Durant made a very good observation in “Caesar and Christ”...When the Romans were heaping scorn and abuse on the first Christians in the arena,there is no record of anyone saying that Christ was a myth.And this was only a few short decades after the crucifixion.They were accused of every perversion and evil that can be imagined but never of being duped by a lie.
He was an old man and the Roman mob felt a little bad putting such an old harmless man to death. They said he would let him go if he joined them in a cheer of “Death to the Atheists!” - a common chant the crowd would engage in while putting Christians to death.
He looked out at the crowd and loudly exclaimed “DEATH TO THE ATHEISTS!”.
The mob was not amused.