Rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire - Anton Johnson

Roman Rule over Israel

63 BCE

The Romans took over Israel, but were nice to the Jewish people living there until the capitol was moved to Constantinople
1. Pompey was the general who led the Roman Army
2. Jews had lived in Rome for more than 2,000 years
3. Israel, once it had been taken control of, accounted for %10 of the population of the Empire
4. Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans
5. In 380 CE, the Jews were persecuted by the Romans, similar to how the Christians were persecuted for hundreds of years before that

Jesus of Nazareth

4 BCE

This is the Christian Jesus, or God's son. He is the second most important person in the Christian Religion.
1. His crucifixion was confirmed by non-religious sources
2. He is the son of god.
3. He was 33-36 when he died
4. He is revered outside of Christianity as well
5. He was crucified by the Romans
6. 4BC was his birthday

Paul of Tarsus

10

He taught the gospel of Christ in the first century
1. He was a citizen of the Roman Empire
2. He founded many churches in Asian Minor
3. 13 of the 27 books in the New Testament are attributed to him
4. He was dedicated to persecuting Jesus and his disciples before he was turned into a Christian
5. He was Jewish before he was baptized after meeting Jesus

Great Fire of Rome

64

The fire ended after 9 days and 2/3 of Rome was destroyed. Facts:
1. The Emperor Nero was originally blamed for starting the fire
2. He then said it was the Christians
3. This initiated the first persecution where Christians were killed in many gruesome ways.
4. Nobody knows who started the fire
5. People believed Nero because the Christians were already unpopular

Perpetua

203

She wrote one of the earliest and most notable Christian texts.
1. She was married and had a kid when she was executed.
2. She was executed by the Roman empire shortly after the emperor had forbade Christianity
3. Her writings are widely believed to be genuine by historians around the world
4. She was killed with 5 other people in the arena
5. She wrote about her prison dreams, which she beloved to be prophetic

Great Persecution

303

This was the biggest persecution of Christians by the Roman Empire.
1. Modern figures say that anywhere between 2,500 and 3,500 people died
2. The Emperor Diocletian was responsible for starting this persecution
3. Bibles were also burnt in public
4. The Emperor also restricted Christian's rights in legal ways.
5. The Clergy demanded sacrifices by the Christians to the Roman's gods.
6. The degree of persecution varied across the Empire.

Constantine the Great

306

This is the leader who made Christianity legal in the Roman Empire. His reign ended in 337.
1. He battled to get control of the Empire
2. Before the battle of Milvian Bridge, he saw a message written across the sky. It said 'In this sign, you will conquer'
4. Under this blessing, he won the battle.
5. Because of this blessing he got, he felt obliged to become Christian and make Christianity legal in the Roman Empire

Battle of Milvian Bridge

312

This is the battle where Constantine took full control of the Roman empire. This is important to the Christians because without this battle, Constantine couldn't make Christianity the official religion
1. He fought Maxentius
2. Maxentius drowned after the battle and his head was paraded around Rome
3. Before this battle, Constantine had his famous vision.
4. After winning this battle, Constantine made Christianity the official religion
5. The Christian God supposedly helped Constantine

Edict of Milan

313

This was the Edict that made Christianity legal in the Roman empire.
1. Stopped persecution of Christians in the Roman empire
2. Signed by Constantine and Licinius
3. Gave Christians their property and meeting places back
4. It is named after the city it was signed in, which is Milan, Italy
5. Constantine signed this edict because he believed that the Christian God had helped him in the battle of Milvian Bridge.

Emperor Theodosius

379

He was the one who put an end to the Arian heresy that divided the empire for a thousand years. He basically united all of the Christians in the empire under one belief system.
Facts:
1. He was a talented military leader
2. He got 'the Great' title for being a devout Christian
3. He issued the edict that made Christianity the official Roman religion
4. His edict took other branches of Christians' rights and possessions away
5. He was the last Emperor that had control over both regions of Rome