Christianity as illicita Some scholars have argued that Christianity was declared a religio illicita (an impermissible or illegitimate religion) by Nero following the Great Fire of Rome in 64.Geoffrey E.M. de Ste. Croix, "Why Were the Early Christians Persecuted?" Past and Present, 26 (1963), pp. 6-38. Though this term appears nowhere, it has been conjectured that a declaration of Christianity as illicita was the legal basis for official persecutions. There was, however, "no law, either existing section of criminal law, or special legislation directed against the Christians, under which Christians were prosecuted in the first two centuries."J.E.A. Crake, "Early Christians and Roman Law," Phoenix 19 (1965), p. 70. Rome lacked a uniform policy or legal code pertaining to foreign cults,T.D. Barnes, "Legislation against the Christians," Journal of Roman Studies 58 (1968), 50 and before Christian hegemony in the 4th century, there was no legal language to designate a concept analogous to "heresy" or crimes against orthodox religion.Rutgers, "Roman Policy," p. 68. 
Christianity as illicita Although this term appears nowhere, it has been conjectured that a declaration of Christianity as illicita was the legal basis for official persecutions. There was, however, "no law, either existing section of criminal law, or special legislation directed against the Christians, under which Christians were prosecuted in the first two centuries."J.E.A. Crake, "Early Christians and Roman Law," Phoenix 19 (1965), p. 70. Rome lacked a uniform policy or legal code pertaining to foreign cults,T.D. Barnes, "Legislation against the Christians," Journal of Roman Studies 58 (1968), 50 and before Christian hegemony in the 4th century, there was no legal language to designate a concept analogous to "heresy" or crimes against orthodox religion.Rutgers, "Roman Policy," p. 68. Some scholars have argued that Christianity was declared a religio illicita (an impermissible or illegitimate religion) by Nero following the Great Fire of Rome in 64.Geoffrey E.M. de Ste. Croix, "Why Were the Early Christians Persecuted?" Past and Present, 26 (1963), pp. 6-38.
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Some scholars have argued that Christianity was declared a religio illicita (an impermissible or illegitimate religion) by Nero following the Great Fire of Rome in 64.Geoffrey E.M. de Ste. Croix, "Why Were the Early Christians Persecuted?" Past and Present, 26 (1963), pp. 6-38. Though
Although
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Some scholars have argued that Christianity was declared a religio illicita (an impermissible or illegitimate religion) by Nero following the Great Fire of Rome in 64.Geoffrey E.M. de Ste. Croix, "Why Were the Early Christians Persecuted?" Past and Present, 26 (1963), pp. 6-38.