Persecution of early Christians in the Roman Empire references on wikipedia
Persecution_of_early_Christians_in_the_Roman_Empire In its first three centuries, the Christian church endured periods of persecution at the hands of Roman authorities. Christians were persecuted by local authorities on an intermittent and ad-hoc basis. In addition, there were several periods of empire-wide persecution which was directed from the seat of government in Rome.This experience, and the associated martyrs and apologists, would have significant historical and theological consequences for the developing faith.