Rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire

Jesus of Nazareth

4 BCE

Jesus was a Jewish speaker and religious person, he taught many people about Christianity
- First-century Jewish speaker and religious leader
- Referred to as Jesus Christ and the Messia
- Jesus went missing when their parents visited Jerusalem
- Mary and Joesph went to find him and saw him teaching at the temple
- Jesus was a well-rounded person he could read, paraphrase, and debate scripture
- Born in Judea in 4 BCE and died in Jerusalem in 30 CE

Paul of Tarsus

10

Paul was at first not a follower of Jesus. Once Jesus died Paul became a devoted follower.
- After Jesus's death, Paul was one of the Twelve Apostles
- He wrote the epistles in the New Testament
- He was Jewish and Roman, therefore, he tried to preach to both of them
- He was a pharisee and was in the persecution of Christians
- He traveled across many lands while he was preaching about his beliefs
Paul was born 10 CE and died 67 CE

Great Fire of Rome

64

Nero persuaded Roman's to think that the Christians started the fire.
- Nero the emperor of Rome @ the time was thought to have started & kept the fire burning
- Nero was angry w/ the Senate & the people
- The people of Rome didn't like his plans for Rome
- Even though Nero most likely started the Christians were blamed
- The fire started in the merchant shops that were next to Roman's chariot stadium
- The fire lasted six days, it started July 18, 64 CE & ended July 24, 64 AD

Roman Rule of Israel

66

Once Rome conquered Israel, they treated them fairly well. The conquering, however, was not so pleasant they destroyed many of there artifacts.
- Roman destroyed a lot of the Jewish temple in Juerlselm
- Once Rome conquered they gave Jewish people many rights
- Jewish communities thrived and had many privileges
- Julius Caesar made Judaism a legal religion

- Herod the Great was designated king of the Jews by the Roman Senate
The conquering started in 66 CE

Perpetua

181

Perpetua was a Christian martyr of the 3rd century, that was put to death because of her religion.
- She wrote The Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicity
- She was a Chrisitan and the mother of a young son
- She was put to death because of her religious convictions
- One of the five Christians that died in the arena

- Nobody knows who her husband was because she was a slave
Born in 181 CE died 203 CE

Constantine the Great

280

He was the 1st Christian emperor, one of the main reasons that Christianity is a popular religion.
- He came into power during the 4th century
- He saw a symbol before the battle of Milivian Bridge it had a cross in the sky
- Written in Greek words it said under this sign conquer
- He won the battle and attributed the victory to Christians, Christ, God
- He signed the Edict of Milan making Christianity legal in 313 CE
- Born February 27, 280 died May 22, 337

Great Persecution of 303 CE

303

Diocletian convinced the people of Rome that the Christians were the reason for all of Romes problems
- Diocletian was hoping to unite Rome by making a common enemy
- He made an edict that allowed churches, scriptures to be destroyed
- He also has Christian assemblies outlawed
- He also made many other edicts taking away their legal rights
- He made Christians practice other traditional religions
The Great Persecution started in 303 CE and ended in 311 CE

Battle of Milvian Bridge

312

A battle between two Emperors, Constantine had a vision of two greek letters before the battle that then were put on the Roman soldier's shields.

- The battle happened between the Roman Emperors Constantine I and Maxentius
- Constantine won, this win lead him to rule all of Rome
- Maxentius drowned in the River Tiber
- Constantine had a vision from God before the battle
- The vision was a promise to victory for that battle
The battle was in 312 CE

Edict of Milan

313

An official proclamation saying the Christianity should be tolerated and not discriminated

- This brought the spread of Christianity
- Emperor Theodosius signed this Edict of Milan
- Edict of Milan gave rights to Christians and brought them back into society
- This edict was unlike the many before it, this edict effectively established toleration for Christianity

- This Edict also granted everyone the ability to worship whoever and however, they would like
- signed in 313 AD

Emperor Theodosius

347

Theodosius made Christianity not only well known & encouraged but made it the official religion of Rome.
- Theodosius made everyone be Christian
- He was the last to rule before Rome was split between east & west

- He made the Edict of Thessalonica this made specifically Nicene Christianity the religion of the Roman empire
- most of the other Christian sects lost their legal status
- their belongings were taken by the Roman government never 2 be seen again
Born 347 AD died 395 AD