Paul was a contemporary of Nero. In his fragmentary epistle to the Philippians, he drops some names that should ring some bells. Perhaps the reason the epistle is fragmentary is because some parts got redacted.
In 42 BCE Octavian and Mark Antony fought and defeated the assassins of Julius Caesar in Philippi. Since then Philippi had been an important Roman military base. Of course, Octavian became Caesar Augustus, followed by Tiberius, followed by Caligula, followed by Claudius, followed by Nero. Nero had a right hand man, a freed slave named Epaphroditus. Paul mentions Epaphroditus in his epistle. He mentions Epaphroditus giving him his service. Translators have a hard time with that line. Paul closes Philippians by mentioning "the believers in the Household of Caesar." The Household of Caesar was a department of the Roman Army responsible for financing said army. Nero's man Epaphroditus was definitely a member, likely the leader of the department. Was Paul on Nero's payroll? And it doesn't sound like Nero was persecuting those believers.
Paul also mentions Clement in the epistle. There was a Clement in Rome who became pope. Clement is the source of the story that Paul went on to Iberia, and was executed in 68 CE, after Nero committed suicide. Another contemporary writer linked Nero's suicide with his execution of Peter in 64 CE, just after the Great Fire of Rome. So Nero executed Peter, but not Paul. Clement says Peter was arrested when he got to Rome. Peter spent his papacy in prison. If you count Peter as the first pope, then Clement was the third pope.
The Emperor Claudius is known for expelling the Jews from Rome because they were fighting amongst themselves over whether someone was the Messiah. Because the Emperor couldn't tell who was in the right, he expelled everyone. Clearly the Jews were allowed back under Nero. Also, in those days the Bible didn't exist. So Peter and Paul would have been considered Jews. Especially since Paul wrote in his epistle to the Romans that Jesus was a man resurrected by God because Jesus was faithful to God. Paul was a bad writer, and people tend to misinterpret what he wrote. Paul did believe that Gentiles were saved by what Jesus did; that is, they didn't need to follow the Torah. But Paul had a problem with following the Torah, and his visions of the resurrected Jesus gave him an out.
So, how did Nero get a bad name among Christians? He did arrest, try, convict and execute Peter. Since Jacob, the head of the Jerusalem church, was martyred in 62 CE, there may have been disturbances and arrests of other Jews in Rome who believed Jesus was the Messiah. And then there was the Jewish Rebellion in 66 CE that ended with the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE. After that, the Messiahists explained that Jesus was a spiritual Messiah. Unfortunately the Temple was the center of industry for Judea, and its destruction meant the economy shifted to export crops (olive oil and wine). Life got harder for Judeans. Eventually they rebelled again and were expelled from Jerusalem in 135 CE.
By that time there were a lot of Gentile churches, and their Jewish fellow believers lost a lot of prestige and status. People who hadn't come around to the opinion that Jesus was God were excommunicated. Christians now saw themselves as not Jews. And Peter and Paul were retroactively Christianized. Nero got a bad name. And also credit for executing Paul. This was when the Christians started thinking about compiling the Canon that became the Bible. Paul's epistles became a part of that Canon.
Paul was a contemporary of Nero. In his fragmentary epistle to the Philippians, he drops some names that should ring some bells. Perhaps the reason the epistle is fragmentary is because some parts got redacted.
In 42 BCE Octavian and Mark Antony fought and defeated the assassins of Julius Caesar in Philippi. Since then Philippi had been an important Roman military base. Of course, Octavian became Caesar Augustus, followed by Tiberius, followed by Caligula, followed by Claudius, followed by Nero. Nero had a right hand man, a freed slave named Epaphroditus. Paul mentions Epaphroditus in his epistle. He mentions Epaphroditus giving him his service. Translators have a hard time with that line. Paul closes Philippians by mentioning "the believers in the Household of Caesar." The Household of Caesar was a department of the Roman Army responsible for financing said army. Nero's man Epaphroditus was definitely a member, likely the leader of the department. Was Paul on Nero's payroll? And it doesn't sound like Nero was persecuting those believers.
Paul also mentions Clement in the epistle. There was a Clement in Rome who became pope. Clement is the source of the story that Paul went on to Iberia, and was executed in 68 CE, after Nero committed suicide. Another contemporary writer linked Nero's suicide with his execution of Peter in 64 CE, just after the Great Fire of Rome. So Nero executed Peter, but not Paul. Clement says Peter was arrested when he got to Rome. Peter spent his papacy in prison. If you count Peter as the first pope, then Clement was the third pope.
The Emperor Claudius is known for expelling the Jews from Rome because they were fighting amongst themselves over whether someone was the Messiah. Because the Emperor couldn't tell who was in the right, he expelled everyone. Clearly the Jews were allowed back under Nero. Also, in those days the Bible didn't exist. So Peter and Paul would have been considered Jews. Especially since Paul wrote in his epistle to the Romans that Jesus was a man resurrected by God because Jesus was faithful to God. Paul was a bad writer, and people tend to misinterpret what he wrote. Paul did believe that Gentiles were saved by what Jesus did; that is, they didn't need to follow the Torah. But Paul had a problem with following the Torah, and his visions of the resurrected Jesus gave him an out.
So, how did Nero get a bad name among Christians? He did arrest, try, convict and execute Peter. Since Jacob, the head of the Jerusalem church, was martyred in 62 CE, there may have been disturbances and arrests of other Jews in Rome who believed Jesus was the Messiah. And then there was the Jewish Rebellion in 66 CE that ended with the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE. After that, the Messiahists explained that Jesus was a spiritual Messiah. Unfortunately the Temple was the center of industry for Judea, and its destruction meant the economy shifted to export crops (olive oil and wine). Life got harder for Judeans. Eventually they rebelled again and were expelled from Jerusalem in 135 CE.
By that time there were a lot of Gentile churches, and their Jewish fellow believers lost a lot of prestige and status. People who hadn't come around to the opinion that Jesus was God were excommunicated. Christians now saw themselves as not Jews. And Peter and Paul were retroactively Christianized. Nero got a bad name. And also credit for executing Paul. This was when the Christians started thinking about compiling the Canon that became the Bible. Paul's epistles became a part of that Canon.
Wow, Chris, this is an incredible backstory. Thank you for sharing! I'd not heard the theory that Paul was on Nero's payroll before...