Paul who founded Christian churches in Asia Minor and Greece. Eventually, he took his teachings to Rome itself. The early converts to Christianity in Ancient Rome faced many difficulties.
The first converts were usually the poor and slaves as they had a great deal to gain from the Christians being successful. If they were caught, they faced death for failing to worship the emperor.
It was not uncommon for emperors to turn the people against the Christians when Rome was faced with difficulties. In AD 64, part of Rome was burned down. The Emperor Nero blamed the Christians and the people turned on them. Arrests and executions followed. These men were called Christians.
He got a number of people to confess. On their evidence a number of Christians were convicted and put to death with dreadful cruelty. Some were covered with the skins of wild beasts and left to be eaten by dogs. Others were nailed to the cross. The Rome of today is no longer the centre of a great empire. It is still globally important though, with more than one billion people looking to it as the centre of the Roman Catholic faith. Since its foundation, Ancient Rome was a deeply religious society and religious and political office often went hand in hand.
Julius Caesar was Pontifex Maximums, the highest priest, before he was elected as Consul, the highest Republican political role. The Romans worshipped a large collection of gods , some of them borrowed from the Ancient Greeks, and their capital was full of temples where by sacrifice, ritual and festival the favour of these deities was sought.
Julius Caesar approached god-like status at the height of his powers and was deified after his death. His successor Augustus encouraged this practice. And although this apotheosis to divine status happened after death, the Emperor became a god to many Romans, an idea Christians were to later find highly offensive.
As Rome grew it encountered new religions, tolerating most and incorporating some into Roman life. The cult of Bacchus, a Roman incarnation of the Greek god of wine, was repressed for its supposed orgies, and the Celtic Druids were all but wiped out by the Roman military, reportedly for their human sacrifices. Christianity was born in the Roman Empire. Jesus Christ was executed by Roman authorities in Jerusalem, a city in a Roman province.
His disciples set about spreading the word of this new religion with remarkable success in the crowded cities of the Empire. Early persecutions of Christians were probably carried out at the whim of provincial governors and there was also occasional mob violence. The first — and most famous — great persecution was the work of Emperor Nero. With rumours that the Emperor himself was behind the fire circulating, Nero picked on a convenient scapegoat and many Christians were arrested and executed.
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