He was an easy scapegoat; Nero was hated in the empire. He was also associated with many strange and weird practices such as incest (with his mother) and he ordered many people to be murdered. These included his mother, his sister, his brother, and countless others that he did not fully trust. He even ordered the murder of his own wife in order to marry another woman.
Nero was in trouble he had his back against the wall and he needed a scapegoat. He turned to the Christians who were not very well regarded with many misconceptions and rumours going on about them. One of them being that they were cannibals (because of a misinterpretation of the ‘Lords Supper’ in which they eat ‘flesh’ and drink the blood of Jesus Christ). Another rumour, which had no truth in it what so ever, was that they performed human sacrifices. They were also blamed for being anarchists and plotting a revolution in which they would overthrow Caesar. They were also believed to be highly anti-social because they were forbidden to attend any games and they weren’t allowed to become actors or gladiators. A famous historian once said:
“ Their Jewish origin, their indifference to politics and public affairs, their abhorrence of heathen customs, were constructed into an ‘odium generis humani’ hatred of the human race, and this made an attempt on their part to destroy the city sufficiently plausible to justify a verdict of guilty”.
He also says that:
“There began a carnival of blood such as even heathen Rome never saw before or since ……….A ‘vast multitude ‘ of Christians were put to death in the most shocking manner”.
Some of the Christians were crucified; some were even sewn in animal skins and thrown to the dogs these poor people would then be torn to pieces. Some were covered in pitch, nailed to wooden posts, and burnt as torches. One of Nero’s most cherished kind of execution was to cover a person in wax, then set them on fire and repeat: “Now you are truly the light of the world”. It was in the aftermath of this that Peter and Paul gave their lives for their saviour, probably within a year of each other.
The actual number of Christians who lost their lives under the rule of Nero is unknown but what we do know is that this persecution went on several years under Nero and wasn’t just confirmed to Rome but spread all over the empire. The persecution carried on over in subsequent emperor’s reigns. A strange law said that you weren’t allowed to torture a Roman citizen, so all Christians who were Roman citizens were only allowed to be beheaded or any other humane way of execution. The apostle Paul was a citizen so he was spared from any kind of torture.
By Duncan Robinson-Slater 10E2
