Rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire

Roman Rule of Israel (begins)

63 BCE

-Romans persecuted Judea for believing in a monotheistic god
-Roman emperor spread polytheistic religion through the Mediterranean
-Herod was the driving power behind the rule of Israel
-Romans destroyed Israeli cities for rebelling against polytheistic beliefs

Jesus of Nazareth

5 BCE

-Jesus was a preacher and religious leader
-Christian followers believed Jesus was the incarnation of god and the son of the Messiah
-Jesus was the first leader, and preacher of Christianity
-Jesus was regarded as the son of god by Christians, and he came down to clear followers of sin.

Great Fire of Rome

64

-Emperor Nero blamed Christians for the Great Fire which burned ⅔ of Rome.
-⅓ of Rome not burned was christian land
-The Roman people did not life monotheistic followers
-The fire led to the persecution of Christians for over 250 years.

Paul of Tarsus

67

-Spread words of Jesus across the Mediterranean
-Allowed small sect of Judaism to world wide faith
-Spread religion which is open to all
-Traveled tens of thousands of miles by foot spreading religion

Perpetua

203

-Perpetua was imprisoned by Emperor Septimius
-Perpetua lived in Carthage which was the center of a christian community
-Emperor Septimius viewed Christianity as Roman patriotism
-Perpetua was killed in the arena commended by Halarianus

The Great Persecution

303

-Christians were blamed for Romans social problems
-The christian attack was one of the fist mass genocides
-As many as 2 million Christians were killed
-The attempt of genocide can be related to the Holocaust due to the religion bias

Battle of Milvian Bridge

312

-Battle marked the beginning of Constantine conversion to Christianity
-Christian symbol marked on shield, due to cross image in the sky
-Constantine was not a christian follower, but he believed in fate which he believed won him the war.
-Victory in battle allowed Constantine to create the Edict of Milan

Constantine the Great

312

-Constantine saw a symbol in the sky which was the shape of a cross
-A cross and XP was written on the shield. XP stould for Jesus's first initials.
-The Win in battle to become emperor allowed Constantine to give Christians thanks, and freedom to christian supporters.
-He Created Constantinople which was a city built to recognize Christianity and victory in battle.

Edict of Milan

313

-The edict allowed the religious followers freedom of practice
-Law created by Constantine is present in modern US constitution (1st Amendment)
-The influence of the Edict Milan allowed Christianity to expand and gain followers
-Milan was the city the Edict of Milan was concluded in

Emperor Theodosius

347

-Emperor Theodosius made Christianity the official religion of Rome
-Helped end persecution of Christians
-Allowed followers of Christianity to relocate
-Built a temple of Christianity in Jerusalem