In answering the question of precisely how widely persecuted early Christians truly were, Moss pointed out as an example the periodic disposition of Roman persecutions before the time of Diocletian, and she made a distinction between persecution (as a hostility toward a group because of its religious belief or who they are) and prosecution (an act or process of holding a trial against a person who is accused of a crime). Although, she did not argue that the Romans executed some Christians but says it is less for their beliefs but mostly by them coming off as stubborn by refusing to abide by the predominant societal practice in which the survival of the empire depended upon and sometimes being subversive. She concludes that some of the decrees
