A key figure in the initial phases of Christianity, Peter is the first to have seen the resurrected Jesus – an event on which his authority is based and making him one of the “pillars” of the Jerusalem community. Peter’s character features strong contrasts: he combined a leader’s determination and responsibility with a man’s fragility, and in a difficult situation he did not hesitate to deny the Master. Peter’s martyrdom, which probably occurred in Rome under Nero, has indissolubly linked him to that city and helped establish – at times with grievous struggles – Rome’s primacy among Christian churches.

Claudio Gianotto teaches History of Christianity and History of Christian Origins at the University of Turin.