January 2 - Nero Fiddled

January 2 – Nero fiddled

In the summer of 64 AD, Rome burned. Nero partied. Christians were blamed. Persecutions began.

Up until this point, Christians were still considered a sect of the Jewish faith. With Nero’s direct accusation of Christians, they became a distinct group. While there are many different ways to look at this event, one of the greatest is that Christianity was set apart from the Jews forever from this point forward.

It was a dark and stormy night … (ok, I’ve always wanted to start a story like that, but since I will probably never successfully write fiction, I have to do things my way here).

Anyway, as the story goes, fires burned through Rome for six days. Nero wasn’t even in town. When he arrived back, he organized fire-fighters and allowed many refugees to stay in his gardens. Rumors ran rampant (I like alliteration as well). People said that Nero had set fire to the city so that he could rebuild it the way he wanted it. We have all heard the rumor that Nero played the harp (or fiddled) while Rome burned.

The reality is that the fire probably began in a warehouse. Nero spent extreme amounts of money purchasing gifts for the people of Rome, but the rumors still continued. Finally, in a desperate act, Nero blamed the Christians for the fire. (Jones, 1999)

He began rounding them up and killed many of them by setting them on fire. He lined the roads with Christians who were crucified and set on fire – providing torchlight for travel. This persecution lasted for 4 years until Nero’s death in 68 AD. During these years, tradition tells us that Peter was crucified upside down and Paul was beheaded. (Curtis, Lang, Petersen, 1991)

Not long before the fire, Christians were beginning to create their own enemies. Judaism was desperately trying to separate itself from the new religion, even going so far as to try to draw the Roman government into the conflict. There were many different religions moving throughout the region and emperor worship was on the rise. It probably seemed as if all the religions were sharing their deities, but Christians refused to do that. There was one God and the only way to God was through Jesus Christ. They weren’t sharing the stage with anyone.

Christianity had grown like crazy and there were many Christians living in Rome. They owned businesses and worked with those who held polytheistic beliefs. Because they were so different in the way that they lived, it was not difficult to identify them and they were quick and easy targets for Nero’s persecution.

The pressure of persecution did something that no one imagined, though. While it occurred randomly over the next 250 years, it seemed as if every time persecution began, there were more Christians than ever before. The church grew exponentially during these years, even with the threat of incredible persecution hanging over their heads.

Curtis, A. K., Lang, J. S., & Petersen, R. (1991). The 100 Most Important Events in Christian History. Grand Rapids, MI: Fleming H. Revell.

Jones, T. P. (1999). Christian History Made Easy. Torrance, CA: Rose Publishing.