nero famously while the city burned. but he had his reasons for letting the fire burn. he wanted to clear out space for grand new buildings. >> the christians living in the south of the city are immune from the fire that sweeps northwards. the christians thought under suspicion, nero, the emperor, being blamed widely, realizes the christians are the scapegoats, the natural scapegoats. >> he apparently had some of them burned as human torches in his gardens. he had others wrapped in animal skins and set wild dogs upon them in a public setting. and so this is the first persecution of christians by is a roman emperor. the reason christians were persecuted early on was not because it was illegal to be a christian. they were persecuted because they were known to be troublemakers.