text: According to the Christian apologist Tertullian, some governors in Africa helped accused Christians secure acquittals or refused to bring them to trial. Overall, Roman governors were more interested in making apostates than martyrs: one proconsul of Asia, Arrius Antoninus, when confronted with a group of voluntary martyrs during one of his assize tours, sent a few to be executed and snapped at the rest, "If you want to die, you wretches, you can use ropes or precipices."


title: Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire

text: During the Great Persecution which lasted from 303 to 312/313, governors were given direct edicts from the emperor. Christian churches and texts were to be destroyed, meeting for Christian worship was forbidden, and those Christians who refused to recant lost their legal rights. Later, it was ordered that Christian clergy be arrested and that all inhabitants of the empire sacrifice to the gods. Still, no specific punishment was prescribed by these edicts and governors retained the leeway afforded to them by distance. Lactantius reported that some governors claimed to have shed no Christian blood, and there is evidence that others turned a blind eye to evasions of the edict or only enforced it when absolutely necessary.


text: When a governor was sent to a province, he was charged with the task of keeping it "pacata atque quieta"—settled and orderly. His primary interest would be to keep the populace happy; thus when unrest against the Christians arose in his jurisdiction, he would be inclined to placate it with appeasement lest the populace "vent itself in riots and lynching."


text: Political leaders in the Roman Empire were also public cult leaders. Roman religion revolved around public ceremonies and sacrifices; personal belief was not as central an element as it is in many modern faiths. Thus while the private beliefs of Christians may have been largely immaterial to many Roman elites, this public religious practice was in their estimation critical to the social and political well-being of both the local community and the empire as a whole. Honoring tradition in the right way – "pietas" – was key to stability and success. Hence the Romans protected the integrity of cults practiced by communities under their rule, seeing it as inherently correct to honor one's ancestral traditions; for this reason the Romans for a long time tolerated the highly exclusive Jewish sect, even though some Romans despised it. Historian H. H. Ben-Sasson has proposed that the "Crisis under Caligula" (37-41) was the "first open break" between Rome and the Jews. After the First Jewish–Roman War (66-73), Jews were officially allowed to practice their religion as long as they paid the Jewish tax. There is debate among historians over whether the Roman government simply saw Christians as a sect of Judaism prior to Nerva's modification of the tax in 96. From then on, practicing Jews paid the tax while Christians did not, providing hard evidence of an official distinction. Part of the Roman disdain for Christianity, then, arose in large part from the sense that it was bad for society. In the 3rd century, the Neoplatonist philosopher Porphyry wrote:


text: How can people not be in every way impious and atheistic who have apostatized from the customs of our ancestors through which every nation and city is sustained? ... What else are they than fighters against God?


text: Once distinguished from Judaism, Christianity was no longer seen as simply a bizarre sect of an old and venerable religion; it was a "superstitio". Superstition had for the Romans a much more powerful and dangerous connotation than it does for much of the Western world today: to them, this term meant a set of religious practices that were not only different, but corrosive to society, "disturbing a man's mind in such a way that he is really going insane" and causing him to lose humanitas (humanity). The persecution of "superstitious" sects was hardly unheard-of in Roman history: an unnamed foreign cult was persecuted during a drought in 428 BCE, some initiates of the Bacchic cult were executed when deemed out-of-hand in 186 BCE, and measures were taken against the Celtic Druids during the early Principate.


text: Even so, the level of persecution experienced by any given community of Christians still depended upon how threatening the local official deemed this new "superstitio" to be. Christians' beliefs would not have endeared them to many government officials: they worshipped a convicted criminal, refused to swear by the emperor's genius, harshly criticized Rome in their holy books, and suspiciously conducted their rites in private. In the early third century one magistrate told Christians "I cannot bring myself so much as to listen to people who speak ill of the Roman way of religion."


text: Persecution of the early church occurred sporadically and in localized areas from the start. The first persecution of Christians organized by the Roman government was under the emperor Nero in 64 CE after the Great Fire of Rome and took place entirely within the city of Rome. The Edict of Serdica, issued in 311 by the Roman emperor Galerius, officially ended the Diocletianic persecution of Christianity in the East. With the publication in 313 CE of the Edict of Milan, persecution of Christians by the Roman state ceased. The total number of Christians who lost their lives because of these persecutions is unknown. The early church historian Eusebius, whose works are the only source for many of these events, speaks of "countless numbers" or "myriads" having perished. Walter Bauer criticized Eusebius for this, but Robert Grant says readers were used to this kind of exaggeration as it was common in Josephus and other historians of the time.


text: By the mid-2nd century, mobs were willing to throw stones at Christians, perhaps motivated by rival sects. The Persecution in Lyon (177 AD) was preceded by mob violence, including assaults, robberies and stonings. Lucian tells of an elaborate and successful hoax perpetrated by a "prophet" of Asclepius, using a tame snake, in Pontus and Paphlagonia. When rumor seemed about to expose his fraud, the witty essayist reports in his scathing essay


text: ... he issued a promulgation designed to scare them, saying that Pontus was full of atheists and Christians who had the hardihood to utter the vilest abuse of him; these he bade them drive away with stones if they wanted to have the god gracious.


text: Tertullian's "Apologeticus" of 197 was ostensibly written in defense of persecuted Christians and addressed to Roman governors.


text: In 250 AD, the emperor Decius issued a decree requiring public sacrifice, a formality equivalent to a testimonial of allegiance to the emperor and the established order. There is no evidence that the decree was intended to target Christians but was intended as a form of loyalty oath. Decius authorized roving commissions visiting the cities and villages to supervise the execution of the sacrifices and to deliver written certificates to all citizens who performed them. Christians were often given opportunities to avoid further punishment by publicly offering sacrifices or burning incense to Roman gods, and were accused by the Romans of impiety when they refused. Refusal was punished by arrest, imprisonment, torture, and executions. Christians fled to safe havens in the countryside and some purchased their certificates, called "libelli." Several councils held at Carthage debated the extent to which the community should accept these lapsed Christians.


text: The persecutions culminated with Diocletian and Galerius at the end of the third and beginning of the 4th century. Their anti-Christian actions, considered the largest, were to be the last major Roman pagan action. The Edict of Serdica, also called Edict of Toleration by Galerius, was issued in 311 in Serdica (today Sofia, Bulgaria) by the Roman emperor Galerius, officially ending the Diocletianic persecution of Christianity in the East. Constantine the Great soon came into power and in 313 completely legalized Christianity. It was not until Theodosius I in the latter 4th century, however, that Christianity would become the official religion of the Roman Empire.


text: In the New Testament (Acts 18:2-3), a Jew named Aquila is introduced who, with his wife Priscilla, had recently come from Italy because emperor Claudius "had ordered the Jews to leave Rome". Ed Richardson explains that expulsion occurred because disagreements in the Roman synagogues led to violence in the streets, and Claudius banished those responsible, but this also fell in the time period between 47 and 52 when Claudius engaged in a campaign to restore Roman rites and repress foreign cults. Suetonius records that Claudius expelled "the Jews" in 49, but Richardson says it was "mainly Christian missionaries and converts who were expelled", i.e. those Jewish Christians labelled under the name "Chrestus". "The garbled "Chrestus" is almost certainly evidence for the presence of Christians within the Jewish community of Rome".


text: Richardson points out that the term "Christian" "only became tangible in documents after the year 70" and that before that time, "believers in Christ were reckoned ethnically and religiously as belonging totally to the Jews". Suetonius and Tacitus used the terms "superstitio" and "impious [profani] rites" in describing the reasons for these events, terms not applied to Jews, but commonly applied to believers in Christ. The Roman empire protected the Jews through multiple policies guaranteeing the "unimpeded observance of Jewish cult practices". Richardson strongly asserts that believers in Christ were the 'Jews' that Claudius was trying to be rid of by expulsion.


text: It is generally agreed that from Nero's reign until Decius's widespread measures in 250, Christian persecution was isolated and localized. Although it is often claimed that Christians were persecuted for their refusal to worship the emperor, general dislike for Christians likely arose from their refusal to worship the gods or take part in sacrifice, which was expected of those living in the Roman Empire. Although the Jews also refused to partake in these actions, they were tolerated because they followed their own Jewish ceremonial law, and their religion was legitimized by its ancestral nature. On the other hand, Romans believed Christians, who were thought to take part in strange rituals and nocturnal rites, cultivated a dangerous and superstitious sect.


text: During this period, anti-Christian activities were accusatory and not inquisitive. Governors played a larger role in the actions than did Emperors, but Christians were not sought out by governors, and instead were accused and prosecuted through a process termed "cognitio extra ordinem". Evidence shows that trials and punishments varied greatly, and sentences ranged from acquittal to death.


text: According to Tacitus and later Christian tradition, Nero blamed Christians for the Great Fire of Rome in 64, which destroyed portions of the city and economically devastated the Roman population. Anthony A. Barrett has written that "major archaeological endeavors have recently produced new evidence for the fire" but can't show who started it. In the "Annals" of Tacitus, it reads: This passage in Tacitus constitutes the only independent attestation that Nero blamed Christians for the Great Fire of Rome, and is generally believed to be authentic. Roughly contemporary with Tacitus, Suetonius in the 16th chapter of his biography of Nero wrote that "Punishment was inflicted on the Christians, a class of men given to a new and mischievous superstition", but does not specify the cause of the punishment. It is widely agreed on that the Number of the beast in the Book of Revelation, adding up to 666, is derived from a gematria of the name of Nero Caesar, indicating that Nero was viewed as an exceptionally evil figure in the recent Christian past.


text: Recent scholarship by historians Candida Moss and Brent Shaw have disputed the accuracy of these accounts. Their arguments have persuaded some classicists, but the historicity of the Neronian persecution is upheld by the vast majority of historians.


text: Those who maintain that Nero targeted Christians debate whether Nero condemned Christians solely for the charge of organized arson, or for other general crimes associated with Christianity. Because Tertullian mentions an "institutum Neronianum" in his apology "To the Nations", scholars debate the possibility of the creation of a law or decree against the Christians under Nero. French and Belgian scholars, and Marxists, have historically supported this view asserting that such a law would have been the application of common law rather than a formal decree. However, this view has been argued against that in context, the "institutum Neronianum" merely describes the anti-Christian activities; it does not provide a legal basis for them. Furthermore, no other writers besides Tertullian show knowledge of a law against Christians.


text: Several Christian sources report that Paul the Apostle and Saint Peter both died during the Neronian persecution; Origen and Dionysius of Corinth, quoted by Eusebius, further specify that Peter was crucified and that Paul was beheaded and that the two died in the same period. The Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians states (AD 95) that Peter and Paul were martyred, but doesn't specify where and when. As Moss and Shaw observe in their work on this subject, none of these sources refer to the Great Fire of Rome or identify it as an impetus for the arrest and execution of Peter and Paul.


text: According to some historians, Jews and Christians were heavily persecuted toward the end of Domitian's reign (89-96). The Book of Revelation, which mentions at least one instance of martyrdom (Rev 2:13; cf. 6:9), is thought by many scholars to have been written during Domitian's reign. Early church historian Eusebius wrote that the social conflict described by Revelation reflects Domitian's organization of excessive and cruel banishments and executions of Christians, but these claims may be exaggerated or false. A nondescript mention of Domitian's tyranny can be found in Chapter 3 of Lactantius' "On the Manner in Which the Persecutors Died". According to Barnes, "Melito, Tertullian, and Bruttius stated that Domitian persecuted the Christians. Melito and Bruttius vouchsafe no details, Tertullian only that Domitian soon changed his mind and recalled those whom he had exiled". A minority of historians have maintained that there was little or no anti-Christian activity during Domitian's time. The lack of consensus by historians about the extent of persecution during the reign of Domitian derives from the fact that while accounts of persecution exist, these accounts are cursory or their reliability is debated.


text: Often, reference is made to the execution of Titus Flavius Clemens, a Roman consul and cousin of the Emperor, and the banishment of his wife, Flavia Domitilla, to the island of Pandateria. Eusebius wrote that Flavia Domitilla was banished because she was a Christian. However, in Cassius Dio's account (67.14.1-2), he only reports that she, along with many others, was guilty of sympathy for Judaism. Suetonius does not mention the exile at all. According to Keresztes, it is more probable that they were converts to Judaism who attempted to evade payment of the Fiscus Judaicus – the tax imposed on all persons who practiced Judaism (262-265). In any case, no stories of anti-Christian activities during Domitian's reign reference any sort of legal ordinances.


text: Emperor Trajan corresponded with Pliny the Younger on the subject of how to deal with the Christians of Pontus. The theologian Edward Burton wrote that this correspondence shows there were no laws condemning Christians at that time. There was an "abundance of precedent (common law) for suppressing foreign superstitions" but no general law which prescribed "the form of trial or the punishment; nor had there been any special enactment which made Christianity a crime". Even so, Pliny implies that putting Christians on trial was not rare, and while Christians in his district had committed no illegal acts like robbery or adultery, Pliny "put persons to death, though they were guilty of no crime, and without the authority of any law" and believed his emperor would accept his actions. Trajan did, and sent back a qualified approval. He told Pliny to continue to prosecute Christians, but not to accept anonymous denunciations in the interests of justice as well as of "the spirit of the age". Non-citizens who admitted to being Christians and refused to recant, however, were to be executed "for obstinacy". Citizens were sent to Rome for trial.


text: Barnes says this placed Christianity "in a totally different category from all other crimes. What is illegal is being a Christian". This became an official edict which Burton calls the 'first rescript' against Christianity, and which Sherwin-White says "might have had the ultimate effect of a general law". Despite this, medieval Christian theologians considered Trajan to be a virtuous pagan.


text: Emperor Hadrian (r. 117–138), in responding to a request for advice from a provincial governor about how to deal with Christians, granted Christians more leniency. Hadrian stated that merely being a Christian was not enough for action against them to be taken, they must also have committed some illegal act. In addition, "slanderous attacks" against Christians were not to be tolerated. This implied that anyone who brought an action against Christians but whose action failed, would themselves face punishment.


text: Sporadic bouts of anti-Christian activity occurred during the period from the reign of Marcus Aurelius to that of Maximinus. Governors continued to play a more important role than emperors in persecutions during this period.


text: In the first half of the third century, the relation of Imperial policy and ground-level actions against Christians remained much the same:


text: It was pressure from below, rather than imperial initiative, that gave rise to troubles, breaching the generally prevailing but nevertheless fragile, limits of Roman tolerance: the official attitude was passive until activated to confront particular cases and this activation normally was confined to the local and provincial level.


text: Apostasy in the form of symbolic sacrifice continued to be enough to set a Christian free. It was standard practice to imprison a Christian after an initial trial, with pressure and an opportunity to recant.


text: The number and severity of persecutions in various locations of the empire seemingly increased during the reign of Marcus Aurelius,161-180. The martyrs of Madaura and the Scillitan Martyrs were executed during his tenure. The extent to which Marcus Aurelius himself directed, encouraged, or was aware of these persecutions is unclear and much debated by historians.


text: One of the most notable instances of persecution during the reign of Aurelius occurred in 177 at Lugdunum (present-day Lyons, France), where the Sanctuary of the Three Gauls had been established by Augustus in the late 1st century BCE. The persecution in Lyons started as an unofficial movement to ostracize Christians from public spaces such as the market and the baths, but eventually resulted in official action. Christians were arrested, tried in the forum, and subsequently imprisoned. They were condemned to various punishments: being fed to the beasts, torture, and the poor living conditions of imprisonment. Slaves belonging to Christians testified that their masters participated in incest and cannibalism. Barnes cites this persecution as the "one example of suspected Christians being punished even after apostasy." Eusebius says that in 177, Irenaeus had been sent with a letter, from certain members of the Church of Lyons awaiting martyrdom, to Pope Eleutherius; Ireneaus does not mention the persecution in his "Adversus Haereses". Eusebius writes of it in his "Ecclesiastical History", written about 120 years after the events. Gregory of Tours tells of it in his ""Liber in gloria martyrum"", or "Book of the Glories of the Martyrs". It deals almost exclusively with the miracles wrought in Gaul by the martyrs of the Roman persecutions.


text: A number of persecutions of Christians occurred in the Roman empire during the reign of Septimius Severus (193-211). Writing during his reign, Clement of Alexandria said: ""... we have exhibited before our eyes every day abundant sources of martyrs that are burnt, impaled, beheaded"." The traditional view has been that Severus was responsible. This is based on a reference to a decree he is said to have issued forbidding conversions to Judaism and Christianity but this decree is known only from one source, the "Historia Augusta", an unreliable mix of fact and fiction. Early church historian Eusebius describes Severus as a persecutor, but the Christian apologist Tertullian states that Severus was well disposed towards Christians, employed a Christian as his personal physician and had personally intervened to save from "the mob" several high-born Christians whom he knew. Some historians argue that Severus initially hold a favorable policy towards Christians during his early years of reign, but later changed, and in his tenth year of reign he began to persecute them. Alternatively, Eusebius' description of Severus as a persecutor may derive merely from the fact that numerous persecutions occurred during his reign, including Perpetua and Felicity in the Roman province of Africa, but this was probably as the result of local persecutions rather than empire-wide actions or decrees by Severus.


text: Other instances of persecution occurred before the reign of Decius, but there are fewer accounts of them from 215 onward. This may reflect a decrease in hostility toward Christianity or gaps in the available sources. Perhaps the most famous of these post-Severan persecutions are those attributed to Maximinus the Thracian (r. 235–238). According to Eusebius, a persecution undertaken by Maximinus against heads of the church in 235 sent both Hippolytus and Pope Pontian into exile on Sardinia. Other evidence suggests the persecution of 235 was local to Cappadocia and Pontus, and not set in motion by the emperor.


text: Christians who refused to recant by performing ceremonies to honour the gods were severely penalised. Those who were Roman citizens were exiled or condemned to a swift death by beheading; slaves, foreign-born residents, and lower classes were liable to be put to death by wild beasts as a public spectacle. A variety of animals were used for those condemned to die in this way. Keith Hopkins says that it is disputed whether Christians were executed at the Colisseum at Rome, since no evidence of it has been found yet. Norbert Brockman writes in the "Encyclopedia of Sacred Places" that public executions were held at the Colosseum during the period of empire, and that there is no real doubt that Christians were executed there. St. Ignatius was "sent to the beasts by Trajan in 107. Shortly after, 115 Christians were killed by archers. When the Christians refused to pray to the gods for the end of a plague in the latter part of the second century, Marcus Aurelius had thousands killed in the colosseum for blasphemy".


text: The first empire-wide, officially sanctioned, persecution of Christians took place during the reign of Decius in the third century. Provincial governors had a great deal of personal discretion in their jurisdictions and could choose themselves how to deal with local incidents of persecution and mob violence against Christians. For most of the first three hundred years of Christian history, Christians were able to live in peace, practice their professions, and rise to positions of responsibility.


text: In 250 AD, an empire-wide persecution took place as an indirect consequence of an edict by the emperor Decius. This edict was in force for eighteen months, during which time some Christians were killed while others apostatised to escape execution. W.H.C. Frend estimates that 3,000–3,500 Christians were killed in the persecution.


text: In 250 the emperor Decius issued an edict, the text of which has been lost, requiring everyone in the Empire (except Jews, who were exempted) to perform a sacrifice to the gods in the presence of a Roman magistrate and obtain a signed and witnessed certificate, called a libellus, to this effect. The decree was part of Decius' drive to restore traditional Roman values and there is no evidence that Christians were specifically being targeted. A number of these certificates still exist and one discovered in Egypt ("text of papyrus in illustration") reads:


text: To those in charge of the sacrifices of the village Theadelphia, from Aurelia Bellias, daughter of Peteres, and her daughter Kapinis. We have always been constant in sacrificing to the gods, and now too, in your presence, in accordance with the regulations, I have poured libations and sacrificed and tasted the offerings, and I ask you to certify this for us below. May you continue to prosper. (Second person's handwriting) We, Aurelius Serenus and Aurelius Hermas, saw you sacrificing. (Third person's handwriting) I, Hermas, certify. The first year of the Emperor Caesar Gaius Messias Quintus Traianus Decius Pius Felix Augustus, Pauni 27.


text: When the provincial governor Pliny had written to the emperor Trajan in 112, he said he required suspected Christians to curse Christ, but there is no mention of Christ or Christians in the certificates from Decius' reign. Nevertheless, this was the first time that Christians throughout the Empire had been forced by imperial edict to choose between their religion and their lives and a number of prominent Christians, including Pope Fabian, Babylas of Antioch, and Alexander of Jerusalem died as a result of their refusal to perform the sacrifices. The number of Christians who were executed as a result of their refusal to obtain a certificate is not known, nor how much of an effort was made by the authorities to check who had received a certificate and who had not, but it is known that large numbers of Christians apostatized and performed the ceremonies while others, including Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, went into hiding. Although the period of enforcement of the edict was only about eighteen months, it was severely traumatic to many Christian communities which had until then lived undisturbed, and left bitter memories of monstrous tyranny.


text: In most churches, those who had lapsed were accepted into communion. Some African dioceses, however, refused to re-admit them. The Decian persecution led directly to Novatianism, a schismatic movement whose proponents wanted to maintain excommunication of those lapsed Christians who had not maintained their confession of faith under persecution. (A little more than 50 years later, the Diocletianic persecution would prompt a similar response in the Donatist schism.)


text: The emperor Valerian took the throne in 253 but from the following year he was away from Rome fighting the Persians who had conquered Antioch. He never returned as he was taken captive in 260 and died a prisoner. He sent two letters regarding Christians to the Senate. In the first, in the year 257, he ordered all Christian clergy to perform sacrifices to the Roman gods and forbade Christians from holding meetings in cemeteries. A second letter the following year ordered that bishops and other high-ranking church officials were to be put to death, and that senators and equites who were Christians were to be stripped of their titles and lose their property. If they would not perform sacrifices to the gods they also were to be executed. Roman matrons who would not apostatize were to lose their property and be banished, while civil servants and members of the Emperor's staff and household who refused to sacrifice would be reduced to slavery and sent to work on the Imperial estates. The fact that there were such high ranking Christians at the very heart of the Roman imperial establishment shows that the actions taken by Decius less than a decade before had not had a lasting effect.


text: Among those executed under Valerian were Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, and Sixtus II, Bishop of Rome with his deacons including Saint Lawrence. The public examination of Cyprian by the proconsul in Carthage, Galerius Maximus, on 14 September 258 has been preserved:


text:
"Galerius Maximus": "Are you Thascius Cyprianus?"
"Cyprian": "I am."
"Galerius": "The most sacred Emperors have commanded you to conform to the Roman rites."
"Cyprian": "I refuse."
"Galerius": "Take heed for yourself."
"Cyprian": "Do as you are bid; in so clear a case I may not take heed."
"Galerius", after briefly conferring with his judicial council, with much reluctance pronounced the following sentence: "You have long lived an irreligious life, and have drawn together a number of men bound by an unlawful association, and professed yourself an open enemy to the gods and the religion of Rome; and the pious, most sacred and august Emperors ... have endeavoured in vain to bring you back to conformity with their religious observances; whereas therefore you have been apprehended as principal and ringleader in these infamous crimes, you shall be made an example to those whom you have wickedly associated with you; the authority of law shall be ratified in your blood." He then read the sentence of the court from a written tablet: "It is the sentence of this court that Thascius Cyprianus be executed with the sword."
 "Cyprian": "Thanks be to God."


text: Taken directly to the place of execution, Cyprian was decapitated. The words of the sentence show that in the eyes of the Roman state, Christianity was not a religion at all, and the church was a criminal organisation. When Valerian's son Gallienus became Emperor in 260, the legislation was revoked and the persecution ended. The period of relative toleration between the accession of Gallienus to the next mass persecution is known as the Little Peace of the Church.


text: A warrant to arrest a Christian, dated 28 February 256, was found among the Oxyrhynchus Papyri ("P. Oxy" 3035). The grounds for the arrest are not given in the document. Valerian's first act as emperor on 22 October 253 was to make his son Gallienus his Caesar and colleague. Early in his reign, affairs in Europe went from bad to worse, and the whole West fell into disorder. In the East, Antioch had fallen into the hands of a Sassanid vassal and Armenia was occupied by Shapur I (Sapor). Valerian and Gallienus split the problems of the empire between them, with the son taking the West, and the father heading East to face the Persian threat.


text: Diocletian's accession in 284 did not mark an immediate reversal of disregard to Christianity, but it did herald a gradual shift in official attitudes toward religious minorities. In the first fifteen years of his rule, Diocletian purged the army of Christians, condemned Manicheans to death, and surrounded himself with public opponents of Christianity. Diocletian's preference for autocratic government, combined with his self-image as a restorer of past Roman glory, presaged the most pervasive persecution in Roman history. In the winter of 302, Galerius urged Diocletian to begin a general persecution of the Christians. Diocletian was wary, and asked the oracle of Apollo for guidance. The oracle's reply was read as an endorsement of Galerius's position, and a general persecution was called on 24 February 303. According to recent research, "At least nine imperial orders were issued in 303 to 312 against Christianity. While Diocletian's orders were more concerned with the privileged upper classes of Christians, Maximinus Daia's orders were aimed at isolating all Christians from the Roman community".


text: Support for persecution within the Roman ruling class was not universal. Where Galerius and Diocletian were avid persecutors, Constantius was unenthusiastic. Later persecutory edicts, including the calls for all inhabitants to sacrifice to the Roman gods, were not applied in his domain. His son, Constantine, on taking the imperial office in 306, restored Christians to full legal equality and returned property that had been confiscated during the persecution. In Italy in 306, the usurper Maxentius ousted Maximian's successor Severus, promising full religious toleration. Galerius ended the persecution in the East in 311, but it was resumed in Egypt, Palestine, and Asia Minor by his successor, Maximinus. Constantine and Licinius, Severus's successor, signed the "Edict of Milan" in 313, which offered a more comprehensive acceptance of Christianity than Galerius's edict had provided. Licinius ousted Maximinus in 313, bringing an end to persecution in the East.


text: The persecution failed to check the rise of the church. By 324, Constantine was sole ruler of the empire, and Christianity had become his favored religion. Although the persecution resulted in death, torture, imprisonment, or dislocation for many Christians, the majority of the empire's Christians avoided punishment. The persecution did, however, cause many churches to split between those who had complied with imperial authority (the "lapsi") and those who had held firm. Certain schisms, like those of the Donatists in North Africa and the Melitians in Egypt persisted long after the persecutions.


text: Peter Brown writes that "The failure of the Great Persecution of Diocletian was regarded as a confirmation of a long process of religious self-assertion against the conformism of a pagan empire. Freedom to assert a belief not recognized by the State was won and held. 'However much Christian churches and states may have sinned in later times by their religious coercion, the martyrdoms of the Roman Persecutions belong to the history of freedom'. And in this revolution... the issues at stake were not merely the local grievances of a province; they were nothing less than the place of religion in society."


text: Theologian Paul Middleton writes that:... accounts of martyrdom are contested narratives. There is no neutral way in which to tell martyr stories, as they inevitably create heroes and villains... even in the early church, martyrdom has always been contested. Moreover, any quest to distinguish objectively between true and false martyrdom essentially represents the imposition of the values or identity claims of the compiler, narrator or even editor. There is no shortage of disagreement and controversy when it comes to Christian martyrdom in Roman Empire.


text: This "long standing debate" can be seen as having begun with historians such as Gibbon and Bowersock. According to historian Patricia Craddock, Gibbon's History is a masterpiece that fails only where his biases effect his method allowing the "desertion of the role of historian for that of prosecuting attorney". Accordingly, Gibbon has, himself, become an aspect of the long-standing debate.


text: Gibbon claimed the Christian martyr accounts exaggerated the numbers and barbarity of the persecutions. Subsequent scholars have built on this, asserting exaggeration was necessary to create the "cult of the martyrs" out of the need for a "Christian" identity separate from the Jewish and Roman identities. Exaggeration and falsification did occur, though mostly in the Middle Ages, and the martyrs did have a powerful impact on early Christian identity, but Dean and theology professor Graydon F. Snyder of Bethany and Chicago Seminaries, uses ancient texts and archeological evidence, (defined as "all evidence of a non-literary nature: ...extant buildings, built–forms, symbols, art, funerary practices, inscriptions, letters, records and even music"), to assert the cult of martyrs did not influence early records because it did not begin until after Constantine.


text: The majority of modern writers are less skeptical than Gibbon of the severity of the Great persecution. As the Diocletian historian, Stephen Williams, wrote in 1985, "even allowing a margin for invention, what remains is terrible enough. Unlike Gibbon, we live in an age which has experienced similar things, and knows how unsound is that civilized smile of incredulity at such reports. Things can be, have been, every bit as bad as our worst imaginings."


text: The number of authentic Christian accounts, histories, and other pre-Constantinian evidences of martyrdom is heavily debated. The Acts of the Martyrs, (in Latin, "Acta Martyrum"), include all the varied accounts (acta, gesta, passiones, martyria, and legenda) of the arrests, interrogations, condemnations, executions, and burials of the martyrs of the early centuries. These accounts vary in historicity as many were written long after the events they describe. The classification criterion by Hippolyte Delehaye, allows the texts to be classified into three groups:


text: There is general acceptance of the first category as largely historical and the third category as non-historical fiction; debate centers on the second category. According to Píerre Maraval, many of these texts were written to spiritually "edify their readers, and their primary intention is not to make history, but to give the image of the perfect testimony". Maraval goes on to say the "Acta" and "Passiones" have preserved enough authentic historical data to allow the modern reader to realize the reality of the persecutions and the ways their communities felt them.


text: Eusebius' authenticity has also been an aspect of this long debate. Eusebius is biased, and Barnes says Eusebius makes mistakes, particularly of chronology, (and through excess devotion to Constantine), but many of his claims are accepted as dependable due largely to his method which includes carefully quoted comprehensive excerpts from original sources that are now lost. For example, Eusebius claims that, "while Marcus was associated with [Pius] in the imperial power [138 to 161], Pius wrote [concerning the criminal nature of being Christian] to the cities of Larisa, Thessalonica, and Athens and to all the Greeks ... Eusebius cites "Melito's Apology" for corroboration, and the manuscript of Justin's Apologies presents the same alleged imperial letter, with only minor variations in the text. The principle that Christians are "eo ipso" criminals is well attested in the years immediately after 161. It is assumed in the imperial letter concerning the Gallic Christians, is attacked by Melito in his Apology, and seems to have provided the charge upon which Justin and his companions were tried and executed between 161 and 168". According to Barnes, Eusebius is thus supported in much of what he says.


text: G. E. M. de Ste. Croix divides early Christian martyrs into three categories: those who volunteered for martyrdom; those who did not volunteer but whose behavior, i.e. refusing to obey, attracted it; and those who were pursued by authorities without any overt act on their part. Out of the 91 Palestinian martyrs mentioned by Eusebius in his work "Martyrs of Palestine", Ste. Croix says there are no details enabling categorization on 44 of them; of the remaining 47, 13 were volunteers, 18 "drew attention to themselves", and 16 "may have been sought out". Ste. Croix then combines the first two categories into a broad definition of "voluntary martyrdom" and excludes them from the total number of martyrs.


text: Herbert Musurillo, translator and scholar of "The Acts of the Christian martyrs Introduction" says that St. Croix "overstresses the voluntariness of Christian martyrdom, for which there is only scant evidence in the early "Acta". Professor of philosophy Alan Vincelette agreed, writing that Ste. Croix's categorization of voluntary martyrdom is too broad, that examination of the first four centuries shows it did exist, but that it made up only about 12% of martyrs in total instead of Ste. Croix's 75%.


text: G.W. Bowerstock suggests that voluntary martyrdom was sufficiently widespread that by the end of the second century, Church authorities tried to repress it, and by the third and fourth centuries, those authorities began to distinguish sharply as to who would receive the "crown of martyrdom" and who would not "between solicited [volunteered for] martyrdom and the more traditional kind that came as a result of persecution".


text: In her work, Candida Moss argued that voluntary martyrdom was not recognized as a distinct category by early Christians. "where there are no linguistic terms to serve as guides, scholars feel free to work with assumptions and highly individual taxonomies about what makes a martyrdom provoked or voluntary." She argues that evidence for voluntary martyrdom as a discrete practice can only be ascertained from texts that distinguish between types of martyrdom, and when this happens, these distinctions are never neutral. Moss argues that early Christians only began to recognize and condemn "voluntary martyrdom" from the third century onwards.


text: In a similar vein, Paul Middleton argues for the validity of voluntary martyrdom as a subset of "proto-orthodox Christian martyrdom" and including them all in the numerical total. He says that in the "Acts of St. Cyprian," "there is nothing in the text that suggests that those who engaged in the mass act of voluntary martyrdom were anything other than true martyrs". In the "Passion of Perpetua" the Christian leader who comes to strengthen those already in prison is described as someone who "gave himself up of his own accord". When the proconsul of Asia, Arrius Antonius, responds to a group of Christians demanding to be martyred by ordering a few to death and telling the rest: "O miserable men, if you want to die, you have cliffs and nooses", Tertullian seems to uphold voluntary arrest by responding that he (Tertullian) and his fellow Christians have no fear of Roman reprisals but instead "invite their infliction". In Moss and Middleton's view, voluntarism can be seen as a radical form of martyrdom that was indeed criticized in later Christianity, but the volunteers were also "valorized as martyrs in early Christian tradition".


text: Ste. Croix's estimate for the total number of martyred dead during the Great Persecution depends entirely upon his belief that Eusebius aimed at producing a full account of the martyrs from his province in his "Martyrs of Palestine", but Eusebius' aims are disputed. Ste. Croix argued that Eusebius' aims were clear from the text of the "Martyrs": after describing Caesarea's martyrdoms for 310, (the last to have taken place in the city), Eusebius writes, "Such were the martyrdoms which took place at Cæsarea during the entire period of the persecution"; after describing the later mass executions at Phaeno, Eusebius writes, "These martyrdoms were accomplished in Palestine during eight complete years; and this was a description of the persecution in our time."


text: Timothy Barnes asserts that Eusebius' intent was not as broad as Ste. Croix argues. In Barnes' view, it was not Eusebius' intent to give a comprehensive account of all martyrs, but to give examples that described what it was like. Barnes cites the preface to the long recension of the "Martyrs" in support which begins: "It is meet, then, that the conflicts which were illustrious in various districts should be committed to writing by those who dwelt with the combatants in their districts. But for me, I pray that I may be able to speak of those with whom I was personally conversant," indicating there are some he doesn't mention as they are mentioned elsewhere. Jan Bremmer, Professor Emeritus of Religious studies at the University of Groningen, Netherlands, writes that: "As we know that Eusebius had collected older martyr narratives in a book titled "Collection of the Ancient Martyrs", there will have existed a number of martyr narratives not mentioned by Eusebius in his surviving texts". Bremmer argues that there is no reason to expect that either Eusebius or Augustine would have included every martyr they knew of in their texts. Eusebius' text also discloses unnamed companions of the martyrs and confessors who are not included in the tallies based on the Palestinian "Martyrs".


text: Edward Gibbon, (after lamenting the vagueness of Eusebius' phrasing), made the first estimate of the number martyred in the Great persecution by counting the total number of persons listed in the "Martyrs of Palestine", dividing it by the years covered, multiplying it by the fraction of the overall population of the Roman world represented by the province of Palestine, and multiplying that figure by the total period of the persecution; he arrived at a number of less than two thousand. This approach is dependent upon the assumption that number of martyrs in the "Martyrs of Palestine" is complete, an accurate understanding of the population, and its even distribution throughout the empire, which was not the case in actuality. In 1931, Goodenough disputed Gibbon's estimate as inaccurate; many others followed with great variance in their estimates, beginning with the number of Christians varying from less than 6 million upwards to 15 million in an empire of 60 million by the year 300; if only 1 percent of 6 million Christians died under Diocletian, that is sixty thousand people. Other subsequent estimates have followed Gibbon's basic methodology. Anglican historian W.H.C. Frend estimated that 3,000–3,500 Christians were killed in the Great persecution, although this number is disputed. The historian Min Seok Shin estimates that over 23,500 Christians suffered martyrdom under Diocletian, of whom the names of 850 are known.


text: Ste. Croix cautions against concluding numbers convey impact: "Mere statistics of martyrdoms are not at all a reliable index of the sufferings of the Christians as a whole".


title: Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!

text: "Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu!" and "Let's Go, Eevee!" were first announced at a Japanese press conference in May 2018, with the intention for the games to bring in newcomers to the series as well as cater to old fans. They were also meant to appeal to a younger audience; for this reason, the games incorporate elements from the anime, similarly to "Pokémon Yellow". They received generally favorable reviews from critics, with praise directed to the accessibility and charm, while criticism was directed towards the motion controls. The games have combined worldwide sales of over 14 million as of December 2021, making them one of the best-selling games for the system.


text: "Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu!" and "Let's Go, Eevee!" are set in the Kanto region and include the original 151 Pokémon in addition to their respective Mega Evolved forms from "Pokémon X", "Y", "Omega Ruby" and "Alpha Sapphire" and their Alolan Forms from "Pokémon Sun" and "Moon".


text: "Let's Go, Pikachu!" and "Let's Go, Eevee!" feature common elements of the main series, such as battling non-player character Pokémon Trainers and Gym Leaders with caught Pokémon creatures. However, when facing wild Pokémon, instead of battling them with the traditional battle system like in past games, the catching of Pokémon uses a system that is reminiscent of the mobile spin-off game "Pokémon Go". By using the motion controls of the Joy-Con controller or Poké Ball Plus peripheral, players can throw berries to pacify a Pokémon or Poké Balls to attempt to capture it. The action can also be performed with a button press when the Joy-Con controllers are docked to the console or in handheld mode, but this still requires using motion controls to aim. If a player uses motion controls, the catching of Pokémon is based on the player's timing rather than accuracy. Although it possible to miss a throw, the ball is almost guaranteed to make contact with the Pokémon. One notable difference in "Let's Go, Pikachu!" and "Let's Go, Eevee!" is that wild Pokémon are visible from the overworld, rather than as random encounters in grass or in caves like in previous main series "Pokémon" role-playing games. To start an encounter with a wild Pokémon, the player must simply approach the Pokémon in the environment.


text: The games' control scheme is designed to only require one Joy-Con per player, and the games support cooperative multiplayer. If another player shakes a second Joy-Con, they can join the current player and are able to participate in battles with Pokémon Trainers and wild Pokémon encounters, allowing them to aid the catching of wild Pokémon. When playing multiplayer, Trainer battles become battles of two Pokémon against one, and in wild encounters, there is the possibility for each player to throw a Poké Ball at the same time, doubling the chances of capturing the Pokémon.


text: Depending on the version, players start with either a Pikachu or an Eevee, which sits on the player character's shoulder in the overworld. This mechanic is similar to the "walking Pokémon" mechanic first introduced in "Pokémon Yellow", in which Pikachu followed behind the player character throughout the game. The player's partner Pokémon wiggles its tail when they are near a hidden item, and it can be dressed up for further customization. Similarly to "Pokémon HeartGold" and "SoulSilver", players may also choose a Pokémon to follow them, and some larger Pokémon can also be ridden, a mechanic first seen in "Pokémon X" and "Y" and later expanded on in "Sun" and "Moon".


text: Since "Pokémon X" and "Y", experience points are rewarded to Pokémon not only by defeating opponent Pokémon but also by catching wild Pokémon. However, in "Let's Go, Pikachu!" and "Let's Go, Eevee!" experience points rewarded by catching wild Pokémon are affected by various multiplier bonuses depending on the timing of the throw and the technique used to throw the Poké Ball, such as performing an overarm or underarm throw. The games also introduce new items called "candies," which are used to power up a Pokémon's statistics, such as hit points (HP), Attack, Defense, Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed. Different types of candies are awarded to players who transfer their Pokémon to Professor Oak via an in-game storage box. "Combat Power" (CP) also returns from "Pokémon Go".


text: The evolution mechanic from previous games returns in "Let's Go, Pikachu!" and "Let's Go, Eevee!". However, as with "Pokémon Yellow", the player's starting Pikachu or Eevee cannot evolve; only other Pokémon that the player has caught, including ones of the same species as the partner Pokémon. Some features, like Pokémon breeding and HMs, are absent from the games.


text: Players can trade Pokémon and battle other players both locally and online, with online features being simplified in comparison with previous games. Some features—including the Global Trade System, Wonder Trade, and Battle Spot—are absent from "Let's Go, Pikachu!" and "Let's Go, Eevee!". In order to connect with others to trade or battle online, players must use a code composed of three Pokémon glyphs, selected from a total of eight. When two players enter the same code, they are connected to trade Pokémon with or battle each other. A subscription to the Nintendo Switch Online service is required to use online functionality.


text: Although "Let's Go, Pikachu!" and "Let's Go, Eevee!" feature integration with "Pokémon Go", this is optional. Players can transfer the original first generation Pokémon and their respective Alolan Forms from "Pokémon Go" to "Let's Go, Pikachu!" or "Let's Go, Eevee!". They then appear at the Go Park—an in-game location where the player can explore and interact with or catch Pokémon that are walking around. Pokémon with higher CP or levels are harder to catch, in that the catch attempt has a higher chance of failing. Users are also able to exchange unspecified "gifts" between "Pokémon Go" and "Let's Go, Pikachu!" or "Let's Go, Eevee!".


text: The games support the Poké Ball Plus, an optional controller shaped like a Poké Ball which features an analog stick, motion control support, HD Rumble feedback, and lighting effects. The analog stick doubles as a capture button in case the player does not wish to use the motion controls. Pokémon can also be transferred to it, in a similar way to the Pokéwalker. During Nintendo's E3 2018 Nintendo Direct presentation on 12 June 2018, it was revealed that the Poké Ball Plus would come with a Mew that can be transferred to the games.


text: The setting and story remain largely the same as "Pokémon Yellow", complete with the inclusion of anime-exclusive characters.


text: The eight Gym Leaders and the members of the Elite Four return, as well as the antagonist faction Team Rocket, including Jessie, James and Meowth, from the anime series. Unlike the anime series, Meowth cannot speak the human language and is given his own Meowth cry.


text: "Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu!" and "Let's Go, Eevee!" were unveiled during a press conference in Japan on 30 May 2018. They are primarily aimed toward a younger audience and those who are new to the "Pokémon" franchise. At the time of announcement game director Junichi Masuda mentioned that the games had been in development for around two years. Masuda also stated that he considered the games to be remakes of "Pokémon Yellow", explaining that "Yellow" "resonated" best with younger players because it incorporated elements from the "Pokémon" anime television series. According to Masuda, he decided to make Eevee the mascot of the other game due to its popularity and abundance of fan art. He had previously considered Psyduck but ultimately changed his mind, stating that it was due to Psyduck being the same color as Pikachu.


text: The games were released internationally on 16 November 2018. Bundles of the games with the Poké Ball Plus controller were announced, as well as a Nintendo Switch console bundle, including the games, brown and yellow colored Joy-Con, and a dock with artwork of Eevee and Pikachu. On 21 September 2018, Amazon began offering pre-orders for the "Let's Go, Pikachu!" and "Let's Go, Eevee!" Switch bundle.


text: "Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu!" and "Let's Go, Eevee!" received "generally favorable reviews" from critics, according to review aggregator Metacritic. Critics applauded the gameplay, nostalgia, accessibility to new players, and charm of the games, while criticising its motion controls.


text: "IGN"s Miranda Sanchez praised the game's catching mechanic which drew inspiration from the gameplay of "Pokémon Go". She mentioned that she could "prioritize catching the Pokémon I actually wanted" and avoiding undesired ones thanks to the games' new overworld view of the Pokémon.


text: The implementation of the motion controls has been criticized by some sources for reducing accessibility to some players with fine-motor or physical disabilities.


text: In Japan, "Let's Go, Pikachu!" and "Let's Go, Eevee!" topped the software sales chart and sold 661,240 physical retail units in their opening weekend, and were responsible for almost quadrupling Nintendo Switch hardware sales for the week. They remained at the top of the Japanese charts in their third week, bringing its physical retail sales to 1,012,247 units in Japan by 9 December 2018. By 16 December 2018, the games had sold 1,121,020 physical retail units in Japan. As of 6 January 2019, the games have sold 1,399,595 physical retail units in Japan.


text: The NPD reported the launch sales of "Let's Go, Pikachu!" and "Let's Go, Eevee!" in North America as being positive and described it as "the most important launch" of the year. On streaming site Twitch, the games were the most-viewed titles on launch day with 125,457 viewers, above "Fortnite". Within ten days of release, the games sold over 1.5million units in the United States, as of 26 November 2018. As of 18 December 2018, the games had sold 2million units in the US. They had the second highest launch month ever in dollar sales for the franchise in the US, behind only "Pokémon Stadium".


text: In the United Kingdom, "Let's Go, Pikachu!" and "Let's Go, Eevee!" launched with 116,000 physical retail sales in their opening weekend, becoming the top-selling games of the week, despite competition from new releases such as "Spyro Reignited Trilogy", "Fallout 76" and "Hitman 2". They also had a positive impact on Switch hardware sales, which in turn boosted sales of other Switch games including several "Mario" games, "" and "Just Dance 2019". Individually, "Let's Go, Pikachu!" debuted at third place in the UK's all-format sales charts, and "Let's Go, Eevee!" placed sixth on the same chart. UK sales were down 60% on the sales of "Pokémon Sun" and "Moon", the preceding games in the franchise, due to the Switch having a smaller install base than the Nintendo 3DS and stock problems. The games sold over 338,270 physical retail units in 2018, making them the year's eleventh best-selling retail games in the UK.


text: On 22 November 2018, The Pokémon Company announced that the games had sold over 3million units worldwide in their first week on sale, making them the fastest-selling Nintendo Switch titles. By the end of December 2021, total worldwide sales have reached 14.33 million copies.


title: Kobe

text: Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, which makes up the southern side of the main island of Honshū, on the north shore of Osaka Bay. It is part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kyoto. The Kobe city centre is located about west of Osaka and southwest of Kyoto.


title: Kobe

text: The earliest written records regarding the region come from the "Nihon Shoki", which describes the founding of the Ikuta Shrine by Empress Jingū in AD 201. For most of its history, the area was never a single political entity, even during the Tokugawa period, when the port was controlled directly by the Tokugawa shogunate. Kobe did not exist in its current form until its founding in 1889. Its name comes from . Kobe became one of Japan's designated cities in 1956.


title: Kobe

text: Kobe was one of the cities to open for trade with the West following the 1853 end of the policy of seclusion and has since been known as a cosmopolitan and nuclear-free zone port city. While the 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake diminished much of Kobe's prominence as a port city, it remains Japan's fourth-busiest container port. Companies headquartered in Kobe include ASICS, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, and Kobe Steel, as well as over 100 international corporations with Asian or Japanese headquarters in the city, such as Eli Lilly and Company, Procter & Gamble, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Nestlé. The city is the point of origin and namesake of Kobe beef, the home of Kobe University, as well as the site of one of Japan's most famous hot spring resorts, Arima Onsen.


title: Kobe

text: The natural geography of the area, particularly of Wada Cape in Hyōgo-ku, led to the development of a port, which would remain the economic center of the city. Some of the earliest written documents mentioning the region include the "Nihon Shoki", which describes the founding of the Ikuta Shrine by Empress Jingū in AD 201.


title: Kobe

text: During the Nara and Heian periods, the port was known by the name and was one of the ports from which imperial embassies to China were dispatched.


title: Kobe

text: The city was briefly the capital of Japan in 1180, when Taira no Kiyomori moved his grandson Emperor Antoku to Fukuhara-kyō in present-day Hyōgo-ku. The Emperor returned to Kyoto after about five months.


title: Kobe

text: Shortly thereafter in 1184, the Taira fortress in Hyōgo-ku and the nearby Ikuta Shrine became the sites of the Genpei War battle of Ichi-no-Tani between the Taira and Minamoto clans. The Minamoto prevailed, pushing the Taira further.


title: Kobe

text: As the port grew during the Kamakura period, it became an important hub for trade with China and other countries. In the 13th century, the city came to be known by the name . During this time, Hyōgo Port, along with northern Osaka, composed the province of Settsu (most of today's Kobe belonged to Settsu except Nishi Ward and Tarumi Ward, which belonged to Harima).


title: Kobe

text: Later, during the Edo period, the eastern parts of present-day Kobe came under the jurisdiction of the Amagasaki Domain and the western parts under that of the Akashi Domain, while the center was controlled directly by the Tokugawa shogunate.


title: Kobe

text: It was not until the abolition of the han system in 1871 and the establishment of the current prefecture system that the area became politically distinct.


title: Kobe

text: Hyōgo Port was opened to foreign trade by the Shogunal government at the same time as Osaka on January 1, 1868, just before the advent of the Boshin War and the Meiji Restoration. At the time of the opening of the city for foreign trade, the area saw intense fighting resulting from the civil war in progress. Shortly after the opening of Kobe to trade, the Kobe Incident occurred, where several western soldiers sustained gunshot wounds from fire opened by troops from Bizen. The region has since been identified with the West and many foreign residences from the period remain in Kobe's Kitano area.


title: Kobe

text: Kobe, as it is known today, was founded on April 1, 1889, and was designated on September 1, 1956 by government ordinance. The history of the city is closely tied to that of the Ikuta Shrine, and the name "Kobe" derives from , an archaic name for those who supported the shrine.


title: Kobe

text: During World War II, Kobe was bombed in the Doolittle Raid on April 18, 1942, along with Tokyo and a few other cities. Eventually, it was bombed again with incendiary bombs by B-29 bombers on March 17, 1945, causing the death of 8,841 residents and destroying 21% of Kobe's urban area. This incident inspired the well-known Studio Ghibli film "Grave of the Fireflies" and the book by Akiyuki Nosaka on which the film was based. It also features in the motion picture A Boy Called H.


title: Kobe

text: Following continuous pressure from citizens, on March 18, 1975, the Kobe City Council passed an ordinance banning vessels carrying nuclear weapons from Kobe Port. This effectively prevented any U.S. warships from entering the port, policy being not to disclose whether any warship is carrying nuclear weapons. This nonproliferation policy has been termed the "Kobe formula".


title: Kobe

text: On January 17, 1995, a magnitude 6.9 earthquake occurred at 5:46 am JST near the city. About 6,434 people in the city were killed, 212,443 were made homeless, and large parts of the port facilities and other parts of the city were destroyed. The earthquake destroyed portions of the Hanshin Expressway, an elevated freeway that dramatically toppled over. In Japan, the earthquake is known as the Great Hanshin earthquake (or the Hanshin-Awaji earthquake). To commemorate Kobe's recovery from the 1995 quake, the city holds an event every December called the Luminarie, where the city center is decorated with illuminated metal archways.


title: Kobe

text: The Port of Kobe was Japan's busiest port and one of Asia's top ports until the Great Hanshin earthquake. Kobe has since dropped to fourth in Japan and 49th-busiest container port worldwide ().


title: Kobe

text: Wedged between the coast and the mountains, the city of Kobe is long and narrow. To the east is the city of Ashiya, while the city of Akashi lies to its west. Other adjacent cities include Takarazuka and Nishinomiya to the east and Sanda and Miki to the north.


title: Kobe

text: The landmark of the port area is the red steel Port Tower. A ferris wheel sits in nearby Harborland, a notable tourist promenade. Two artificial islands, Port Island and Rokkō Island, have been constructed to give the city room to expand.


title: Kobe

text: Away from the seaside at the heart of Kobe lie the Motomachi and Sannomiya districts, as well as Kobe's Chinatown, Nankin-machi, all well-known retail areas. A multitude of train lines cross the city from east to west. The main transport hub is Sannomiya Station, with the eponymous Kobe Station located to the west and the Shinkansen Shin-Kobe Station to the north.


title: Kobe

text: Mount Rokkō overlooks Kobe at an elevation of . During the autumn season, it is famous for the rich change in colors of its forests.


title: Kobe

text: Kobe has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification "Cfa") with hot summers and cool to cold winters. Precipitation is significantly higher in summer than in winter, though on the whole lower than most parts of Honshū, and there is no significant snowfall. The average annual temperature in Kobe is . The average annual rainfall is with July as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around . The highest temperature ever recorded in Kobe was on 5 August 1994; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 27 February 1981.


title: Kobe

text: As of September 2007, Kobe had an estimated population of 1,530,295 making up 658,876 households. This was an increase of 1,347 persons or approximately 0.1% over the previous year. The population density was approximately 2,768 persons per square kilometre, while there are about 90.2 males to every 100 females. About thirteen percent of the population are between the ages of 0 and 14, sixty-seven percent are between 15 and 64, and twenty percent are over the age of 65.


title: Kobe

text: Approximately 44,000 registered foreign nationals live in Kobe. The four most common nationalities are Korean (22,237), Chinese (12,516), Vietnamese (1,301), and American (1,280).


title: Kobe

text: The Port of Kobe is both an important port and manufacturing center within the Hanshin Industrial Region. Kobe is the busiest container port in the region, surpassing even Osaka, and the fourth-busiest in Japan.


title: Kobe

text: , the city's total real GDP was ¥6.3 trillion, which amounts to thirty-four percent of the GDP for Hyōgo Prefecture and approximately eight percent for the whole Kansai region. Per capita income for the year was approximately ¥2.7 million. Broken down by sector, about one percent of those employed work in the primary sector (agriculture, fishing and mining), twenty-one percent work in the secondary sector (manufacturing and industry), and seventy-eight percent work in the service sector.


title: Kobe

text: The value of manufactured goods produced and exported from Kobe for 2004 was ¥2.5 trillion. The four largest sectors in terms of value of goods produced are small appliances, food products, transportation equipment, and communication equipment making up over fifty percent of Kobe's manufactured goods. In terms of numbers of employees, food products, small appliances, and transportation equipment make up the three largest sectors.


title: Kobe

text: Japanese companies which have their headquarters in Kobe include ASICS, a shoe manufacturer; Daiei, a department store chain; Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Kawasaki Shipbuilding Co., Mitsubishi Motors, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (ship manufacturer), Mitsubishi Electric, Kobe Steel, Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Sysmex Corporation (medical devices manufacturer) and TOA Corporation. Other companies include the confectionery manufacturers Konigs-Krone and Morozoff Ltd., Sun Television Japan and UCC Ueshima Coffee Co.


title: Kobe

text: There are over 100 international corporations that have their East Asian or Japanese headquarters in Kobe. Of these, twenty-four are from China, eighteen from the United States, and nine from Switzerland. Some prominent corporations include Eli Lilly and Company, Nestlé, Procter & Gamble, Tempur-Pedic, Boehringer-Ingelheim, and Toys "R" Us. In 2018, April, Swift Engineering USA, an American aerospace engineering firm established their joint venture in Kobe called Swift Xi Inc.


title: Kobe

text: Kobe is the site of a number of research institutes, such as the RIKEN Kobe Institute Center for developmental biology and medical imaging techniques, and Advanced Institute for Computational Science (AICS, home of the K supercomputer), the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) Advanced ICT Research Institute, the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention, and the Asian Disaster Reduction Center.


title: Kobe

text: International organizations include the WHO Centre for Health Development, an intergovernmental agency forming part of the World Health Organization. The Consulate-General of Panama in Kobe is located on the eighth floor of the Moriyama Building in Chūō-ku, Kobe.


title: Kobe

text: Itami Airport, in nearby Itami, serves mainly domestic flights throughout Japan, Kobe Airport, built on a reclaimed island south of Port Island, also offers mainly domestic flights, while Kansai International Airport in Osaka mainly serves international flights in the area.


title: Kobe

text: Sannomiya Station is the main commuter hub in Kobe, serving as the transfer point for the three major intercity rail lines (see external map).


title: Kobe

text: The JR Kobe Line connects Kobe to Osaka and Himeji while both the Hankyū Kobe Line and the Hanshin Main Line run from Kobe to Umeda Station in Osaka.


title: Kobe

text: Other rail lines in Kobe include Kōbe Electric Railway which runs north to Sanda and Arima Onsen. Hokushin Kyūkō Railway connects Shin-Kobe Station to Tanigami Station on the Kobe Electric Railway. Kobe New Transit runs two lines, the Port Island Line from Sannomiya to Kobe Airport and the Rokko Island Line from JR Sumiyoshi Station to Rokko Island.


title: Kobe

text: Over Mount Rokkō, the city has two funicular lines and three aerial lifts as well, namely Maya Cablecar, Rokkō Cable Line, Rokkō Arima Ropeway, Maya Ropeway, and Shin-Kobe Ropeway.


title: Kobe

text: Kobe is a transportation hub for a number of expressways, including the Meishin Expressway (Nagoya – Kobe) and the Hanshin Expressway (Osaka – Kobe). Other expressways include the Sanyō Expressway (Kobe – Yamaguchi) and the Chūgoku Expressway (Osaka – Yamaguchi).


title: Kobe

text: The Kobe-Awaji-Naruto Expressway runs from Kobe to Naruto via Awaji Island and includes the Akashi Kaikyō Bridge, the longest suspension bridge in the world.


title: Kobe

text: Sub Area Activity Hanshin is one of the Japan Maritime-Self Defense Force facility which provide monitoring across Osaka Bay and Harima-nada Sea.


title: Kobe

text: The city of Kobe directly administers 169 elementary and 81 middle schools, with enrollments of approximately 80,200 and 36,000 students, respectively. If the city's four private elementary schools and fourteen private middle schools are included, these figures jump to a total 82,000 elementary school students and 42,300 junior high students enrolled for the 2006 school year.


title: Kobe

text: Kobe also directly controls six of the city's twenty-five full-time public high schools including Fukiai High School and Rokkō Island High School. The remainder are administered by the Hyogo Prefectural Board of Education. In addition, twenty-five high schools are run privately within the city. The total enrollment for high schools in 2006 was 43,400.


title: Kobe

text: Kobe is home to eighteen public and private universities, including Kobe University, Kobe Institute of Computing and Konan University, and eight junior colleges. Students enrolled for 2006 reached 67,000 and 4,100, respectively. Kobe is also home to 17 Japanese language schools for international students, including the international training group Lexis Japan.


title: Kobe

text: International schools serve both long-term foreign residents and expatriates living in Kobe and the Kansai region. The schools offer instruction in English, German, Chinese, and Korean. There are three English-language international schools: Canadian Academy, Marist Brothers International School, and St. Michael's International School.


title: Kobe

text: Kobe is most famous for its Kobe beef (which is raised in the surrounding Hyōgo Prefecture) and Arima Onsen (hot springs). Notable buildings include the Ikuta Shrine as well as the Kobe Port Tower. Nearby mountains such as Mount Rokkō and Mount Maya overlook the city.


title: Kobe

text: The city is widely associated with cosmopolitanism and fashion, encapsulated in the Japanese saying, "If you can't go to Paris, go to Kobe." The biannual fashion event Kobe Fashion Week, featuring the Kobe Collection, is held in Kobe. The jazz festival "Kobe Jazz Street" has been held every October at jazz clubs and hotels since 1981. It also hosts both a Festival, as well as a statue of Elvis Presley, the unveiling of which was heralded by the presence of former Prime Minister of Japan Junichiro Koizumi.


title: Kobe

text: Kobe is the site of Japan's first golf course, Kobe Golf Club, established by Arthur Hesketh Groom in 1903, and Japan's first mosque, Kobe Mosque, built in 1935. The city hosts the Kobe Regatta & Athletic Club, founded in 1870 by Alexander Cameron Sim, and a prominent foreign cemetery. A number of Western-style residences – – from the 19th century still stand in Kitano and elsewhere in Kobe. Museums include the Kobe City Museum and Museum of Literature.


title: Kobe

text: Kobe hosted the 1985 Summer Universiade,the 1991 Men's Asian Basketball Championship, which was the qualifier for the 1992 Summer Olympics Basketball Tournament.


title: Kobe

text: Kobe was one of the host cities of the 2002 FIFA World Cup, hosting matches at Noevir Stadium Kobe (then known as Wing Stadium Kobe), which was renovated to increase its capacity to 40,000 for the event.


title: Kobe

text: Kobe also hosted the World Darts Federation World Cup in October 2017. The event was held in the Exhibition Hall in Port Island with over 50 countries competing.


title: Kobe

text: A memorandum of understanding on the possible establishment of sister city relations in the future was concluded in 2019 with Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India.


title: Antarctic Treaty System

text: The Antarctic Treaty and related agreements, collectively known as the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS), regulate international relations with respect to Antarctica, Earth's only continent without a native human population. It was the first arms control agreement established during the Cold War, setting aside the continent as a scientific preserve, establishing freedom of scientific investigation, and banning military activity; for the purposes of the treaty system, Antarctica is defined as all the land and ice shelves south of 60°S latitude. Since September 2004, the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat, which implements the treaty system, is headquartered in Buenos Aires, Argentina.


title: Antarctic Treaty System

text: The main treaty was opened for signature on December 1, 1959, and officially entered into force on June 23, 1961. The original signatories were the 12 countries active in Antarctica during the International Geophysical Year (IGY) of 1957–58: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States. These countries had established over 55 Antarctic research stations for the IGY, and the subsequent promulgation of the treaty was seen as a diplomatic expression of the operational and scientific cooperation that had been achieved. , the treaty has 55 parties.


title: Antarctic Treaty System

text: After the Second World War, the U.S. considered establishing a claim in Antarctica. From August 26, 1946, and until the beginning of 1947, it carried out Operation Highjump, the largest military expeditionary force that the United States had ever sent to Antarctica, consisting of 13 ships, 4,700 men, and numerous aerial devices. Its goals were to train military personnel and to test materiel in conditions of extreme cold for a hypothetical war in the Antarctic.


title: Antarctic Treaty System

text: On September 2, 1947, the quadrant of Antarctica in which the United States was interested (between 24° W and 90° W) was included as part of the security zone of the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, committing its members to defend it in case of external aggression.


title: Antarctic Treaty System

text: In August 1948, the United States proposed that Antarctica be under the guardianship of the United Nations, as a trust territory administered by Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, the United States, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand. This idea was rejected by Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, and Norway. Before the rejection, on August 28, 1948, the United States proposed to the claimant countries some form of internationalization of Antarctica, and this was supported by the United Kingdom. Chile responded by presenting a plan to suspend all Antarctic claims for five to ten years, while negotiating a final solution, but this did not find acceptance.


title: Antarctic Treaty System

text: In 1950, the interest of the United States to keep the Soviet Union away from Antarctica was frustrated, when the Soviets informed the claimant states that they would not accept any Antarctic agreement in which they were not represented. The fear that the USSR would react by making a territorial claim, bringing the Cold War to Antarctica, led the United States to make none.


title: Antarctic Treaty System

text: Some incidents had occurred during the Second World War, and a new one occurred in Hope Bay on February 1, 1952, when the Argentine military fired warning shots at a group of Britons. The response of the United Kingdom was to send a warship that landed marines at the scene on February 4. In 1949, Argentina, Chile, and the United Kingdom signed a Tripartite Naval Declaration committing not to send warships south of the 60th parallel south, which was renewed annually until 1961 when it was deemed unnecessary when the treaty entered into force. This tripartite declaration was signed after the tension generated when Argentina sent a fleet of eight warships to Antarctica in February 1948.


title: Antarctic Treaty System

text: On January 17, 1953, Argentina reopened the Lieutenant Lasala refuge on Deception Island, leaving a sergeant and a corporal in the Argentine Navy. On February 15, in the incident on Deception Island, 32 royal marines landed from the British frigate HMS "Snipe" armed with Sten machine guns, rifles, and tear gas capturing the two Argentine sailors. The Argentine refuge and a nearby uninhabited Chilean shelter were destroyed, and the Argentine sailors were delivered to a ship from that country on February 18 in the South Georgia Islands. A British detachment remained three months on the island while the frigate patrolled its waters until April.


title: Antarctic Treaty System

text: On May 4, 1955, the United Kingdom filed two lawsuits, against Argentina and Chile respectively, before the International Court of Justice to declare the invalidity of the claims of the sovereignty of the two countries over Antarctic and sub-Antarctic areas. On July 15, 1955, the Chilean government rejected the jurisdiction of the court in that case, and on August 1, the Argentine government also did so, so on March 16, 1956, the claims were closed.


title: Antarctic Treaty System

text: In 1956 and 1958, India tried unsuccessfully to bring the Antarctic issue to the United Nations General Assembly.


title: Antarctic Treaty System

text: In 1950 the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) had discussed the possibility of holding a third International Polar Year. At the suggestion of the World Meteorological Organization, the idea of the International Polar Year was extended to the entire planet, thus creating the International Geophysical Year that took place between July 1, 1957, and December 31, 1958. In this event, 66 countries participated. At the ICSU meeting in Stockholm from September 9 to 11, 1957, the creation of a Special Committee for Antarctic Research (SCAR) was approved, inviting the twelve countries conducting Antarctic investigations to send delegates to integrate the committee, with the purpose of exchanging scientific information among its members regarding Antarctica. The SCAR was later renamed to the Scientific Committee for Research in Antarctica.


title: Antarctic Treaty System

text: Both Argentina and Chile stated that research carried out on the continent during the International Geophysical Year would not give any territorial rights to the participants, and that the facilities that were erected during that year should be dismantled at the end of it. However, in February 1958 the United States proposed that the Antarctic investigations should be extended for another year, and the Soviet Union reported that it would maintain its scientific bases until the studies being carried out had been completed.


title: Antarctic Treaty System

text: Scientific bases increased international tension concerning Antarctica. The danger of the Cold War spreading to that continent caused the President of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower, to convene an Antarctic Conference of the twelve countries active in Antarctica during the International Geophysical Year, to sign a treaty. In the first phase, representatives of the twelve nations met in Washington, who met in sixty sessions between June 1958 and October 1959 to define a basic negotiating framework. However, no consensus was reached on a preliminary draft. In the second phase, a conference at the highest diplomatic level was held from October 15 to December 1, 1959, when the Treaty was signed. The central ideas with full acceptance were the freedom of scientific research in Antarctica and the peaceful use of the continent. There was also a consensus for demilitarization and the maintenance of the status quo.


title: Antarctic Treaty System

text: The positions of the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand coincided in the establishment of an international administration for Antarctica, proposing that it should be within the framework of the United Nations. Australia and the United Kingdom expressed the need for inspections by observers, and the British also proposed the use of military personnel for logistical functions. Argentina proposed that all atomic explosions be banned in Antarctica, which caused a crisis that lasted until the last day of the conference, since the United States, along with other countries, intended to ban only those that were made without prior notice and without prior consultation. The support of the USSR and Chile for the Argentine proposal finally caused the United States to retract its opposition.


title: Antarctic Treaty System

text: The signing of the treaty was the first arms control agreement that occurred in the framework of the Cold War, and the participating countries managed to avoid the internationalization of Antarctic sovereignty.


title: Antarctic Treaty System

text: Other agreements – some 200 recommendations adopted at treaty consultative meetings and ratified by governments – include:


title: Antarctic Treaty System

text: The Antarctic Treaty System's yearly "Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings (ATCM)" are the international forum for the administration and management of the region. Only 29 of the 55 parties to the agreements have the right to participate in decision-making at these meetings, though the other 26 are still allowed to attend. The decision-making participants are the "Consultative Parties" and, in addition to the 12 original signatories, including 17 countries that have demonstrated their interest in Antarctica by carrying out substantial scientific activity there. The Antarctic Treaty also has "Special Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings (SATCM)", which are generally summoned to treat more important topics but are less frequents and Meetings of Experts.


title: Antarctic Treaty System

text: As of 2022, there are 55 states party to the treaty, 29 of which, including all 12 original signatories to the treaty, have consultative (voting) status. The consultative members include the 7 countries that claim portions of Antarctica as their territory. The 48 non-claimant countries do not recognize the claims of others. 40 parties to the Antarctic Treaty have also ratified the "Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty".


title: Antarctic Treaty System

text: The "Antarctic Treaty Secretariat" was established in Buenos Aires, Argentina in September 2004 by the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM). Jan Huber (the Netherlands) served as the first Executive Secretary for five years until August 31, 2009. He was succeeded on September 1, 2009, by Manfred Reinke (Germany). Reinke was succeeded by Albert Lluberas (Uruguay), who was elected in June 2017 at the 40th Antarctic Consultative Treaty Meeting in Beijing, China.


title: Antarctic Treaty System

text: Antarctica currently has no permanent population and therefore it has no citizenship nor government. Personnel present on Antarctica at any time are always citizens or nationals of some sovereignty outside Antarctica, as there is no Antarctic sovereignty. The majority of Antarctica is claimed by one or more countries, but most countries do not explicitly recognize those claims. The area on the mainland between 90 degrees west and 150 degrees west is the only major land on Earth not claimed by any country. Until 2015 the interior of the Norwegian Sector, the extent of which had never been officially defined, was considered to be unclaimed. That year, Norway formally laid claim to the area between its Queen Maud Land and the South Pole.


title: Antarctic Treaty System

text: Governments that are party to the Antarctic Treaty and its Protocol on Environmental Protection implement the articles of these agreements, and decisions taken under them, through national laws. These laws generally apply only to their own citizens, wherever they are in Antarctica, and serve to enforce the consensus decisions of the consultative parties: about which activities are acceptable, which areas require permits to enter, what processes of environmental impact assessment must precede activities, and so on. The Antarctic Treaty is often considered to represent an example of the common heritage of mankind principle.


title: Antarctic Treaty System

text: Since the designation of the Australian Antarctic Territory pre-dated the signing of the Antarctic Treaty, Australian laws that relate to Antarctica date from more than two decades before the Antarctic Treaty era. In terms of criminal law, the laws that apply to the Jervis Bay Territory (which follows the laws of the Australian Capital Territory) apply to the Australian Antarctic Territory. Key Australian legislation applying Antarctic Treaty System decisions include the "Antarctic Treaty Act 1960", the "Antarctic Treaty (Environment Protection) Act 1980" and the "Antarctic Marine Living Resources Conservation Act 1981".


title: Antarctic Treaty System

text: The law of the United States, including certain criminal offences by or against U.S. nationals, such as murder, may apply to areas not under jurisdiction of other countries. To this end, the United States now stations special deputy U.S. Marshals in Antarctica to provide a law enforcement presence.


title: Antarctic Treaty System

text: Some U.S. laws directly apply to Antarctica. For example, the Antarctic Conservation Act, Public Law 95-541, "et seq.", provides civil and criminal penalties for the following activities, unless authorized by regulation or statute:


title: Antarctic Treaty System

text: Violation of the Antarctic Conservation Act carries penalties of up to US$10,000 in fines and one year in prison. The Departments of the Treasury, Commerce, Transportation, and the Interior share enforcement responsibilities. The Act requires expeditions from the U.S. to Antarctica to notify, in advance, the Office of Oceans and Polar Affairs of the State Department, which reports such plans to other nations as required by the Antarctic Treaty. Further information is provided by the Office of Polar Programs of the National Science Foundation.


title: Antarctic Treaty System

text: In 2006, the New Zealand police reported that jurisdictional issues prevented them issuing warrants for potential American witnesses who were reluctant to testify during the Christchurch Coroner's investigation into the death by poisoning of Australian astrophysicist Rodney Marks at the South Pole base in May 2000. Dr. Marks died while wintering over at the United States' Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station located at the geographic South Pole. Prior to autopsy, the death was attributed to natural causes by the National Science Foundation and the contractor administering the base. However, an autopsy in New Zealand revealed that Dr. Marks died from methanol poisoning. The New Zealand Police launched an investigation. In 2006, frustrated by lack of progress, the Christchurch Coroner said that it was unlikely that Dr. Marks ingested the methanol knowingly, although there is no certainty that he died as the direct result of the act of another person. During media interviews, the police detective in charge of the investigation criticized the National Science Foundation and contractor Raytheon for failing to co-operate with the investigation.


title: Antarctic Treaty System

text: Under the South African Citizens in Antarctica Act, 1962, South African law applies to all South African citizens in Antarctica, and they are subject to the jurisdiction of the magistrate's court in Cape Town. The Antarctic Treaties Act, 1996 incorporates the Antarctic Treaty and related agreements into South African law. In regard to violations of these treaties, South Africa also asserts jurisdiction over South African residents and members of expeditions organised in South Africa.


title: Viscera (wrestler)

text: Nelson Frazier Jr. (February 14, 1971 – February 18, 2014) was an American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment (WWF/WWE) in the 1990s and 2000s under the ring names Mabel, King Mabel, Viscera, Vis, and Big Daddy V. A former WWF World Tag Team Champion and WWF Hardcore Champion, he won the 1995 King of the Ring tournament and consequently challenged for the WWF Championship in the main event of that year's SummerSlam.


title: Viscera (wrestler)

text: Frazier began his professional wrestling career under the ring name "Nelson Knight", one half of tag team the "Harlem Knights" with his partner and storyline brother, Bobby (Robert Horne). They wrestled in the United States Wrestling Association (USWA) and the Pro Wrestling Federation (PWF), twice winning the PWF Tag Team Championship in 1992, before signing with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in July 1993.


title: Viscera (wrestler)

text: Upon coming to the WWF, The Harlem Knights were given a new gimmick: Nelson became Mabel, Bobby became Mo, and they were given a rapping manager named Oscar. The new team, dubbed Men on a Mission, was introduced to the WWF audience through vignettes portraying them as three African American men trying to make a positive change in inner city neighborhoods. Clad in purple and yellow, they debuted as solid faces. At WrestleMania X, Men on a Mission defeated the WWF Tag Team champions, The Quebecers, by countout, but did not win the belts. On March 29, 1994, they won the title at a house show in London, England. The Quebecers regained the title two days later in Sheffield, England. In mid-1994, Mabel began wrestling more singles matches; he was seen as the spectacle of Men on a Mission due to his size, the "special attraction" that got used to make rising stars look good. He competed in the 1994 King of the Ring tournament, defeating Pierre of the Quebecers in the qualifying round before losing to IRS in the quarterfinals. He then had a match that pit "Rap vs. Country" against Jeff Jarrett at "Summerslam", which Jarrett won.


title: Viscera (wrestler)

text: In 1995, Men on a Mission lost a title match against the reigning tag team champions Smoking Gunns. Mabel and Mo brutally assaulted them afterward, but offered an apology and brought Billy and Bart Gunn out after a match a few weeks later for a handshake. It proved to be a ruse, however, as Mabel and Mo not only beat up Billy and Bart, but also turned on Oscar and became heels. Mabel dropped his fun-loving, positive personality in favor of adopting a more thuggish image and received a push as a singles wrestler, winning the King of the Ring tournament in June, After that, Mabel became known as King Mabel, with Mo becoming "Sir Mo", his manager. Mabel was awarded a championship belt, designed and created by belt maker Reggie Parks. The belt, engraved with "King of the Ring", is one of a kind, as the World Wrestling Federation had not before or since created a belt for the King of the Ring. This belt was never seen on WWF television. After his victory King Mabel became the top heel in the company and challenged WWF Champion Diesel at August's SummerSlam. Just before SummerSlam, the WWF turned Davey Boy Smith, one of the company's more popular wrestlers, against the fans, replacing Mabel as the company's top villain. The turn occurred on the August 21, 1995 edition of "Monday Night Raw", where Men on a Mission were to wrestle Smith and Lex Luger, who were then known as The Allied Powers. Luger was not at the event, so Smith convinced Diesel to be his partner. Smith then attacked Diesel during the match and joined King Mabel and Sir Mo in assaulting him. The attack was called the "Royal Plan" and at least for a period it appeared that Smith, Mabel, Mo, and Jim Cornette were going to be aligned in the future. This never came to pass.


title: Viscera (wrestler)

text: The reason for Frazier's sudden removal from the top of the card was never explained, but Kevin Nash (Diesel) implied it had something to do with his wrestling style. Nash said in an interview with Kayfabe Commentaries that Frazier's style was very reckless and he had little regard for the safety of his fellow wrestlers. Nash said that entering the match at SummerSlam, Frazier had already injured "six or eight" of his colleagues in the ring. Nash said that one of the injuries was to one of the Samoans on the roster (Fatu), which he implied was not easy to do and should have raised a red flag. Nash pointed to Frazier's use of a frequently utilized move by wrestlers of comparable size, the sitdown splash. Most wrestlers who perform this move, like Frazier, tend to be super heavyweights, such as the aforementioned Fatu (who adopted the move later in his career), Yokozuna, and Earthquake. These wrestlers usually do so without incident, as they perform it in such a manner that very little of their body weight actually comes in contact with the opponent's body, which usually results in the wrestler landing on the opponent's chest. Frazier kicked his legs out while performing the move and thus did not allow himself to stop before impact. Nash said that this caused all of Frazier's 500-plus pound mass to shift to his rear end and thus he would drop onto the opponent full force. With this in mind Nash told Frazier to leave the move out of the match, knowing full well the potential for serious injury. Frazier disregarded the request and performed the sitdown splash on Nash anyway, crashing into his lower back with enough force to cause Nash's spine to compress and his core muscles to stretch out. Nash later was diagnosed with a badly strained abdomen that affected his performance the rest of the match, as he could barely feel his legs, and he believed that he had suffered some sort of permanent damage to his spine. Backstage, Nash recounted that a furious Vince McMahon was ready to fire Frazier immediately after the match and was about to hand him his release papers, but Nash stepped in and convinced McMahon otherwise as he did not feel Frazier should lose his job over the incident.


title: Viscera (wrestler)

text: Although he was no longer the main villain in the WWF, the company moved Frazier to another high-profile feud involving The Undertaker. The rivalry started after Mabel helped Yokozuna, another wrestler managed by Jim Cornette, attack a downed Undertaker. During the course of the attack, Mabel was to hit a series of leg drops on the fallen Undertaker. He once again found himself in trouble due to his inability to perform the move correctly. Instead of landing his leg across the Undertaker's chest as in a normal leg drop, Mabel repeatedly struck Undertaker in the face; this resulted in Undertaker suffering a legitimate fracture of his orbital bone, which put him out of action for two months. Although King Mabel was to wrestle The Undertaker once he returned, Frazier's days in the WWF were numbered after this incident as the company was not happy with him injuring yet another of its top stars. The Undertaker returned wearing a Phantom of the Opera-style mask and, a month later, defeated King Mabel in a Casket match at . After this match, Frazier's push came to an end and within several weeks both he and Horne were fired. His last three matches were on the New Year's Day edition of "Raw" when he was buried in an eight-second loss to Diesel, on the January 6, 1996 edition of "WWF Superstars" when he lost a rematch to The Undertaker in a casket match, and in the 1996 Royal Rumble match where he was the third wrestler eliminated by his former rival Yokozuna.


title: Viscera (wrestler)

text: Frazier then wrestled for the Puerto Rico-based World Wrestling Council (WWC) from 1995 to 1996. There, he feuded with Carlos Colón. The Universal Heavyweight Championship was held up after a match between the two. Mabel soon after won the championship and held it for a month defeating Colon on January 7, 1996. He also returned to Tennessee to wrestle for the United States Wrestling Association, which went through a number of administration changes during his stay, and was rebranded Memphis Championship Wrestling and Memphis Wrestling. He captured the USWA Heavyweight Championship in March 1996 and the North American Heavyweight Championship in February 1998. These were each the top title in the promotion at the time. On December 1, 1996 he went to Tokyo, Japan and lost to Koji Kitao at Inoki Festival in Yoyogi. On November 1, 1998, Mabel made a one-night-only surprise appearance at Extreme Championship Wrestling's November to Remember, as a Full Blooded Italians member with Ulf Herman, attacking Tommy Rogers and Chris Chetti until Spike Dudley made the save.