaeus, the judge, asked Marinus if it was true, that he had become a Christian.  He acknowledged it.  Three hours were then allowed him to consider, whether he would sacrifice or die.  When the time was expired, he chose the latter.  Indeed, so desirous were the early Christians of keeping clear of idolatry in every shape, that they avoided every custom that appeared in the least degree connected with it.  Thus when a largess was given in honour of the emperors, L. Septimius Severus the father, and M. Aurelius Caracalla the son, a solitary soldier, as we learn from Tertullian, was seen carrying the garland, which had been given him on that occasion, in his hand, while the rest wore it upon their heads.  On being interrogated by the commander, why he refused wearing it, he replied, that[13] he had become a Christian.  He was immediately punished before the army, and sent into prison.  What became of him afterwards is not related.  But it must be clear, if he lived and cherished his Christian feelings, that, when the day of the renewal of his oath, or of the worshipping of the standards, or of any sacrifice in the camp, should arrive, he would have refused these services, or abandoned his profession.