Blacknad,

Using the fact that the Romans persecuted Christians to prove that Christ did exist is a bit silly. Given that the Romans persecuted the Greeks, the Celts, the British and whoever else they picked that week to conquer. Using your train of thought that also proves the existence of the Greek gods, who the Romans stole, the existence of the Celtic Gods and any other deity from that time period.

As far as Christ being crucified, so were 1000s of others and I note the distinct lack of literature about them.

Just saying Blacknad that there is no real, verifiable proof of Christ's existence. Just as there is no proof of any other deity or Messiah (caveat, I know nothing of Islam so I could be wrong on that count.)