During the rise of early Christianity in Rome, persecution ranged from common people to emperors and was a common practice. The unjust oppression of Christians came from a place of fear by the emperors, yet common people believed that Christians disrespected the rank of the gods. Because of the inferior label placed on Christians and their “shameful” behavior during this period, persecution was a continuous sequence. Christianity is a unified religion that took on full commitment and faith in early Rome. Christianity arose in the first century after the death of Christ and its rise came with the help of the apostles. The apostles are the first Christian teachers who taught the message of Christ and how to reach God through worship. They first taught the early Roman Christians to accept Christ as their lord and savior, not as emperor. Pliny, lawyer, author and magistrate of ancient Rome who lived from 61 to 113 BC. C., wrote letters to an emperor named Trajan about the average Sunday worship of a Christian. He writes: “That they used, on a appointed day, to gather together before it was light, and sing alternately a hymn to Christ, as to a god; and to oblige oneself by a sacrament [or oath] not to do anything evil, but not to commit theft, nor theft, nor adultery; that they would not break their promises, nor renounce what had been deposited with them… “it was their custom to depart and meet again at a common but innocent meal.” The "hymn" he speaks of was connected to the Bible, a physical representation of Christians who denied the emperor and by reciting an oath separated themselves from the emperor on a divine level. When Pliny talks about the meal they eat, he is explaining a traditional Sunday din...... middle of paper...... to heal those suffering from illnesses, and in doing so this helped convert many pagans. However, many Romans were still angry about the situation in Rome. Not only were they poor, as they spent money to help their loved ones, but those who were not in the hospital would have a family member turned away from their original religion. Both pagans and Christians were looking for someone to blame, however the pagans loyal to the emperor were looking for an easy target, which appears to be the Christians. Most Christians were slaves or soldiers, so they were not respectable people at that time. The main reason why emperors persecuted Christians was because historically emperors had always been hostile to Christians. How could an emperor accept a religion that worships Jesus Christ, a Jewish criminal?.