the trip from jerusalem almost killed paul when he was shipwrecked in a storm. finally, in the year 60 a.d., paul reached rome in chains. just in time for rome s first official persecution of christians at the hands of the emperor, nero. in the year 64 a.d., when a fire destroyed much of imperial rome, 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
there was a serious uprising in which jews decided to try and throw out the roman oppressors and establish israel as a sovereign state in the land. the romans sent in their legions from assyria and fought their way south through galilee, to jerusalem, the holy city in judaism, and fortress of the jewish rebels. they made the tactical mistake of all assembling in jerusalem around that temple. and the worst thing happened, they started to fight among themselves, about what to do, how to defend themselves. that s when, according to the jewish historian joseiphus, the roman general titus surrounded jerusalem. titus, a brutal warrior, cut off the city s food and water in order to starve the people out.
[ female announcer ] lactaid®. the original lactose-free milk. yeah. aww.that oj needs alka-seltzer plus. fast powder packs are a taste-free fizz-free way to transform your drink into a powerful cold fighter! there s a cold front moving in, but relief is on the way. here are the latest headlines. thousands of travelers might be facing a frustrating weekend. delta airlines has canceled christmas day flights because of the potential of severe weather. the northeast and mid-atlantic will feel the brunt of it. at vatican city worshipers gathered friday night amid heightened security. the call bustard and the holy holiday by saying midnight mass at st. peter s basilica.
agrees to that or if they go ahead and have that election on their own. and then what the ukrainians and russians do with the result. back to you. yeah. leland, we appreciate you showing us exactly what the ukrainians are trying to defend themselves. we appreciate you reporting from donetsk, ukraine. leland vittert, thank you. five troops have been killed in a british helicopter crash in southern afghanistan near the pakistan border and makes it the deadliest day this year for coalition forces. troops are preparing to withdraw, of course, from afghanistan at the end of this year. and there s no word yet on the nationalities of those killed. in a text message, though, the taliban is claiming they shot down the helicopter. nato is investigating. and you re looking live. live pictures right now from t vatican city where preparations are under way for the double sainthood ceremony of pope john
today, more than 2 billion people call themselves christians, people who believe jesus rose from the dead. but perhaps it s a miracle that christianity did not disappear when the romans crucified jesus on a lonely hill outside jerusalem almost 2,000 years ago. this region, jerusalem and judea, represented an important land bridge between syria and egypt. so throughout history, this has been a critical place. jerusalem had been the holy city of judaism for more than 1,000 years, a place that the romans had occupied since 63 b.c.