Rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire

Roman Rule of Israel

64 BCE

Judea's government structure was reorganized by Gabinius, the Roman governor of Syria. He divided the country into five administrative dis­tricts. What he wanted to do was to destabilize the nation. Julius Caesar restored certain terri­tories to Judea and appointed Hyrcanus II, but he was a weak figure who on his own could neither administer the affairs of Judea nor collect its taxes. This led to many invasions.

Jesus of Nazareth

30

Jesus also referred to as Jesus of Nazareth and Jesus Christ, was a first-century Jewish preacher. He is the central figure fo Christianity. Most Christians believe he is the incarnation of God and the awaited Messiah prhophosized in the old testament.

Paul of Tarsus

35

The second important founder of Christianity is Paul of Tarsus. According to writings in the New Testament, Paul is dedicated to persecuting the early disciples of Jesus. He was walking down the road to Jerusalem when Jesus appeared to him in a bright light. He was struck blind, but after three days his sight was restored. Soon after Paul began to preach that Jesus of Nazareth is the Jewish Messiah and the Son of God.

Great Fire of Rome

64

Some people blame Emperor Neuro for the fire that caused widespread devastation in Rome for 6 days. But Nero used the fire as a scapegoat. He blamed it on the Christians and said that most of the Christian areas of Rome were untouched. This started the persecution of Christians. He tortured the Christians by putting them in pits filled with deadly animals and making them human torches for his garden.

Perpetua

203

Perpetua was a Christian and lived in Carthage. Then Emperor Septimius Severus arrested 5 new Christians who were taking classes to prepare for baptism. One of whom was Perpetua. Her father came to her in jail and told her an easy way to save herself. He told her to deny she was a Christian. Perpetua said, " I can't be called anything other than what I am, a Christian."

The Great Persecution

303

The emperors Diocletian, Maximian, and Galerius issued a list of rights that the Christians were stripped of. They also demanded that Christians demanded universal sacrifice, and to sacrifice to all of the Gods. If they did not comply they faced torture, imprisonment, and execution. The Christians were tortured in many ways. One way that Christians got tortured was by being put in pits with wild killer animals, being dragged to death and by being cooked to death.

Battle of Milvian Bridge

312

The Battle of Milvian Bridge marked the beginning of Constantine's conversion to Christianity. Constantine had a vision sent by God. This was interpreted as a promise of victory if the sign of Christ's name in Greek, was painted on the soldiers' shields. The painted them and as God told him in his dream he acheived victory.

Constantine the Great

313

Constantine was fighting a civil war against emperors Maxentius and Licinius to become the sole ruler of Rome. He got a dream from the Christian God saying that if he put the Christian symbol on his shields he would be victorious. He did it and he won the war so he converted to Christianity. He was the first Emperor to do so and he also played an influential role in the proclamation of the Edict of Milan, which declared religious tolerance for Christianity in the Roman Empire.

The Edict of Millan

313

The Edict of Milan was a proclamation agreed on by the Roman emperors Constantine and Licinius, that permanently established religious tolerance in Rome. It stopped the cruel treatment of Christians in the Roman empire. It also returned Christians their confiscated property.

Emperor Theodosius

379

Theodosius was the last Roman Emperor to rule a united Roman Empire. The Edict of Thessalonica was made by Theodosius and it made Christianity the state religion. This established Christianity as the state religion and withdrew state support from all other religions.