Rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire

Roman Rule of Israel

63 BCE

• After year after the Roman empire was conquered by Syria, they conquered Jerusalem and Israel (63 BCE)
• Rome already had conquered a lot of land
• Jesus was born under Roman Rule
• Israel was under Roman rule
• Rome was polytheistic and this caused trouble for Jews, because the Jews believed in only one God

Jesus of Nazareth

33

• Born in Judaea and it was crumbling
• Traveled throughout Judaea saying there was a place greater than Rome
• God would provide here, especially for the poorest members of society who could find relief and hope there, government didn't like the new revolutionary ideas and his disciples were claiming him to be the son of God
• When one of the holy places was being corrupted by trade and he was furious (33 CE)
• He was arrested and executed
• Became martyr
• However, execution boosted religion

Paul of Tarsus

45

• Started as Saul and he went to kill all people that followed Jesus
• However, he had a vision and with the same passion that had led him to kill, he started to spread the word (45 CE)
• Jesus had only preached to Jews, but Paul, after changing is name, preached to all
• Returned to Rome and was captured and killed
• Played huge part in the spreading of Christianity

The Great Fire of Rome

64

• Nero blames Christians for a great fire that swept across Rome (July 18th 64 CE)
• This is justified because the only land not touched by the fire was the Christians' land
• This leads to executions and so so much more
• Terrible time for Christians after because there was a great deal of death for their religion

Perpetua

203

• A young woman who was a Christian
• She was arrested but stood her ground refusing to not say that she was a Christian
• Her father begged her to give in but still she stood strong
• She was killed with some other women and died a martyr (203 AD)

The Great Persecution

303

• Emperor Diocletian was enraged that Christians would not worship the Roman Gods
• He then started the largest Christian persecution in history (303 CE)

Battle of Milvian Bridge

312

• The famous Battle in which Constantine saw the cross and was able to end the Civil War in Rome at the time (October 28, 312 AD)
• Humongous turning point in the perspective on Christianity and of the usefulness of the religion

Constantine the Great

313

• General
• Had a vision of God and the cross
• Had a dream of God
• Next day he won his battle and endorsed Christianity
• Christianity was no longer seen as a burden but an amazing religion, thanks to Constantine
• He writes the Edict of Milan, establishing the tolerance of the religion (313 CE)

Edict of Milan

313

• The Edict of Milan stated that Christianity would remain untouched and would be seen as an equal religion (313 AD)
• This endorsement from Constantine caused Christianity to rise up

Emperor Theodosius

380

• Emperor Theodosius makes Christianity the official religion of Rome (380 CE)
• He outlaws all other religions there