Good morning. It is Tuesday. Not that it being Tuesday gives me an excuse, but I am going to use my thought for today to delve into a truly weird character.
The weird character is Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus. With a name like that isn’t too surprising that he went by the short version, Nero. Born in 37AD, he was emperor of Rome from 54-68. He became emperor at age 16 through two momentous events. First, he was adopted by the reining emperor Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (Claudius for short). This adoption put him in the line of succession. Second, he became emperor when his mother, Agrippina, a sister of the murdered emperor Caligula, poisoned Claudius, whom she had married a few years earlier. If poisoning her husband (he was also her uncle) sounds a bit harsh, it wasn’t out of character. Agrippina is said to have poisoned a bunch of folks for one reason or another, but then again…being his sister, she shared the bloodline of Caligula.
Nero owed his mother everything for arranging his adoption and then for killing Claudius. He was so grateful that he decided that when he murdered her, he would have it done in a quiet, and relatively painless way. She proved a bit too tough for that approach, and his first three attempts to poison her all failed. Not to be dissuaded, he had a special ceiling made for her bed chamber that collapsed on her while she was sleeping. That didn’t work either. So, he had a special boat built that had a bottom that would give way, drowning all aboard. She swam to shore. Finally, he had a servant named Anicetus beat her to death with a club. So much for the quiet and gentle approach. By the way, Nero insisted that her death be recorded as a suicide, which I suppose means that she would have had to beat herself to death with a club. The bottom line, no one argued with Nero, it wasn’t good for your health.
No one really knows how many people Nero murdered, but quite a few. My information comes from the historians Tacitus, Suetonius, and Greek historian Cassius Dio. They provide the basics but seem reluctant to share some of the details, probably over concerns for their own health.
When he became emperor after the murder of Claudius, one of the first things Nero did was to marry his step-sister Claudia Octavia. She was very popular with the Roman people, considered to be kind and thoughtful. She did much to improve education and living conditions among the less advantaged. These attributes were considered some of the reasons why Nero hated her. He divorced her and had her banished to an island. This caused riots in the streets, which scared Nero so much that he had her brought back to Rome where she could be properly murdered.
Nero’s life and behavior were outrageous, even by the standards of Roman aristocracy, and that is saying something. He was so brutal with all who would speak against him that very few did. The one group that pointed out his failings and the destructive direction he was dictating for Rome was that sizable bunch of religious rebels called Christians. These people seemed to be impossible to intimidate, and that drove Nero into even more crazed action. Before he began his infamous persecution and murder of Christians, he did all that he could to turn the mind of Romans against them. Ultimately, and most famously, he cast the blame for the great fire of Rome in 64AD on the Christians. This was nonsense, and it seems that everyone knew that it was nonsense. But it gave Nero the excuse to claim Christianity to be the source of all the problems in Roman society and to have Christians murdered…creatively.
Ultimately, Nero was murdered. That should not come as a surprise since murder was what he had built his life and rule upon.
Persecution of the Body of Christ was predicted by Jesus himself on several occasions. We read in John 15:19-20 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
We read in 1 Peter 4:12-14 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.
The enemy has always had persons who were in clear allegiance with him. Some, such as Nero, rose to positions of power. Christians have been persecuted for their faith from the beginning, and there is no reason to believe that will change. The question is whether stout hearted and determined Christians today will continue to stand up for what is right and true, or will we fall back, thinking that never ending complaints about the unfairness of it all is response enough.
Stand up for Jesus today, tomorrow, and always. His love will never fail!
Vern