High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Pliny the Younger, governor of Bithynia-Pontus from c. 110-112, wrote a series of letters to Roman Emperor Trajan, one of which asked for council on dealing with Christians. The letter (Epistulae X.96) details an account of how Pliny conducted trials (cognitio extra ordinem or the process where the magistrate was not only a judge but active in the investigation and examination of evidence) of Christians brought before him by private accusations. One of the main questions Pliny asks in the letter is whether being a Christian alone (nomen ipsum) is enough to be punished or whether the offenses associated with being a Christian - such as not worshiping the Roman gods - deserve punishment. The defense of the Christians before Pliny, was that "they were accustomed to meet on a fixed day before dawn and sing responsively a hymn to Christ as to a god, and to bind themselves by oath, not to some crime, but not to commit fraud, theft, or adultery, not falsify their trust, nor to refuse to return a trust when called upon to do so. When this was over, it was their custom to depart and to assemble again to partake of food – but ordinary and innocent food." Pliny writes about torturing two female slaves called deaconesses to gain further information about these Christians. Pliny is uncertain about how to proceed, so he tells Trajan that he postponed his investigation waiting for word from the Emperor. One of Pliny`s main concerns was the vast number of Christians - "...the matter seemed to me to warrant consulting you, especially because of the number involved. For many persons of every age, every rank, and also of both sexes are and will be endangered. For the contagion of this superstition has spread not only to the cities but also to the villages and farms."