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In 64 A.D., a terrible fire broke out in the grand city of Rome. It raged for almost six days, and ravaged most of the city. In the aftermath, rumors swirled like flies; some even blamed the emperor of starting the inferno! To protect himself, Nero would have to act fast.
So he did.
According to Tacitus, an historian that lived from 60-120 A.D., Nero used his position as emperor to place blame for the fire on the Christians in the city. With the “culprits” fingered as guilty, there was only one thing left to do: punish them.
Tacitus (who didn’t really like Christians or Nero) gave a fairly grim account of the punishment inflicted on Rome’s Christians:
But all the endeavors of men, all the emperor’s generosity and the sacrifices to the gods, did not suffice to allay the scandal or banish the belief that the fire had been ordered. And so, to get rid of this rumor, Nero set up as the culprits and punished with the utmost refinement of cruelty a class hated for their abominations, who are commonly called Christians. Christus, from whom their name is derived, was executed at the hands of the procurator Pontius Pilate in the reign of Tiberius. Checked for the moment, the pernicious superstition again broke out, not only in Judea, the source of the evil, but even in Rome, that receptacle for everything that is sordid and degrading from every quarter of the globe, which there finds a following.
Accordingly, arrest was first made of those who confessed; then, on their evidence, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much on the charge of arson as because of hatred of the human race. Besides being put to death they were made to serve as objects of amusement; they were clad in the hides of beasts and torn to death by dogs; others were crucified, others set on fire to serve to illuminate the night when daylight failed.
Nero had thrown open his grounds for the display, and was putting on a show in the circus, where he mingled with the people in the dress of a charioteer or drove about in his chariot. All this gave rise to a feeling of pity, even towards men whose guilt merited the most exemplary punishment; for it was felt that they were being destroyed not for the public good but to gratify the cruelty of an individual.
Ultimately, Nero’s persecution actually fostered the reputation of Christians in the sight of Rome’s citizens, instead of degrading it. Though he would seek to totally eradicate their presence from the city, they would not only outlive him, but the Kingdom to which they belonged kept growing and growing, while the kingdom Nero led began to crumble.
Only God can do that!
Resource’s Origin:
From the Annales of Tacitus as recorded in Documents of the Christian Church by Henry Bettenson and Chris Maunder. Oxford, 1999, Page 1.
Topics Illustrated Include:
Christians
Church
Crucifixion
Death
Fire
God’s Power
History
Persecution
Witness
(Resource cataloged by David R Smith)
