Answer:
Although not initially in great numbers, the Christians were seen as undermining the Roman state since they would not bow to the state sanctioned idols nor worship the emperor, as head of that religion. Their non-participation in idolatrous practices led to them being treated with suspicion and regarded as somewhat subversive of state solidarity. They drew more attention as their numbers increased, and they were also known as having the tendency to what the Roman authorities regarded as stubbornness, in that they refused all attempts at persuading them to relinquish their atheism .