It was not only trade but also the Christians did not obey the emperor’s rules, basically the Roman law and the Roman religion. It made the Romans thought that the Christians disrespected their religion because monotheistic religion was against the polytheistic one. On the contrary, the Jews were considered respectful to the Roman religion. It was disturbance the Roman community by the Christians that Pliny talked about. Therefore, the persecution emerged from the idea of disturbance by the Christians, and the Christians were punished and tortured to make them good ones.
Rifat