Biblical Criticism & History Forum - earlywritings.com

The reason early third century makes less is that we don't have Christians throwing throwing their weight behind the losing side of a rebellion against the Roman Empire. While this is not explicit in the material from Origen it is implicit and Origen would have more than enough reason to hide these details in that the memory of the Christian role in the rebellion of 172 - 175 CE continued to plague the Alexandrian Christian community, likely leading to Origen's own expulsion from Alexandria in the early third century. I think the connection between Christians and the rebellion in the Boukolia:

1. Avidius Cassius was sent by Marcus Aurelius to suppress the rebellion in the Boukolia, a region where Christians were particularly numerous - https://books.google.com/books?id=aMFBr ... ia&f=false
2. it is generally acknowledged by specialists in the field that Christianity had some role in the revolt - https://books.google.com/books?id=BdQts ... ty&f=false
3. at some point after the suppression of the revolt Avidius Cassius himself declares himself Emperor likely with the support of the native Alexandrian populace, the very people he was sent to suppress.
4. archaeological evidence suggests that after Avidius Cassius's defeat Marcus Aurelius and Commodus came together to set foot in Alexandria and prove that they were the legitimate monarchs of the Empire.
5. Alexandria continued to be a problem with revolt fermenting throughout the third century but the original flash point was 172 - 175 CE
6. Zenobia eventually fulfills the Christian expectation when Romans retake Alexandria the 'age of martyrs' follows.

The point is that until Arius Alexandria was the focal point of Christian efforts to cede from the Empire. I think this effort began in 172 - 175 CE.

Another reason to date the text to 175 - 180 CE:

It is generally admitted by these, with Lardner^ and Michaelis,* that the Epicurean Celsus to whom Origen was at one time disposed to refer the work against Christianity, was the writer of that name to whom Lucian, his friend and contemporary, addressed his Alexander or Pseudomantis, and who really wrote against magic,^ as Orio;en mentions.^ But althouoh on this account Lardner assigns to him the date of a.d. 176, the fact is that Lucian did not write his Pseudomantis, as Lardner is obliged to admit,^ until the reign of the Emperor Commodus (180 — 193),

Similarly https://books.google.com/books?id=F3NED ... te&f=false