Lord where are you going? (DOMINE QUO VADIS)

Lord where are you going? (DOMINE QUO VADIS)

This incident took place in 64 AD

    The Apian Street in the city of Rome was flooded with people. The citizens of Rome were greatly troubled with fear in their hearts. They did not know what will happen and what they could do in that situation. Many of them fled from the city out of fear. The citizens of Rome who had already lost all their belongings due to the fire which flared up to the sky all over the city, were now not ready to risk their lives also. So, all the citizens were busy moving here and there with their family and children to save their lives.  But they could not change the fate. They were not able to move out of the city. The Roman soldiers prevented their escape from the city, assaulted them cruelly and sent them back into the city. The people were not allowed to leave the city because the government had appointed an enquiry commission to find out who was the cause for setting the city on fire. This was actually a false reason given by the Roman soldiers to keep the citizens from leaving the city and also arrested them. In order to know what had actually happened, we have the letter written by a young man by name Dacticus. He had actually seen all that happened from the time the city was set on fire, who was the cause and all followed the fire. This letter is considered as remarkable historical evidence to know the incident better. The contents of the letter are as follows:

    “It was June 16, 64 AD. All of a sudden fire broke out in the area which was situated at the bottom of the Vatican mount, among the residential area where the poor people and Christians lived, which was next to the ciecus nero (place where deadly games were played). Many people who tried to put out the fire were not allowed to do so. Those who struggled among the oppression and tried to put out the fire were severely attacked and wounded by the men around. These men were few of the Roman officials and soldiers who had come in disguise and prevented the men who struggled to put out the fire. Even those places where the fire had been put out started to blaze again. This fire started to spread to many parts of the city as if it was pre planned. At a point the blazing fire was out of control. Thus the whole city of Rome was burning for almost a week.

Rome in present scenario

    The city of Rome consists of 14 districts. But only 4 districts were saved from the fire accident. Even a part of the palace of great king Nero was destroyed by the fire. Many used to say that when the city of Rome was blazing in fire, King Nero was playing his violin stating this is the way the city of Troy was set on fire. The gladiator’s arena was oval in shape. The arena was uses to conduct races among the horse battalion and chariot battalion of the king, chariot races, wrestling games among the soldiers and also terrific deadly games among the slaves and soldiers (gladiators). [Even today there is a circular shaped arena in Rome which is called as Colosseum of Rome.

    There were many such arenas in the city of Italy in the ancient days] But this arena which we are describing here in our story is situated at the bottom of the Vatican mount, which was in an oval shape and was exclusively built for the Roman Kings. A tall stone pillar was set at the centre of the semicircle space of the arena. All the shops which were located around the exterior part of the arena were burnt down due to the fire. Due to the severity of the fire all the soldiers, the players and the slaves who were indie the arena during the fire were burnt and their bodies were roasted in the heat.   

   As far as my knowledge is concerned, this fire is not an accident. Someone has deliberately planned and set the city on fire. It could be none other than King Nero. He must have done this terrible act. Otherwise none of the Christians would come forward to accept that they were the ones who set the city on fire. The Christians also stated that since King Nero hated the Christians they did this terrible act. This clearly shows that the fire accident was preplanned by King Nero. If not, will anyone ask the Christians to vacate from their residential place and build an arena along with a grand palace?

   If king Nero was a kind hearted king who was so concerned about the welfare of his people, will he go an take over the lands of poor Christians and show great interest in building the grand palace called as the golden palace (domous aara). Also since the building of this palace required huge amount of government money, the Senate did not agree on this building. This is the details of the letter in a nut shell.

    Three months post this fire accident; a great tragedy awaited the Christians. The Senate council could not ascertain the exact number of victims of the fire accident and also they were not able to ascertain the value of property lost.  Since the loss of life and property was beyond calculation the Senate council decided to put all their efforts to find out the reason and person behind the fire accident.

   This was an alarm bell for King Nero. Since he feared that his plot will get discovered, he put the blame on the Christians that they were the culprits behind the fire accident. He blamed only a few of the Christians but it ultimately led to the blaming of the entire Christians. For this he spread a false doctrine that Christians are those who drink the blood of their own children. To prove this, King Nero quoted the custom of breaking the bread and drinking of wine which the Christians followed as instructed by Jesus Christ. He concluded stating that Christians are worse barbarians or cannibals who drink the blood of human beings. Hence Christians were considered as those who are to be feared and not trustworthy and also great enemies of the government. As a result, death punishment fell on the Christians. As an effort of finding out the true culprits behind the fire accident, King Nero assaulted the Christians to the maximum extent.

     The lady who showed great interest in making King Nero to sit on the throne of Rome was his mother Agripina. In order to fulfill this ambition of her, she poisoned King Nero’s elder brother, Britanicas, and killed him. But as the bible saying goes, “you will reap what you sow”, in order to prevent this murder plan from being leaked out, King Nero killed his own mother with his sword.

    An old story states that since his mother interfered a lot in his personal and official issues, King Nero killed her. His thirst for blood did not stop with his mother. He killed his wife Claudia Octavia who was just nineteen years of age stating that she was barren and could not bear him a child. He killed his second wife by name Poppaea when she had nearly reached the stage of delivery, by kicking her on the stomach. Hence she delivered the child as a premature baby and died during delivery. Both the mother and the child became a prey to the merciless act of Nero. After this King Nero married Poppaea’s sister. When it came to doubt or suspicion King Nero killed anyone who was in that area, whether it was his friends or foes or anyone for that matter. He was fond of food and ate a lot. Some times when he took part in official parties and went for lunch, he would not get up from the banquet hall even after dinner. He was so fond of eating.

     In this tough situation King Nero’s daughter, Thomniya, accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and savior through the fervent teachings of a saint by name Saint Pothina. Thus King Nero’s daughter became a Christian. Not only Thomniya accepted Jesus Christ and became a Christian, but her change brought a change in her surroundings also. Her maids in the palace and many of the soldiers in the prison accepted Jesus Christ and became Christians.

   This saint Pothina is none other than the Samaritan woman by name Theena, who spoke with Jesus and got the living waters near the well of Jacob. Her whole life changed after her conversation with Jesus. She turned away from her old sinful life and started to preach the good news to all the people. She became a minister of the gospel. Hence she was brought for trial before King Nero. King Nero imprisoned her along with five women who belonged to her family. Every day the soldiers used to break the hand and leg bones of these women in the presence of King Nero’s daughter Thomniya. But in the night Jesus Christ would appear and heal them. 

    This incident took place for many days. Thominya was surprised at this miracle and hence she started to thirst to know about the reason behind this miracle. Thus she came to know about Jesus Christ through the Samaritan woman Theena and accepted Him as her Lord and savior. All the maids in the palace saw this miracle and accepted Jesus Christ and became Christians.

   Thus the anger of King Nero was aroused. The result of his anger was terrible. He caught hold of his daughter and nearly hundred men and women of his palace who had become Christians (this did not include saint Pothina). He made them naked and crucified them on the cross in the palace garden. Before they could die he ordered his soldiers to burn them alive. He did all these breathtaking activities in his presence. He did not have any compassion or fear. He was like a rock.

     When saint Pothina heard of all these terrible activities of King Nero, she was very much worried and hence started to advice King Nero. She met him and corrected him. She tried to change the hard heart of King Nero. But is it every possible to change satan????? That was exactly the condition of King Nero. He was satan in the form of a human being. When she knew that it was no use to give patient advice to King Nero, she started to warn him. She said, “Nero, you are not worthy to be called a man….. You are a beast… you have the spirit which thirsts for blood…. Innocent blood of people….. Very soon you will see the hand of anger of the Lord… you will not and cannot escape from the wrath of God….. no one will be there to advice you or to protect you….. Your days are counted and you will meet your downfall very soon….” So saying she spat at the face of King Nero. So saying, she laughed a loud. It is not an easy task to speak before kings that to a king like Nero. But this woman spoke boldly, stated his terrific destiny, and also spat on his face and laughed aloud. This is really astonishing and we should appreciate the guts this woman saint had in her heart.

     She definitely had her reward from the hands of King Nero. She was tied and thrown into a barren well upside down. All her bones were broken. She was alive for three days and then she died in the well. Her gospel mission and holy life which started in the well in Samaria ended in the barren well in Rome. But this did not cool the heated heart of King Nero. He could not tolerate to accept the fact that a woman had cursed him, stated his destiny and above all spat on his face. But his mind had different and surprising ideas. He thought to himself, if two Christian women could have so much of guts, what will be the guts of Christian men???? How many Christians are there in our kingdom???? What will happen to me if all these Christians in the Roman Empire join hands and oppose me??? Thus such thoughts raced across his mind and he decided to put an end to the Christian community in his empire. He feared that if the Christians are not kept under control then it would become a great danger for his life in the near future.

     So he decided to destroy them from his kingdom. Hence he ordered tough punishments on the Christians. During this situation a rumor spread among the people that there are high chances of Apostle Peter to be arrested by the Roman authorities. Hence his disciples requested Apostle Peter to leave the city of Rome immediately. Since the people had learnt a lot of valuable teachings through Apostle Peter and also since Apostle Peter was a unique head who lead them in the right path, the people considered the survival of Peter as very essential. Hence they requested him to escape from Rome and save his life.

“The footsteps of Lord Jesus”

    Hence Peter also got ready to leave Rome. When Peter was walking on the Appian Street in Rome, he saw Jesus Christ walking towards him carrying a cross. Immediately Peter fell down at Jesus’ feet and said, “My Lord where thou goest with the cross on thy shoulder?” for this Jesus replied, “what to do my dear Peter. Since you are running away from your duty, I have come to accomplish the same in your place. You are running away from my people, the sheep of your flock, out of fear for a human being. But I can’t run like you. So I am going to Vatican to suffer on the cross in your place. You go in your path and save your life.” These words of Jesus Christ pierced the heart of Peter like sharp arrows.   

     He understood his flaw and said, “Lord Jesus Christ, now you have clearly shown me the way I have to die. Be it done as you wish. I am not a coward. I am prepared for the destiny you have decided for me. But Lord why should we suffer so much? We have not done anything wrong for anyone. But why do people look us with enmity?” Jesus Christ replied, “Peter have you forgotten the way I suffered and died on the cross. I am the most holy God and I had not done anything wrong for anyone. Still I was crucified. Why? Because unless a grain falls on the ground and dies it will not give hundred fold yield. This suffering and death is similar to this.”

    There is a church in the place where Jesus Christ met Peter. The name of this church is Domine Quo Vadis, which means “Lord where thou goest?”People have taken the impression of the footsteps of Lord Jesus on marble stone and it is still preserved. The original portrait is kept in Saint Sebastian church.  Peter was arrested along with his family and kept in Mamertine prison.

   This was an underground prison built without any ventilation. But Peter dug a fountain inside the prison and with the help of the water he baptized many of the inmates of the prison. Thus the prison became a church. This aggravated King Nero. He said to himself, all the inmates of the prison have become Christians….. These people are not afraid of the strict punishments which I enforced on them…. Is it that they are not scared of the punishments or is it that the punishments are less severe??? I am not going to spare any one of these Christians…. I will first kill the man of God, Peter and his family….. Let the people witness it and fear me. Let the punishment thrust the spirit of fear in every ones heart…. No one should henceforth even utter the word Jesus….

      Accordingly Peter’s wife was brought to be killed. Peter wept to see his wife…. “My dear wife…. You are going ahead of me…. Fear not…. This path of suffering will not harm you in any way…. Just a little more and our Lord Jesus Christ will receive your spirit in his hands…. His presence will be with you…. You will be taken to eternal glory and happiness…. I will meet you in heaven tomorrow.” So saying he bid farewell to his wife. Some historical facts state that Peter’s wife was crucified and some other records state that she was beheaded and killed.

       The punishment of Peter’s daughter Petronilla.

   Peter’s daughter was unmarried. A roman prince by name Flaccus lusted for her beauty. But Petronilla refused to accept his proposal and fasted and protested his wish. After this incident Peter kept her hidden secretly in a tower from eligible men. Since she accepted Jesus Christ, she had not wished for earthly life and pleasure.  Petronilla along with Veronica who was called as Seraphie prepared the bread for the last supper and Jesus Christ greatly appreciated her for it. A historical fact states that she fasted and prayed and died since she did not have any interest in marriage or this world. But some of the historical facts state that she died a heroic death as a martyr. Her grave is located in a part of the St.Peter’s cathedral in Rome. She is also called the patron saint of the travelers of France.

   The next day Peter was brought to be crucified in the same place where his wife was killed. According to his wish he was crucified upside down on the cross since he felt that he was not worthy to be crucified in the same way as his master and Lord was crucified. “In your last days you will have your hands wide open and you will be tied and taken to the place which will be against your wish.” This prophecy of Jesus was fulfilled in the life of Peter. But this death of Peter was a terrible one. Since he was crucified upside down, all the blood will be circulated towards the brain. All the arteries and veins in the brain and face will not be able to push the blood towards the legs and will be flooded with the blood. Hence the blood pressure will increase in the veins in the parts of the eyes and the brain and eventually they will burst. The pain will be unbearable. Also the blood will get stagnant around the heart and thus the lungs will be affected making it difficult to breath. Since the brain will be alive till the last breath, the pain will be felt till the person dies. Peter suffered all this pain while he was hanging upside down on the cross at the age of seventy and he died.  

     The tall stone which was brought from Egypt witnessed all these incidents. This stone witnessed the death of many of the martyrs and if it had the chance to speak it would describe the life and death of the martyrs very clearly. This stone itself has a history. This stone is called as the “Victory Pillar of Vatican” Two thousand years ago when the holy family left for Egypt they stayed in a place called as Hierapolis. In that city the Egyptian kings, Pharos, had kept a tall stone pillar about 150 ft. tall and around 110 ton weight as a memorial of their victory. This stone was placed 1500 years before the birth of Jesus Christ. When the Egyptian kingdom was taken over by the Romans under the leadership of Augustus Caesar, this stone was taken to Rome through a ship. This stone was placed in the Circus Nero arena. This arena was named after the kings who ruled in from time to time. During the time of King Nero, this arena was called CIRCUS NERO. All the chariot races should race around this huge stone. This stone which was brought as a memorial of their victory over the Egyptians was called as a pillar of victory. After the death of Julius Caesar, his ashes were collected in a round shaped container and were placed on the top portion of this stone.

    After the death of Peter his disciples took his body and buried it in the plains of Vatican mount. In that place rose the head church called as the Vatican church. The St.Peter’s church was built over the grave of St.Peter.  The stone which witnessed the death of Saint Peter and many other martyrs was taken and placed in the altar of Saint Peter. On one of its side it is written as, “JESUS IS GOD….JESUS IS MESSIAH…. JESUS IS THE SAVIOUR….. JESUS IS LORD…..JESUS DIVIDED THE TIME….. JESUS IS NOT LIMITED BY TIME” In order to bear witness for these words, this stone pillar now stands as a sun clock which shows the time. The container which contained the ash of Julius Caesar was removed from the stone pillar and was replaced by the cross of Jesus Christ. The history and life of this pillar of victory is around 4000 years.

   The words of Jesus Christ, “Peter… you are the rock… and upon this rock I will build my church…. The gates of hell shall never overcome it” has come true. Hence in one part of the stone pillar a prayer to cast out demons is also engraved. Four lions with their tails intertwined with each other are placed on the four corners of this stone pillar to depict the words, “behold the Lion of Judah…. Flee you enemies”.  This stone pillar which was placed about 400 years ago will stand here forever. This pillar has seen the times of many great kings and their lives and death. But all those kingdoms and kings are gone…. But the kingdom of heaven and our heavenly king Jesus Christ will live and reign forever. This kingdom has been founded on Peter the rock…..it is indeed a strong foundation.

    King Nero was charged with the crime of murder and robbery by the Senate. He was branded as a enemy of entire human race. Since this gave a fear in his heart he committed suicide in the year 68 AD on 9^th June. The plight of the Christians during his reign could not be described with just words. The Christians were thrown as a prey to wild animals, they were burnt alive…

.. in order to provide light to the palace of king Nero during night hours…. Unless the wheat grain falls on the ground and dies, it will not bring forth its yield…..the blood of each and every martyr is a grain which was shed on the soil. That blood which they shed so many years ago will continue to yield fruits forever.

    With the death of King Nero his Julio cladian race also came to an end. The beautiful golden palace which he built by taking away the lands and wealth of the Christians shattered to the ground very soon. In the same way his grave was also left without any one to care for or to maintain. But the Christian race which he wanted to destroy completely has grown and stands as a witness in the Vatican City. This is because Jesus is their strength and lives in them. This city is built on the grave of those who lived and died for Jesus Christ.