CNN  —  In the year 112 , a Roman governor in modern-day Turkey had his first encounter with members of a strange religious cult called “Christiani.” The governor had heard reports the cult followed an obscure criminal who had been tortured and executed by the Romans. His followers, though, believed that their leader was still somehow alive. They met in each others’ homes for communal meals where, rumor had it, they practiced cannibalism by drinking the blood of their leader and held orgies.