Nero’s Persecution of Christians

By Kelly McDonald, Jr.

In about 64 AD, Christians were persecuted by the Roman Emperor Nero. This historical event is recorded by both Roman and Christian authors. In this article, we will review some of the sources that attest to this event.

Historical Background

In the mid-60s AD, Nero was Roman Emperor. He sought to build a new city called Neronia (obviously named after himself). Part of the problem is that it required tearing down part of the existing city of Rome! Not long after these plans were made, a fire damaged the city. It was the worst fire that had occurred up to that point!

It was discovered that the fire began on a property owned by one of Nero’s advisors. There was a rumor that he sang about the fall of Troy (another ancient city) while the city burned. To stop rumors that he started the fire, Nero tried making sacrifices to the Greco-Roman gods and giving out gifts to the common people. None of these actions worked.

To divert the people’s suspicion away from himself, Nero blamed Christians for the event. Believers were mistreated in many terrible ways. Tacitus, a Roman historian who lived from 56-120 AD, wrote about these events:

“A disaster followed, whether accidental or treacherously contrived by the emperor, is uncertain, as authors have given both accounts, worse, however, and more dreadful than any which have ever happened to this city by the violence of fire…a rumour had gone forth everywhere that, at the very time when the city was in flames, the emperor appeared on a private stage and sang of the destruction of Troy, comparing present misfortunes with the calamities of antiquity…”

“And to this conflagration there attached the greater infamy because it broke out on the Aemilian property of Tigellinus [Nero’s Chief Advisor], and it seemed that Nero was aiming at the glory of founding a new city and calling it by his name. Rome, indeed, is divided into fourteen districts, four of which remained uninjured, three were levelled to the ground, while in the other seven were left only a few shattered, half-burnt relics of houses…”

“…But all human efforts, all the lavish gifts of the emperor, and the propitiation of the gods, did not banish the sinister belief that the fire was the result of an order. Consequently, to get rid of the report [that Nero started the fire], Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilate, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their center and become popular…”

“…Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind. Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths.  Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed by the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination, when daylight had expired. Nero offered his gardens for the spectacle, and was exhibiting a show in the circus, while he mingled with the people in the dress of a charioteer or stood aloft on a car.  Hence, even for criminals who deserved extreme and exemplary punishment, there arose a feeling of compassion; for it was not it seemed, for the public good, but to glut one man’s cruelty, that they were being destroyed” (Tacitus, The Annals, 15.39-40, 44).

This historical account is important for many reasons, including that it is one of the earliest non-Biblical records of Christianity. It attests to key details about the foundations of Christianity that we read about in the New Testament, including that Christians lived in Rome. Tacitus recorded that an immense multitude was convicted of being a Christian.

This record is an indication that Christianity had spread considerably in the city and even perhaps the surrounding areas. Paul’s letter to the Romans is another way we can confirm a significant Christian presence in the city. It is usually dated to about 57 (NIV Study Notes, page 1743). Some sources attest that Paul was martyred during the reign of Nero (such as Tertullian).

Christians stood out in Roman culture for a number of reasons, one of which was their monotheistic worship. It is interesting that the language Tacitus used to describe Christians in the account above is very similar to his description of Jewish people in another work titled The Histories (idem, 5.5).

The Roman historian Suetonius (69-122 AD) also mentioned this persecution. “He likewise inflicted punishments on the Christians*, a sort of people who held a new and impious superstition” (Life of Nero, 16.2). *Latin word is Christiani. Suetonius does not add much more to the discussion of this topic than what we have already learned.

In Tertullian’s work Apology (composed about 200 AD), he explained the Christian faith and defended it against Roman accusations. In this work, he described how the suffering of Christians during the time of Nero was recorded in Roman history.

“Consult your histories; you will there find that Nero was the first who assailed with the imperial sword the Christian sect, making progress then especially at Rome. But we glory in having our condemnation hallowed by the hostility of such a wretch…” (idem, 5).

Nero was the first Roman official to target Christians and this event is recorded first by Roman sources. In the attempt to harm Christians, the persecutors preserved the record of their existence. Like our Lord and Savior, these innocent Christians gave their lives amid false accusations. Let us always remember their example of faith.

Kelly McDonald, Jr.

Bible Sabbath Association (www.biblesabbath.org)

Bibliography

Suetonius. The Life of Nero, 16.2. Translated by Alexander Thomson. Revised by T. Forester, London: G. Bell and Sons, LTD, 1911. pp 347.

Tacitus. Annals, 15.39-40, 44. Translated by Alfred John Church and William Jackson Brodribb, MacMillan and Co., 1894, pp 301 -305.

Tacitus. The Histories, 5.4-5. Translated W. Hamilton Fyfe. vol 2. Oxford: 1912, pp 205-208.

Tertullian. Apology, 5. Translated by Rev. S. Thelwall. Roberts, Rev. Alexander and Donaldson, James, eds. The Ante-Nicene Fathers. Vol. 3. Buffalo: Christian Literature Publishing Co, 1918. p 21-22.

Zondervan NIV Study Bible (Fully Revised). Copyright 1985, 1995, 2002 by the Zondervan Coporation. Grand Rapids, MI. 2002. pp 1743.