ABSTRACT
Modern historians have noted that there was no official persecution of Christians before the mid third century. In other words, there was no empire-wide ban on Christianity that was enforced from the top down, even if being a Christian was considered a criminal offence. The Roman legal system was accusatorial. Tacitus claims that Nero blamed the Christians for the Great Fire of Rome in 64 ce because they were 'hated for their atrocities' by the mob. It seems quite clear that Christians were the objects of popular resentment. On the surface this appears to derive from their separatist and anti-social tendencies, and their failure to worship the traditional gods. On the whole, it would appear that ordinary Greeks and Romans disliked and resented Christians because of the threat that they posed to society. Christians rejected the traditional gods and cults (including the imperial cult), an action that was believed to harm people's very livelihoods and welfare.
