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63 BCE
Israel under Roman Rule
Israel (or Judea) came under Roman rule in 63 BCE after the Romans invaded and seized the land from the Syrians. The Romans destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem and sold many Jews into slavery or killed them in an attempt to erase Jewish history in the land of Judea. The remaining Jews where forced to pay a Jew tax and later on banned from Jerusalem except for the day of Tisha B'Av -
5 BCE
Jesus of Nazareth
Jesus is the central figure of Christianity and the first to spread the message of Christianity. He is widely regarded as the son of god and it is believed that he came down to earth to spread the gospel and died on a cross for our sins. -
Period: 33 to 36
Paul the Apostl
Paul the Apostle started by building churches for Jews and Romans and was firmly against the early disciple of Jesus and persecuted them extensively. On his way to Damascus on a mission to arrest some of the disciples, he had an encounter with Jesus blinding him for three days. After his vision was restored Paul began to preach the word of Christ and became one of the leading figure in the new testament. -
64
Great Fire of Rome
The great fire of Rome was a catastrophic fire that burned for 6 days before being extinguished leading 2/3rds of Rome to be burned to the ground. There are many different accounts of who started the fire and we don't have any primary sources to prove it definitively but there is a general consensus that emperor Nero started the fire. He used Christians as a scapegoat causing a lot of discontent with the Christians leading to massive persecutions of Christians in Rome. -
203
Perpetua
Perpetua was a pregnant noblewoman who was persecuted due to her not denouncing Christianity leading to her eventual imprisonment. While she was imprisoned she met Felicity another pregnant Christian. It was there in prison that they wrote the Passion of Saint Perpetua Saint Felicitas and their Companions one of the most notable Christian texts. Felicity and Perpetua where eventually put to death in 203 CE and Perpetua later became a saint. -
303
The Great Persecution
The Great Persecution also known as the Diocletian persecution was the final and most intense persecution of Christians in Roman history. The emperors of Rome issued laws taking away Christians legal rights and making them worship traditional Roman gods. The laws also required them to sacrifice to the gods and if they did not comply they where subject to prison and execution. -
312
Battle of Milvian Bridge
The battle of Milvian bridge was a battle between two Roman emperors Constantine and Maxentius. This led to Constantine being the sole ruler of Rome as Maxentius was defeated. Constantine believed that this victory was credited to Jesus as he had had a vision of the initials of Jesus, leading him to paint this symbol on his shield. This victory later led Constantine to let Christianity flourish and was a strong supporter of Christianity as to thank god for awarding him the victory in battle. -
312
Emperor Constantine
Emperor Constantine was one of the main reasons that Christianity became what it is and he enacted many laws enabling Christianity to flourish under the Roman empire. The primary reason for this was Constantines vision. Before the battle of Milvian Bridge he had a vision of the initials of Jesus he put these initials on his soldiers and was later victorious leading Constantinine to attribute his victory to Jesus and Christianity. Changing his faith as well as causing him to help Christians. -
313
Edict of Milan
The Edict of Milan was the first step in allowing Christians freedom in the Roman empire. It was a letter sent by Constantine reversing the edict from the great persecution of 303 allowing Christians religious freedom. The edict also put a stop to unfair treatment of Christians in the Roman empires. -
Period: 379 to 395
Emperor Theodosius
Theodosius was a Roman emperor from 379 to 395 AD he was often referred to as Theodosius the Great. He was the emperor that pushed Christianity to become a dominant religion in Rome and joined church and state. He also instigated a ban on paganism under the Theodosian decrees. Because of this polytheism became very rare and made Christianity a widely accepted religion.
