Roman Persecutions and Christian Martyrs
The church was formed and founded within the Jewish community on two basic beliefs:
1. God had visited them in the person of Jesus Christ.
2. Jesus established a community of followers known as the church.
Each of these beliefs caused tension among the groups the early Christians were already a
part of the Jewish Community and Roman Society. It is the recorded words of martyrs,
historians and Christian apologists (writers who defended Christianity) that allow us to get
glimpse into the period of Roman persecutions.
During its first 2 centuries, Christianity was considered illegal in the Roman Empire. In 66
A.D. the Zealots, a radical group of Jews, led an attempted rebellion against the oppressive
Roman Government. The revolution was unsuccessful and, as a result, the Jewish temple was
destroyed in 70 A.D.. Many Jewish Christians had refused to take part in the overthrow,
citing their beliefs in the peaceful words and actions of Jesus. Because of this and the fact
that more and more Gentiles were joining their faith, the Jewish Christians were told to leave
the synagogues. Christians began to worship in homes, and Christianity spread into the larger
cities in the Mediterranean especially Antioch, Alexandria and Rome.
Most persecutions of Christians cane from the Roman Government. At first Rome had
tolerated Christians and extended to them the same rights and privileges as those shown the
Jews. But the Roman leaders were bothered by what they considered a lack of patriotism on
the Christians behalf. Being a part of the Roman Empire, Christians engaged in the following
behaviours:
 Early Christians would not join the Roman Army
 Refused to worship the Roman leaders (Emperor) as Gods
 Paying taxes, only because Jesus told them to.
As a result, Christians were falsely accused of the following:
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Natural disasters like famine, earthquakes and floods
Being cannibals because the Romans misinterpreted the Christian Eucharistry as eating
flesh & blood.
The first major persecutions came at the hands of Emperor Nero. He falsely blamed
Christians for starting a fire that destroyed much of the cit y of Rome. Both Peter and Paul
were believed to have died under Nero’s reign. The most severe persecutions against
Christians occurred under the Emperors Decius (249-251 A.D.) and Diocletian (284-305 A.D.).
Decius required all those living in the empire to have a certificate proving they offered
sacrifices to Roman Gods. If anyone did not have the certificate, he or she was put to death.
Diocletian tried to wipe out Christianity by destroying the property of Christians, including
their books and worship spaces. He also ordered many Christians put to death. In order to
receive the death penalty all a Christian had to do was profess their faith.
A profession of faith meant that one would have to undergo:
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Imprisonment
Torture and humiliation
Being thrown to wild beasts in the amphitheatre
Or if a Roman citizen – being beheaded
To escape this fate, all one had to do was renounce their faith. This became known as the sin
of apostacy - to deny one’s faith in order – to deny one’s faith in order to avoid being killed.
Christians who refused to deny their faith and were put to death became known as martyr, a
word which means witness. Many Christians even desired martyrdom as the fullest expression
of faith, as the supreme example of imitating Christ.
THE CHRUCH BECOMES LEGAL
Christianity was dramatically changed with the conversion of Constantine. He was the
commander of a large army in the Western Roman Empire. When the emperor died, his troops
elected him the successor. But many rivals surfaced, including Maxentius. Just before
Constantine faced his enemy Magentas at the crucial battle, he had a vision. A cross of light
designed like two Greek letters CHI-RHO appeared in the sky and there were the words,
“conquer with this”
The night before the battle, Constantine was said to have an additional
vision in which Jesus told him to use that cross symbol as a corm of
protection in battle. The cross was drawn on the standards of all the
legions. After winning this crucial battle Constantine became Emperor of
the West. In 313 A.D., Constantine issued the Edict of Milan which
tolerated Christianity throughout the Empire. In the year 313 A.D.,
Christianity became a State Religion. By the year 400 A.D., over half of
the Roman population was Christian.