The empeorors had little problem with Judiasm until Claudius came to power. When the Jews began making trouble due to the Christians, Claudius expelled the Christians from Rome.
The next emperor to come to power was Nero. Nero is most well known for his persecution of the Christians. The Roman empire was almost completely pagans. The Pagans did not like the Christians. A trait of Christianity which Christians emphasized was that it was a revolt "against the old ways against the extreme conservatism of pagan intellectuals" (Hillgarth, p.17). This provoked strong opposition by pagans. It drew a large amount of lower class. Rumors began that in the secret meetings the Christians had they would commit acts of "incest, murder, and cannibalism" (Goodenough, p.36). In 64AD a great fire swept through Rome. Nero decided to use the Christians as a scapegoat to blame for the fire. They were an easy scapegoat since the torture of unfortunate people was a popular form of entertainment and the Christians were lower