"Validity comes from corroberation" Which is what I meant by the way anecdotal evidence can be reinforced by subsequent anecdotes. A single observation is an anecdote.

It's just not the case that the Romans kept detailed records about trials and executions, at least none that have survived. After all, this wasn't even about a Roman citizen.

An awful lot of the issues about things that happened a generation or so back are primarily about how things generally were in institutions like schools, nothing particularly to do with the religious ethos. Physical punishment and authoritarian teaching was how it was, and Catholic schools reflected that. Things have changed - and in a few years down we'll have people writing about how rotten it was back now, for different reasons. Swings and roundabouts.