Sermon Central
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Persecution Under Nero
Contributed by Martin Spoelstra on Aug 27, 2023 (message contributor)
The Coliseum was not the first Roman Arena designed for the glorification of gore during the persecution of Christians and the bloodthirsty desires of Nero. Within walking distance of the Coliseum is the site where Nero’s circus once stood. It was here, just a few years before the construction of the Coliseum, that the first state-sponsored persecution of Christians took place. It was at Nero's Circus that Christians were first fed to the lions and forced to fight wild beasts. According to tradition, it was in Nero's Circus that the apostle Peter was crucified. Tacticus, a second-century Roman senator turned historian, documented Nero’s habit of having Christians wrapped in the skins of animals and thrown to wild dogs where they were torn apart. It was Tacticus who accused Nero of illuminating his gardens at night by burning the corpses of Christians who had been crucified during the daylight hours. (Tacticus, the Annals, book 15, chapter 44.)
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