Once again, it's all a matter of perspective, Nero was hardly a favourite of the Christians, and wasn't exactly loved by the Romans, but he was also a paranoid schizophrenic with a 'Christ Complex' (though that sounds horribly inaccurate given the circumstances). Basically, he was the end result of corruption that had been spreading through the Roman Empire for a long time, so Nero wasn't really the 'Great Beast', strictly speaking it was the situation that led to Nero being Caeser that was dangerous. There was religious and political persecution, bribery, 'jobs for friends' etc, it was all pretty much a mess before Nero ever appeared on the scene.
