著者

島 創平

出版者

東洋英和女学院大学

雑誌

人文・社会科学論集 (ISSN:09157794)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.39, pp.47-64, 2022-03

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It is a commonly accepted view that Nero persecuted Christians for charge of arson and St. Peter and St. Paul were martyred in the time of Great Fire of Rome. However, B. D. Shaw denied that common view. There is no definite historical evidence that Peter and Paul were martyred in Rome because of Nero’s persecution.There are no other documents than the Tacitus writing that relates the Great Fire of Rome with the persecution of Christians. Although Tacitus called those who believed in Jesus Christ “Christiani,” that naming was not common in the reign of Nero, i.e., AD60s. During the reign of Nero, Romans could hardly distinguish the Christians from the Jews.Early Christian writers often called Nero as “the enemy of the God.” After Nero killed himself, the legend arose that Nero did not die and would come back from the East to Rome. Such image of Nero influenced the literature of the Apocalypse of Judaism and Christianity. And that image also placed Nero in the position of the “enemy of the God” and “Antichrist” who would appear at the end of the world.