I have been studying early christianity in Rome, and i have come to see that if you are Christian, or a friend of the Christians you will be very quick to say Christians suffered constant persecution at the hands of the ancient Romans.

I don’t believe this to be the case, and before i go into it in more detail i would like to say that once Christianity had the ascendancy as the major western religion the horrors they inflicted on other peoples far outweighed the horrors inflicted upon them in ancient Rome. This in itself should dispel the very notion there is a god or a heaven, as no god would allow the bloodshed that has occured in its name.

For the most part the ancient Roman empire was extremely tolerant of differing religions within its borders. within its borders were people from the entire known world, with all cultures having different believes. However, these cultures were willing to share the rituals of the Roman world, which the Christians were not prepared to do.

Following rituals meant that the crops would be good for that year, that wars would be won and that the emperor was properly recognized. Christians not willing to share this culture sent a message of civil disobedience and disrespect and it was this that started the persecution of Christians. It was not the act of being a Christian.

In all the centuries between Peter visiting Rome and the crowning of the first Christian emperor there were only several attempts at ridding the empire of Christianity, and for the most part it was not done with zest. In my opinion today’s Christian historians are creating a history sympathetic to them, which when i search on the subject seems to have become the accepted version.

• http://www.unrv.com/culture/christian-persecution.php
• http://patriot.net/~carey/afa/latinclub/persecution.htm
• http://www.crystalinks.com/romereligion.html
• http://www.boisestate.edu/history/ncasner/hy210/nero.htm