Note 330 — Chapter XVIII · THE REVOLT OF 68 C.E.

The phrase Iudaica superstitione imbuti, already quoted, shows what the term would be likely to suggest to Roman minds. In Diocletian’s time, when the Persians were the arch-enemies of Rome, and Persian doctrine in the form of Manicheism was widely spread over the empire, the emperors did not hesitate to call themselves Persicus. But Persicus never meant an adherent of a religious sect.