Book Two: CHAPTER III--The Blood of the Martyrs: Roman Persecution in the First Century

CHAPTER III

 

The Blood of the Martyrs:

Roman Persecution in the First Century

 

                        The popular conception of an aggressive Roman campaign against the nascent Christian movement is erroneous. Christianity existed nearly thirty years before a single Roman official bothered to single out the movement for castigation, and that arose from the political necessity of finding a scapegoat for the fire that consumed the city of Rome in the mid-60s C.E. For much of the time before, Roman authorities were unconcerned with the Christian movement. As far they were concerned, Christianity (if it was acknowledged at all) was a debate within Judaism, and therefore, except for the occasional need to maintain social order, none of Rome’s concern.

 

51 C.E.                        The Romans had based their assumption on the fact that this was the very assumption of both the Christians and the Jews. The Christians saw themselves as the transformation and continuation of the Jewish religion; Judaism viewed Christianity as a heresy that had arisen from the apocalyptic elements within their religion. Christians believed that biblical prophecies had come true in the person of Jesus of Nazareth; the remainder of the Jewish religion did not. The Romans certainly could not distinguished between the two groups if the two groups themselves did not appear to see much of a distinction themselves. This is evident by the Emperor Claudius’ expulsion of the Jews from the city of Rome in 51C.E. because of “continual disturbances” of one named Chrestus, whom most historians regard as a Roman misunderstanding of the word Christ. What had happened is that debates among Christians and Jews in Rome often devolved into violence. The solution of Claudius was to expelled the whole lot of them from the city. This demonstrates that as late as 51 C.E. Roman officials saw no difference between Judaism and Christianity. 

 

                        The New Testament itself makes it clear that the first persecutors of Christianity were other Jews. Palestinian Jews took it upon themselves to purge Palestine from an Hellenistic, Jewish heresy. In fact, rather than fearing Rome, early Christians often appealed to Rome for assistance and protection from the hostility of their Jewish brethren. In the Book of Acts, Paul is saved on more than one occasion from Jewish riots and plots against him by Roman officials.

 

                        By 64 C.E. the situation appeared to be changing. Jewish Christians had become outnumbered by Gentile Christians. Roman perceptions of Christianity began to change as the demographics within the Christian community changed. Thirteen years after Claudius expelled the Jews (and Christians) from Rome, Nero could begin to make rudimentary distinctions between the two groups. This resulted partly from the aforementioned increase in Gentile numbers, but also from an increase in Jewish nationalism that would result in the first Jewish Revolt. Nationalistic Jews and Gentile Christianity distanced themselves from each other in spite of their similitudes and shared presuppositions. The Gentile Christianity that emerged deliberately lost much of its Jewishness, morphing into what was coming to be understood by Roman authorities as a new religion.

 

64 C.E.                        The first Roman persecution of Christianity was initiated by the Roman Emperor, Nero. On the night of June 18, 64 C.E. the city of Rome caught fire. The fire raged constantly for about a week, and then it continued to burn sporadically for a following three days. Only four of Rome’s fourteen districts survived the conflagration, the other five-sevenths of the city were either completely or largely burned to the ground. A rumor soon began to circulate that Nero himself had started the blaze, allowing him to rebuild the city according to his own specifications. Nero was not in Rome when the fire broke out and he is reported to have returned to Rome to assist in efforts to fight the fire, albeit only after he heard that one of his favorite buildings was about to be destroyed by the flames. Nevertheless, in spite of Nero’s efforts to halt the spread of the blaze, ten years of misrule prompted dissatisfaction and  mistrust, often provoking open hatred. As the rumor of imperial arson persisted, Nero realized that he would forever be saddled with responsibility for the fire unless he could find a suitable substitute to take the blame. Nero’s substitute was the Christians.

 

                        Nero’s decision to blame the Christians for the fire was actually a politically savvy one. Two of the four surviving districts of Rome were densely populated with Christians and Jews. Nero used this fact as the “proof” against the Christians. Yet, even if this were not the case, the Gentile Christianity that was emerging was deeply misunderstood and mistrusted by the general Roman populace. It was, after all, emerging as the religion of slaves and undesirables. The Roman historian, Tacitus, who wrote his Annuls of Imperial Rome somewhere during the end of the 1st and early 2nd C.E., described Nero’s treatment of the Christians as unjust, while simultaneously expressing his own hatred of Christianity, which he regarded as an “evil” or “pernicious” superstition, stating that Christians were everywhere hated because of their “abominations” and their general hatred of humanity (Annuls 15.44). Tacitus nowhere described the particulars of these so-called abominations, accepting that they were generally known and required no descriptive details. Second century writers would be more forthcoming as to what those abominations were. 

 

                        Nero’s method of dealing with the Christians was typical of any witch-hunt. He seized self-avowed Christians, and based on information acquired through threats and torture arrested others who were named as Christians. The process was repeated on the second groups of Christians, inducing new names of people to be apprehended. Nero apparently found great pleasure in his treatment of convicted Christians. It is said that he dressed some up in the firs of animals and released hungry dogs, gleefully watching as the Christians were torn to pieces. Other Christians where hung along the roadways and set on fire, serving as lanterns to illumine the streets at night. It is accepted that both Peter and Paul met with their deaths during this first Roman persecution of Christianity�"Paul, a Roman citizen was beheaded; Peter, a provincial, was crucified. Rather than inspiring further contempt against Christians, Nero’s efforts engendered sympathy for them. Tacitus reported that Nero’s harsh treatment of the Christians, though deserved, was not the result of pursuing justice, but simply inspired by Nero’s need to unleashed his brutality.

 

68 C.E.                        This first Roman persecution of Christianity was localized in and around the city of Rome, and fortunately for the Christians, it was relatively short-lived. Nero killed himself in 68 C.E. at the age of thirty-one. Rome had once more slid into a period of civil war and rather than fight for his throne, Nero simply accepted that he would lose it and had his slave, Epaphroditus, finish the suicide that Nero had initiated but could not bring himself to complete. Christian persecution more or less died with Nero, due more to the political reality of the Empire rather than any sense of sympathy or injustice. The year that followed Nero’s death is known as “the year of the four emperors.” During this period, Roman authorities were too busy keeping up with the ever changing political scene to be concerned with the activities of Christians. It is true that Christianity was technically illegal in the Empire (Nero had passed a now lost edict against it), but the reality was that Christianity was simply forgotten for the next few years as Emperors changed faster than the weather, ultimately resulting in a new dynasty that would have to spend time establishing itself.

 

69 C.E.                        The imperial reins found their way into the hands of Vaspasian. Vaspasian had been the commander of the Roman forces fighting to quell the Jewish uprising in Palestine. When political instability presented itself with the death of Nero, Vaspasian left his army under the command of his son, Titus, and slipped back to Rome to try his hand at becoming Emperor. He succeeded and reigned for ten years, often with his son, Titus, acting as co-ruler. In 79 C.E. Vaspasian died, and Titus ruled on his own. Titus reigned a mere 26 months. His brother Domitian became the Emperor, reigning until the year 96 C.E.

 

90s C.E.                        From the time of Nero’s death to the time of Domitian, Christians existed in the Empire without much harassment. This would change under the reign of Domitian. Domitian did not intend, as did Nero, to single out the Christians for persecution. He instead was determined to make life uncomfortable for Jews and anyone who exhibited Jewish practices. Therefore, even though Gentile Christianity was emerging as a distinct religion, moving away from its original Jewish roots, it still held certain Jewish presuppositions, creating a situation in which Christians were placed in a difficult position of simultaneously of being too Jewish, while not being Jewish enough.

 

                        Domitian possessed a reverence of all things Roman, especially its ancient traditions and gods. He was particularly eager to restore the Roman pantheon of gods to its former glory. This meant that those living in the Empire were required to pay homage and make sacrifices to the protecting gods of the Roman state. Yet, certain segments of society refused to do this. The primary group was that of the Jews. The Jews exclusively worshiped a single, invisible god, refusing to acknowledge the existence of all other gods, even those who were believed to protect both the Emperor and the Empire. As far as Domitian was concerned, this was treason. By not offering sacrifices to the gods who protected the state and the Emperor, the Jews were in effect working to undermine the very fabric of society. If they did not honor the gods who protected Domitian, then they were, in Domitian’s mind, taking active steps to bring about his demise. In addition to their “atheism” (not believing in the Roman gods), the Jews were also antisocial. Since so much of Roman life was linked to the worship of the various gods and goddesses, the Jews deliberately excluded themselves from public events. This annoyed the Romans because, in addition to being rude and snobbish, it again undermined the fabric of Roman society by not participating in those events that were designed to foster a sense of civic unity.

 

                        In addition to resenting standard Jewish practices, Domitian undertook policies that produced Jewish anger against him. Domitian’s brother, Titus, destroyed the Jewish Temple in 70 C.E., thus destroying the priesthood that maintained Temple worship. It had been the custom of Jews throughout the Empire to send an annual tithe to Jerusalem in order to support the priesthood in their work. With no Temple, there was no longer a reason to send the tithe to Jerusalem. Domitian believed that the Jews should transfer their tithe to the Emperor in Rome. This, of course, enraged the Jews, many of whom flatly refused to comply with the Emperor’s wishes. Other Jews decided to pay the tribute, while making it clear that Rome was not the new Jerusalem and that the Emperor was not the new priesthood. Domitian could not understand the source of Jewish resentment, becoming increasingly hostile toward Judaism until, near the end of his reign, he apparently decided to rid the Empire of Judaism once and for all.

 

                        This was the source of Christian discomfort during his reign. Even Gentile Christians shared the Jewish obsession with atheism and antisocial behaviors, earning them the opportunity to suffer along with the Jews. Domitian appears to have continued the Roman process of lumping the Jews and the Christians together. So, even though Domitian’s persecution was not directed against Christians, Christians did suffer due to the lingering Jewishness inherent in their practices and beliefs.

 

 

                        Frankly, there are very little reliable sources concerning Domitian’s persecution against all things Jewish. The few pieces of credible evidence suggest that it was localized in and around the city of Rome and in various locations in Asia Minor. Many believe that Domitian’s harassment was the inspiration for the writing of the Book of Revelation. Nevertheless, Roman mistreatment of the Christians proved once more to be neither universal nor systematic, continuing the Roman practice of sporadic, localized attacks against Christianity. There was, as yet, no imperial policy for dealing with the misunderstood religion. This would change early in the second century.