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Tacitus on Nero's punishment of Christians

set in 64 CE, Rome. His own words.

Where and when

set in 64 CERome

1,962 years ago

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Tacitus

, RomeHis own words

In plain words, ours

Though they deserved harsh punishment, people pitied them: they seemed to die not for the public good but for one man's cruelty.

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.

Tacitus, Annals 15.44Translated by A. J. Church and W. J. Brodribb (1876)Read the full passage (Tacitus, Annals 15.44, opens scaife.perseus.org)

What was going on, our summary

After the Great Fire of Rome in 64 CE, Tacitus says, Nero blamed the Christians. Huge numbers were convicted and killed in cruel ways, some torn by dogs, some burned as lights at night, while Nero put on a show in his gardens.

Checked claim by claim against: The Great Fire burns much of Rome, the passage around the quote.

Why it matters

The persecution after the fire is recorded only by Tacitus and a later writer who relied on him; even so, the record shows common Roman attitudes toward the Christian minority at the time.

Based on Wikipedia: Great Fire of Rome

However, record of the post-fire Christian persecution has notably been documented by Tacitus (and in the fifth century, Sulpicius Severus, who openly relied on Tacitus as a source) only.

Nevertheless, record of the post-fire persecution shows common Roman attitudes toward the Christian minority at the time.

Wikipedia, Great Fire of Rome (opens en.wikipedia.org), as of 2026-10-03. Text CC BY-SA 4.0. Our line is checked against these sentences only.

Related moments

In time order, with this one in its place. Each says why it is here.

  1. c. 50 BCEabout 113 years earlier Cato warns the Senate about Caesar, in Plutarch Also about tyrants and the Thirty
  2. 44 BCE, written later107 years earlier Cicero on Cato's choice to die Also about tyrants and the Thirty
  3. c. 62–65 CEDuring it Seneca on time, the only thing we own Same years
  4. 64 CESame year The Great Fire burns much of Rome The event behind itAlso in Rome
  5. set in 64 CEThis momentTacitus on Nero's punishment of Christians
  6. set in 64 CESame year Nero watches the fire, as Suetonius tells it Also in Rome
  7. by 64 CEBy this year Nero on fire devouring the world, in Suetonius Same years
  8. set in 64 CESame year Tacitus on Nero blaming the Christians Same passageMore from Tacitus
  9. set in 64 CESame year Tacitus on the Great Fire of Rome More from Tacitus
  10. set in 64 CESame year Tacitus on the rumour that Nero sang of Troy Same passageMore from Tacitus
  11. 65 CE1 year later Nero orders his old tutor Seneca to die Also in Rome
  12. 66 CE2 years later Judaea rises against Rome Same years

Just before and after

The text around the quote, word for word from the same translation.

Show the passageHide the passage

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.

The quote: 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.

Meanwhile Italy was thoroughly exhausted by contributions of money, the provinces were ruined, as also the allied nations and the free states, as they were called. Even the gods fell victims to the plunder; for the temples in Rome were despoiled and the gold carried off, which, for a triumph or a vow, the Roman people in every age had consecrated in their prosperity or their alarm. Throughout Asia and Achaia not only votive gifts, but the images of deities were seized, Acratus and Secundus Carinas having been sent into those provinces.

Tacitus, Annals 15.44–45Translated by A. J. Church and W. J. Brodribb (1876)Read the full passage (opens scaife.perseus.org)

When, and whose words

Date
set in 64 CE. Set in the great fire of Rome, 64 CE. Tacitus wrote the Annals c. 115–120 CE.
Whose words
His own words.
How this post was checked
  • The plain-words line was read against the quote alone by a second, independent pass, which found it adds no claim the quote does not make (2026-10-03).
  • Each claim in the summary was checked by an independent pass against only the material it cites.
  • The quote itself is checked by the build: word for word, once, at the cited section of the stored translation.

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