fire@sphinx.UChicago.UUCP (Albert C. Schultz) (04/10/85)
The quote is from Juvenal's _Satires_. Although Juvenal lived after Christ, the context in which the phrase occurs makes it clear that Juvenal was not particularly concerned with cruelty to the Christians. Instead, he was commenting that the Roman leaders no longer thought in terms of command, but were content with other forms of social control.