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Jesus was born in 6 BC and died in 30 AD. He was a religious leader and revered in Christianity. It is said that both Jesus and his father were carpenters but Jesus went on to become a teacher and a healer. He was captured, and executed in Jerusalem around 30 AD. His followers believed that he was still alive and sent visions to them.
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He was a leader of the first Christians. He was a Jew at first but converted to Christianity. He had lots of enemies and had to struggle to become a leader. He was a tent-maker. He spent much of his early life persecuting Christians.He later saw a vision of Jesus and believed in Christianity and accepted Jesus as the Messiah.
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The Jews in Israel were allowed to continue practicing there religion under Roman rule. Some of the Jewish people wished to create an independent Jewish state. Some parts refused to pay roman taxes. The Zealots however paid taxes and created far less trouble then some other people.
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In 64 AD, during Nero's rein, a fire started in the shops by the Circus Maximus. Fires often started during the hottest part of the year so Nero was in a cooler part of the empire during the fire. The fire burned for 6 days then was stopped for a little bit, it then started up for another 3 days. More than 66% of Rome was destroyed
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Perpetua was imprisoned for being christian. She was eventually killed in the arena. She is widely known because she went fearlessly to her death and would not renounce her faith even after her fathers pleas. She wrote "The passion of saints perpetua and felicity" which is still around today.
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The emperor Diocletian is largely credited with being the leader of the great persecution. It is unknown exactly why the great persecution started but it could be because of the roman desire to restore unity, the refusal of Christians to make sacrifices or treat the emperor as a divine being, Christians saying god was their king not the emperor or the issues brought on by the Christians.
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Constantine ruled form 306-337 BCE. He was a leader after the Great Persecution. He created the Edict of Milan which legalized Christianity in Rome and he created Constantinople which was a new capitol city for Rome, the city was full of churches and was dedicated to the Christian God. He is said to have seen a vision from god before he went to war. It is said that he was told to put the ancient Greek letters for god on his soldiers shields and that if he did they would win, he did and they won.
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During this time there was a civil war ravaging Rome. The battle put Constantine on the path to becoming sole emperor of Rome. The night before the battle it is said that Constantine had a dream, he saw a sun with a cross over it and the words "In this sign, Prevail" written beneath. The next morning he told his troops to become "Christian Soldiers" after having them paint crosses on their shields. They ultimately won the battle.
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The edict made it legal for Christianity to be practiced. It was made and signed by Constantine and Licinius. It gave all religions the ability to practice without being persecuted. It also gave Christians the right to build churches and similar things.
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During his rein he tried extremely hard to suppress paganism, he eventually made Christianity the religion of the empire. At the beginning of his rein as emperor he rebuilt the army and allowed some of the cultures that agreed to lend military aid govern themselves.
