Rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire

Roman Rule of Israel (begins)

37 BCE

The Romans proclaimed King of Judea, eventually triumphant were the superior Roman armies led by Titus, razing Jerusalem to the ground and destroying the last Jewish garrison in Masada.

Jesus of Nazareth

6 BCE

Jesus is the so called creator of Christianity and the one who started it all. When he came to Bethlehem he showed all the people that he was the bigger power and that they did not have to worry anymore because he was there and he would forgive everyone's sins. Obviously there where people that did not believe he was real so they hung him on a cross to die. He then rose from is grave to show that he was the son of god

Paul Of Tarsus

4 BCE

he was one of the leaders of the first generation of Christians, often seen as most important after Jesus.
from the letters that have been recovered over time, Paul is one of the best christian leaders there was. He also had many enemy's and there where many people who did not like him and he did not get as much respect as the other leaders.

Great Fire of Rome

64

the great fire of Rome was a fire that burned for 6 days in the circus Maximus,10 of the 14 districts of Rome were burnt down. Nero was suspected to be the cause for this fire because everyone claimed he was trying to burn down small towns to make room for his new palace, he blamed the Christians for this because they were an easy target.

Perpetua

181

Perpetua was a woman who was arrested for being a christian and wanting to get baptized
when she was taken away she kept a dairy that she would write lots of things in and this was one of the only things we have of ancient women of this time
before her death she gave here diary to another christian who kept it and told her story and kept it going.
this was so important that it was praised orthodox Christians and heretical Montanists alike

Constantine The Great

280

Constantine was a Roman emperor who ruled early in the 4th century
Constantine became Western emperor in 312 and the sole Roman emperor in 324
Constantine also was the first one to involve Christianity into his empire
During the civil war Constantine held his place against Maxentius and Maximian's son
When Constantine passed he was unable to fulfill his dream of being baptized in the Jordan river so he was baptized in his death bed instead

Great Persecution of 303 CE

303

~ the great persecution was the last persecution of the Christians but it was also the worst
~Christians had always been discriminated against locally in the empire, but emperors before Diocletian were reluctant to make general laws against the religion.
~ the persecution was empire wide
~most people think that Diocletian was the reason this event occurred, they don't know exactly why though
~Galerius, who was very sick, finally relented his policy against Christians on 30 April 311 AD

Battle of Milvian Bridge

312

The battle marked the beginning of Constantine's conversion to Christianity, Eusebius of Caesarea recounts the vision sent by the Christian God by Constantine and his soldiers, Constantine claims that the night before the battle he had a dream that the sun shaped a cross that said "in this sign, prevail" that inspired him and that all the soldiers put a cross on their shields
.The victory owed him as much as any savior for the skillful generalship.

Edict Of Milan

313

The Milan Edict was a letter signed by the Roman emperors Constantine and Licinius declaring toleration in the Roman Empire,Previous tolerance edicts had been as short-lived as those which sanctioned them, but this time the edict effectively established religious tolerance.

Emperor Theodosius

347

He unified the Roman Empire of the East and the West+ the last ruler of both parts of the empire.~Thessalonica's city rioted because a favorite charioteer had been arrested, Theodosius ordered revenge~Theodosius tried to reverse this reputation by persecuting heretics and pagans~ historians later looked back, on this christianization of the empire as the cause of the fall of Rome~Theodosius began his rule by crushing Western political rivals, so that by the end of 394 he stood alone as emperor