In the year 64 CE Emperor Nero ratcheted–up his public debauchery. Banquet–orgies were given in his honor. He went through a wedding ceremony with another male, and engaged in public sexual relations with him in front of witnesses.

That summer a catastrophic fire broke out in Rome. When it was over, ten of Rome’s fourteen districts had been gutted. As part of his multi–faceted response, Nero opened his own gardens to the homeless and presided over an orderly relief effort.

However, several weeks after the fire, Nero made an official and public decision to build his dream palace upon the ashes of the ravished hillsides. Included was the planned Golden House, a mansion which was to have an arcade spanning more than a mile.

These plans for an imperial palace upon the ruins of the homes of ordinary citizens, gave rise to rumors that Nero’s agents had set the Great Fire in the first place. With public anger rising, Nero attempted to deflect the outrage by blaming the Great Fire on the tiny ‘nascent–Christian’* community. These ‘nascent–Christians’ were hounded, arrested and tortured.  He impaled scores of them on stakes and then burned them alive as human torches to illuminate the city at night.