The Rise of Christianity and its spread throughout the Mediterranean presented a serious problem to the magistrates of the Roman Empire. Like most other pagans, the Romans were tolerant of most religious beliefs. Persecution on religious grounds was unusual among the Romans. The Christians, however, were very different from votaries of Isis, Mithra, Magna Mater, even from the Jews. The Romans did, in fact, persecute the Christians with varying degrees of severity. The following passages shed light on the character of and reasons for these persecutions.

QUESTIONS

1. Why did Nero blame the Christians?

2. On what grounds did Pliny punish the Christians?

3. What was the reaction of Trajan?

4. How did the approach of the two emperors compare?