Rome Was the 'Eternal City' and Christians Believed the Roman Empire
Would Last till the Second Coming of Christ: Those Memories Persist
by Mark Mountjoy
Introductory Remarks
It may or may not come as a surprise that people always think, talk and wonder; so do Christians. People also make mistakes and since Christians are people, they do too. After the Second Jewish Commonwealth disappeared in A.D.135 Christians suddenly had no legal protection in the empire as "Jews."1 Between A.D.135 to the ascension of the Severan Dynasty things were real choppy for them.2 Not long after that the most extensive persecution Christians ever had to face, blossomed under the auspices of the Emperor Diocletian. This persecution was not like the Neronic one where a local fire was blamed on local Christian scapegoats and the spectacle of tar and fire was only lit in Rome itself for a night.3 This persecution was not like the sporadic provincial incidents that happened under Trajan where letters from Pliny indicated that so-and-so was rumored to be a Christian and was brought to court for examination to see if that was true.4 This persecution was not the on again, off again hostilities Christians had to face at the hands of arrogant Roman soldiers out for lust and loot and easy targets.5