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I think that there were two main different types of reactions. The first is that some of the Romans were very inspired and encouraged by the attitudes of the martyrs and realized it was essentially to either join them or be condemned. The next is that some of them were very hard hearted and only embittered by the martyrs.
They definitely could have been self-reflective in the face of what they were witnessing. Seeing that though these individuals are dying, they are MORE ALIVE than even they are! Definitely, some felt bitter about the martyrs, thinking they were out of their minds! I worked with elderly clients in a *very* rich community, and I witnessed so many of them bitter and upset over what somebody else had when they could seemingly have everything. One client asked me *how* I was so joyful… Because they had EVERYTHING they could want, yet didn’t have fullness or joy within them as they had hoped would happen. They spent their entire life seeking this perfect end and fullness, yet when they arrived, it was just as empty as the pursuit of it was their entire life. I imagine this being a similar experience for the Romans; to see someone with “less than them” in the world, but they are so full of life.. full of joy.. they are sane individuals who have a wholeness to them. This is why some people recognized they, too, wanted to join them in martyrdom and did!
How could men and women dying for what they believed, enduring immense tortures, NOT affect the Romans’ perspective of Christianity?! The amount of bravery it takes alone, whew! You can bet they were jealous to some extent, but also, time and time again, I am sure they saw the Christians being saved from their fate in some way, too! There are *so* many synaxarions that say the tortures ended up converting after witnessing miracles during the martyr’s sentence. St Thekla is a great example of this. So many people marveled, and SO many times in so many ways, she was preserved unharmed in really impossible and crazy situations! The martyrs’ disposition alone was enough to convert people – when they had perfect peace and even JOY. We all want perfect peace and joy! To see that from an individual with such a cruel and harsh fate would be earth-shattering for people to witness, I can imagine!
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