Sue Laden and Harold Shanks were apparently still in Alexandria, pursuing the Morton Smith forgery issue.

We looked at the correspondance between Pliny the Younger and the Emperor Tarjan on the subject of arresting Christians. They were in agreement that Christians shouls be arrested, interrogated, and, if they would not recant, be sent to Rome if they were Roman citizens, or simply executed if they were not. However, anonymous denunciations were to be ignored.

The letters mention no specific charge -- to be a Christian seemed to be an offense in itself.

This was the issue taken up by Justin Martyr in the first of his apologia. Christians should only be punished if they were "evil-doers", not merely becaiuse they were Christians. To be a Christian should be seen as an indication of excellence. As to whether they were atheists, they did indeed worship no gods but one.