The Romans also disliked the Christians because of their refusal to join in the public ceremonies which honored the emperor as if he were a god who had given peace and order to the world and who was able to reward the good and punish the evil. The Christians believed it to be wrong to join in the worship of an emperor, whether he were alive or dead. CHRISTIANS PUT TO DEATH. The Romans were cruel in their manner of punishing disobedience, and many Christians suffered death in its most horrible forms. Some were burned, others were tortured, others were torn to pieces by wild animals in the great amphitheaters to satisfy the fierce Roman crowd. Nero, the worst of the Roman emperors, who, many thought, set Rome on fire in order that he might enjoy the sight of the burning city, tried to turn suspicion from himself by accusing the Christians of the crime. He punished them by tying them to poles, smearing their bodies with pitch, and burning them at night as torches. THE CHRISTIANS ALLOWED TO WORSHIP. The new religion spread rapidly from province to province in spite of these persecutions. At first the Christians worshiped secretly, but later they ventured to build churches. Finally, three centuries after the birth of Christ, the emperors promised that the persecutions should cease and that the Christians might worship undisturbed. [Illustration: A VIEW OF CONSTANTINOPLE] THE ROMAN EMPIRE BECOMES CHRISTIAN ABOUT 325 A.D. Constantine was the first emperor to become Christian. He was the one who made the Greek city Byzantium the capital of the empire and for whom it was renamed Constantinople. For a time both the old Roman religion and the Christian religion were favored by the emperors, but before the fourth century closed the old religion was forbidden. In later days worshipers of the Roman gods were mostly country people, called in Latin _pagani_, and therefore their religion was called "paganism." HOW THE CHURCH WAS RULED. One of the reasons why the Christians had been successful in their struggle with the Roman emperors was that they were united under wise and brave leaders. The Christians in each large city were ruled by a bishop, and the bishops of several cities were directed by an archbishop. In the western part of the empire the bishop of Rome, who was called the pope, was honored as the chief of the bishops and archbishops, and the successor of the Apostle Peter. In the eastern part the archbishops or patriarchs of Constantinople and Alexandria and Jerusalem honored the pope, but claimed to be equal in authority with him.