To best under stand early Christian persecutions several historical events need to be understood. I will examine in brief the enmity between Jews and the Jewish sect of the followers of Christ. Rome and its role in what were acceptable and unacceptable religion. The Diaspora and its helping us to understand societal conflict finally with Christianity’s success its role reversal with the Jews and becoming their persecutor. By the first century, perhaps 10 percent of the population of the Roman Empire was Jewish. Readership of prominent Jewish authors like Josephus and Philo of Alaxandria, who explained the history and beliefs of Judaism in language that a Hellenist could understand, including the ruling class of pagan Rome were well known.
From this group came a figure known in tradition as the Messiah (literally “Anointed One”)—“Messiah” is translated in the Greek Septuagint as “Christos,” and so the followers of Jesus came to be called “Christians.” From the earliest Christian writings we find the seeds of mutual antagonism of Jews and Christians sown, persecution is found in Christianity’s very roots. The earliest gospels accuse the Pharisees and Sadducees of playing a part in the persecution and death of the Messiah. (See Mark 2:24; Mark 7:5) And seek to destroy Christ. (Mark 3:6) (Mark 8: 15) (Mark 15: 27)
However as we move forward we see a continued Jewish antagonism in Christianity’s first martyr (Martyrdom is, being put to death for one’s faith. This became a test for many Christians.) In “The Church History of Eusebius.”2 he writes that in the time of Claudius “Herod the King stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the Church. All of the faiths of the ancient world were to be found in Rome. Because Julius Caesar recognized Judaism as an ancient religion he granted the Jews the right to freely practice their own religion. The Christian sect evolving form Judaism at first too was recognized as legitimate. Some of the complexities involved in the Roman view of Christian insubordination towards the empire are founded upon these founding privileges.
The first Christians were regarded by the Roman authorities as a sect within Judaism and given the same protections as any sanctioned religion. Christians met secretly for worship at night—men and women, behind closed doors—hence charges of immorality and incest it was rumored that they partook of the blood of a newborn babe—hence charges of cannibalism—and they were militant proselytizers. The Roman historian Tacitus accused them of ‘hatred of the human race.’5
The earliest Roman brutality against Christians was usually in the form of outbreaks of largely local mob violence against Christians in Asia Minor and in Rome, during the first and second centuries. From a Roman point of view, they were guilty of insubordination.”There are what are commonly called “Ten Persecutions of the Early Christians” these persecutions were raised by the Romans against the primitive church during the reign of the following emperors.
Nero (Roman emperor AD 54–68), In the early hours of July 19, 64 A.D., a fire struck Rome, engulfing some of the greatest buildings in antiquity and devastating the capital city, the Christians were blamed and the first Roman persecution stirred up.7 In this persecution the Apostle Paul was killed and the apostle Peter crucified in Rome. This first persecution ceased under Vespasian (reigned AD 69–79).
Domitian (Roman emperor AD 81–96). John, the apostle and evangelist was exiled to Patmos during this persecution. After the death of Domitian, John was released and came to Ephesus in AD 97, where he wrote his Gospel and where he lived until the time of Trajan.
Trajan (Roman emperor AD 98–117). Ignatius, the bishop of Antioch suffered in this persecution.
Marcus Aurelius, his other name being Antoninus Verus (Roman emperor AD 161–180). Polycarp, the bishop of Smyrna, and the Christian martyrs of Lyons and Vienne, two cities in France, were martyred in this persecution.
Septimius Severus (Roman emperor AD 193–211). This persecution extended to northern Africa, which was a Roman province.
Maximinus, Gaius Julius Verus (Roman emperor AD 235–238).
Decius (Roman emperor AD 249–251). The one-thousandth anniversary of the founding of Rome stirred him to re-establish the ancient worship of the Roman gods, to reunify the empire he instigated the first empire-wide systematic persecution of the Christians. In January 250 Bishop Fabian of Rome was martyred; Cyprian, and Bishop Dionysius of Carthage, went into exile; and Origen was imprisoned and tortured. Many Christians stood fast (the confessors); many conformed to the state religion by taking part in sacrifices or burning incense before the statue of the emperor (they became the lapsed). There were many martyrs. When the persecution ended in June 251 with the death of Decius, the church had to deal with the problem of the readmission of the lapsed, and a severe split occurred between Pope Stephen of Rome and Cyprian in the North African Church.
Valerian (Roman emperor AD 253–260). During the renewed persecution under the Emperor Valerian in 258 AD Cyprian was beheaded. Thereafter the Church endured peace for nearly sixty years, during which many half-converts joined the church.
Aurelian (Roman emperor AD 270–275).
Diocletian (Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus, reigned AD 284–305) and Maximian (reigned AD 285–305) governed as emperors together. Diocletian issued a series of edicts, designed to stamp out the Christian scriptures, the clergy, and finally the laity as well. He began his furious persecution against the Christians in 303. The emperor ordered the doors of the Christian church at Nicomedia, the capital, to be barred, and then burnt the edifice with 600 Christians within. Churches were demolished, books were seized and burnt, Christians were persecuted, imprisoned, tortured and killed. The persecution brought a considerable number of martyrs, and it continued until 313, until Constantine the Great defeated the Roman usurper Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge in 312. The following year Constantine issued, together with the Eastern emperor, Licinius, an edict of toleration of all religions. Christianity did not become the official religion of the Roman Empire until the Edict of Theodosius in 380 AD.8
By making martyrs of Christians, the Romans contributed to the record of bravery and fidelity that the Christians could be proud of. Persecution had a reverse effect from the intended imperial policy, and according to a number of accounts, the steadfast faith of the martyrs offered an example that attracted many pagans to become Christian.
The Nicene Creed ratified in 381AD is a statement partly of historical facts and partly of dogmatic inferences. One belongs to a world of Syrian peasants, the other to a world of Greek philosophers.
With the accession of Constantine to the throne of the Cæsars and his subsequent conversion to Christianity, he eased the afflictions of the Church by issuing the Edict of Milan, which sought to make the Roman Empire religiously neutral. Constantine’s initiative of having the first ecumenical conference in 325, known as the First Council of Nicea followed the dominant Roman imperial hierarchy inspiring the organizational structure of the Church. The Roman Church put the local administrations of diverse Christian cults, and churches within the Empire in one hierarchical organization; the Vatican situated in Rome. From these beginnings dawned a new era in the history of the Jews.10
Jewish settlements in the Diaspora, did not proceed form voluntary arrangement but from compulsory demand of conquerors. The Jews quickly became in a position to extend aid to many thousands of Judeans who returned to their homeland in 536 BC. After the second century, there are several indications that relations between the Jews, authorities and segments of the Empires population were increasing in tension.
Over the course of time the Jews were gradually accepted in ancient societies but never truly assimilated. Equality of rights for the Jews to which the pagan emperors had admitted them was gradually restricted by the head(s) of the Christian State.
Since 325 AD after enjoying the outspoken favor of the Roman Empire, most Christians authors abandoned all restraint in their attacks upon the Jewish people. The works of such writers as Ephraem Syrus, Gregory of Nazianzus and Gregory of Nyssa are notorious for their virulent denunciations against the Jews. But none surpassed in vehemence and ferocity the anti-Jewish diatribes of John Chrysostom of Antioch. No other writings contributed as much, to the transition from literary attacks, to physical aggression against the Jews.
The Church’s power over the soul and conscience of the empire was complete. The church, offered the only career open to men of all ranks and stations. In achieving the Churches supremacy, much had been sacrificed. Christian virtues of humility, charity and self-abnegation had virtually disappeared in the contest, which left the temporal power dominant over the spiritual. The worldly prizes offered by an ecclesiastical career brought into the ranks of the clergy able men, but men whose object was often worldly ambition rather than spiritual development. With Jewish loss of rank and privilege within Roman society came greater opportunities to blame those already lowered in social standing for the problems of the day. Along with these burdens for the Jews came an increase of hostile writings and finally a clergy more interested in worldly ambition rather than spiritual development. As slaves rejected by God, in whose death they wickedly conspire, they shall by the effect of this very action, recognize themselves as the slaves of those whom Christ's death set free…” In 1215: The Fourth `Lateran Council approved canon laws requiring that “Jews and Muslims shall wear a special dress.” Others converted to Christianity but often continued to practice Judaism in secret.17
Over the next five centuries the sporadic acts of violence and persecution against Jews continued.
2 The Church History of Eusebius Christian Classics Ethereal Library Classic Christian books in electronic format. The Early Church Fathers All of the files linked here are in the public domain. All of the books on this server are believed to be in the public domain in the United States unless otherwise specified.
http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/NPNF2-01/Npnf2-01-07.htm#P993_481588
5 Parrinder, Geoffrey. World Religions: From Ancient History to the Present, Hamlyn Publishing Group Limited, New York. 1971 page 429.
7 Secrets of The Dead III: The Great Fire of Rome “Yet there is evidence that, in 64 AD, many Roman Christians believed in prophesies predicting that Rome would soon be destroyed by fire. Perhaps the fire was set off by someone hoping to make such a prophecy come true. Historian Henry Hurst feels the fire most likely began as an accident. There were as many as a hundred minor fires that broke out in Rome every day, so it's quite feasible that such a fire evolved into the one that leveled the city. Tacitus claims that the only explanation for how the fire spread from these kindling hovels to the sturdy stone houses of the senators is arson. Yet modern technology seems to prove otherwise. Inside a fire chamber, fire specialists created a replica of an aristocrat's home in the hope of determining whether such an abode could have been set ablaze by a small, wood-fueled fire. After a small blaze was lit in a corner of the replica, the fire spread to the furniture and soon had consumed the miniature home. Temperatures rose to 1100 degrees and part of the ceiling collapsed before the fire was extinguished for safety purposes. The recreation suggests that the fire could easily have spread from the tenements to the stone homes in the Forum. Recent excavations have provided further evidence to corroborate the notion that this great fire was raging by the time it spread to the forum.
Certainly, it's hard to know whether to trust the allegations in the writings of Tacitus. Yet, what about the explanation offered by Nero, that the Christians were to blame? At least one scholar believes Nero was on the mark. Professor Gerhard Baudy of the University of Konstanz in Germany has spent fifteen years studying ancient apocalyptic prophecies. His studies have shown that in the poor districts of Rome, Christians were circulating vengeful texts predicting that a raging inferno would to reduce the city to ashes. "In all of these oracles, the destruction of Rome by fire is prophesied," Baudy explains. "That is the constant theme: Rome must burn. This was the long-desired objective of all the people who felt subjugated by Rome."
Moreover, the Book of Revelations, written a mere 30 years later, seems to equate evil with Rome. The Whore of Babylon, the source of this evil according to Revelations, is described as having seven heads. "The seven heads are seven mountains," Revelations says. Rome, of course, is famously known as the city of seven hills. What's more, an ancient Egyptian prophesy that would have been well-known in the Christian quarters of Rome foretold the fall of the great evil city on the day that the dog star, Sirius, rises. In 64 AD, Sirius rose on July 19, the very day the great fire of Rome began. Baudy believes that, bearing this prophetic date in mind, some of the Christians, maltreated and embittered, may have started the fire -- or perhaps lit additional fires, adding fuel to the larger conflagration -- in hopes of realizing their prophesies.
Regardless, over two hundred years would pass before the Christians escaped the kind of persecution they endured under Nero. In the meantime, Nero's reign soon crumbled. Four years after the fire, as the senate and the army turned against him, Nero was forced to flee Rome. Aided by a secretary, he stabbed himself to death with an iron blade.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/case_rome/
8 The Church History of Eusebius Christian The Church History of Eusebius Christian http://www.cryingvoice.com/Christian_martyrs/TenPersIntro.html
10 Inquisition from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The Inquisition (Latin: Inquisitio Haereticae Pravitatis Sanctum Officium) was an office of the Roman Catholic Church charged with suppressing heresy. Its actions and interactions with local governments are the subjects of considerable historical inquiry.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inquisition#Origin
17 Oxtoby, Willard G. World Religions Western Traditions Second Edition
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