Post Four

     Hello, my friends!  Due to the fact that I am pressed for time, I will be making two posts tonight.  My first post will be about my experiences with persecution beginning in A.D. 64.

     It all began when Nero accused the Christians of starting the fire that engulfed much of Rome for ten days in January A.D. 64. to take the blame off his back.  At first, few believed him where I lived and it wasn't a problem.  One day, I was selling my wares in my shop, preaching about Jesus all the while, when some new customers came in.  I greeted them and showed them my pottery, and they seemed quite pleased with it.  As they were preparing to buy the pottery, I told them about Jesus.  Suddenly, they announced that they would not buy pottery from a Christian because I would probably cheat them, and stormed off.  Apparently, false word spread that I was cheating customers, and my clientele declined.  I was barely paying rent and, if I hadn't been arrested, I probably would've been arrested before too long.

     Now, during this time, many of my customers were Roman soldiers, so I was used to having soldiers in full uniform enter my shop.  One day in early A.D. 65 I was busy in my shop when four soldiers came in.  I greeted them, assuming they were customers, and they asked me a bit of personal information.  I told them my name and told them about my faith, just as they asked, and then suddenly they told me that I was under arrest under the charge of refusing to worship the emperor and, furthermore, cheating Roman citizens and soldiers.  They took me under custody and brought me to the prison in the Forum.  There, the judges asked me about my beliefs and tried to force me to change them, and when I refused, I was beaten harshly and the process was repeated.  Finally, I was condemned to life in prison.  That's where I am today.

     I will later tell you about my experiences in prison.  Vale!