Rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire

Roman Rule of Isreal

37 BCE

In 37 BC, the ruler Herod was appointed, taking reign over Judea. In spite of his rule, his best attempts to win over the Jewish population of Judea, by 4 BC the Romans had complete control over Judea.

Jesus of Nazareth

4 BCE

Jesus, born inn 4BC and dying around 33 AD, preached the teachings of the Jewish religion and a central figure of Christianity.

Paul of Tarsus

5

Paul of Tarsus was arguably as much of as influence as Jesus was, spreading the word of Christianity after Jesus' death. He had a hand in creating many churches across Europe.

The Great Fire of Rome

64

64 CE marks a great tragedy. Many Romans thought that Nero, the emperor at the time, caused the fire. They speculated it was a punishment for some citizens not being fully subservient to Nero. The fire lasted for 5 days and burned more than half of the city. The Christian area, suspiciously, had not been burned, so Nero pinned the blame to the Christians.

Perpetua

203

The Christian Perpetua was persecuted and sent to prison in Africa, a Rome province at the time. While Perpetua was there, she wrote many pieces about her visions of prophets and other Christian ideals. She perished in 203 CE after her death sentence in Carthage.

The Great Persecution of 303 CE

303

After the fire, many Christians were discriminated against and even forced to fight fearsome animals in the coliseum. Many were burned and killed in front of crowds.

Constantine the Great

306

Constantine ruled over Rome from 306 to 337 CE, holding many accomplishments during his rule. From his removal of discrimination against Christians to his victory in the Battle of Milvian Bridge.

The Battle of Milvian Bridge

312

Constantine claimed that he had a vision of a cross in the sky, with Greek letters spelling out "In this sign you will conquer". He then painted this on all of his soldier's shields, as a sign to rally around. After the victory at Milvian Bridge, this spawned the idea that Christianity was the correct religion due to their victory.

The Edict of Milan

313

After the victory in the Battle of Milvian Bridge, Constantine was regarded as a higher being. He created the Edict of Milan, which was a constitution of sorts. It dictated the rights of Christianity, and this edict caused Christianity to skyrocket to the top as a religion.

Theodosius I

379

Theodosius was the last ruler to rule over the Eastern AND Western regions of Europe. He fought against many groups of invaders, but had little resources. No decisive victories were had, which caused civil wars to arise.