<P> Apologeticus, his most famous apologetic work, was written in Carthage in the summer or autumn of 197 AD, during the reign of Septimius Severus . Using this date, most scholars agree that Tertullian's conversion to Christianity occurred sometime before 197, possibly around 195 . It was written before the edict of Septimius Severus (202 AD), and consequently, the laws to which Tertullian took exception were those under which the Christians of the 1st and 2nd centuries had been convicted . </P> <P> This work is ostensibly addressed to the provincial governors of the Roman Empire, more specifically the magistrates of Carthage - "that the truth, being forbidden to defend itself publicly, may reach the ears of the rulers by the hidden path of letters"--and thus bears resemblance to the Greek apologues . It is structured as an appeal on behalf of the Christians and pleads "for toleration of Christianity, attacking pagan superstition, rebutting charges against Christian morality, and claiming that Christians are no danger to the State but useful citizens". Its readership is likely to have been composed of Christians, whose faith was reinforced through Tertullian's defense against rationalizations and rumours and who "would have been hugely enheartened by Tertullian's matchless confidence in the superiority of the Christian religion". </P> <P> Apologeticus has the typical concerns of other apologetic works of his time, though it is presented in a much more complex manner . According to Wright, the text is constantly shifting "from the philosophical mode to the rhetorical and even juridical". Drawing from his training in literature and law, Tertullian demonstrates his talents as a Latinist and a rhetorician in an attempt to defend his newfound Christian faith . Tertullian's modern editor Otto Bardenhewer further contends that Apologeticus is calm in tone, "a model of judicial discussion". Unlike previous apologists of Christianity, whose appeals for tolerance were made in the name of reason and humanity, Tertullian, influenced by his legal training, spoke as a jurist convinced of the injustice of the laws under which the Christians were persecuted . </P> <P> The following outline and summary is based on Robert D. Sider's translation of Apologeticus . </P>

The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church latin