Suetonius: Nero's "punishments on the Christians"

Suetonius

In short

In his life of Nero, Suetonius lists among the emperor's regulations one sentence: "He likewise inflicted punishments on the Christians, a sort of people who held a new and impious superstition", offered without a reason, which agrees with Tacitus that Nero punished Christians and differs from him in saying nothing about the fire.

What the text says. The notice comes in a paragraph of civic measures, building rules against fire, a sumptuary law, limits on what cook-shops may sell, and reads, whole: "He likewise inflicted punishments on the Christians, a sort of people who held a new and impious superstition" (Nero 16, Thomson/Forester translation; the Latin is superstitionis novae ac maleficae, "new and harmful", the last word carrying a sense of sorcery). Suetonius does not say when, why, or how many.

What it shows, and what the two Roman accounts do not agree on. Two independent Roman writers, neither friendly, agree that Christians were punished under Nero (emperor AD 54-68) and that the authorities regarded the faith as a superstitio, the Roman word for a foreign cult held to be irrational and dangerous. That agreement is the fact. The difference is also a fact and should be stated: Tacitus ties the punishments to the fire of AD 64 and to Nero's need for a scapegoat, and gives the horrors in detail; Suetonius records the punishment as one regulation among others and never mentions the fire in connection with it, though he treats the fire elsewhere in the same Life. Scholars read the silence two ways, as Suetonius's habit of sorting an emperor's acts by topic rather than by date, or as a sign that the link to the fire was Tacitus's own or his source's construction, and this file records both readings. The New Testament, for its part, expects exactly this experience of Christians: "if a man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed" (1 Peter 4:16, ASV), and King Agrippa's remark to Paul shows the name already carrying a charge: "With but little persuasion thou wouldest fain make me a Christian" (Acts 26:28, ASV).

Sources: Suetonius, Nero 16; Tacitus, Annals 15.44; 1 Peter 4:16; Acts 26:28.

---

Suetonius, Nero 16

He devised a new style of building in the city, ordering piazzas to be erected before all houses, both in the streets and detached, to give facilities from their terraces, in case of fire, for preventing it from spreading; and these he built at his own expense. He likewise designed to extend the city walls as far as Ostia, and bring the sea from thence by a canal into the old city. Many severe regulations and new orders were made in his time. A sumptuary law was enacted. Public suppers were limited to the Sportulae; and victualling-houses restrained from selling any dressed victuals, except pulse and herbs, whereas before they sold all kinds of meat. He likewise inflicted punishments on the Christians, a sort of people who held a new and impious superstition.

Suetonius, The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, translated by Alexander Thomson (1796), revised and corrected by Thomas Forester (Bohn's Classical Library, H. G. Bohn, 1855). Project Gutenberg #6390 (Volume 05: Claudius) and #6391 (Volume 06: Nero), both released 2004-12-13, most recently updated 2020-12-29. Public domain.

Sources, trace every one

Every cited verse, in full. Tap any reference to open it in the reader.

1 Peter 4:16bsb
But if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but glorify God that you bear that name.
Acts 26:28bsb
Then Agrippa said to Paul, “Can you persuade me in such a short time to become a Christian?”

All: Roman writers on Jesus and the first Christians The Library Ask a question about this Our sources

On contested questions we show every major view, attributed and cited, and pick no winner. Answers are synthesized from primary sources, truth you can trace, not opinion.