Rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire

Jesus of Nazareth

6 BCE

-He was the son of Christ, and he was the religious leader of the Christians. He was alive for only thirty years but in time his went around spreading the word of God. Also he had 12 disciples and after Jesus was crucified his 12 disciples kept spreading the word of Christ. He was the father of Christians.

Paul of Tarsus

35

He was the second most important leader of Christians after Christ. He was one of the leaders of the first generation of Christians.His epistles had a big influence on the Christians because they talked about the relationship with god and Jesus. Nero sentenced him to death by beheading.

Great Fire of Rome

64

-Fire burned for 6 days
-65% of Rome was burnt
-Christians were blamed for the fire
-they were blamed because they were easy scapegoats because of how hated they were
-After the Christians were blamed they became more and more prosecuted

Roman Rule of Israel

64

-Julius Caesar made Judaism a religio licita which means it was a permitted religion.
- The Roman general Pompey was the general when the Romans took over Israel

Perpetua

203

-She was living with her husband, her son, and her slave, Felicitates
-Emperor Septimius Severus wanted to crush Christianity, so he decided to arrest 5 people that were taking a class to prepare for baptism
-Her father begged her to lie and say that she wasn't a christian. She refused and when asked if she was a christian she said she was. Her and the others were thrown into the gladiator pit and slain by sword.

Great Prosectution

303

-Prosecution of Christians
-This was a result from the Christians being blamed for the great fire
-Diocletion was emperor at the time
-Christians were killed by being thrown to wild animals, put in the gladiator pit, burned alive, ad much more
-It was rumored the Diocletion was rumored to have used Christians as torches to light his garden

Constantine the Great

312

-He wanted to unite eastern and western Rome, but in order to do so he would have to go into battle and win. One day before he went into battle he saw the Christian sign in the sky along with a message that said "In this sign you will conquer." After that He painted the Christian sign on all the the battle shields. Also that night he had dream of Christ so when we won he credited all to the Christians and their one god. He also created the Edict of Milan.

Battle of Milvian Bridge

312

• This was the battle fought by Constantine while he was trying to unite eastern and western Rome. After he won this battle he was the sole ruler of Rome. So he has the power to make Christianity the official religion of Rome. He did this because he credited the victory of the battle to the Christians.

Edict of Milan

313

-Constantine and Licinius signed it
-Edict meaning an official order
-It granted religious freedom
-This meant no more prosecution of Christians thus allowing Christianity to spread

Emperor Theodosius

379

-He was the final emperor to rule united Rome
-He made Christianity the only religion in Rome
-He also kept it on top and d]safe from other religions such as Paganism and Arianism
-He also stopped the persecution of Christians