From The Annals by Publius Cornelius Tacitus, an ancient Roman historian who lived from 55 -117 A.D., we get one of the first unbiased mentions of Christ. He was addressing the great fire of Rome during the reign of Nero. Tacitus was describing the various attempts by Nero to appease the citizens of Rome against their belief that Nero deliberately set the city on fire. In Book 15, Chapter 44 Tacitus states the following:
“Such indeed were the precautions of human wisdom. The
next thing was to seek means of propitiating the gods, and recourse was had to
the Sibylline books, by the direction of which prayers were offered to Vulcanus,
Ceres, and Proserpina. Juno, too, was entreated by the matrons, first, in the
Capitol, then on the nearest part of the coast, whence water was procured to
sprinkle the fane and image of the goddess. And there were sacred banquets and
nightly vigils celebrated by married women. But all human efforts, all the
lavish gifts of the emperor, and the propitiations of the gods, did not banish
the sinister belief that the conflagration was the result of an order.
Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted
the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called
Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin,
suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of
our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus
checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of
the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every
part of the world find their centre and become popular. Accordingly, an arrest
was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an
immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as
of hatred against mankind. Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths.
Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were
nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly
illumination, when daylight had expired. Nero offered his gardens for the
spectacle, and was exhibiting a show in the circus, while he mingled with the
people in the dress of a charioteer or stood aloft on a car. Hence, even for
criminals who deserved extreme and exemplary punishment, there arose a feeling
of compassion; for it was not, as it seemed, for the public good, but to glut
one man's cruelty, that they were being destroyed.”
Notice how Tacitus lumps the Jews and Christians into the same sect. The Romans had yet to realize that the Christians were a new sect following the commands of Christ to love neighbor as yourself and love God with all your strength. As a direct result of that hatred mentality for the Jew by the Romans, Christians were persecuted along side the Jews when Nero besieged Jerusalem in 66 A.D. and the Romans finally destroyed the city in 70 A.D.
“Such indeed were the precautions of human wisdom. The
next thing was to seek means of propitiating the gods, and recourse was had to
the Sibylline books, by the direction of which prayers were offered to Vulcanus,
Ceres, and Proserpina. Juno, too, was entreated by the matrons, first, in the
Capitol, then on the nearest part of the coast, whence water was procured to
sprinkle the fane and image of the goddess. And there were sacred banquets and
nightly vigils celebrated by married women. But all human efforts, all the
lavish gifts of the emperor, and the propitiations of the gods, did not banish
the sinister belief that the conflagration was the result of an order.
Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted
the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called
Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin,
suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of
our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus
checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of
the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every
part of the world find their centre and become popular. Accordingly, an arrest
was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an
immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as
of hatred against mankind. Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths.
Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were
nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly
illumination, when daylight had expired. Nero offered his gardens for the
spectacle, and was exhibiting a show in the circus, while he mingled with the
people in the dress of a charioteer or stood aloft on a car. Hence, even for
criminals who deserved extreme and exemplary punishment, there arose a feeling
of compassion; for it was not, as it seemed, for the public good, but to glut
one man's cruelty, that they were being destroyed.”
Notice how Tacitus lumps the Jews and Christians into the same sect. The Romans had yet to realize that the Christians were a new sect following the commands of Christ to love neighbor as yourself and love God with all your strength. As a direct result of that hatred mentality for the Jew by the Romans, Christians were persecuted along side the Jews when Nero besieged Jerusalem in 66 A.D. and the Romans finally destroyed the city in 70 A.D.
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