Where did the Jesus myth come from?

[Minimalist]

...In Epistles X.96 Pliny the Younger, Roman governor in Bithynia AD112 wrote to Emperor Trajan to seek advice as to how to treat the christians. He was concerned that they chose death rather than bow to a statue of the emperor or "curse CHRIST, which a genuine CHRISTian cannot be induced to do." Text at: http://www.ancient-literature.com/rome_p...e_X96.html

Why would a subordinate of Trajan foolishly write a letter to him, (admitting dereliction of his duty,) advising that there was a problem he couldnt handle, caused by a bunch of people martyring themselves, for a story they knew was a lie, about a Man who never existed?

You don't want to go there, Lyin. I would suggest you go back and re-read what Pliny wrote. And btw, before the subject comes up, Pliny was writing in the second century and Suetonius was a junior officer on his staff in Asia Minor. One can see him holding the stylus while those xtians were questioned. For that matter Pliny and Tacitus were friends as well and correspondence between them remains extant.