What was Rome's response to Christians?

Answer 1

Rome was tolerant of religions as long as it did not pose a threat to security. They had earlier slaughtered the Bacchanalians in their midst for planning a revolution in Italy.

Initially, as the Nazorean Sect of Judaism, the Christians did not seem to be a problem, however, when in the 90s Judaism expelled the Christians, and the Christians met in private homes, rather than openly in temples, they aroused suspicion.

Added to this there were reports of ceremonies of eating human flesh and drinking human blood. Revolutionary plotters characteristically committed sacrileges punishable by death to prevent one of their number ratting on the others, so with these reports, the Romans suspected this of being the precursor to revolution, particularly as Jesus had earlier been executed by the Romans for planning a revolution to set himself up a king of Judea. So Christianity became a target for preemptive suppression.