Rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire

Jesus of Nazareth

6 BCE

1.Jesus' death (Supposedly) is what started the new AD/CE generation.
2.When Jesus traveled to the Town of Judaea he was mad because he believed the town was corrupted by trade.
3.Because of this, the Romans thought Jesus was a bad person that deserved his demise.
4. Pontius Pilate as the one who ordered the death of Jesus, at the time he was the empire of Judaea.
5. When Jesus was killed at the hands of the Romans the Christians said he was a Martyr.
Jesus died somewhere between 30 AD to 36.

Paul of Tarsus (Death:62-64 CE)

62

1.Was usually considered the second most important person in Christianity (after Jesus).
2.Of the 27 pages in the new testament, 13 involved Paul in someway.
3.Paul was a Gentile, he was very proud of this too, he boasted about it a lot, but when he brought it to a Jewish church he was relocated to Rome
4.He was then executed by Naro (Roman empire) along with many other Christians.
5.The most likely reason the great fire had happened and he was likely one to be blamed because of his beliefs.

Great Fire of Rome

64

1.The fire started in the Circus Maximus, one of the biggest coliseums at the time.
2.The fire was blamed entirely on the Christians.
3.This fire lasted 6 days! Completely devastating the buildings and people of Rome.
4.Christians weren't the only people blamed for the fire though, Nero himself was blamed because people thought he wanted to rebuild Rome into whatever he wanted.
5.Another reason Nero was blamed was because he was nowhere near Rome when this happened.

Roman Rule of Israel (Ended at 313 CE)

70

1The Roman and Israel nations lived peacefully for a long time, but eventually Judea decided to rebel.
2After the fight, Rome devastated Judea and the rest of Israel, destroying many of their temples.
3The destruction of these temples completely changed the nature of Judaism because these temples were where everyone went to to worship.
4.The temple had been destroyed before this, but this time the Jews didnt rebuild.
5.Judaism did survive these attacks and continued to exist as its own religion.

Perpetua

203

1. Perpetua was a Christian martyr, she wrote The Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicity. 2.The Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicity was a book recounting her time in imprisonment in Rome. 3.Perpetua, like many Christians at the time, were forced to fight in the Arena for their beliefs. 4.Her father was enraged after she became a Christian and attacked her. This is how she got arrested. 5.After her death, perpetua was crowned a Saint of mothers, Expectant mothers, Ranchers, and Butchers.

Great Persecution of 303

303

1 The hardest but last persecution of the Christians in Rome.
2 It was a series of laws by the emperor Diocletian, these laws were specifically meant to limit and hurt the Christians.
3.Diocletian was somewhat against killing Christians at the time, due to the Martyrs.
4.During this time, Romans specifically meant to hunt out Christians to kill them and their leaders.
5 Galerius took over and continued the Persecution, but in 311 AD he ended his reign because he was sick, then died 5 days after.

Constantine the Great Ended at 337 CE

306

1.Constantine Piloted Christianity in Rome.
2.Constantine was the very first empire to approve of Christianity
3.He supposedly saw a "Message from God" in Greek with the Christian Cross on it, then fought the battle of Milvian bridge under their name.
4.Constantine was eventually Baptized to devote himself to christianity.
5.After he fought in the battle of Milvian bridge he made a law where Christians were no longer to be persecuted, this law was carried on from here on out.

Battle of Milvian Bridge

312

1.The battle fought by Constantine, whos fighting under the Christian name.
2.The shields used by Constantine in this battle were marked with the Christian symbol.
3.Constantine won this battle easily, and said it was won under the name of the Christian god.
4.Had this battle not been won than Christianity likely wouldn't even exist today.

Edict of Milan

313

1.The edict Of Milan was a right where Christians were No longer allowed to be persecuted.
2.Elected by constantine as his tribute to the Christians for allowing him to be victorious in the battle of Milvian Bridge.
3.The exact laws also allowed people to worship any deity they please.
4.When the Edict was elected there was a period where Constantine granted gifts onto the Christians.
5.The Edict also made any areas of meet for the Christians be returned.

Emperor Theodosius (Died in 395)

379

1.Emperor Theodosius esablished the Council of Nicaea, which is where the Christians could meet
2.He made Christianity "the" Roman religion by enforcing it officially.
3.He placed the power Of the council into one church, which lasted about a Millennium.
4.He proclaimed himself a Christian in 380 after getting bapatized a few years before.
5.He also brought the two halves of Rome together (when he was alive).