Rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire

The Roman Rule Over Israel begins

1 CE

Christianity was developed in Judea, a place in Israel. People in Judea during that time were spreading christianity thought Israel, to people who were both Jewish and non-jewish. They built temples that were destroyed by the Romans, and there was small amount of tolerance for them from the Romans.

Jesus of Nazareth

4

Jesus was arrested by Roman soldiers after being betrayed by one of his disciples. He was then beaten and forced to wear a crown of thorns and was nailed to a cross.

Paul of Tarsus

55

Paul was a early christian writer, his writings are the earliest surviving pieces of christian literature. Much that is known about him is from his writings.

The Great Fire of Rome

64

Nero was a emperor of Rome during 64, he was mentally unstable and lit a fire that lasted for six days and destroyed ⅔ of Rome. He used the fact that the Christian part of Rome was still standing as a scapegoat, accusing them of the fire and had many of them killed.

Perpetua

203

Perpetua was a young African Christian from Carthage. Roman officials came to Carthage during a religious meeting and took them away. Perpetua was taken to the prison with the other Christians and they were moved around to better and worse part of the prison. During her time in prison, it was said that she had two visions. Come time of the persecution, she survived the wild animals and eventually lead the gladiators shaking hands to her throat.

Great Persecution of 303

303

The emperor Diocletian regained control and created tetrarchy, a system that consisted of four rulers. He and one of the other members of the tetrarchy decided that Christians needed to be eliminated because part of their plan was to reunite the empire by having a common belief of the old, many Gods. Many thousand Christians were killed including many great Christian leaders.

Constantine the Great

312

Constantine was a Roman emperor who gained control in 312 AD during a time of civil war. He created the Edict of Milan after defeating an army and believing that it was the christian God who allowed him to win, after a symbol and a dream that he had before the battle.

The Edict of Milan

313

The Edict of Milan was a document wrote by Constantine the Great after he won a battle, believing that it was the Christian God that had sent him a dream and a symbol that allowed him to win. The Edict of Milan gave religious freedom and made it legal to be a Christian.

The Battle of Milvian Bridge

313

The Battle of Milvian Bridge took place in 313 and was between the emperors Constantine the Great and Maxentius. The cause of the battle was their fight for control over the west part of the Roman empire. Maxentius had an army with many more soldiers than Constantine but Constantine came out victorious.

Emperor Theodosius

391

Theodosius was a Christian and supported Nicene Trinitarianism. In 391, he declared christianity as the only reasonable religion for the Roman empire.