But the end of all things is near. Therefore be of sound mind, self-controlled, and sober in prayer.
The Neronian persecution broke against the Christians, sending countless thousands of them to their flaming death as torches to light the orgies in Nero's gardens, or feed the wild beasts in the Coliseum, or to be crucified, tortured, burned alive, beheaded, or suffer any other horrible death that the pagan mind could invent.  All earthly possessions of Christians perished in that holocaust.