Rise of Christianity in Rome

Jesus of Nazareth

5 BCE

Jesus was born to a family from a village called Nazareth, near the Sea of Galilee. He was born to Joseph and Mary sometime between 6 bc and shortly before the death of Herod the Great in 4 bc. As he was growing up Judea was collapsing into chaos. Jesus had a short life and brutal death. This was enough to ensure that Jesus’ message of hope and everlasting life would spread across Judaea. This also spread across the Empire and then it spread across the world. Jesus was tortured and crucified.

Paul of Tarsus

62

Paul of Tarsus is also know as Saint Paul to many Christians. He also went by Saul of Tarsus. He was one of Jesus apostles and he preached the gospel of Christ to the First-century world. He is considered to be the most important person to the Christians after Jesus Christ. Paul had many enemies when he was talking about the Gospel.

The Great Fire of Rome

64

On July 18, 64 a massive fire started in the Circus Maximus in Rome. The fire raged on for six days. There was 14 districts in Rome and by the time the fire was put out 10 of the 14 cities had burned to the ground. Hundreds of people were killed and thousands were left homeless. Lots of historians blamed the emperor, Nero, during this time and said that the fire was his fault. Nero himself blamed the Christians for the fire and said that it was their fault.

Roman Rule of Israel (begins)

66

In 66 AD, The first Jewish-Roman war. The revolt was stopped by the future Roman emperors, Vespasian and Titus. During the siege of Jerusalem in 70 AD, the Roman military destroyed a lot of the Temple in Jerusalem. The Romans first conquered Israel in 63 BC.

Perpetua

203

Perpetua was a christian martyr who wrote the book Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicity. This was a journal that had all of her writings in it from when she was in imprisonment. It also talked about her trial. She was imprisoned because she would not obey the governor of Rome's orders.There was six Christians that were condemned to death. They all got thrown in to an area with wild animals so they could be eaten. She was eaten and now Christians then and now look at her as a blessed martyr

Constantine the Great

280

Constantine was born with the name Flavius Valerius Constantinus. There was lots of civil wars, invasions and sicknesses going around when he was born. After his father died he was declared emperor by his fathers soldiers.He spend the next 18 years battling the other three rulers to take control of Rome. After he beat the other two he gave his victory to the god of the Christians.When he was in power he let Christianity be legal.This is when Christianity started to become popular because of him

The Great Persecution of 303 CE

303

The Great Persecution was also called the Diocletianic. It was the last and most severe persecutions of the Christians. The Emperors Diocletian, Maximian, Galerius, and Constantius wanted the Christians to stop practicing what they believe. The Christians refused to serve the Roman Gods so they would get tortured and killed.The was almost 3500 Christians killed during this time. This persecution lasted a little less than two years. They would put Christians in with lions so they would be eaten.

Battle of Milvian Bridge

312

The Battle of the Milvian Bridge happened when the Roman Emperors Constantine I and Maxentius came together on 28 October 312 and fought each other. It gets its name Milvian Bridge, an important route over the Tiber, because that's where the battle was fought. Constantine and his troops had a vision by God. The vision was that they needed to go to the bridge and go to battle Maxentius. Constantine won this battle with Maxentius. This was one of Constantine's great victories.

Edict of Milan

313

The Edict of Milan was a letter that was signed by the emperors Constantine and Licinius. This letter allowed Christianity to be allowed in Rome. This letter was signed in February 313, AD and it stopped the prosecution of Christians. The two emperors were in Milan to celebrate the wedding of Constantine's sister with Licinius. This is how they came together and made this letter.

Emperor Theodosius

347

Flavius Theodosius, also called Theodosius I and Theodosius the Great. He was Roman Emperor from 379-395. He brought the Eastern and Western Roman Empire back together. He was the last emperor of both parts of the empire. After his passes away, the two parts split permanently. He was called "The Great" sometimes because he solved the "Goth" problem and he unified the empire back together. Because he was doing all this stuff he earned the praise of the Catholic writers.