Christian Persecution

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Christian Persecution

• Gross History
• By Kyle Rekart

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Nero

• The first documented case of imperially-supervised
  persecution of the Christians in the Roman
  Empire begins with Nero (3768 A.D.).
• In 64 A.D., a great fire broke out in Rome,
  destroying portions of the city and economically
  devastating the Roman population. Nero was
  rumored at the time of having intentionally
  started the fire himself

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Blame

• In Annals, an imperial history book by Tacitus,
  he states that "to get rid of the report, Nero
  fastened the guilt and inflicted the most
  exquisite tortures on a class hated for their
  abominations, called Christians

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Hate to Christians

• By implicating the Christians for this massive
  act of arson, Nero successfully capitalized on
  the already-existing public suspicion of this
  religious sect
• It could also be argued that it increased the
  hostilities held toward the Christians
  throughout the Roman Empire

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Executions and Torture

• Forms of execution used by the Romans included
• Burning in the tunica molesta (shirt made with
  extremely flammable material),
• Systematic murder
• Crucifixion
• Other forms of torture
• using special tools

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Executions and Torture contd.

• Beheading
• Stoning
• Confinement
• Beating to death
• The feeding of Christians to lions and other wild
  beasts

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Torture for Fun

• "...a vast multitude, were convicted, not so much
  of the crime of incendiarism as of hatred of the
  human race. And in their deaths they were made
  the subjects of sport for they were wrapped in
  the hides of wild beasts and torn to pieces by
  dogs, or nailed to crosses, or set on fire, and
  when day declined, were burned to serve for
  nocturnal lights."
• -Tacitus

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It Goes On and On and On

• Continued under the reigns of
• Domitian
• Trajan
• Marcus Aurelius
• Septimius Severus
• Maximinus the Thracian
• Decius
• Valerian
• Diocletian
• Galerius
• Julian the Apostate

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It Ends

• This continued until 313 under the rule of
  Constantine who reversed the persecution to the
  pagans
• Up until then countless Christian lives were
  taken, and it is said to have included the lives
  of Saint Peter and Saint Paul

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Works Cited

• Tacitus, Annals
• http//www.ccel.org/ccel/renan/antichrist.viii.htm
  l
• http//www.unrv.com/culture/christian-persecution.
  php
• The tradition of martyrdom has entered deep into
  the Christian consciousness." Kenneth Scott
  Latourette, A History of Christianity, Volume I
• Robert L. Wilkin, "The Piety of the Persecutors."
  
• http//patriot.net/carey/afa/latinclub/persecutio
  n.htm