Nero Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Christian tradition=== [[File:Siemiradski Fackeln.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|''[[Nero's Torches]]'', Henryk Siemiradzki]] [[Tacitus]] describes Nero extensively torturing and executing Christians after the fire of AD 64.<ref name="annals-xv-44"/> [[Suetonius]] also mentions Nero punishing Christians, though he does so because they are "given to a new and mischievous superstition" and does not connect it with the fire.{{sfn|Suetonius|loc=16}} Christian writer [[Tertullian]] (c. 155β230) was the first to call Nero the first persecutor of Christians. He wrote, "Examine your records. There you will find that Nero was the first that persecuted this doctrine."<ref>[[Tertullian]]. ''[[Apologeticus|Apologeticum]]'' (Lost text), quoted in [[Eusebius]], ''[[Church History (Eusebius)|Ecclesiastical History]]'', [http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/250102.htm II.25.4], translated by [[Arthur Cushman McGiffert|A. C. McGiffert]]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061213030543/http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/250102.htm|date=13 December 2006}}</ref> [[Lactantius]] (c. 240β320) also said that Nero "first persecuted the servants of God,"<ref name="lactantius">[[Lactantius]], ''[[De mortibus persecutorum]]'' [https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0705.htm Chapter II].</ref> as did [[Sulpicius Severus]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/sulpiciusseveruschron2.html|title=Sulpicius Severus: Chronicles II|website=www.thelatinlibrary.com}}</ref> However, Suetonius writes that, "since the Jews constantly made disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus, the [emperor [[Claudius]]] expelled them from Rome" ("''Iudaeos impulsore Chresto assidue tumultuantis Roma expulit''").<ref>[[Suetonius]], [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Claudius*.html#25 Life of Claudius 25] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120630034237/http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Claudius*.html#25 |date=30 June 2012 }}</ref> These expelled "Jews" may have been early Christians, although Suetonius is not explicit. Nor is the Bible explicit, calling [[Priscilla and Aquila|Aquila of Pontus and his wife, Priscilla]], both expelled from Italy at the time, "Jews" ([[Acts 18]]:2).<ref>{{Bible|Acts of the Apostles|18:2}}</ref> ====Martyrdoms of Peter and Paul==== The first text to suggest that Nero ordered the execution of an apostle is a letter by [[Pope Clement I|Clement]] to the Corinthians traditionally dated to around AD 96.<ref>[[#Champlin|Champlin]], p. 123</ref> The apocryphal [[Ascension of Isaiah]], a Christian writing from the 2nd century, says, "the slayer of his mother, who himself (even) this king, will persecute the plant which the [[Twelve Apostles]] of the Beloved have planted. Of the Twelve one will be delivered into his hands"; this is interpreted as referring to Nero.<ref name="ascension">{{Cite web|url=http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/ascension.html|title=The Ascension of Isaiah|website=www.earlychristianwritings.com}}</ref> [[Bishop]] [[Eusebius]] of [[Caesarea Maritima|Caesarea]] (c. 275β339) was the first to write explicitly that Paul was beheaded and Peter crucified in Rome during the reign of Nero.<ref>Eusebius, [http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/250102.htm ''Ecclesiastical History'' II.25.5] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061213030543/http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/250102.htm |date=13 December 2006 }}</ref> He states that Nero's persecution led to Peter and Paul's deaths, but that Nero did not give any specific orders. However, several other accounts going back to the first century have Paul surviving his two years in Rome and travelling to [[Hispania]], before facing trial in Rome again prior to his death.<ref>In the [http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/actspaul.html apocryphal Acts of Paul] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20061020181752/http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/actspaul.html archive]); in the [http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/actspeter.html apocryphal Acts of Peter] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20160712172717/http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/actspeter.html archive]); in the [http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/1clement-lightfoot.html First Epistle of Clement 5:6]) ([https://web.archive.org/web/20061020184723/http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/1clement-lightfoot.html archive]; and in [http://www.bible-researcher.com/muratorian.html The Muratorian Fragment] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20061018165434/http://www.bible-researcher.com/muratorian.html archive])</ref> Peter is first said to have been crucified [[Cross of St. Peter|specifically upside-down]] in Rome during Nero's reign (but not by Nero) in the [[apocryphal]] [[Acts of Peter]] (c. 200).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/actspeter.html|title=The Acts of Peter|website=www.earlychristianwritings.com}}</ref> The account ends with Paul still alive and Nero abiding by God's command not to persecute any more Christians. By the fourth century, a number of writers were stating that Nero killed Peter and Paul.<ref name="lactantius"/><ref>[[John Chrysostom]] wrote Nero knew Paul personally and had him killed, John Chrysostom, [http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1907.htm ''Concerning Lowliness of Mind'' 4] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070703235446/http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1907.htm |date=3 July 2007}}; [[Sulpicius Severus]] says Nero killed Peter and Paul, Sulpicius Severus, [http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/sulpiciusseveruschron2.html ''Chronica'' II.28β29]</ref> ====Antichrist==== {{main|Antichrist|The Beast (Revelation)|Number of the beast|Nero Redivivus legend}} The [[Sibylline Oracles]], Book 5 and 8, written in the second century, speak of Nero returning and bringing destruction.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/sib/index.htm|title=The Sibylline Oracles 5.361β76, 8.68β72, 8.531β157|website=www.sacred-texts.com}}</ref>{{sfn|Griffin|2002|p=15}} Within Christian communities, these writings, along with others,<ref>[[Sulpicius Severus]] and [[Victorinus of Pettau]] also say that Nero is the Antichrist, [http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/sulpiciusseveruschron2.html Sulpicius Severus, ''Chronica'' II.28β29]; [http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0712.htm Victorinus of Pettau, ''Commentary on the Apocalypse'' 17] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070206014610/http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0712.htm |date=6 February 2007}}</ref> fueled the belief that Nero would return as the Antichrist. In 310, [[Lactantius]] wrote that Nero "suddenly disappeared, and even the burial place of that noxious wild beast was nowhere to be seen. This has led some persons of extravagant imagination to suppose that, having been conveyed to a distant region, he is still reserved alive; and to him they apply the Sibylline verses." Lactantius maintains that it is not right to believe this.<ref name="lactantius"/><ref>[[#Champlin|Champlin]], p. 20</ref> In 422, [[Augustine of Hippo]] wrote about [[2 Thessalonians 2]]:1β11, where he believed that Paul mentioned the coming of the Antichrist. Although he rejects the theory, Augustine mentions that many Christians believed Nero was the Antichrist or would return as the Antichrist. He wrote that, "in saying, 'For the mystery of iniquity doth already work,'<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=60&chapter=2&verse=7&version=9&context=verse|title=2 Thessalonians 2:7 β Passage Lookup β King James Version|publisher=BibleGateway.com|access-date=2010-11-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081229123239/http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=60&chapter=2&verse=7&version=9&context=verse|archive-date=2008-12-29|url-status=live}}</ref> he alluded to Nero, whose deeds already seemed to be as the deeds of Antichrist."<ref name="augustine"/> Some modern biblical scholars<ref>{{cite book|author=Cory, Catherine A.|title=The Book of Revelation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IzzAFl2ONfAC&pg=PA61|year=2006|publisher=Liturgical Press|isbn=978-0-8146-2885-0|pages=61β|access-date=27 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160504104449/https://books.google.com/books?id=IzzAFl2ONfAC&pg=PA61|archive-date=4 May 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Garrow, A.J.P.|title=Revelation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SkOg-tEYbR4C&pg=PA86|date=2002|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-203-13308-8|pages=86β|access-date=27 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160511222846/https://books.google.com/books?id=SkOg-tEYbR4C&pg=PA86|archive-date=11 May 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> such as Delbert Hillers ([[Johns Hopkins University]]) of the [[American Schools of Oriental Research]] and the editors of the ''Oxford Study Bible'' and ''HarperCollins Study Bible'', contend that the number [[Number of the beast|666]] in the [[Book of Revelation]] is a code for Nero,<ref>{{cite journal|author=Hillers, Delbert|title=Rev. 13, 18 and a scroll from Murabba'at|doi=10.2307/1355990|journal= Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research |volume=170 |issue=170|year=1963|page= 65|jstor=1355990|s2cid=163790686}}</ref> a view that is also supported in [[Roman Catholic]] Biblical commentaries.<ref>Brown, Raymond E.; Fitzmyer, Joseph A. and Murphy, Roland E. eds. (1990). ''[[Jerome Biblical Commentary|The New Jerome Biblical Commentary]]''. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. p. 1009. {{ISBN|978-0136149347}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Just, S.J.|title=''The Book of Revelation, Apocalyptic Literature, and Millennial Movements'', University of San Francisco, USF Jesuit Community|url=http://catholic-resources.org/Bible/Apocalyptic.htm|access-date=18 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070601223850/http://catholic-resources.org/Bible/Apocalyptic.htm|archive-date=1 June 2007|url-status=live}}</ref> The statement concerns Revelation 17:1-18, "the longest explanatory passage in Revelation",<ref>{{bibleverse|Revelation|17:1-18|NKJV}}</ref> which predicts the destruction of Rome by work of an "eighth emperor" who was also one of the "seven kings" of the most extended and powerful empire ever known in the human history: according to this lecture, Babylon the Great is identified with Rome<ref>{{cite journal | first = Scott Gambrill |last = Sinclair | url = https://scholar.dominican.edu/religion-course-materials/2/ | title = The Book of Revelation (Course Lecture Notes) |journal = The Scott Sinclair Lecture Notes Collection | date = 2016 | publisher = Dominican University of California |issue= 2 | pages = 36β37 |doi = 10.33015/dominican.edu/2016.sinclair.02 | format = PDF| quote = Nero persecuted the church at Rome, and the Beast whose number is 666 probably represents him. [...] Revelation also draws many parallels between "Babylon" (Rome) and the New Jerusalem. [...] In John's social situation the emperor did appear to be the Almighty, and Rome did appear to be the Heavenly City}} (attributed to the [[public domain]])</ref> which has poured the blood of saints and martyrs (verse 6) and subsequently become the seat of the Vatican State, reigning over all the kings existing on Earth. Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page