Martyrs in the History of Christianity by Franklyn J.
Balasundaram (ed.) Rev. Dr. Franklyn J. Balasundaram was
Professor in the Department of the History of Christianity ,
United Theological College, Bangalore, India. Published by the
Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, Delhi, India
1997, for The United Theological College. This material was
prepared for Religion Online by Ted and Winnie Brock. Chapter 4:
The Martyrdom of Appollonius, by Hudson Christopher Persecution
of Christians, as we know, started immediately after the death
and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The followers of Jesus
Christ began to increase rapidly. The Christians were scattered
due to the severe persecutions; wherever these Christians went,
they started preaching the gospel about the Kingdom of God. The
early Christians were martyred frequently. But there was a
speedy growth of these Christians. The Roman government was
threatened by the increase of this new movement. The Roman
government wanted to put an end to this mov