With the painful partition between Judaism and Christianity, starting during the Jewish-Roman Wars (completed in AD 135), Christians began attracting punitive attention from local Roman authorities.
Formation And Struggles: The Birth of the Church AD 33-200, by Veselin Kesich
This seems strange in some ways: Christians, who did not rebel against Rome in these wars, attracted punitive attention; Jews, who rebelled, were exiled, but retained their privileges as Jews. The issue was this: after these wars, Christians were expelled from the Jewish synagogues, and this then attracted the attention of the authorities. If they aren’t in the synagogue, this must be some new cult.
So, while the Jews were exempt from many of the religious practices of the empire, Christians now were not. When the emperor demanded that he be addressed as “Lord and God,” this was something the Christians could not do......
Conclusion
The Christians, unlike other “rebels,” were seen as unique, remaining utterly committed to their faith. By the third century, what was sporadic persecution became more widespread and systematic. In the mid-third century, bishops from Rome, Antioch, and Jerusalem were executed. Often, the crowd would join in, torturing the victims, or egging the torturers on. Yet others, witnessing the Christians, became curious about such faith.
The Christians saw all of this not in political terms, but in eschatological terms. They were experiencing the struggle between Christ and the devil.
