18 July: A Date in Roman History

The 18 July is a date famous, or rather infamous, in Roman history. You might remember from your school days of the story of Nero playing the fiddle whilst Rome burned? On 18 July 64 AD the City of Rome experienced a disaster: a Great Fire that burned for six days, destroying much of the City. The Emperor, wishing to distract attention from his own lack of vigilance and care for the City of Rome, decided to assign the blame to a new and growing religious minority: Christians. The first wave of persecution of followers of Christ outside of the Holy Land can be traced to the Great Fire of Rome on 18 July and what followed.