J B Bury's reference to Gibbon's unsympathetic view of the Christians reflects the difficulty in sympathising with tyrants. The first Christians of the Ancient Roman Empire insisted upon publicly dismantling tradition and when they were denied, deliberately sought public attention by martyrdom; for no other reason than they knew best. While the simple truth is that they were attacking public sanity by demanding everyone adopt views that could only win social suicide (Much like the Politically Correct). The Christians' declared abhorrence of violence was a tacit demand that the barbarians be allowed to invade and conquer the Ancient Roman empire; which following the adoption of Christianity by the empire, the barbarians eventually did.