Who ordered the deaths of Peter and Paul?

Answer 1

Another answer from our community:

Christians believe that Emperor Nero was in power at the time of the deaths. The roman emperor gave the order for the beheading of Paul and crucifying of Peter.

Answer 2

A Christian tradition dating back to the second century CE says that Peter and Paul were executed in Rome on the instructions of Emperor Nero. However, there is no historical record of this event, which seems unlikely to have really happened.

Writing in general terms about the life and death of Peter, just a few decades later (around 95 CE), Clement of Rome appears to have been unaware that Peter had even visited Rome and was certainly unaware that he had been executed in any way at all, although he surely would have if this were the case. Clement indicates that he believed Paul went to Spain and spent his remaining days there.

We have no evidence to say that either Peter or Paul was ordered to be executed. In the case of Peter, this tradition seems to have begun with the second-century Pope Anicetus who, wishing to demonstrate that he spoke with the authority of Peter, reported that Peter had been beheaded in Rome. Then, a century later, Origen changed this to say that Peter was sentenced to crucifixion but, feeling unworthy of being crucified like Jesus, asked to be crucified upside down.