Christian Persecution In Rome

Beginning with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ under Pontius Pilate in the Roman province of Judaea, the Christian church would grow from a small minority into the official religion of the Roman Empire, eventually becoming one of the largest religions in the world. Unfortunately, this would not be an easy path to this success, and Christians would become subject to lengthy periods of persecution within the Roman Empire, and were blamed for issues ranging from plagues to barbarian invasion. When considering the peaceful nature of Christianity, people tend to wonder the causes behind their extensive persecution within Rome. In many ways this question is difficult to answer, and there are several ideas regarding why Christians faced such persecution.

The second conflict centered on social/moral issues resulting from Christians not participating in normal parts of Roman life like public religious ceremonies, military, theatre, gladiatorial shows, and others. Again, Christian’s seemingly self-inflicted exclusion from Roman society raised suspicion about their intent and loyalty to Rome. Then, as Christianity grew in strength and numbers, these threats to Rome’s religion and society evolved into a political threat against the state itself, as a large population was arising with more loyalty to its church than its government. In response to these perceived threats, and starting with Emperor Nero in 64 A.D., the Christians would experience two and a half centuries of intermittent, yet violent, persecution at the hands of both the Roman people and government. Ultimately, the goal of this paper will be to discuss this evolution of Christian persecution within Rome, while also investigating the root causes behind this violence against the Church, and how they have shifted over

As previously mentioned, the Church, in its first several decades at least, benefited from a level of anonymity within the empire. In 64 A.D., however, this all changed. At this point in time, Christianity was beginning to be recognized as a religion independent from Judaism, and Romans began to notice clandestine church meetings and private religious practices. Furthermore, as noted by Dr. Sophie Lunn-Rockliffe, Christians’ rejection of Roman gods was problematic, and “Pagan Romans were not only offended by this, but also felt it threatened their society. They believed that society was protected by the pax deorum: the peace, or agreement, with the gods”(Lunn-Rockliffe 1). Essentially, Christian’s blatant opposition to Roman religion was, in the opinion of many Romans, a direct threat to Rome’s well-being and could be responsible for bad events like fires, as a way for the God’s to punish their insolence. Emperor Nero was able to use these suspicions to his advantage in 64 A.D. following the Great Fire of Rome. Regarding this event, Tacitus, a Roman historian, wrote that, “ ‘…Nero, already horribly notorious as murderer of half-brother, mother and wife, was suspected of having fired his city; he ha, they said, dressed up as a lyrist and sung a ‘Sack of Troy’ over burning Rome’”(Mattingly 31). Unfortunately for Nero, his tarnished