Latest / Nero: Mad Tyrant or Misunderstood Emperor? — Fexingo History / Nero and the Christians: Scapegoats After the Great Fire
Transcript
- Lucas: So we’ve talked a lot about the Great Fire of Rome in episode 5, but today I want to focus on something that happened in its immediate aftermath — something that would echo through history for two thousand years. Nero’s decision to blame the Christians. Luna: Right, the classic “Nero fiddled while Rome burned” story. But you’ve already debunked that myth. Lucas: Exactly. The image of Nero playing the lyre on a hilltop while the city burned is a later invention. But what isn’t a myth is that he did exploit the fire for political gain — he built his Golden House on the cleared land — and that he needed a scapegoat to deflect rumors that he himself had started the fire. Lucas: The most detailed account we have comes from Tacitus, writing about fifty years later in his Annals. He says that Nero “substituted as culprits, and punished with the utmost refinements of cruelty, a class of men, loathed for their vices, whom the crowd called Christians.” Luna: So Tacitus is our key source. What does he actually describe? Lucas: He says that first, those who confessed — probably to being Christians, not to arson — were arrested. Then, on their information, a huge multitude was convicted, “not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred of the human race.” That phrase tells us a lot about how Romans viewed this new cult. Lucas: And the punishments were horrific. Tacitus writes: “Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as nightly illumination, when daylight had expired.” Nero even opened his own gardens for the spectacle. Luna: That’s brutal. And this is considered a reliable account? Lucas: It’s the closest we have to a contemporary source, but there are complications. Tacitus was a senator who disliked Nero, but he also had no love for Christians. He calls their religion a “deadly superstition.” So his account is colored by his own biases. Still, most historians accept that the core events happened. Lucas: But here’s where it gets tricky: other Roman historians like Suetonius and Cassius Dio barely mention the Christian persecution. Suetonius mentions Nero punishing Christians, but he lists it among other police actions, not as a major event. Cassius Dio doesn’t mention it at all. That silence makes some scholars wonder if the Tacitus passage might have been exaggerated or even interpolated by later Christian scribes. Luna: Wait, you mean the account might have been tampered with? Lucas: That’s a minority view, but it’s worth noting. The earliest surviving manuscript of Tacitus’s Annals is a 9th-century copy, and it was preserved by Christian monks. They might have had an incentive to amplify Nero’s persecution to portray early Christians as martyrs. But the language is very Tacitean — it doesn’t read like a Christian interpolation. Most scholars believe it’s genuine. Lucas: Let’s step back and ask: who were these Christians in Rome in 64 AD? The faith had been around for roughly thirty years. Tradition holds that both Peter and Paul were martyred under Nero, though the New Testament doesn’t record their deaths. The first clear reference to Peter in Rome is from the late first century, in a letter from Clement of Rome. Luna: So Peter and Paul may have been among those killed? Lucas: Possibly, but there’s no hard evidence. Paul had been under house arrest in Rome earlier, according to Acts. He may have been executed a few years later. Peter’s connection to Rome is even less certain. What is likely is that Nero’s persecution was a localized event in Rome, not an empire-wide pogrom. It targeted a small, unpopular sect. Lucas: Rome in the first century had a substantial Jewish community, and early Christianity was seen as a Jewish sect. But the emperor Claudius had expelled Jews from Rome around 49 AD due to disturbances “since the Jews constantly made disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus.” Most scholars think “Chrestus” is a misspelling of Christus — Christ. So tensions were already high. Luna: So Christians were seen as a troublesome offshoot of Judaism. Lucas: Exactly. And by Nero’s time, they had a reputation for holding secret meetings, refusing to worship Roman gods, and even engaging in cannibalism — a misunderstanding of the Eucharist. So when Nero needed someone to blame, they were an easy target. Lucas: Now, Tacitus says Nero’s persecution actually generated sympathy for the Christians. He writes, “Despite their guilt as Christians, and the ruthless punishment they deserved, they were pitied.” That’s a remarkable statement. It suggests that the cruelty was so extreme it backfired. Luna: Did Nero face any consequences for this? Lucas: Not directly. But the persecution became a defining feature of his legacy. Early Christian writers like Tertullian and Lactantius vilified him as the first persecutor. The idea that Nero would return as the Antichrist or a beast from the abyss became a popular theme in apocalyptic literature. Lucas: There’s even a tradition that Nero didn’t actually die in 68 AD but fled to the East and would return. This “Nero Redivivus” legend shows up in the Sibylline Oracles and later in Christian texts. It’s a fascinating example of how history morphs into myth. Luna: So the persecution was relatively small scale but became hugely symbolic. Lucas: Right. The number of victims is unknown. Tacitus says a “huge multitude,” but that could be a few hundred. Not thousands. But its impact on Christian identity was immense. It gave the church its first martyrs and a narrative of suffering that would inspire generations. Lucas: Let’s also consider the location. Tacitus says the executions took place in Nero’s gardens, which were on the Vatican Hill. That area later became the site of St. Peter’s Basilica. Tradition holds that Peter was crucified upside down there. While we can’t confirm that, it’s a powerful link between the persecution and Christian sacred geography. Luna: And Paul, where did he die? Lucas: Tradition says Paul was beheaded on the Via Ostiensis, outside the city walls. The site is now marked by the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. Both traditions are ancient but not contemporary. Still, they show how early Christians memorialized the event. Lucas: To wrap up, the Christian persecution under Nero was likely a real but localized event, amplified by later writers. It wasn’t the first persecution of Christians — there were earlier local actions — but it was the first by a Roman emperor. And it set a pattern: the state as persecutor, the church as martyr. Luna: So when we look at Nero, we have to weigh the legend against the evidence. He was cruel, but the “monster” image owes a lot to Christian propaganda. Lucas: Exactly. And understanding that helps us see the real Nero — a flawed emperor who made terrible decisions, but also a figure whose story was shaped by centuries of interpretation. Next time we’ll explore another facet of his reign that’s often overlooked.