>>20517748Romans were unable to distinguish between Jews and Christians, and because the Jews hated the Christians.59 Fabia’s linking of Poppaea to the Fire implies a very close connection and knowledge of the inner-workings of Judaism on her part, as well as a desire to build upon what Fabia emphasized as the hatred of Jews toward the Christians in the first century. Even before the Great Fire of 64, imperial officials had already established a precedent of using the Jewish minority as scapegoats for problems that arose within the capital, and had expelled Jews from the city of Rome during the reigns of both Tiberius60 (r. 14-37) and Claudius61 (r. 41-54); both expulsions were carried out as blanket punishments against all Jews for reasons connected to individual Jews. The idea that Nero would attempt to target the Jewish minority in order to shift blame from himself is certainly a possibility, but this is not what happened. Nero targeted the Christians, not only a minority of a minority, but also a minority possibly unknown to Nero or anyone else not intimately involved in Jewish affairs.
>had expelled Jews from the city of Rome during the reigns of both Tiberius (r. 14-37) and Claudius (r. 41-54); both expulsions were carried out as blanket punishments against all Jews