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When the government of Nero was now firmly established, he began to
plunge into unholy pursuits, and armed himself even against the
religion of the God of the universe. To describe the greatness of his
depravity does not lie within the plan of the present work. As there
are many indeed that have recorded his history in most accurate
narratives, every one may at his pleasure learn from them the
coarseness of the man's extraordinary madness, under the influence of
which, after he had accomplished the destruction of so many myriads
without any reason, he ran into such blood-guiltiness that he did not
spare even his nearest relatives and dearest friends, but destroyed his
mother and his brothers and his wife, with very many others of his own
family as he would private and public enemies, with various kinds of
deaths. But with all these things this particular in the catalogue of
his crimes was still wanting, that he was the first of the emperors who
showed himself an enemy of the divine religion. The Roman Tertullian
is likewise a witness of this. He writes as follows: "Examine your
records. There you will find that Nero was the first that persecuted
this doctrine, particularly then when after subduing all the east, he
exercised his cruelty against all at Rome. We glory in having such a
man the leader in our punishment. For whoever knows him can understand
that nothing was condemned by Nero unless it was something of great
excellence." Thus publicly announcing himself as the first among
God's chief enemies, he was led on to the slaughter of the apostles.
It is, therefore, recorded that Paul was beheaded in Rome itself,
and that Peter likewise was crucified under Nero. This account of
Peter and Paul is substantiated by the fact that their names are
preserved in the cemeteries of that place even to the present day. It
is confirmed likewise by Caius, a member of the Church, who arose
under Zephyrinus, bishop of Rome. He, in a published disputation
with Proclus, the leader of the Phrygian heresy, speaks as follows
concerning the places where the sacred corpses of the aforesaid apostles
are laid: "But I can show the trophies of the apostles. For if you
will go to the Vatican or to the Ostian way, you will find the
trophies of those who laid the foundations of this church." And that
they both suffered martyrdom at the same time is stated by Dionysius,
bishop of Corinth, in his epistle to the Romans, in the following
words: "You have thus by such an admonition bound together the
planting of Peter and of Paul at Rome and Corinth. For both of
them planted and likewise taught us in our Corinth. And they taught
together in like manner in Italy, and suffered martyrdom at the same
time." I have quoted these things in order that the truth of the
history might be still more confirmed.
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