One of the strongest pieces of early, written evidence regarding the death of Christ outside of the Bible comes from a famous Roman historian and politician who strongly opposed the Christian faith, one who spoke of Christians in a very contemptuous way. No doubt, this is an example of what the psalmist tells us,

Surely the wrath of man shall praise Thee!
— Psalm 76:10

His name was Tacitus (c. AD 56 – c. 120), the Roman senator, and his account dates from AD 116, making it, as the Wikipedia entry states,

…one of the earliest non-Christian references to the origins of Christianity, the execution of Christ described in the canonical gospels, and the presence and persecution of Christians in 1st-century Rome.

He was writing in his history of Rome, the Annals, regarding the great fire that burned the city in AD 64. As he indicates, there was much suspicion among the populace that it was Nero himself who had ordered the fire, and so, as Tacitus states, the evil emperor attempted to fix the blame instead on “a class hated for their abominations,” namely, the Christians. As he goes on to state, that eventually led to a terrible persecution of the believers in Rome; in doing so he reminds us, in a very graphic way, of just how much the early believers suffered for their testimony on behalf of Christ.

In his account, Tacitus explains that “Christus,” as he calls the Lord, was killed (“suffered the extreme penalty”) under Pontus Pilate. Thus, as Wikipedia states,

Tacitus provides non-Christian confirmation of the crucifixion of Jesus. Scholars view it as establishing three separate facts about Rome around AD 60: (i) that there were a sizable number of Christians in Rome at the time, (ii) that it was possible to distinguish between Christians and Jews in Rome, and (iii) that at the time pagans made a connection between Christianity in Rome and its origin in Roman Judaea. Tacitus is one of the non-Christian writers of the time who mentioned Jesus and early Christianity along with Flavius Josephus, Pliny the Younger, and Suetonius.

It is good to keep in mind, in reading below of the unspeakably cruel manner in which Nero persecuted the Christians of his day, that many Bible teachers believe, according to Biblical prophecy, that he will be revived during the Great Tribulation as the Antichrist, the “Beast.” This is because we are told in Revelation that this beast will be one from among the seven kings who “have fallen” (Rev. 17:10-11); this refers to a group of seven Roman emperors who, like Nero, died violent deaths. Moreover, when transliterated from the Greek into Hebrew, the numbers represented by the letters of his name, “Caesar Nero,” total “666,” which is indeed “the name of the beast or the number of his name” (Rev. 13:16-18)

Tacitus on the Death of Christ
& the Persecution of
the Early Saints

Tacitus on the
Death of Christ & the
Persecution of
the Early Saints

All human efforts, all the lavish gifts of the emperor, and the propitiations of the gods, did not banish the sinister belief that the conflagration [i.e., the great fire of Rome in AD 64] was the result of an order. Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judæa, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular. Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind.

Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths. Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination, when daylight had expired. Nero offered his gardens for the spectacle, and was exhibiting a show in the circus, while he mingled with the people in the dress of a charioteer or stood aloft on a car. Hence, even for criminals who deserved extreme and exemplary punishment, there arose a feeling of compassion; for it was not, as it seemed, for the public good, but to glut one man’s cruelty, that they were being destroyed.

As recorded in the Wikipedia entry, “Tacitus on Jesus.” Copied 26 May 2026.

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— 27 May 2026 —