Persecutions

The misunderstanding of Christians under Augustus and Tiberius turned to active persecutions under Nero. In the year 64 CE, there was a great fire in Rome. The city fell apart and it was in ashes. Nero needed someone to blame "in order to check rumors that he himself [Nero] had started the conflagration" (Quennell 61). He therefore had Peter and Paul executed. They were the first Christians killed, publicly in Rome. Thereafter, persecutions and martyrdoms then became a political issue. Romans came up with outrageous reasons for imprisoning and persecuting the Christians.

• disloyalty to their fatherland
• atheism
• hatred towards mankind
• incest
• infanticide
• ritual cannibalism
• natural calamities (plagues, floods, famines)

For more information on Christian Martydoms click here.

The Colosseum

The charges against the Christians led the punishments to be fulfilled in the Colosseum. The Colosseum was completed in 81 CE. "It is clear, however, that a multitude of Christians died, and that many of them perished in the Colosseum. . ." (Quennell 61). The Roman people had witnessed many people executed in the arena not just Christians. The prisoners were put in the center and were unarmed. They were forced to defend themselves from a barbarian, lion, or a bear. There were even reports of Christians being burned alive for their punishment (Quennell 60).

Years later, the public executions of Christians became scarce especially in the Colosseum. The late 200s CE, a famous emperor named Diocletian came to power. He was known for persecuting the most Christians. Diocletian reigned for about twenty years. In the beginning of his reign he did not persecute Christians. He let them worship and live openly. He did not spend much time worrying about the Christians. He was more worried about the structure of the government. According to Hutchinson and Garrison:

For reasons that are still a subject for debate among historians, Diocletian, two years before the end of his highly effective reign, joined with his fellow Augustus, Maximian, to order the most terrible of all persecutions of the Christians. (46)

He had the churches and scriptures destroyed, and the leaders of the churches taken and killed later on. He even had the laws that were made to protect them nullified. The Christians were prohibited to worship anymore (Hutchinson and Garrison 47).