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History of the Franks

St Gregory of Tours, tr. Dalton, 1927

Book 1, 25. Of the Passion of the Apostles; and Concerning Nero

Under Claudius, fourth emperor from Augustus, the blessed apostle Peter came to Rome and, preaching there, plainly proved Christ, through His manifold virtues, to be the Son of God. From those days there began to be Christians in the city of Rome. But when the name of Christ spread more and more among the peoples, there arose against it the old envy of the serpent, and a fierce malice filled the whole heart of the emperor. For Nero the wanton, vain, and arrogant, who abandoned himself to men and abused them in his turn, the filthy violator of his mother, of his sisters, and whatsoever women were nearest to him in blood, to complete the heavy sum of his wickedness, became the first to raise up persecution against the believers and oppose the worship of Christ. He had with him Simon Magus, one full of all wickedness and master of the whole art of magic. This man was rejected by the Lord’s apostles Peter and Paul;¹ and the emperor, moved to wrath against them because they preached Christ the Son of God and scorned to worship idols, commanded that Peter should be slain on the cross, and Paul with the sword. He himself died by his own hand at the fourth milestone from the city, while seeking to escape from a rebellion stirred up against him.

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