Rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire

Jesus of Nazareth

4 BCE

One of the farthest corners of the Roman Empire, Judaea was a land of ancient traditions and religious fervor. Decades of Roman rule were causing ever more resentment. Jesus was born to a family from a village called Nazareth, near the Sea of Galilee. As he was growing up, Judaea was collapsing into chaos.

Paul of Tarsus

4

Paul the Apostle, commonly known as Saint Paul and also known by his Jewish name Saul of Tarsus, was an apostle who taught the gospel of Christ to the first-century world.

Roman Rule of Israel

37

In 37 BCE, Herod, a son-in-law of Hyrcanus II, was appointed King of Judea by the Romans. ... Superior Roman forces led by Titus were finally victorious, razing Jerusalem to the ground and defeating the last Jewish outpost at Masada.

The Great Fire of Rome

64

On July 19, 64 CE, a fire started in the enormous Circus Maximus stadium in Rome, now the capital of Italy. When the fire was finally extinguished six days later, 10 of Rome’s 14 districts were burned. Many people believed that it was Nero that started the fire, but since Rome was so poorly constructed it could have been any old fire that was enlarged due to lack of getting extinguished.

Perpetua

182

Perpetua,was born c. 18 and died March 7, 203, feast day March 7, Carthage, Christian martyr who wrote The Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicity, a journal recounting her trial and imprisonment that was continued by a contemporary who described Perpetua’s death in the arena. Both her martyrdom and its account have been highly revered by ancient and modern Christians. Her tex t is one of the rare surviving documents written by a woman in the ancient world.

Battle of Milvian Bridge

302

The Battle of the Milvian Bridge. Constantine won a great victory on October 28th, 312. The Battle of the Milvian Bridge (1520–24) by Giulio Romano.Roman politics after the Emperor Diocletian abdicated in AD 305 was confusingly complicated as emperors and deputy emperors of the West and of the East contended for power.

Great Persecution of 303 BCE

303

The Great Persecution was the last and most severe persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. In 303, the Emperors Diocletian, Maximian, Galerius, and Constantius issued a series of edicts rescinding Christians' legal rights and demanding that they comply with traditional religious practices.

Constantine the Great

306

Constatine played a vital role as Constantine was the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. ... He played an influential role in the proclamation of the Edict of Milan in 313, which declared religious tolerance for Christianity in the Roman empire.

Edict of Milan

313

The Edict of Milan was a letter signed by the Roman emperors Constantine and Licinius, that proclaimed religious toleration in the Roman Empire. The letter was issued in February, 313 AD and stopped the persecution of Christians. This meant that it was now okay to be Christian.

Emperor Theodosius

379

Theodosius was born in Spain and became the co-emperor with Gratianus in 378. He solved the Gothic threat in the Balkans by fostering dissension among them and making the Visigoths allies rather than subjects. He allowed barbarian tribes to settle on Roman territory, and gave their leaders responsible positions.