Today, June 30, is the memorial of the First Martyrs of the Holy Roman Church.
This memorial is in honor of the nameless followers of Christ brutally killed by the crazy emperor Nero in 64 AD.
A huge fire destroyed Rome and many people blamed Nero.
Nero redirected this blame towards the Christians and made a huge spectacle of their deaths, publicly crucifying them, burning them, and offering them as bait for wild animals.
The pagan historian Tacitus and St. Clement of Rome narrate a terror-filled night in the royal parks when Christians were sewn into animal skins and hunted, were brutally attacked, and were made into living torches to light the road for Nero’s chariot.
Threatened by an army revolt and condemned to death by the senate, Nero committed suicide in 68 AD at the age of 31.
It was likely that Saints Peter and Paul were martyred in the aftermath of these tragedies.