The History of Sex: Pompeii -- 'Repent Ye Sinners!' -- (Chap. I, Pt. 14)

'If the inscription is true, then that is an accusation. They're pointing the finger at somebody and saying "That guy listens to the Christians."'

'And whoever it is was certainly someone who used to go to that hotel. You can interpret all sorts of things, but we can imagine that this Bovio must have been someone who used to go there quite frequently, and perhaps he converted to Christianity and used to stand outside and tell his former friends'—Dr. Varone raises his voice and waves his hands—'"No! Don't go in there, that's a place of sin! Repent ye sinners!"'

As the laughter dissipates, he switches to English for emphasis: 'But I don't know, and nobody knows.'

'So calling it "The House of the Christian Inscription" is completely wrong.'

'Yes, indeed—someone had a good sense of humor.' He pauses. 'Once Christianity began, the growth was incredible—particularly in light of the times. There's a reference by Pliny the Younger, who asked "What are we to do with all these Christians?" because it was growing so fast.'

'No religion had ever spread so rapidly in such a capillary manner before.'

FROM LEO TO LENO

Pliny's letter about the Christians came only thirty years or so after the eruption of Vesuvius (which he happened to see) and helped lay the groundwork for their persecution.

In 197 AD, the Christian writer Tertullian reported that the authorities had come up with a cruel innovation even worse than being fed to the lions: a Christian woman in Carthage had been condemned 'to the leno'—or pimp—'rather than the leo.'

Elsewhere, he fulminated about the Romans taking 'Christians to be the cause of every disaster which befalls the state—but there was no complaint of Christians when the fires from Heaven drenched the (Romans) out of the mountains at Pompeii.'

If only they had known about the Christian inscription…

The irony: a statue of Pliny the Younger...
adorning the cathedral in Como, Italy