Why did Nero persecute Christians in ancient Rome?

Answer 1

Edward Gibbon believes that Diocletian's persecution was more to eliminate trouble-makers than for religious reasons, although he seems to have used the excuse of atheism against the Christians. During most of his reign, Diocletian was most tolerant of the Christians, with many in his own court being Christians. Almost as soon as he decreed the elimination of Christianity, he abdicated.

Some slight disturbances in Syria and the frontiers of Armenia were said by enemies of the Church to have been secretly fomented by the intrigues of the Christian bishops. It seemed that the Christians, renouncing the gods and institutions of Rome, had constituted a distinct republic to be suppressed before it had acquired any military force. Christianity was already governed by its own laws and magistrates, was possessed of its own public treasury and was intimately connected to all its parts by the frequent assemblies of the bishops, to whose decrees their numerous and.opulent congregations yielded an implicit obedience.

Examples such as the following are less ones of persecution than of martial or even civil law, but they served to justify the severity of Diocletian and Galerius. A sentence of death was executed upon Maximilianus, an African youth, who had been produced by his own father before the magistrate as a sufficient and legal recruit, but who obstinately persisted in declaring that his conscience would not permit him to embrace the profession of a soldier. On the day of a public festival, Marcellus the centurion threw away his arms and the ensigns of his office, and declared in a loud voice that he would obey none but Jesus Christ the eternal King, and that he renounced forever the use of carnal weapons and the service of an idolatrous master. The soldiers, as soon as they recovered from their astonishment, secured the person of Marcellus. By his own confession, he was condemned and beheaded for the crime of desertion.

Answer 2

It is unclear that Nero persecuted the Christians, except for blaming the Great Fire on the small number of Christians living in Rome. The source for this information is the Roman historian, Tacitus, writing in the century after Nero's death. It seems that a rumour was spreading that the gods allowed the fire to happen because they were angry with Nero. Tacitus may have exaggerated what happened, as he is known to have exaggerated the faults of other Roman emperors he wrote about. He said:

To quash the rumour, therefore, Nero substituted other culprits, those commonly known as Christians, who were ha ted for their disgraceful activities - and he inflicted excruciating punishments on them. Christus, the originator of this name [of Christians], had been executed by the procurator Pontius Pilate during the reign of Tiberius. This deadly superstition, though repressed for a while, wvas breaking out again, not only in Judaea where the evil originated, but even in the city [Rome], where all atrocious or shameful things flow in from all sides and flourish. So, at first, those who acknowledged it were arrested, and then by their evidence a great multitude were convicted, not so much for the crime of arson as for their hatred of the human race.

While it is probable that Nero did persecute the local Christians as a result of the fire, no Christian writngs mentioned this event for over a century. Christian tradition eventually attributed large-scale persecutions to Nero, evidenced by the tradition of Nero feeding Christians to the lions.

Answer 3

There were several reasons for the Roman persecutions but the main reason was treason. The Romans believed that as long as they honored and sacrificed to their state gods, that the gods would favor Rome. If thy did not, then the gods would withdraw their support and the empire would fall. The Christians, by refusing to partake in the state rituals, were considered treasonous and enemies of the state.

Answer 4

for not respecting the roman gods and was afraid that the gods would be mad and harm the lands and people of rome

Answer 5

Because he was seeing too many Christians that weren't persecuted from previous emperors.