ABSTRACT
Christianity had begun as a sect spreading among the lower orders, who for the most part were not Italians and spoke Greek, or some jargon based on Greek, rather than any kind of Latin. Christianity began to attract some converts from higher ranks of society, and therefore from the educated users of Latin. In Africa, a province in which Latin was the language of culture rather than Greek, a new Latin style was developing, which found itself pressed into the service of Christian apologists. Tertullian composed a number of works intended for a Christian public. The pagans know nothing of Christianity, judge it with ignorant partiality, and ascribe to its adherents all manner of wickednesses whereof they are perfectly innocent., These wickednesses are commonly to be found among the pagans and their gods.
