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 center 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.
