𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝟑𝟎 • 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡

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𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐒 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐘𝐑𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐘 𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍 𝐂𝐇𝐔𝐑𝐂𝐇

There were Christians in Rome within a dozen or so years after the death of Jesus, though they were not the converts of the “Apostle of the Gentiles” (Romans 15:20). Paul had not yet visited them at the time he wrote his great letter in 57-58 A.D.

There was a large Jewish population in Rome. Probably as a result of controversy between Jews and Jewish Christians, the Emperor Claudius expelled all Jews from Rome in 49-50 A.D. Suetonius the historian says that the expulsion was due to disturbances in the city “caused by the certain Chrestus” [Christ]. Perhaps many came back after Claudius’ death in 54 A.D. Paul’s letter was addressed to a Church with members from Jewish and Gentile backgrounds.

In July of 64 A.D., more than half of Rome was destroyed by fire. Rumor blamed the tragedy on Nero, who wanted to enlarge his palace. He shifted the blame by accusing the Christians. According to the historian Tacitus, many Christians were put to death because of their “hatred of the human race.” Peter and Paul were probably among the victims.

Threatened by an army revolt and condemned to death by the senate, Nero committed suicide in 68 A.D. at the age of 31.

𝐏𝐑𝐀𝐘𝐄𝐑

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘧𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘊𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺𝘳𝘴. 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺. 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘯.