NERO TACITUS

Nero, Roman emperor from 54-68 AD; Tacitus, Roman historian (c. 55120 AD), Annals 15.44, written 109 AD (date of event 64 AD)
http://learning-islam.com/tl/item.php?id=4 (Learning Islam), Early Christian Persecution:
Christian rites and ceremonies were interpreted as immoral; the agape, or love feast, was regarded as an orgy and as Athenagoras records: "Three things are alleged against us: atheism, Thyestean feasts [cannibalism], Oedipodean intercourse [incest]" (7) These were reasons given by Nero for the persecution of Christians 7. Eusebius. The History of the Church, p.95

The Catacombs of Rome, and a History of the Tombs of the Apostles Peter and Paul , John Harvey Treat, 1907, Visits to the Catacombs | II. The Catacomb of Domitilla.The Founders of the Church in Rome:

http://www.foigm.org/IMG/pagworld.htm, Early Christians in a Pagan World, Christianity in the Late First and Early Second Centuries (12-13-01):

The first persecution of Christians by Rome occurred during the reign of Nero (54-68 A.D.). To divert suspicions that he had a fire started to destroy a district in Rome where he wanted to build, Nero blamed "a class hated for their abominations," the Christians (Tacitus, Annuls, xv.44). The Romans had believed much misinformation about Christians. The Roman public considered the Christians worship of the unseen God as atheism, and the Lords Supper (the Love Feast) was thought to consist of cannibalism and sexual orgies. The Romans also considered Christians anti-social because they stopped participating in community pagan feasts and attending the theater, where sacrifices were made to the gods. Many Christians died during Neros persecution, including Peter and Paul.
http://helives.blogspot.com/2004_12_01_archive.html, Recovery from Neros Persecution: Also, since the fire of A.D. 64 that launched Neros persecution, the imperial police took great interest in their gatherings, forcing them to meet in secret, which increased the perception that they had something to hide. And exactly what were their alleged secret activities? Stories circulated about ritualistic cannibalism and ceremonial incest. Nero: Reality and Legend, Warmington, 1969, p. 125, The Fire of Rome in 64 and its Consequences:

http://gear.dyndns.org/~spencer/Bible/canyoutrustyourbiblept3.html, 1. Secular Evidence for Jesus:

b. Roman Historian, Cornelius Tacitus (AD 55?--after 117) A contemporary of Pliny (whom we will meet soon), Cornelius Tacitus is considered the greatest historian of Imperial Rome. Michael Green explains: "He tells us how the Christians, hated by the populace for their `crimes' (alluding no doubt to the Christian emphasis on `love' which was given a sinister twist by the pagans and construed as incest) were made scapegoats for the Great Fire of AD 64 by the Emperor Nero. `The name Christian,' he writes, `comes to them from Christ, who was executed in the reign of Tiberius by the procurator Pontius Pilate; and the pernicious cult, suppressed for a while, broke out afresh and spread not only through Judea, the source of the disease, but in Rome itself, where all the horrible and shameful things in the world collect and find a home.'"[18] 18. Ibid., p. 29, from Tacitus'Annals, 15.44.
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~otherw/WOLA95.html, The World of Late Antiquity: 5 September 2003:

A. Early Christianity in Rome: most came from the large community of 50,000+ Jews who were living in Rome. Christianity was considered a breakaway sect of Judaism and Christians generally enjoyed the same protection as Jews in Rome. By 64, however, they had been alienated from the Jews and were objects of Roman persecution. 5. Rumors of Cannibalism: a misunderstanding of the Eucharist? Rumors of orgies: a misunderstanding of theAgape Feast.
http://hanskrause.de/HKHPE/hkhpe_24_03.htm, Chapter 3: Roman Empire, Nero looks for a guilty one for the fire: And they do love each other already, even before they have come to know each

other. Indiscriminately they carry out a kind of ritual of the desires with one another. They call each other brothers and sisters, so that this will lead toincest, because of the lewdness, which is common among them, by using this holy word. It has been reported that they worship the genital organs of their high priest, that is, symbolically the generative power of their creator. That might be a wrong suspicion, but it fits well with their nocturnal secret rites.
http://www.helwys.com/commentary/art_010903/pdfs/revelation_sample.pdf, Revelation, Provenance and Social Setting:

In addition, their neighbors sometimes suspected the Christians of illegal activities. Misunderstandings of the Christian celebration of the Lords Supper led to accusations of cannibalism, whereas misunderstandings of their love-

feasts(or agape meals) and their custom of calling each other brother and sister caused some of their neighbors to accuse the Christians of incest and immorality. Such suspicions and disdain for Christians are reflected in the oft-quoted remarks of the Roman writer Tacitus, who said they were loathed for their vices and were guilty of hatred of the human race (Annals 15.44 [Jackson, LCL]).
http://www.entheology.org/library/winters/MARKBG.TXT, Background Against Which Mark Wrote His Famous Gospel, Earliest Pagan Reference to Christians:

The earliest ROMAN reference we have of the existence of Christians is from the early second century writings of the Roman historian, Tactitus. Writing somewhat sympathetically of the tortures imposed by the Emperor Nero on this group of men known as "Christians", he paused to reflect on the founder of Christianity, and the spread of Christianity to Rome

Tacitus, Annals 15.44.3:

Explaining Neros justification for killing Christians, Tacitus Annals 15.44.3 describes the Christian acts in Latin as: pudenda confluunt celebranturque.
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/resolveform?lang=Latin (Tufts University), Find: pudenda:

2. Subst.: pdenda , rum, n. (sc. membra). a. The private parts (post-class.), Aus. Per. Odyss. 6; id. Idyll. 6, 85; Aug. Civ. Dei, 14, 17; Sen. ad Marc. 22, 1; Vulg. Nah. 3, 5. (Exactly same in my Harpers Latin Dict., Lewis & Short, 1879.) (Also:) http://www.rostra.dk/latin/saxo.html, P: pudendus, -a, -um 1 adi i.q. turpis 2 subst. n.pl. de genitalibus de Genitalibus means About the reproductive / genital organs QuickLatin translator (http://www.quicklatin.com/, $29). confluunt means They flow / flock / come together / abundantly QuickLatin translator (http://www.quicklatin.com/, $29). celebranturque means They are celebrated QuickLatin translator (http://www.quicklatin.com/, $29). Sounds like an orgy to me, which included St. Peter and St. Paul, and only around 30 years after the death of Christ. Could it be possible that these early Christians especially St. Peter knew Christs instructions better than todays mainstream Church? Lets see, thats 30 years versus 2000 years. By the way, QuickLatin translator definitions can also be found at http://lysy2.archives.nd.edu/cgi-bin/words.exe?de+genitalibus (Univ. of Notre Dame).

(more on) Pudenda:

http://www.answers.com/pudenda, pudendum: The human external genital organs, especially of a woman. Often used in the plural. http://www.answers.com/vulva, vulva: The external genital organs of the female are collectively known as the vulva (also sometimes called the pudenda). http://www.answers.com/penis, penis: Pudendal nerve entrapment is a condition characterized by pain on sitting and loss of penile (or clitoral) sensation and orgasm. Occasionally there is a total loss of sensation and orgasm. Merriam-Websters Collegiate Dictionary, 1997, p. 944, pudendum:

Composition of Scientific Words: A manual of methods and a lexicon of materials for the practice of logotechnics, Brown, 1956, p. 700, sex organs:

Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin (Latin-English), Stelten, 1995, p. 216, pudnda:

Oxford Latin Dictionary, Glare, 1982, p. 1513, pudendus:

Thesaurus Linguae Romanae et Britannicae (Latin-English), Thomas Cooper, 1565, no page numbers, Pudenda:

Translated from Elizabethan English: Pudenda. The privy parts of the body.
(H)ortus Vocabulorum (Latin & English definitions), 1500, no page numbers, pudenda:

Dictionary (Latin-English), Thomas Elyot, 1538, no page numbers, Pudenda | Pudiciti:

Translated from Elizabethan English: Pudefio,fis,fieri, to be ashamed. Pudenda, the privy members. Pudens,tis, shamefast. Pudiciti habere(to have), to be violated in the act of lechery(excessive indulgence in sexual activity; lewdness). I think todays church would like the keep this private information private.
Dictionarium Linguae Latinae et Anglicanae (Latin-English), Thomas Thomas, 1587, no page numbers:

Translated from Elizabethan English: Pdfcio, Pudefio, Pudefactus, Gel.To make ashamed, to make to blush, to be ashamed. Pdendagra, * A disease about the privy members like that we call a Winchester goose. Pdendum, di,n. g. Iun. The privy member of man or woman. Pdendus,a,um. A shameful thing, that is to be ashamed of. Pdens,tis,& Pudentissimus, a, um. Shameful, honest, bashful.
http://www.sex-lexis.com/Sex-Dictionary/Winchester%20goose (Dictionary of sexual terms), Winchester goose: Winchester goose: Obsolete term for:

1. A prostitute in 14 th centrury London. 2. The pocks (or pox), the venereal bulbos of syphilis

A sexual thing.
The Latin sexual Vocabulary, Adams, 1982, p. 55, Mentula and its Synonyms | Pudenda:

A Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint (Twelve Prophets), Muraoka, 1993, p. 73, :

The entire Latin text to Tacitus Annals 15.44:

http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/tacitus/tac.ann15.shtml#44, Tactus: Annales XV: P. CORNELI TACITI ANNALIVM LIBER QVINTVS DECIMVS, 44:

[44] Et haec quidem humanis consiliis providebantur. mox petita [a] dis piacula aditique Sibyllae libri, ex quibus supplicatum Volcano et Cereri Proserpinaeque, ac propitiata Iuno per matronas, primum in Capitolio,

deinde apud proximum mare, unde hausta aqua templum et simulacrum deae perspersum est; et sellisternia ac pervigilia celebravere feminae, quibus mariti erant. Sed non ope humana, non largitionibus principis aut deum placamentis decedebat infamia, quin iussum incendium crederetur. ergo abolendo rumori Nero subdidit reos et quaesitissimis poenis adfecit, quos per flagitia invisos vulgus Chrestianos appellabat. auctor nominis eius Christus Tibero imperitante per procuratorem Pontium Pilatum supplicio adfectus erat; repressaque in praesens exitiablilis superstitio rursum erumpebat, non modo per Iudaeam, originem eius mali, sed per urbem etiam, quo cuncta undique atrocia aut pudenda confluunt celebranturque. igitur primum correpti qui fatebantur, deinde indicio eorum multitudo ingens haud proinde in crimine incendii quam odio humani generis convicti sunt. et pereuntibus addita ludibria, ut ferarum tergis contecti laniatu canum interirent aut crucibus adfixi [aut flammandi atque], ubi defecisset dies, in usu[m] nocturni luminis urerentur. hortos suos ei spectaculo Nero obtulerat, et circense ludicrum edebat, habitu aurigae permixtus plebi vel curriculo insistens. unde quamquam adversus sontes et novissima exempla meritos miseratio oriebatur, tamquam non utilitate publica, sed in saevitiam unius absumerentur.
Hes even talking how Pontius Pilate (Pontium Pilatum) executed Christ (Christus). According to Lewis & Shorts Latin dictionary, flagitia means Esp., a shameful or disgraceful act done in the heat of passion, dissolute. And Latin vulgus does mean vulgar in English, and the word after is Christians (Chrestianos).

Miscellaneous:
http://www.maths.gla.ac.uk/~sgh/myArticles/Christians%20&%20Rome%20to%20235.pdf, Christians and Roman Authority 34-235, 3. Christians under the Flavians: The attestations of Suetonius, Tacitus and others [8] show that he concluded by 63 that Christians were guilty of supersitio illicita and could be denounced and brought to account at a tribunal for this. Certainly by then the public easily believed that Christians were guilty of many crimes, or flagitia. Up for grabs were infanticide (the Eucharist), and incest because Christians called each other brother and sister. Also a successful accusation meant acquiring a Christian's property, so avarice was a ready motivation. http://www.bible-history.com/nero/NEROThe_International_Standard_Bible.htm, The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: NERO, VI. Nero and Christianity. | 2. Neronian Policy and Christianity:

Christianity was not in itself as yet a crime; its adherents were not liable to persecution "for the name." According to one view the Neronian persecution was a spasmodic act and an isolated incident in imperial policy: the Christians were on this occasion put forward merely to remove suspicion from Nero. They were not persecuted either as Christians or as incendiaries, but on account of flagitia and odium humani generis, i.e. Thyestean feasts, Oedipodean incest and nightly orgies were attributed to them, and their withdrawal from society and exclusive manners caused the charge of "hatred for society." The evidence of Tacitus (Ann. xv.44) would bear out this view of the Neronian persecution as accidental, isolated, to satisfy the revenge of the mob, confined to Rome and of brief duration. The other view is, however, preferable, as represented by Ramsay (Church in the Roman Empire, chapter xi) and E. G. Hardy (Studies in Roman History, chapter iv). Suetonius speaks of the persecution of Christians as a permanent police regulation in a list of other seemingly permanent measures (Nero xvi: afflicti suppliciis Christiani genus hominum superstitionis novae ac maleficae), which is not inconsistent with the account of Tacitus--who gives the initial step and Suetonius the permanent result. The Christians by these trials, though not convicted of incendiarism, were brought into considerable prominence; their unsocial and exclusive manners, their withdrawal from the duties of state, their active proselytism, together with the charges of immorality, established them in Roman eyes as the enemies of society. Christianity thus became a crime and was banned by the police authorities. Suetonius gives a "brief statement of the permanent administrative principle into which Nero's action ultimately resolved itself" (Ramsay, op. cit., 232). No formal law needed to be passed, the matter could be left with the prefect of the city. A trial must be held and the flagitia proved before an order for execution, according to Ramsay, but Hardy holds that henceforth the name itself--nomen ipsum--was proscribed. If setting fire was the only thing the Christians (supposed) did, then that would have been the actions of a certain few / group, not justification to persecute as a crime the entire Christian name. But, if the adamant religious rites are proven criminal (the free sex), then it fits better that the entire name would be sought for persecution.

http://www.faithalone.org/GESOT/Courses/hist501/501.pdf (formally at http://www.chafer.edu/distance/online/church_history.pdf), Church History 501: Survey of Church History: Apostolic To Pre-Reformation and Reformation to Modern, Dr. Stephen Lewis, Grace Evangelical School of Theology, The Ancient Church: Apostolic (Pentecost) to A.D. 600 | I. THE AGE OF THE APOSTLES (A.D. 33-100) | B. The Beginning of the Church, p. 45, 5. The close of the Apostolic period | a. The crisis years A.D. 64-70:

(1) Nero's persecution July A.D. 64 "To get rid of this rumor, Nero set up (Lat. Subdidit 'used of fraudulent substitution, or false suggestion' Tacitus does not believe their guilt) as the culprits and punished with the utmost refinement of cruelty a class hated for their abominations, (infanticide, cannibalism, incest, etc.), who are commonly called Christians." Tacitus, Annales xv. 44. (2) Violent death of Peter and Paul
http://www.murialdo.it/didaskaleion/matcorsi/inglese/ing01.pdf, The Foundations of Christianity: Chapter 1: The Existence of Jesus of Nazareth - Accounts - , 1.3 Records of the 2nd Century A.D.:

112 ? - Annales by Tacitus, written in Latin:

They are accounts of events occurring about the Roman Empire in the lapse of time between the death of Augustus and the death of Nero, namely between A.D. 16 and 68. Incidentally, with reference to the fire of Rome inA.D. 64, it was rumored that emperor Nero himself had commanded to raise the fire. Considering such event, the Roman historian wrote thus: "... To put an end to such rumours, Nero had the ones whom the mob would call Christians - because of their shameful convictions - to pass off as guilty, and to be subject to most refined punishment. The one called the Christ had been sentenced to death by order of procurator Pontius Pilate during Emperor Tiberius' rule. Although it had been put down for a while, such ruinous superstition started spreading again not only in Judea, the origin-land of that pest, but also in Rome, where all things considered shameful and wicked would converge and be highly regarded. Therefore, in first instance, all were arrested who would avow their guilt; a great many people were thereafter condemned on their report, not so much for having started the fire as for hatred of mankind" (Annales, XV,44). http://web.archive.org/web/20101227051312/http://goldenrule.name/Orgy_Tacitus-Nero.htm