Page 16 - God's Church through the Ages - Student Textbook

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.
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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. What you sow, so shall you reap!

Only God can do that!

Charges brought against the Christians were atheism and anarchy. Their rejection of the old Roman gods
seemed atheistic to the Romans. Their refusal to join in emperor-worship appeared treasonable. Yet during this
time, Christians remain loyal to Christ and their superior morality compared to the standards of Roman society
made them stand out as light in the darkness. As such, they came under attack by both the Roman government
and the masses of people living in debauchery.

We do not have time to cover any detail about the persecutions of all the emperors; however here is a list of
those emperors who persecuted Christians and put thousands to death:

Nero AD 64-68 – Peter and Paul were martyred in Rome during this persecution.

Domitian AD 89-96 – Book of Revelation written during this persecution.

Trajan AD 109 – 111

Marcus Aurelius - AD 177 Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, was martyred. He arranged the persecution of Lyons in
which 48 Christians were killed in the Amphitheatre.

8 http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/christians.htm
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