From the very start of Christianity, with the life of Christ and his Apostles, the Christian church lived as a tight-knit community, a religious minority surrounded by a society which, to a greater or lesser degree, was hostile towards it. Within Judaism, the Christian church began life as "the sect of the Nazarenes", while in the eyes of the Roman Empire it was considered an illicit religion (non-approved religion). It is customary to categorise the persecution of the church up to 311 into ten periods. Back in the times of the New Testament, in particular Emperors such as Nero and Domitian persecuted Christians. Later, even those considered "enlightened Emperors" (such Trajan, Mark Aurelius and Septimius Severus) had a dislike for the Christian church and persecuted it. Under these Emperors, there were many who suffered for their faith or were martyred, such as Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp of Smyrna, Blandina the frail Christian slave-girl at Lyon (who throughout ...