64–68 AD

The fire of Rome and Nero's persecution; the martyrdom of Peter and Paul

The descendants of Augustus held the throne until Nero (54–68 AD). On the night of 18 June 64 AD a fire broke out in Rome. It destroyed two-thirds of the city – 10 of its 14 districts.

Nero himself was suspected of arson. According to Tacitus (Annals 15.44), he blamed the Christians. They were then "torn by dogs, crucified, and burned as torches by night". They were condemned "for their hatred of the human race".

There appears to have been no special anti-Christian law. Christians were tried for a specific criminal offense. The persecution was confined to Rome and its surroundings and did not extend beyond them.

Christian sources (1 Clem. 5–6, Eusebius) associate this time with the deaths of the apostles Peter and Paul in Rome. Paul, being a Roman citizen, was beheaded in 67 AD. Peter was crucified c. 68 AD. By tradition (Origen, in Eusebius), Peter asked to be crucified upside down.

The persecution ended with Nero's death in 68 AD, though his edicts against the Christians were not repealed. Discontented generals declared Nero an enemy of the state. After a brief struggle (the "year of the four emperors") the throne passed to Vespasian (68–79 AD). Under him, and under his son Titus, the Christians were not persecuted.