Rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire timeline

Jesus of Nazareth or Jesus Christ was a first-century preacher and religious leader. He is the center of of Christianity and plays a ginormous role in the religion. Most Christians think that he was the reincarnation of god. Jesus of Nazareth was crucified when he was found for having such a large role in Christianity. It is said that he was speared in the side by a soldier after his death just to make sure that he had passed. Jesus was one of the most important figures for Christianity.

The Romans invaded the Jewish people in Israel and ruled over them for many rules. Judaism was legal in the Roman empire throughout most of the time period. The Romans did a lot of reconstructing of Israel and controlled everything from their military to their politics. The Romans even "reorganized" Israel in order to made rebellion almost impossible. This meant that there was very little rebellion in Israel until later years when people finally got fed up.

The great fire of Rome was supposedly started by Emperor Nero and was started in some merchant shops near the Circus Maximus. The fire burned for 6 days before it was finally controlled but then started up for another 3 days. Once the fire was completely out almost 2/3 of the city of Rome had been destroyed. This relates to Christianity because Emperor Nero blamed the disaster on the Christians which created a ton of hate from the public on the Christians.

Paul of Tarsus or other known as Saint Paul actually hated Christianity in the early days of his life. He transformed from this thought into being one of the Church's greatest saints. Paul greatly helped Christianity because he helped spread the religion. He went all around informing people on Christianity. He also wrote many of the books in The New Testament. Paul was known for being a very man that had gone to school and had a good education for the time period.

Perpetua was a Christian martyr who recorded accounts of her trial and her imprisonment. These passages contained information on how she was unfairly trialed and sentenced to death. She is not only famous for these but she is also famous for her death. She was said to guide the hand of her executioner in the arena as if to show to the crowds that she is not afraid of death and that there is a better life on the other side. This made people convert to Christianity because she showed her pride.

In 303 CE the emperors Diocletian, Maximian, Galerius, and Constantius issued a series of edicts that removed any legal rights that the Christians had. Thousands of Christians were executed and anybody that was found to be Christian would be severely punished. This is thought to be the hardest time for Christianity. The Christians were persecuted because the emperors wanted to unite the Roman empire which meant that everyone would have to believe in the same gods which Christians refused to.

Constantine the great was a Roman Emperor who ruled from 306-337. He was known for restructuring many aspects of the roman government and the Roman military. Constantine was also known as the first emperor to legalize Christianity. This put an end to the prosecution of Christians and meant that Christians could now legally practice their beliefs. This was monumental for Christianity because it allowed the once small religion to develop into what we know it to be.

The battle of Milivan bridge was a very important point in Christianities history. It was fought between Constantine and Maxentius. Constantine ended up winning the battle by destroying Maxentius' army. Maxentius drowned in the river along with much of his army. The battle of Milivan bridge was extremely important for Christianity because before the battle Constantine said that he had a vision of the Christian god assuring him he would win. This made him legalize Christianity and even praise it.

The Edict of Milan was established by the Roman emperor, Constantine. It was a proclamation that permanently allowed the tolerance of Christianity in the Roman empire. This was huge for Christianity because it meant that the supporters were able to get their religion out into the world without the possibility of punishment. This allowed fr Christianity to spread all around the Roman empire and all around the world because the supporters weren't trapped in Rome.

Emperor Theodosius greatly impacted Christianity in two ways. He used his power to officially orthodox Christianity which was a very big set back for the religion. On the other hand Theodosius put all of his power in the hands of the church which would set the standard for more than a millennium. It is very hard to understand if Theodosius helped or hurt Christianity more but I think that he helped them because if it wasn't for him Christianity would have never had the power it needed to grow.