The first persecutor of Christians in history was very cruel
The infamous fifth emperor of Rome, who ruled from AD 54 to 86. e., was known as a cruel despotic ruler and sadist, who sent many relatives to the next world, including his own mother, Julia Agrippina the Younger, half-brother - Britannica and people from his inner circle.
Nero
One of the aspects of Nero's activities is the merciless persecution of early Christians. A number of sources (this is mentioned in the writings of Tacitus, Suetonius and Dion Cassius) reports that the tyrant in every possible way mocked members of an exotic sect at that time, calling for the renunciation of polytheism and proclaiming the one Lord. The emperor sewed them into the skins of animals and poisoned them with dogs, crucified them on crosses and even doused the unfortunates with a special combustible solution and set them on fire, thus illuminating the gardens near his palace.
Some of these atrocities are not documented by anything, but almost all historians agree on one thing: Nero, one way or another, was the world's first persecutor of Christianity as a religion: it was from his policy that the apostles Peter and Paul suffered - the first was crucified on the cross upside down, and the second was beheaded.
Crucifixion of Peter
Now scientists argue about the ambiguous and vivid role of Nero in the history of the Roman Empire: some say, for example, that the emperor is undeservedly credited with the "authorship" of the Great Fire of Rome.
However, other researchers note the extraordinary popularity of the emperor among ordinary, poor inhabitants of the Eternal City. Nero sought to root out the corruption that flourished among civil servants, and even took the side of the freed slaves when the Senate raised the question of whether to allow patrons to again deprive freedmen of freedom or not. In addition, he limited some taxes, which also had a positive effect on the standard of living of the Romans.
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