Why was becoming Christian considered an act of disloyalty in the Roman Empire?

Answer 1

A:The gospels go to pains to show Christians as loyal to Rome, but the second-century (pseudepigraphical) First Epistle of Peter described the Church as a "holy nation." It soon began to seem to some that the Christians, renouncing the gods and institutions of Rome, had constituted a distinct republic that 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 congregations yielded an implicit obedience.

The loyalty of the Christian population to Rome, rather than to their bishops, was coming increasingly under question. In spite of this, and in spite of Christian tradition emanating from the fourth and fifth centuries, Christianity enjoyed long periods of peace in the Roman Empire. This ended, or seemed to do so, with the Great Persecution of Christians that was initiated by Diocletian in 303 CE. This lasted until 305 in the West, although it continued until 311 in the East.