Civil Authority

We pray to the eternal God, the true God, the living God, for the emperors' safety—and the emperors themselves would rather have this God favorable to them than any other. They know who handed them the empire; they know, as mere mortals, who also gave them a soul.

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But what more need I say about Christian religion and piety toward the emperor? We must regard him as the one our Lord has chosen. And I say this deservedly: Caesar belongs to us more than to anyone else, since our God established him.

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Augustus, the founder of the empire, would not even have the title Lord; for that, too, is a name of Deity. For my part, I am willing to give the emperor this designation, but in the common acceptation of the word, and when I am not forced to call him Lord as in God's place.

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Before I take up the question of the military crown itself, I first have to investigate whether military service is compatible with Christianity at all.

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Suppose, finally, that military service is permitted up to the point of the crown. But let us speak first about the crown itself. That laurel is sacred to Apollo or to Bacchus: to the one, as god of missiles; to the other, as god of triumphs.

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The most excellent emperors have just shown their generosity: laureled veterans were being discharged from camp. Among them stood a soldier of God, steadier in his faith than the rest of the brothers—men who had presumed they could serve two masters. He alone stood bareheaded, the laurel wreath lying idle in his hand.

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