Early Christians and the Burning of Rome AD 64

Apocalyptic Beliefs Provide Motive For Nero's Accusations

Nov 16, 2008

The first significant Christian persecution in the Roman Empire may owe more to the eccentric social nature of the sect than their complicity in starting the fires.

In mid-July 64 AD, a fire broke out near the Circus Maximus in Rome that would engulf the city for nine days, destroying two thirds of the imperial capital including Emperor Nero’s palace, the Domus Transitoria. Historians sifting through ancient accounts cannot agree how the fire began. What is known is that suspicion fell on Nero himself, who then scapegoated an obscure new sect known as Christians, whose members tended to be slaves and aliens.

Why the Christians?

The arrest and torture of these early Christians was swift and brutal. Public executions included being torn apart by wild dogs, crucifixions, and used as human torches at night in Nero’s gardens. St. Paul, one of the leaders of the group and a Roman citizen, is thought to have been beheaded in this first major persecution of Christians.

The Roman historian, Tacitus, however, writes that it was their “pernicious superstition” that led to the arrests and that Christians were executed not for “incendiarism as for their hated of the human race.” Historian B. H. Warmington explains that the charge refers to the “social exclusiveness” Christians were known for. By all accounts, Christians were not being persecuted for their specific beliefs nor for actually setting the fire, but for the social threat posed by the sect, although their leaders taught obedience to the government and never called for political opposition or social unrest.

Apocalyptic Notions

According to accounts, Christians were in a state of ecstasy during the fire, refusing to help extinguish it. As the fires swept through Rome creating an inferno of monumental catastrophe, Christians, no doubt, believed that the end of the world was at hand. Historian Arthur Weigall, in his biography, Nero:The Singing Emperor of Rome, writes that, “all these things were just what their leaders had told them to expect at the approach of their divine Lord and Master.” Michael Grant asserts that, “the second coming of the Messiah would be accompanied by a general conflagration.”

It is entirely possible that these early Christians, some of whom were slaves in Nero’s own household, were seen rejoicing over the flames destroying a city they equated with Babylon. As Grant states, “the worst suspicions of all were roused by the apocalyptic views passionately held by early Christians.” Writing to Christians several years after these events, Peter, who had escaped execution in 64 AD, states that, “the end of all things is at hand…Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you…” (I Peter 4: 7,12) Christian writers in later years saw Nero as an Anti-Christ, furthering the apocalyptic connection originally tied to the fire by Christians in 64 AD.

The Aftermath

Despite conflicting statements about the Christian role in the great fire by Tacitus, Suetonius, and later Christian writers such as Clement, writing at the end of the century, there is no clear evidence that suggests any charge of arson was warranted or upheld. Warmington writes that, “no convincing explanation of the silence of later generations about a connection between the measures against the Christians and the fire of Rome exists.” Christians, ultimately, were charged with “their hatred of the human race,” a perception that may have been explicitly tied to their apocalyptic views witnessed in their behaviors during the fire.

Unlike later persecutions under Domitian, Decius, and Diocletian, the Nero persecution was not prompted by Christian refusals to sacrifice to the gods of Rome (or deified emperors). It is entirely possible that these early Christians, equating the fires with the promise of a second coming, inadvertently made themselves targets of the state by their behaviors during the cataclysm.

Michael Grant, Nero: Emperor in Revolt (New York: American Heritage Press, 1970)

B.H. Warmington, Nero: Reality and Legend (New York: W.W.Norton & Company, 1969)

Arthur Weigall, Nero: The Singing Emperor of Rome (New York: G.P.Putnam’s Sons, 1930)

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