He blamed Christians for the Great Fire of Rome

The Great Fire of Rome began on the night of July 18 and 19, 64 AD, in a region of the Aventine Hill, one of Rome's 7 hills, which looked out over the Circus Maximus. It badly damaged 7 of the 14 Roman neighborhoods while completely destroying 3 of them. The fire extensively damaged Palatine Hill and burned numerous homes, villas, and temples.

One historian, Tacitus, expressed uncertainty on Nero's role in the fire and just stated that he was "unsure." The consensus among all other historians is that Nero organized the fire and prepared the stage for events. Nero was undoubtedly not in Rome at the time the fire began; instead, he was at Antium. So what might have been his motivations? Because he planned to construct a magnificent home known as "The Golden House" (Domus Aurea) for himself and disliked the city's historic architecture. This also would have had a bronze statue of Emperor Nero that was 30 meters high. He was just not the humble sort.

He had to find a scapegoat, of course, in order to avoid drawing suspicion to himself, and Christians were the ideal choice because they were regarded as a dangerous cult and were despised by the majority of Roman citizens. Following the fire, many Christians were imprisoned, subjected to torture, and then executed in front of the public on the emperor's orders. They were crucified, fed to the beasts in the arenas, and lit his garden with candles.