Tian Z P.4 Rise of Christianity in Rome Timeline

Roman Rule of Israel begins

63 BCE

1. When Romans conquered the region of Judea, Christianity was a growing religion there
2. It was spread by early followers of Jesus, people were unified under a belief of unity before god
3. It was mostly underground and thus there were many different interpretations of the religion

Jesus of Nazareth

33

1. Jesus is a religious leader who is a central figure in Christianity
2. Jesus was Jew who was baptized by John the Baptist and subsequently began his own ministry, preaching his message Jesus debated with fellow Jews on how to best follow God, engaged in healing, and gathered followers with his fellow apostles. He was arrested and tried by the Jewish authorities turned over to the Roman government, after he got crucified he came back to life and from then on there Christianity grew

The Great Fire of Rome

64

1. In 64 A.D., a great fire broke out in Rome where a huge portion of the city got burned down
2. A enclave of Christians were left untouched by the flames of the fire and Nero directed the blame to the Christians, claiming that they were the ones starting the blaze
3. Christians were persecuted heavily by the Romans, several Christians got executed
4. Several historians believe Nero was the one who started it because he wanted to plan the city in a certain way and the senate wouldn't let him

Paul of Tarsus

64

1. Paul of Tarsus was a very important figure for Christianity
2. He wrote 13 out of the 27 books of the Bible
3. He was famously converted to Christianity on the road to Damascus, 4.Paul traveled tens of thousands of miles around the Mediterranean spreading the word of Jesus and it was Paul who came up with the doctrine that would turn Christianity from a small sect of Judaism into a worldwide faith that was open to all

Perpetua

203

1. Perpetua was a martyr for Christianity
2. She refused to renounce her faith when her father pleaded her to and she had dreams of battling the Devil in the amphitheater and winning a crown from god and a vision of her late brother in heaven
3. A final account of her records that she and her slave were thrown to the beasts and survived. She also supposedly helped guide the trembling hand of her executioner to her neck, her contempt for her death affected potential converts to become inspired

The Great Persecution of 303 A.D.

303

1. The Crisis of the Third Century came to an end with the reign of Emperor Diocletian who created the tetrachy, a system where 4 emperors ruled.
2. He and one of his tetrachs agreed to persecute Christians as a part of their plan to reunify the empire by uniting the Romans under a shared belief under the Old Gods.
3. Many Christians and Christian leaders were killed however the religion survived and later went on to become the main religion of Rome

Battle of Milvian Bridge

312

1. Before the battle against Maxentius, Emperor Constantine had a vision with a cross in the sky with the message, in this sign, you will conquer
2. Constantine then had a dream where he was directed to put the labarum of Christ onto his soldier's shields
3. Constantine and his men ended up defeating Maxentius and his armies decisively during the battle at the bridge
4. Constantine believed divine intervention had helped him win the battle which made him stop persecuting the Christians

Constantine the Great

312

1. Constantine became emperor after a series of civil wars in the 4th Century
2. After his vision and his dream and his decisive victory at the Milvian Bridge, he issued the Edict of Milan which ended the persecution of Christians and granted them religious freedom,
3. After winning a war against Licinius, he was reaffirmed God was on his side and built a new capital in the east named Constantinople that had many churches
4. Because of how he promoted Christianity, many people became Christians

Edict of Milan

313

1. After the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, Constantine began to develop a very positive opinion to Christianity because of how he thought devine intervention helped him win the battle.
2. He met with the Eastern Emperor, Licinius, at Milan. In Milan they issued the Edict of Milan
3. The Edict of Milan stopped religious persectuion of the Christians, granted them religious freedom and assuring them others will not persecute them.
4. Christians were no longer afraid and Christianity grew

Emperor Theodosius

380

1. Theodosius was an important who was very essential in the spread of Christianity
2. In 380 A.D., he officially made Christianity, specifically Nicene Christianity, the official Imperial Religion by issuing the Edict of Thessalonica and withdrew state support from all other religions, thus Christianity gained many followers