Despite the fact that numerous church fathers had access to Tacitus, no-one before the 12th letter of the spurious Paul-Seneca correspondence relates Christians to the Neronian era fire and only Sulpicius Severus supplies enough information to clearly link with the Testimonium Taciteum. The silence in both the classical and christian sources is quite amazing, especially when the only explicit things that were known about the "Neronian persecution" were the legendary executions of Peter and Paul. The martyrdom of a truckload of christians should have been newsworthy from the beginning.
Here is a comparison between the Testimonium Taciteum and a related passage in the christian history of Sulpicius Severus (c. 400 CE).
| Annals | Sulpicius Severus |
| ergo abolendo rumori Nero subdidit reos et quaesitissimis poenis adfecit, quos per flagitia invisos vulgus Chrestianos appellabat. | igitur vertit invidiam in Christianos, actaeque in innoxios crudelissimae quaestiones; |
| Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on those, hated for their abominations, called 'Chrestians' by the populace. | He therefore turned the accusation against the Christians, and the most cruel tortures were accordingly inflicted upon the innocent. |
| auctor nominis eius Christus Tibero imperitante per procuratorem Pontium Pilatum supplicio adfectus erat; repressaque in praesens exitiablilis superstitio rursum erumpebat, non modo per Iudaeam, originem eius mali, sed per urbem etiam, quo cuncta undique atrocia aut pudenda confluunt celebranturque. | - |
| Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius by order of a procurator, Pontius Pilate, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their center and become popular. | (no witness) |
| igitur primum correpti qui fatebantur, deinde indicio eorum multitudo ingens haud proinde in crimine incendii quam odio humani generis convicti sunt. | - |
| Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind. | (no arrest) |
| et pereuntibus addita ludibria, ut ferarum tergis contecti laniatu canum interirent aut crucibus adfixi [aut flammandi atque], | quin et novae mortes excogitatae, ut ferarum tergis contecti laniatu canum interirent, multi crucibus affixi aut flamma usti, plerique in id reservati, |
| As they perished, mockeries were added: covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were crucified, [or were doomed to the flames and burnt,] | Nay, even new kinds of death were invented, so that, being covered in the skins of wild beasts, they perished by being devoured by dogs, while many were crucified or slain by fire, and not a few were set apart for this purpose, |
| ubi defecisset dies, in usu[m] nocturni luminis urerentur. | ut cum defecisset dies, in usum nocturni luminis urerentur. |
| on the ending of the day, to serve as a nightly illumination. | that, when the day came to a close, they should be consumed to serve for light during the night. |
| hortos suos ei spectaculo Nero obtulerat, et circense ludicrum edebat, habitu aurigae permixtus plebi vel curriculo insistens. unde quamquam adversus sontes et novissima exempla meritos miseratio oriebatur, tamquam non utilitate publica, sed in saevitiam unius absumerentur. | - |
| Nero offered his gardens for the spectacle, and was exhibiting a show in the circus, while he mingled with the people in the dress of a charioteer or stood aloft on a car. Hence, even for criminals who deserved extreme and exemplary punishment, there arose a feeling of compassion; for it was not, as it seemed, for the public good, but to glut one man's cruelty, that they were being destroyed. | (no Nero, no compassion) |
| - | hoc initio in Christianos saeviri coeptum. |
| (no Severan conclusion) | In this way, cruelty first began to be manifested against the Christians. |
What is interesting here is the fact that Sulpicius Severus does not read as a summary of the TT. It reads like a passage expanded upon via three additions. It would be strange for an epitomist to leave out either the arrest or the compassion for the martyrdoms of the poor christians. Yes, the writer has the voice of an anti-christian who still manages to get two important messages across: 1) a witness to the death of Jesus and 2) the horrid deaths of the christians. The exact words that are shared in common seem to be those least reflective of the Roman's taciturn style.
