The reason why Christians persecuted in the early centuries after Christ was because the beliefs values and practices were against and was at odds with the Roman culture; it created tension which eventually led to persecution. The Christians did not give ritual sacrifices like the Romans did. The Romans understood that their gods but the God that the Christians believed and worshipped. The Romans believe the gods would protect their Empire from destruction if they honored and sacrificed the proper way for Caesar. Christians wouldn’t sacrifice to Caesar and for this the Romans considered them disloyal and are a threat to the empire. Christians were to Roman as cannibals because they had secret ceremonies or communion as we call it today, by
