Nero was the Emperor of the Roman Empire from 54 A.D. to 68 A.D. History has, for the most part, put the blame for the massive fire in Rome during Nero’s reign at the feet of - Nero. Nero loved to construct buildings and many historians believe that Nero had buildings torched so new ones could replace them. But things got out of hand and large sections of Rome were burned. Not wanting to take responsibility, Nero blamed a relatively new religious group who called themselves Christians. A massive and violent persecution against Christians ensued because Nero needed someone to blame ...