[34] Tertullian mentions one of these coarse caricatures—a figure with one foot hoofed, wearing a toga, carrying a book, and with long ass's ears, under which was written, "The God of the Christians, Onokoites." He says that Christians were actually charged with worshipping the head of an ass. The same preposterous calumny, with many others, is alluded to by Minucius Felix. The Christians were hence called Asinarii. Analogous calumnies were aimed at the Jews.
[35] Tertullian says that "Nero was the first who raged with the sword of Cæsar against this sect, which was then specially rising at Rome."
[36] James Russell Lowell: The Present Crisis.
[37] "Bronze-beard." Ahenobarbus was the name of a plebeian family to which Nero belonged.