Rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire

Roman Rule of Israel

64 BCE

-The Romans attacked the Parthian in 40 BC
-The Romans also reconstructed the government of Israel.
-Herod was the man who lead the Romans in victory to take over the city.
-In 37 BC Herod returned and was given permission to take over Jerusalem.

Jesus of Nazareth

4 BCE

-Jesus was Jewish and was born in Bethlehem.
-Jesus began his ministry when he was 30 years old when John the baptized was arrested.
-Jesus had men and women follow him to places he did not know and called the the twelve disciples.
-Jesus taught the kingdom of god by telling parables

Paul of Tarsus

5

• was a Jewish native of Tarsus in Cilicia
• He was one of the first leaders of the early Christians
• was considered to be the most important person after Jesus died
• His letters helped put him in the place as one of the worlds best religious leaders.

Great Fire of Rome

64

• The entire fire lasted 6 day long
• History blamed Nero for the disaster, but to keep his place in power, Nero blamed the Christians for the fire. -Nero started the fire on purpose so he could rebuild the city and make his mark on Rome.
• When the fire cleared 10 of Romes 14 districts were in ruins.

Perpetua

182

• she was a married noblewoman and she died when she was 22 years of age.
• her diary is one of the only remaining objects that help tell a story about her, it was 6 chapters long.
• she was one of the most reverend saints to ever live and was born in Carthage in Northern Africa.
• She died in a fight and had the gladiator kill her.

Constantine The Great

272

• He defeated Maxentius when he had a dream of Jesus and that he won win in battle the next day and did, so he praised Christ.
• he kept conquering his neighboring Kings and empires with his massive army.
• he stopped all the persecutions of Christians in his area, so the people started to recognize how great of a king he was.
• He played a major part in the expansion of the Roman Empire.

Great Persecution of 303 CE

303

• was the last and most severe of all christian executions.
• after this there were several edicts sent out giving Christians some rights and being able to live life normally. -emperor Diocletian was the greatest persecutor because of how many Christians he killed during this horrific event. -there were up to 2 million killed during this time.

Battle of Milvian Bridge

312

-was fought by the two Roman emperors Constantine, and Maxentius.
-it is said that Constantine had a dream where he saw a cross that said on hoc signo vinces meaning in this sign, prevail.
- After he saw this message he ordered his men to paint crosses upon their shields.
- Constantine ended up winning the battle and started to praise christ and gave Christians rights and gave them freedom.

Edict of Milan

313

-was a letter signed by the emperors Constantine and Licinius.
-the letter was about religious toleration or giving Christians rights.
-after the letter was signed, there was a period where Constantine granted favors to the christian church and the christian people.
-the exact words of the letter are no longer with us.

Emperor Theodosius

392

-He is known for reuniting the eastern and western parts of Rome Empire.
-He was the last emperor of both parts of Rome.
-After he died the two parts split up again permanently.
-made Christian the permanent state religion for Rome.