When Rome came to think that Christians were traitors of the State, she ruled over them in cruel and unmerciful repression. Says historian J. M. Roberts: “Many Christians in the capital [Rome] certainly perished horribly in the arena or were burned alive.” (Shorter History of the World) Of these Christian victims of Nero’s persecution, another report states: “Some were crucified, some were sewn up in the skins of animals and hunted down by dogs, some were covered with pitch and set alight to serve as living torches when darkness fell.”—New Testament History, by F. F. Bruce.
