I was watching the Daily Show with John Stewart and they made a reference to the martyrdom of St Valentine. I was a little curious about this and searched it on Google. Most of the results say that the Emperor Claudius the Cruel banned marriage to increase his supply of soldiers. St. Valentine continued to marry couples until the emperor had him executed.
I find this odd. First of all Gibbon and Cary and Scullard, the authors i have read, both think rather highly of this emperor, something I would doubt for a man who banned marriage. Secondly was Christianity wide spread enough in Rome to hurt the supply of troops.
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