ABSTRACT
Bishop Firmilian of Caesarea in Cappadocia wrote to Cyprian in 256, reminding him of that consolation and assuring that Christians were fortunate indeed to share that "house" in such desperate times. The church was seen as something of a way station where hope for the next world flourished, presumably because this world appeared to be hostile and hopeless. Cyprian, the leading third-century theorist of episcopal and conciliar authority, was elected bishop of Carthage, possibly the busiest port on the Mediterranean Sea, in 249, late in the reign of Emperor Philip. Philip seems to have been relatively friendly to Christians—not openly and officially antagonistic. Presbyters in Rome recoiled when they heard about Cyprian's "retirement." The investigators probably inquired about the character of the rival candidates in Rome. Bishop Faustus of Lyons had written to Cyprian for counsel and cooperation when a neighbor and colleague appeased rigorists and shut his church to many local penitents.
